Articles

Using social media for Assessment I sat in a taxi in Sydney last year, on my way to indulge in another large helping of steamed dumplings in my quest to try all of the top 8 dumpling restaurants Sydney has to offer (as voted by website Concrete Playground).

Scholarships proposed to encourage men into teaching Look around the teaching staff of any school and one thing becomes apparent: a distinct lack of men. It’s nothing to be joked about, diversity in teaching staff has been identified as a way of diminishing gender roles.

Children's reading and writing skills gone to the dogs Developing children’s reading ability is about confidence as much as smarts and having a gentle, non-judgmental audience to read to helps with building that confidence. Dogs do that very well.

Talking about cancer in the classroom Chances are that cancer in one form or another will touch most people’s lives and a new resource from the Cancer Council will help schools to support families, kids and staff when it strikes.

Call for truce in reading wars It is odd to think of teaching children to read in terms of war but with the conflict between phonics and whole language approaches a war it has been, and a long one at that.

Education no guarantee of success Again, it looks like there is a disconnect between what is being taught and the skills needed to find employment and thrive after education ends; a more careers focussed approach to education is in order.

Making young entrepreneurs With its research driven programs startup.business is doing its best to give a generation of young entrepreneurs the skills and attitudes needed to thrive as the world of work evolves.

Hard message for Australians debating soft skills Creativity, critical thinking, digital literacy, problem-solving and adaptability all fall under the umbrella of ‘capabilities’ but no matter what term is used there are increasingly louder calls for renewed focus on the area in education.

Year 7 bully to high school victim What goes around comes around, for some that is. If you bully, you’re more likely to continue to bully or receive a comeuppance, however the best strategy seems to be to stay clear of the entire thing.

Bringing it all together: Literacy, ICTs and the 21st Century Skills Literacy, 21st Century Skills, ICTs and a Common Pedagogical Framework seem to be flavours of the month in many schools, including mine. What’s not so evident is how schools blend these disparate strategies into one framework.

Arts career takes passion and toughness Three of Australia’s most familiar faces from TV and the stage gave the Wakakirri Performing Arts Careers Day their advice for establishing a career in show business; the route is going to be hard, hard but not impossible.

Insights Report forecasts skills priorities The future of work looks unclear but with coordination between education and industry the type of training that employers want will be clarified. The Insights Report combines intelligence from the AISC’s network of 64 Industry Reference Committees