When students are in the early stages of developing skills, knowledge and understanding, or encountering new material and concepts, explicit teaching, and the gradual release of responsibility are crucial for progressing the learning. In today’s article, teacher, instructional coach and researcher Dr Nathaniel Swain discusses the importance of structured approaches, teacher judgement, being responsive to students, and the potential benefits and caveats around shared curriculum materials.

‘The practical challenge of designing units that genuinely extend gifted learners within a mixed-ability classroom, without simply adding more of the same work, remains one of the more complex tasks in primary teaching’. Wesley College’s Lanella Sweet shares a tiered unit of work built around real-world measurement tasks.

EDUtech is one of the largest and most prominent education and technology events on our calendar for 2026. Over 2 days last week, Teacher magazine’s Rebecca Vukovic and Dominique Beech were there in Sydney for the event, and in today’s podcast special they share their reflections on the sessions they attended, as well as other conference highlights. 

EDUtech has just wrapped up for 2026, and the Teacher team were in Sydney for the 2-day conference to have conversations with the education community and hear from both local and international speakers. Read our insights here.

In assessment, AI tools offer new possibilities for feedback while also raising important questions about quality, accuracy, teacher oversight and, crucially, whether the feedback improves the learner, not just the piece of work they’ve been tasked with completing.

In this podcast special, Dominique Beech sits down with Dr Dan Edwards, Acting Head of ACER's Student Learning and Progress Division, to talk about the future of assessment. He shares his insights on how assessment can support students at key transition points across K-12, the impact of AI, and more. 

In this episode of School Improvement, Dominique Beech is joined by teacher Gus Humphries who tells us all about the professional learning program he developed, Questions for Thinking (Q4T). Q4T allows teachers to investigate and develop an area of their practice through a confidential partnership. In our conversation, Gus expands on the program design and the impact it's having on staff and school culture. 

In our latest reader submission, Dr Aylie Davidson, Lecturer in Mathematics Education at Deakin University, explains that planning for learning necessitates intellectual and collaborative effort, and outlines what an effective planning meeting for maths looks like in practice.

Trauma enters classrooms through the invisible backpacks students carry each day. While educators cannot remove that weight, they can help make it more manageable. In today’s article Associate Professor Bryan Matera and Jenna Larsen from Winona State University, in the US, share 3 strategies teachers can use to support students.

In School Improvement Episode 66, St Columba Anglican School Principal Allan Guihot and Director of Professional Learning Chris Delaney join Jo Earp to talk about the award-winning Teaching School Hubs program, including how the model works in the day-to-day, and benefits for both the trainees preparing to enter the profession and mentor teachers at the host school.