Teacher Magazine (ACER)

Professor Amy Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Education at Southern Cross University, joins The Research Files this month to talk about the Childhood Nature Play study. We’ll be chatting about the different types of nature play, and the teaching and learning resources that have been co-designed as a result of the research project. Host: Jo Earp Guest: Amy Cutter-Mackenzi...

In this episode of Teaching Methods we’ll be looking at how PE teachers adapted to online learning during the pandemic. Our guest is Dr Vaughan Cruickshank and we’ll be discussing in this ‘emergency mode’ of teaching and learning, did PE happen at all? If it did, it more Physical Activity than Physical Education? And what lessons can we learn from this experience for the future? Guest: Dr Vaughan...

What is excellence in Indigenous education? This is a topic that’s been widely explored on Teacher this month and in today’s episode, we run you through some of the highlights. This includes a podcast on delivering Indigenous content in the curriculum, and a submission that explores how Indigenous peoples, school leaders and educators conceptualise what excellence in Indigenous education is or cou...

In this episode of School Improvement, we’re taking you to Ireland, where research has recently been conducted looking at engaging students in the school self-evaluation process in a meaningful way. The research is outlined in the paper, Students as co-researchers in a school self-evaluation process, and the lead author, Shivaun O’Brien, joins us in this episode to unpack the impetus for the resea...

How effectively do you think you’re delivering Indigenous content in the curriculum? Would you say you have enough knowledge and confidence in this area? A program established by the University of New South Wales’ Matraville Education Partnership is looking to address these two areas of teacher practice. The Cultural Residents Project aims to support classroom teachers with improving their knowled...

You might be aware that our annual reader survey has just wrapped up for another year. It’s an opportunity for you to tell us what content you’d like to hear from us in the future, and this year, many of you told us you’d like more information and support on inclusive education. Inclusive education is something we’ve covered a lot this month at Teacher, so it’s a good opportunity to put that in th...

All three members of the editorial team are with you today for a special episode of The Research Files, to share some of the highlights from last month’s ACER Research Conference. The online event featured five days of keynotes, presentations, a research video showreel and a masterclass, all on the theme of ‘Excellent progress for every student: What will it take?’

Today is RUOK? Day, a national day of action here in Australia, dedicated to reminding everyone to check in on their loved ones and ask ‘Are you OK?’ For students, learning how to care for their own wellbeing and to support their peers to talk about how they feel is an important life lesson. In today’s episode, we're joined by Professor Fiona Brooks, a medical sociologist and a professor of child...

Our guest on today’s episode of School Improvement is Bernadette Hawker, Head of Department Teaching and Learning at Goondiwindi State High School in Queensland. We caught up with Bernie to talk about the school’s award-winning STEAM Program, which has been successful in improving student writing outcomes. You’ll also hear about the strong culture of sharing and collaboration among staff, includin...

More than half of Australia’s population is under COVID-19 lockdowns, which means many of you are right in the thick of a long period of remote learning, maybe while trying to homeschool your own children at the same time. We’ve been separated from loved ones, we’ve missed important milestones and celebrations, and been restricted from doing some of the things we enjoy most. It’s no wonder our wel...

Our guest today is Dr Gary Stager, one of the world’s leading experts and advocates for computer programming, robotics and learning-by-doing in classrooms. He’s also a journalist, teacher educator, consultant, professor, software developer, publisher, school administrator, and presenter at conferences around the world – but we’ll have Gary explain to you a little more about his extensive and impre...

In this episode of School Improvement, we’re taking you to a school in rural New South Wales where they’ve seen students in Years 5 to 9 read 12 books a year, and a 40 per cent increase in male students reading beyond their assigned texts. It’s all because of the reading culture they’ve developed and Head of Middle School and English teacher Alex Wharton has had a key role in this. He’s been named...

With ACER’s Research Conference 2021 fast approaching, at Teacher magazine, we’ve been catching up with some of the keynote speakers that are on the line-up for the five-day online conference. The theme is: ‘Excellent progress for every student: What will it take?’ and, at the time of publishing this episode, you can still secure your registration. The conference kicks off on the 16th of August. I...

Teachers are thought of by many as an important role model in the community. And when it comes to drawing a line between a teacher’s professional and personal life, this can be challenging, particularly when it comes to their private use of social media. This idea has been explored by two researchers from the School of Law at Western Sydney University – Dr Sandy Noakes and Dr Sarah Hook. Their pap...

ACER’s Research Conference is back in 2021, after a COVID-19 pandemic pause last year. The fully online event kicks off in August, and runs from the 16th to the 20th. The 2021 theme is ‘Excellent progress for every student: What will it take?’ and will feature international researchers from a range of disciplines. One of the keynote speakers this year is Rich Lehrer, Professor Emeritus and Researc...

In today’s episode we're shining a spotlight on reading, as it’s been a topic covered quite a lot on Teacher recently. From encouraging students to find a love of reading, to ensuring they have access to a wide variety of texts, to the books children borrowed most frequently from libraries in 2020 – there is so much to squeeze into this Teacher Staffroom episode. We’ll be posing questions througho...

A literature review undertaken by Hannah Yared from Monash University has examined racism and racial bias in the Australian primary school context. In total, six studies were examined for this research which uncovered four main themes. The first is a lack of teacher confidence and competency regarding racial issues. This meant that in general, teachers tend not be have the confidence to engage ful...

In this Teaching Methods episode, we speak to education consultant Michael Minas about a study he conducted to measure primary school students’ attitudes towards completing challenging problem solving tasks in maths. Michael shares details of the lesson structure he utilised, and why students responded to it so positively. Host: Dominique Russell Guest: Michael Minas

Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Teacher Staffroom, where we catch you up on the latest evidence, insight, and action. In this episode, we’re looking into leadership. Many educators are engaging in leadership practice as part of their day-to-day work, no matter what position they hold in a school. So, whether you're a principal, a leading teacher or an aspiring leader, there's something for...

In this episode in our School Improvement series, we're joined by Vanessa Rauland, Portia Odell and Karen Murcia, who have recently published an examination of a two-year pilot study which encouraged schools to actively try to reduce their carbon emissions. Their study, and resulting report titled Schools: An Untapped Opportunity for a Carbon Neutral Future assessed which actions proved to be most...

Casual relief teachers, or CRTs, are an integral part of the teacher workforce, but many often report feeling a lack of support and exclusion at schools they’re working in. We know this ourselves at Teacher magazine, with many of you getting in touch to share these same challenges you’ve faced as a CRT. Minami Uchida from Macquarie University has analysed the experiences of casual relief teachers...

The term ‘evidence-based practice’ is widely used in education. Schools are 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? These questions have been explored in several articles and podcasts on Teacher...

As a primary school teacher, how confident would you say you are at teaching music? Do you feel adequately prepared to teach music, or incorporate music into your lessons? What areas of music do you feel you need the most support in? A pilot professional development program on music teaching in primary schools has been assessed in a new report. The program involved five separate sessions on differ...

You’ll be well aware that here at Teacher we are all about promoting quality teaching and leading and assisting school improvement at a grassroots level. We aim to support educators by sharing stories using evidence-based approaches which you can trust and adapt for use in your own school settings. We also ask you how you use Teacher content in your practice in our annual reader survey, and so man...

Thanks for listening to this episode of Teacher Staffroom, where we catch you up on the latest evidence, insight, and action. I'm Rebecca Vukovic. In 2015, Teacher columnist and ACER CEO Professor Geoff Masters penned a column for Teacher on the ‘big five’ education challenges facing Australian schools. This influential column remains the most popular article to ever be published on Teacher, colle...