Long reads

A recent focus group study involving gifted students in Grades 5 to 8 has revealed what actions show a teacher is being an effective listener during classroom discussions, and how these actions have an impact on their students’ motivation to learn.

Online problem-solving role-playing game Among Us has taken the world by storm. In this reader submission, Lecturer Flora D Floris and colleagues from Indonesia’s Petra Christian University suggest four activities that teachers can use to incorporate the game into their English classrooms.

‘Every assembly I read a book to the whole school and I expect all of our teachers to be reading aloud to our kids every day.’ Christies Beach Primary School Principal Catherine O’Dea shares why encouraging students to develop a love of reading is the key aim of the South Australian school’s improvement plan.

The term ‘evidence-based practice’ is widely used in education. Schools are continually presented with strategies, programs and approaches that claim to be ‘research-based’ or ‘evidence-based’. But what is evidence-based practice? And, how do schools determine which of these programs and methods have solid foundations in research?

In their new book In Teachers We Trust: The Finnish Way to World-Class Schools, Pasi Sahlberg and Timothy D Walker suggest seven key principles for building a culture of trust in schools. This exclusive extract discussing the ‘three levels of trust’ is taken from a chapter on cultivating responsible learners.

In a recent article we looked at how students in Southeast Asia performed in the latest cycle of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study. In this follow-up we dig into the accompanying questionnaire findings to gain insights into school discipline safety, teacher professional development needs, and challenges to teaching and learning in each country.

In this Q&A we speak with Dr Katie Richardson about looking at student assessment data from different angles, identifying patterns in data, and why working collaboratively to interpret assessment data is a useful technique.

In today’s Leadership Q&A Teacher Editor Jo Earp talks to Ibu Sri Sulastri, Principal of GagasCeria Elementary School in Bandung, Indonesia, about creating an enjoyable culture of teacher learning and development using an approach known as Lesson Study.

A new research-based series encourages early years educators to take advantage of everyday teaching and learning opportunities to improve young children’s scientific understanding, and shares four step-by-step activities for the classroom or learning at home.

‘For some, this transition will be filled with as much anxiety as the first day of school or the school year.’ In this reader submission, Dr Carl Leonard and Dr Gail Brown provide tips and suggestions for teachers and leaders to help manage the transition for all students, and particularly those with additional needs.