03_educator_spring2020

Australian

Public education // Public good and economic growth

Under pressure

// Excessive workloads hit their peak

High praise

// Celebrating Public Education Day

SPRING 2020 // ISSUE 107 $9.95

Lessons on racism

// New resources to help tackle a tough topic

“You don’t build a strong economy without a fully resourced public education system.”

P RINT P OST A PP ROVED 10 000 8182

Invest in public education today for social and economic benefits tomorrow

Quoted prices include: Finance

Rego

Volkswagen T-Cross 85TSI Life 1.0T

$

save

2,200

CTP Subaru Forester 2.5i Auto

on purchase price†

$

346* PER FORTNIGHT

INC. $137 OF RUNNING COSTS

Mitsubishi Triton GLS Premium Auto 2.4DT

save

7,182

$

541* PER FORTNIGHT

INC. $179 OF RUNNING COSTS

$

Maintenance

save

2,036

Nissan Juke Nismo R 1.6T

on purchase price†

$

432* PER FORTNIGHT

INC. $162 OF RUNNING COSTS

Skoda Kodiaq 132TSI Sportline

$

save

5,074

on purchase price†

on purchase price†

$

Fuel

$

550* PER FORTNIGHT

INC. $188 OF RUNNING COSTS

Insurance

$

save

8,704

on purchase price†

$

440* PER FORTNIGHT

INC. $162 OF RUNNING COSTS

Looking for a different car?

Request a quote on a car you love to see how much you could save!

Find out how much you could save with a novated car lease.

300 156 497 | teachersleasing.com.au *Based on the following assumptions: living in NSW 2560, salary: $70,000 gross p.a., travelling 15,000 kms p.a., lease term: 60 months, using the Employee Contribution Method for FBT purposes. Images shown may not be the exact car that the calculations have been based on. All figures quoted include budgets for finance, fuel, servicing, tyres, maintenance, Vero by Suncorp comprehensive motor insurance, Hydro Platinum Pack and re-registration over the period of the lease. Also includes, for Suzuki, Audi and BMW models only, 2 year Platinum Warranty insurance. Vehicle residual, as set by Australian Taxation Office, payable at the end of lease term. The exact residual amount will be specified in your vehicle quote. Vehicle pricing is correct at the time of distribution but may be subject to change based on availability. † Negotiated Smartleasing buying power discount on chosen vehicle may vary.

Contents ON THE COVER "You don't build a strong economy without a fully resourced public education system."

– Dr John Falzon, senior fellow, inequalty and social justice, Per Capita.

12

34

06

18

30

NEWS IN BRIEF • State of our Schools survey winner • Unions condemn Hong Kong arrests • School scoops architecture award • Young people at greatest financial

WORKLOAD TIPPING POINT

BACK TO SCHOOL

Working hours are on the rise for educators. It's time for smaller class sizes, more staff and less paperwork.

Returning to the classroom took some adjustment for our new educators.

22

TOGETHER WE STAND

disadvantage post-pandemic

10

MORE FUNDING MAKES CENTS Investment in public education delivers both short and long-term benefits for students and communities – and could be the lifeline our economy needs.

12 EARLY ADVANTAGE COVER ILLUSTRATION ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

30

Free preschool for three and four year olds would not only improve educational outcomes, but also offer long-term financial returns, experts say.

14

SAFE AND SECURE? The pandemic shone a light on insecure work. Now, unions are calling for the economy to be rebuilt on a fairer footing.

CELEBRATING PUBLIC EDUCATION DAY Politicians, philanthropists, academics and unionists give public school educators a round of applause.

34 Global union solidarity is needed now more than ever to help rebuild devastated societies after COVID-19.

36 TESTING TIMES

27

Author Diane Ravitch says Australia should abandon standardised tests.

LESSONS FROM THE FIELD A powerful Australian sporting documentary offers a new framework to teach students about racism.

28

REGULARS 04 From the president 05 Know your union 38 Recess

HOT TOPICS Students are demanding immediate action to save the planet, and say sustainability education is a vital starting point.

www.aeufederal.org.au

SPR IN G 2 0 2 0 // 3

From the president

A

cross the world COVID-19 continues to impact deeply on our communities, and on education in particular, with millions of students experiencing school closures and a shift to remote learning.

In Australia, recent spikes in infection rates in Victoria have necessitated a return to remote learning while in other states and territories some schools have closed temporarily for deep cleaning. As governments deal with the ongoing daily reality of the pandemic, it is teachers and education support personnel who provide critical stability for students and their families by ensuring that education continues.

We recognise that it is not business as usual and we acknowledge the outstanding work of the education workforce in ensuring that Australia’s students continue to receive a high-quality education.

Every day brings a new challenge that requires a practical solution and it is the AEU’s priority to ensure that governments address these challenges by providing resources so that members can continue to work in safety and our students can continue to access their education.

PRIORITISING EDUCATION The safety, wellbeing and financial security of students is a priority as many of their families become a part of the growing statistic of unemployment. The ACTU has called for a bold, government-led National Economic Reconstruction plan that focuses on urgent government investment to rebuild the economy and create permanent, secure jobs. This includes investing in early childhood education with the funding of

Australian Educator

(ISSN: 0728-8387) is published for the Australian Education Union by Hardie Grant Media.

The magazine is circulated to members of the AEU nationally.

4 // SPRI NG 2 0 2 0

Hardie Grant Media

Ground Level, Building 1 658 Church St, Richmond 3121 Tel: (03) 8520 6444 Fax: (03) 8520 6422 Email: educator@hardiegrant.com

A strong education system is the foundation for the creation of a strong economy...

universal access of 15 hours of preschool for 3 and 4 year olds and prioritising TAFE with an infrastructure package and a commitment to 70 per cent of all government funds directed to TAFE. For schools, it’s quite simple. A strong education system is the foundation for the creation of a strong economy and must be at the centre of the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

AEU and subscription enquiries Australian Education Union Federal Office, PO Box 1158 South Melbourne Victoria 3205 Tel: (03) 9693 1800 Fax: (03) 9693 1805 Email: aeu@aeufederal.org.au facebook.com/AEUfederal @AEUfederal

Editor Susan Hopgood Publisher Fiona Hardie Account manager Hannah Louey Managing editor Jo Davy Commissioning editor Tracey Evans Subeditor Leanne Tolra Art director Dallas Budde Design Natalie Lachina

SCHOOLS STIMULUS PACKAGE Providing fair funding to public schools – including extra money to deal with the mental and physical health impacts of bushfires and pandemics – and funding to improve buildings, would give the economy the boost it needs and create a healthier society for everyone on the other side of the pandemic.

The AEU sets out the need for a school’s stimulus package in its submission to the COVID-19 inquiry. It is a package that could deliver recurrent and capital works funding, with safer world-class environments for quality, inclusive public education while also creating jobs and stimulating the economy.

With no federal money being spent on, or even allocated for, public school building projects, this investment is long overdue. In July’s federal economic forecast, the budget line for spending on public schools was left blank, although the government managed to find $1 billion in advance funding for private schools.

MAKING EQUITY A PRIORITY Meanwhile, Australia still has public school students who do not have access to the internet or the digital resources they need for their education. The AEU commissioned independent research to shine a light on the extent of Australia’s digital divide and to point out to the government that it was not caused by the pandemic, but already existed. We are now asking the government to learn from it, urgently conduct an audit to address this inequity and put in place longterm solutions.

The stakes are high. Together, we need to keep up the pressure on government now more than ever to make sure public education makes it back to the top of the National Cabinet’s agenda.

Correna Haythorpe AEU federal president

Advertising manager Kerri Spillane Tel: (03) 8520 6444 Email: kerrispillane@ hardiegrant.com

Audited circulation: 119,681 (1 October 2019 _ 31 March 2020)

Printer Ovato 42 Boorea Street Lidcombe NSW 2141

Copyright rests with the writers, the AEU and Hardie Grant Media. No part of this pub­lication may be reproduced without the prior permission of the copyright holders. The opinions expressed in the magazine are not necessarily the official policy of the AEU.

Know your union With a federal office and branches or associated bodies in every state and territory, the AEU represents more than 188,000 members industrially and professionally.

AEU FEDERAL 120 Clarendon St, Southbank, VIC, 3006 Phone: +61 3 9693 1800 Email: aeu@aeufederal.org.au Web: aeufederal.org.au

Federal president Correna Haythorpe Federal secretary Susan Hopgood

AEU ACT BRANCH Branch president Angela Burroughs Branch secretary Glenn Fowler 40 Brisbane Avenue Barton 2600 Phone: 02 6272 7900 Email: aeuact@aeuact.org.au Web: aeuact.org.au

AEU NT BRANCH Branch president Jarvis Ryan Branch secretary Adam Lampe 3/8 Totem Road Coconut Grove 0811 Phone: 08 8948 5399 Email: admin@aeunt.org.au Web: aeunt.org.au

AEU SA BRANCH Branch president Lara Golding Branch secretary Leah York 163 Greenhill Road Parkside 5063 Phone: 08 8172 6300 Email: aeusa@aeusa.asn.au Web: aeusa.asn.au

AEU TAS BRANCH Branch president Helen Richardson Branch state manager Adam Clifford (Acting) 1/32 Patrick Street Hobart 7000 Phone: 03 6234 9500 Email: support@aeutas.org.au Web: aeutas.org.au

AEU VIC BRANCH Branch president Meredith Peace Branch secretary Erin Aullich 126 Trenerry Crescent Abbotsford 3067 Phone: 03 9417 2822 Email: melbourne@aeuvic.asn.au Web: aeuvic.asn.au

QUEENSLAND TEACHERS UNION President Kevin Bates General secretary Graham Moloney 21 Graham Street Milton 4064 Phone: 07 3512 9000 Email: qtu@qtu.asn.au Web: qtu.asn.au

NEW SOUTH WALES TEACHERS FEDERATION President Angelo Gavrielatos General secretary John Dixon 23-33 Mary Street Surry Hills 2010 Phone: 02 9217 2100 Email: mail@nswtf.org.au Web: nswtf.org.au

STATE SCHOOL TEACHERS UNION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA President Pat Byrne General secretary Mary Franklyn 1 West Street West Perth 6005 Phone: 08 9210 6000 Email: contact@sstuwa.org.au Web: sstuwa.org.au

SPR IN G 2 0 2 0 // 5

News

News in brief

And the winner is...

Workers’ rights vital to economic recovery

Thank you to the thousands of members who took the time to contribute to the AEU’s annual State of our Schools survey.

The survey collects valuable insights about educators and conditions in our schools.

Many countries are using COVID-19 to attack workers’ rights, an International Trade Union Confederation survey has found.

The winner of the iPad for completing the survey is Kalie Vandeburgt (pictured with AEU ACT secretary Glenn Fowler), an early childhood educator at Mount Rogers Primary School in Canberra.

In more than half of the countries surveyed, human and labour rights have been restricted under the cover of a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

She says the world needs democratic rights, trust and accountability to recover from the shock of the pandemic.

“A resilient global economy must be built on a new social contract: a new commitment to workers’ rights, renewed investment in compliance and the rule of law, and a foundation of workplace democracy.”

Hong Kong activists praised Education International, the global federation of education unions, has praised the bravery and perseverance of unionists, teachers and students in Hong Kong in their fight for democracy and human rights.

Dozens of union and prodemocracy activists have been arrested in Hong Kong in the past month alone.

The Council of Global Unions, which represents more than 200 million workers, has condemned the arrests.

The council says that continuing assaults on journalists, as well as prosecutions and open threats made by the Hong Kong government against union leaders, healthcare workers, teachers, social workers and civil servants for exercising their professional roles are in direct contravention to trade union rights and the principle of freedom of association.

6 // SPRI NG 2 0 2 0

School awarded design prize

A major building redevelopment at Parklands High School in Burnie in Tasmania has been recognised by an architectural award.

Project architect Artas won this year’s People’s Choice Award at the Tasmanian Architect Awards, run by the Australian Institute of Architects.

The aim of the redevelopment was to improve general learning areas and to highlight spaces for specialist learning.

ILLUSTRATION OSLO DAVIS

The findings, from 95 countries including 17 in the G20 and 33 in the OECD, show that these attacks are adding to the breakdown of the social contract, says ITUC general secretary Sharan Burrow.

Without timely and targeted intervention, young adults are at a high risk of missing out on a strong entry into the labour market ...

Professor Paul Flatau University of Western Australia

EVENTS 2020 Wear it Purple Day

28 August Indigenous Literacy Day

2 September R U OK? Day

10 September Dyslexia Awareness Month

1-31 October Anti-Poverty Week

11-17 October International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

17 October Enviroweek

19-25 October National Unity Week

23-31 October World Teachers Day

30 October

Taking care of the young Young people looking for their first jobs are expected to be particularly affected by COVID-19, new research has found.

the University of Western Australia says lasting social and mental health problems are a concern.

The study, published by the Centre for Social Impact says that a lasting effect after past crises has been the difficulty faced by young job seekers who were confronted by increased competition for work.

“Without timely and targeted intervention, young adults are at a high risk of missing out on a strong entry into the labour market and, therefore, of being financially disadvantaged and even being welfare dependent for their whole lives,” says Flatau.

Lead researcher Professor Paul Flatau from

SPR IN G 2 0 2 0 // 7

More than just

Foster Care

Have you got what it takes to change a young person’s life?

Treatment Foster Care Oregon (TFCO) is an evidence-based specialised foster care program, that supports children and young people with complex behaviours.

OzChild is currently looking for individuals or couples in VIC, NSW and QLD interested in participating in this internationally proven foster care program.

Carers will receive comprehensive training, a generous tax-free reimbursement of up to $75,000 per annum* and 24/7 support.

You will be caring for a young person aged 7-17 in your home for around 9 months.

Could you care? Find out more today

ozchild.org.au *Tax-free reimbursement is $75,000 per annum in VIC and NSW and $65,000 per annum in QLD.

A FAIR GO

New beginnings.

Bold ideas.

A fair go.

The worldwide disruption brought about by COVID-19 offers us the chance to shake up systems and build a better, and fairer, way to educate and train our young people.

ILLUSTRATION PEPE SERRA / IKON IMAGES

In this special feature, we put forward the case for a powerful funding agenda for public education, including early childhood.

We also reveal compelling economic and social arguments for providing secure, well-paid jobs to all workers.

SPR IN G 2 0 2 0 // 9

SCHOOL FUNDING:

Public good and economic growth A government funding boost for schools is the lifeline our economy needs.

1 0 // SP RI NG 2 0 2 0

Foundation executive director David Hetherington says that spending on schools, particularly in regional communities, is “very valuable” as a direct stimulus measure.

“The role of public education is to produce students with skills to help the country recover,” says Hetherington.

The AEU told a Senate inquiry into the government’s response to COVID-19 that an immediate injection of funds to bring all schools to 100 per cent of SRS was now urgently required.

AEU federal president Correna Haythorpe says that proper funding will

not only help to bridge the equity and achievement gaps between students from high and low socioeconomic households, but extra work is now needed to support students who have fallen behind during remote learning.

CAPITAL INVESTMENT URGENT Another obvious and important area in need of proper federal funding is school infrastructure.

Public school enrolments grew by 263,534 students in the decade to 2018, an increase of 10.3 per cent. New schools are needed to accommodate these students

ILLUSTRATION OTTO STEININGER / IKON IMAGES

I

nvestment in public education is a gift that keeps on giving, delivering benefits to students and communities now and into the future.

Public education provides every child with the opportunity to reach their full potential. It improves health and employment outcomes, boosts informed participation in society, and promotes equality.

Investment in education also increases earnings. Those with post-secondary qualifications earn an average of 20 to 40 per cent more than those without.

That means government revenues are increased through the tax paid on higher incomes.

While spending on schools provides a direct and immediate economic stimulus, the long-term benefits to students and communities are arguably even more valuable.

Public schools provide a rich education for students, with teachers striving to meet the needs of every child. But schools are not properly funded.

By 2023, most public schools will remain below the minimum funding benchmark, the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS), while all private schools will be at or above the target.

The shortfall in funding for public schools is $16.3 billion in this Parliamentary term alone. It will climb to $22.7 billion dollars by 2023, according to AEU analysis.

A 2018 Public Education Foundation study calculated the national cost of education inequity over a six-year period at $20.3 billion dollars, equivalent to 1.2 per cent of GDP. The study’s solutions included targeted teaching and extra teachers, alternative learning programs and a firm commitment to needs-based funding for schools.

A FAIR GO / Public education

Schools funding action plan and existing schools must be improved to increase capacity.

“A guaranteed long-term, federally funded capital works package is critical,” Haythorpe says.

“Existing schools need new classrooms, libraries, heating and cooling and sport facilities to properly accommodate students now and to provide for the coming increase in enrolments.”

A federally funded school building program, made when government borrowing is cheaper than ever, would provide a valuable stimulus to Australia’s construction and manufacturing industries and drive employment, says Haythorpe.

... invest in public education to remove inequality and make sure that every child receives the education they need.

THE CHOICE IS CLEAR The AEU’s Senate inquiry submission says the “vast inequity” in the way federal government funding is distributed to schools means that many students are not provided with the additional resources required to enable them to overcome their disadvantage.

“If Australia is to recover and return to growth following the current economic shock, the upcoming 2020 Budget will have to provide very significant stimulus.

This stimulus should be targeted where it can have the most immediate and longterm impact,” the submission says.

Research has shown that investment in public education produces more skilled workers, allowing industry to expand production and employ greater numbers of people which, in turn, increases output across the economy.

A major OECD study of 76 countries in 2015 shows that the knowledge capital of a nation improves as better educated young people enter the workforce.

Improved literacy and numeracy skills would deliver economic benefits

Correna Haythorpe AEU federal president

to the Australian economy averaging $65 billion each year, according to an AEU commissioned report: Australian Schooling – the Price of Failure and Reward for Success by education economist Adam Rorris.

Australian governments are faced with a clear choice, says Rorris. “They can either position Australia to reap the benefits of a high-performance and equitable education system or they can allow the country to bear the cost of failure.

“Failure to invest in the reinvigoration of the Australian school system will impose long-running financial costs spanning the entire working life of today’s school students,” Rorris says.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE Haythorpe says COVID-19 has highlighted longstanding inequities in education.

“As a priority, governments must put public education first with a significant

The AEU is calling on the federal government to: Provide true needs-based funding to Australia’s schools Immediate injection of funds to bring all schools to 100 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS), with associated loadings for students with complex needs Create a guaranteed long-term, federally funded capital works package

investment to address that inequity," she says.

“Many of our students are from disadvantaged backgrounds and their families have been deeply affected by this crisis. In communities across Australia, education is the stabilising factor for our children. It not only leads to better life outcomes for individual students but enormous long-term benefits to society, the economy and the entire country.

“There’s an imperative for governments to invest in public education to remove inequality and make sure that every child receives the education they need.”

SPR IN G 20 2 0 // 11

How four year olds can make or break an economy

I

f the question is how best to lift our ailing economy out of a sickly slump, the answer could be early childhood education.

Investing in the early years of a child’s life through free preschool for three and four year olds doesn’t just make a difference to educational outcomes, it offers a return on investment that is virtually unequalled in a depressed economy.

Independent analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) last year identified approximately $2 of benefits for every $1 spent on early childhood education.

The report, A Smart Investment for a Smarter Australia, concluded that spending on early childhood education could be viewed as “a strong long-term investment with quantifiable financial returns”.

It found that governments continue to win in the long-term by providing early childhood education.

“They benefit from higher taxes paid by parents and carers who are able to work

1 2 // SP RI NG 2 0 2 0

more, and children who earn more over their lifetimes,” the report says.

“Early childhood education also reduces unemployment and the resulting payments of unemployment benefits and other forms of social expenditure.

“State and territory governments are beneficiaries as a result of fewer children repeating a year of school or needing special education placements, as well as lower health and criminal justice systems costs.”

The benefits of spending on education are “incredible and multi-dimensional”, says Jim Stanford, director of the Centre for Future Work at The Australia Institute.

To start with, there is an immediate economic boost by employing more people.

“The Australian system is ridiculous compared to the rest of the industrialised world; full-day education for three and four year olds at the public expense is how it should be. That would create 100,000 or more jobs in the early childhood

education system,” says Stanford.

“That would help to get the ball rolling to repair our labour market after the pandemic.”

And, given that most early childhood educators are female, it would increase the number of women in work and allow some of the parents of children in early childhood education to work, or work more hours, he adds.

“Australian women, particularly in the prime parenting years, have labour force participation far below other industrial countries. It is precisely because we don’t have an adequate early childhood education system,” says Stanford.

“The job losses for women in this recession have been significantly worse than for men because of the sectors they tend to work in; those were the sectors that were shut down.”

BEHIND THE GAME Extensive research, which is widely accepted worldwide, has proven that

ILLUSTRATION MARCUS BUTT / IKON IMAGES

In the hunt for economic stimulus measures, the government could do itself (and the country) a favour by boosting early childhood education.

A FAIR GO / Early Childhood

Australian women, particularly in the prime parenting years, have labour force participation far below other industrial countries ... because we don’t have an adequate early childhood education system.

Jim Stanford Centre for Future Work

a child’s early years are critical to their development, says Professor Deborah Brennan from the University of New South Wales.

Brennan, a co-author of a 2018 report on the most effective interventions in early childhood, says parents get it, but policy makers are behind the game.

“It’s not so much about children having very specific skills when they enter school. We’re really talking about sociability, familiarity with working alongside other children, listening to and respecting other opinions, cooperating, and really finding joy in learning.”

Brennan says countries comparable to Australia introduced two years of early education “years ago” and often free of charge.

“I want to acknowledge that some of the states, notably Victoria, are really moving ahead with preschool for three year olds. Other states like NSW and the ACT have made some steps, but Victoria is the standout,” Brennan says.

A DISRUPTED SECTOR More than 96 per cent of Australian children attend an early childhood education program in the year before school.

Fifteen hours per week, delivered by a qualified teacher, is provided to four year olds in a funding arrangement between the federal and state and territory governments known as the Universal Access National Partnership.

But the federal funding that has underpinned the partnership since 2013 has always been uncertain. A series of 12-month or two-year temporary funding agreements has led to damaging disruption in the sector.

Educators and early childhood centres have been left unable to make long-term

Early advantage The economic benefits of early childhood education

1:2

$2 return for every $1 spent on early childhood education

$4.8 billion benefits generated by each cohort attending early childhood education

Australia invests

$2.3 billion on universal access to early childhood education

This equates to a government spend of

$6789

per child per year, less than HALF of what it spends on primary school children and a THIRD of what it spends on secondary school children.

plans, says Martel Menz, the AEU’s federal executive early childhood representative.

“It’s not the secure and permanent funding we need,” she says.

A review commissioned by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Education Council agrees, noting that short-term agreements and performancebased payments had “compromised” the ability to plan and invest for the long term, and had had a “debilitating” effect on the sector.

“This means, for example, good staff cannot be retained due to an inability to promise them longer-term employment, which in turn leads to higher turnover and associated administrative inefficiencies,” says Menz.

To remedy that, a review by international management consultancy, the Nous Group, has recommended that the next agreement run for five years – from 2021 to 2025 – followed by a permanent national agreement from 2026.

Federal funding should continue, the review recommends, because of the strong evidence that quality preschool improves educational and other developmental outcomes.

“A decrease in funding would reduce preschool participation and could adversely affect workforce participation.

There would be serious consequences for children, parents, the sector and its workforce, and other government programs,” says Menz.

In an ideal world, all children would receive at least two years of free preschool education, delivered by qualified early childhood educators, she says.

“While it shouldn’t necessarily be compulsory, it should be written into legislation that every child has the right."

SPR IN G 20 2 0 // 13

Safe and secure?

Australia’s problem with insecure work has come into sharp focus since the pandemic, which has so far caused the loss of more than one million jobs and casual positions.

Now, unions are calling for the economy to be rebuilt on a fairer footing.

IN SHORT // Before COVID-19, more than 2.6 million Australians were employed in casual positions. // Job insecurity lessens consumer spending in the economy, which reduces job creation and creates greater inequality. // The government must invest in more permanent positions.

1 4 // SP RI NG 2 0 2 0

A FAIR GO / Job Security

B

ILLUSTRATION MARK AIRS / IKON IMAGES

efore COVID-19 hit, nearly half of Australia’s workers did not have a permanent, full-time job with paid sick leave and holidays; jobs were increasingly insecure, and many were struggling to earn a living wage.

These fault lines in our economy and society were dramatically laid bare in the wake of COVID-19 when hundreds of thousands were left without work and many were affected by reduced hours.

Casuals, gig workers and workers employed by labour hire firms or on contracts were the first to lose their jobs.

Before COVID-19, more than 2.6 million Australians were employed in casual positions, 40 per cent of them aged 15-24 years. But insecure work extends to more than just casual workers. It includes parttimers who often rely on irregular hours at the whim of an employer; the selfemployed, where workers are required to get an ABN; gig workers; freelancers; and independent contractors.

EDUCATORS FACE UNCERTAINTY Workers on fixed-term contracts are another group that face a great deal of employment insecurity.

In universities, for example, the majority of teaching is performed by sessional academics employed on fixed-term contracts. They’re not entitled to holiday or sick pay and often have to wait until the week before a new semester begins to learn if they still have a job. In total, almost 70 per cent of university employees are casual or hold short-term contracts.

The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has blasted universities for the “hypocrisy” of sitting on vast financial reserves while providing precarious employment conditions.

Australia’s richest tertiary institution, the University of Melbourne, has reserves of $4.43 billion dollars but employs 72.9 per cent of its staff as casuals or on short-term contracts, according to the NTEU. Thousands of university employees have already lost their jobs since the pandemic hit, and hundreds more casual and contract jobs are under threat as the international student market dries up.

The NTEU says the federal government has also played a role in the unfolding employment disaster by refusing to provide JobKeeper funding to universities.

In the TAFE sector, contract and casual work is increasing at an alarming rate. Like universities, the sector’s estimated number of non-permanent employees is almost double that of many other sectors.

AEU federal president Correna Haythorpe says the lack of job certainty adds extra stress to already overworked TAFE staff.

“Casual and contract jobs cause financial insecurity. Casual workers can’t apply for loans or mortgages, they can’t rely on sick leave and holiday pay and they can’t plan for the future,” she says.

Providing permanent positions for teachers would help both the country’s and educators’ economic stability.

“The work is there, it’s government behaviour that keeps people in insecure work.”

NOT ENOUGH HOURS Another form of job instability is underemployment or reduced working hours, which has grown significantly since COVID-19 first struck.

For example, aged care workers are often employed on permanent part-time contracts but guaranteed as little as 12 or 15 hours' work each week.

Casual workers can’t apply for loans or mortgages, they can’t rely on sick leave and holiday pay and they can’t plan for the future.

Correna Haythorpe AEU federal president

What is decent work?

The characteristics that define “decent work” include:

Reasonable job security and stability Safe and pleasant working conditions Compensation that is sufficient to meet the requirements of a healthy, full life (a “living wage”) The capacity to balance work and family responsibilities SOURCE: The Dimensions of Insecure Work: A Factbook, Centre for Future Work

SPR IN G 20 2 0 // 15

Hundreds of thousands have been left without work since the pandemic first struck in March.

The plan to rebuild The ACTU has called for urgent government investment to rebuild the economy and create permanent, secure jobs.

1 6 // SP RI NG 2 0 2 0

•

The ideas include a national commitment to free early child education and care, a massive investment in training (including 150,000 free TAFE places), support for the travel and hospitality sectors, a large increase in infrastructure investment and an expansion of manufacturing.

3 Rediscover Australia

The aim is a “jobs-led economic reconstruction”, says ACTU president Michele O’Neil.

The federal government needs to “think big by investing public money for public good”, says O’Neil.

“Our initiatives will support and create jobs for women and men, for cities and towns, and for young people as well as older workers,” she says.

The extension of JobKeeper funding to universities •

Supporting 350,000 jobs in tourism, the arts, accommodation, travel and regional services over the next 12 months with Commonwealth sponsorship of artistic, community, agricultural, and entertainment events, productions, and exhibitions in all states •

Emergency financial funding to support Australia Council grant recipients affected by COVID-19 •

Expansion of JobKeeper payments to include workers in the arts and entertainment industries •

4 National reconstruction investment

$30 billion per annum boost in public capital projects including transport, public housing, cultural and public service facilities, forest and fire management and renewable energy assets •

The ACTU plan includes:

1 Early childhood

education and care •

Permanently free childcare

•

Building of new not-for-profit facilities

• Universal

access to 15 hours of preschool for 3 and 4 years olds An improvement of the current wage subsidy to support the ongoing employment of staff •

2 Training A total of 150,000 free TAFE places, which would also support 10,000 jobs in the TAFE system

5 Sustainable manufacturing Australian-made products in all new infrastructure and public service procurement •

Zero interest loans for new renewable energy developments with a direct link to manufacturing •

•

•

TAFE funding restored with 70 per cent of all VET funding directed to TAFE

•

•

A fund to update and modernise TAFE facilities particularly in regional areas •

Support for large gas and electricity users to upgrade equipment as part of energy conservation plans Government investments in the rapid decarbonisation of the energy sector, research and development, and new sustainable manufacturing activities

PHOTOGRAPHY GETTY IMAGES

It does not provide enough to live on because the hourly rate is so low, says Professor Sara Charlesworth at the RMIT School of Management.

“Insecure work is a disgrace for a country as wealthy as Australia. We are an exception in the OECD,” she says.

Casual and permanent part-time jobs are also common in the hospitality and retail sectors where employers are accustomed to increasing or decreasing employees’ hours according to demand within the business.

It’s a “just-in-time” approach to employment, says Dr Jim Stanford, where the goal is to reduce labour costs and make it easier to hire and fire at will.

But this strategy has an economic knock-on effect.

“The whole point of the economy is to lift up people’s living standards but suppressing wages directly harms people,” says Stanford, an economist and director of the Centre for Future Work.

“It undermines consumer spending and aggregate demand in the economy, which reduces job creation and creates inequality and social division.”

One obvious solution to the problems of low wages and insecure work is to limit casual work to genuine seasonal and unpredictable fluctuations in demand.

And, the Fair Work Commission should close the loopholes allowing employers to turn employees into independent contractors, says Stanford.

But governments also need to step up and provide adequate resources in the public and human services sectors, which are beset by low wages and poor labour practices, he says.

Commonwealth wage subsides for up to 100,000 apprentices and trainees and a guaranteed job at the end

The National Economic Reconstruction plan is based on five practical programs that are designed to create and save more than one million secure jobs, protect industries, invest in skills and training and strengthen infrastructure.

SOLIDARITY $5 RAFFLE 2020 BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE: 2ND PRIZE

$1,799 BIKE

APHEDA.ORG.AU/RAFFLE

1ST PRIZE

$8,000 TRAVEL VOUCHER

3RD PRIZE

$500 BOOK VOUCHER

TRAVEL VOUCHER VALID FOR 24 MONTHS FROM DATE OF DRAW!

APHEDA.ORG.AU/RAFFLE

For more than thirty-five years, Union Aid Abroad APHEDA has worked with unions and social movements abroad to support their efforts to defend their rights. In a globalised world, your contribution gives power to workers everywhere. Help continue the fight for global justice by buying and selling raffle tickets today!

Raffle closes 2 October 2020 - Winner drawn 29 October 2020

Is this the tipping point on workloads?

There’s no quick fix for the problem of excessive workloads in schools but there are some obvious solutions: employ more staff, reduce class sizes and lessen the burden of administration and compliance.

Workload

Before the pandemic ...

T

eachers, support staff and principals were already finding it impossible to complete their work in paid hours, then COVID-19 happened.

Before the pandemic, full-time teachers were working a weekly average of 48 hours and part-time teachers, 33 hours, according to the AEU’s annual State of our Schools survey of educators across Australia. Two-thirds say that their working hours have increased in the last year.

Full-time support staff work an average of 45 hours per week and those on fixedterm contracts work 47 hours per week.

Just over 40 per cent say their workloads have increased in the last year.

COVID-19 added an extra 11.8 hours per week on average to 69 per cent of teachers during April and May 2020, the survey found.

Educators in remote schools, early career teachers, and those working in under-resourced schools report far higher hours of work – some are working up to 55 hours per week.

Most say they spend too much time on administration; preparing for and

ILLUSTRATION PEPE SERRA / IKON IMAGES

IN SHORT // Two-thirds of teachers say that their working hours have increased in the last year. // Excessive workloads undermine education quality and threaten to push teachers out of the profession. // There needs to be more funding for support and smaller class sizes.

full-time teachers were working a weekly average of

Government funding cuts often undermine the very structures that were put in place to provide critical support for teachers’ work.

Correna Haythorpe AEU federal president

administering standardised tests; and data entry for performance accountability compliance, which cuts their time in the classroom.

The consequences of these excessive workloads are serious for educators, students and school systems. Stress levels increase, jeopardising educators’ physical and mental wellbeing and there is little time for any professional development activities. Excessive workloads threaten the quality of education and the attractiveness of the profession to new recruits.

FUNDING TO EASE PRESSURE The 2020 AEU federal conference recognised the workload issue. Its conference statement noted that employers were “exploiting the professional commitment of teachers and leaders to their students to impose unsustainable and unhealthy working regimes on their employees”.

AEU federal president Correna Haythorpe says restoring proper levels of funding to schools is one obvious fix. Proper funding would pay for more

48 hours and part-time teachers

33 hours 2/3 say that their working hours have increased in the last year

And now ...

COVID-19 added an extra

11.8 hours

per week on average to

69% of teachers during April and May 2020

SPR IN G 20 2 0 // 19

There’s just so much work to do.

People are still frustrated by the number of meetings they go to ... they don't feel like they've got enough control over their time when they're at work.

Meredith Peace AEU Victoria branch president

2 0 // SP RI NG 2 0 2 0

meetings they go to. They’re still frustrated by the fact that they don’t feel like they’ve got enough control over their time when they’re at work.

“It really does highlight that we actually need more people in our schools doing that work,” Peace says.

As the Victorian branch begins work on the next schools agreement, the gains made and lessons learned from the 2017 agreement will be valuable building blocks to achieving further improvements in educators’ workloads.

EXTRA PRESSURES OF COVID-19 The teaching conditions under COVID-19 added another stressful layer to Beck Humphreys usual excessive workload.

“It was insane,” says Humphreys, a senior teacher at Barcaldine Prep-12 State School in Queensland.

Classes moved online in Queensland and the state government provided curriculum materials for Prep to Year 10.

Content for Years 11 and 12 was managed by individual teachers.

Teachers were expected to be available at school during class times to chat online to students. For Humphreys, who teaches five different subjects, the workload became “hectic”.

There was online chat to the students, emails from students and their parents, and the written feedback on work that might otherwise have just been a quick chat in class.

“You have minimum 18 kids in a class, multiply that by five classes, then add parents. I was keeping logs of who I was emailing every day just so I could keep track,” she says.

The students were also stressed about the disruption and uncertainty, says Humphreys, particularly the Year 12s who

were worried about how it might affect their final year.

Then the school goat, Gloria, which had just given birth to triplets, became ill. “So, in the middle of it all we had triplets to feed and I’m checking a sick goat three times a day.”

Now that her school is back to normal scheduling, Humphreys is celebrating a small workload win.

“Report cards have been pushed back.

ILLUSTRATION ALICE MOLLON / IKON IMAGES

teachers and support staff and allow smaller class sizes.

“Government funding cuts often undermine the very structures that were put in place to provide critical support for teachers’ work, such as the specialist curriculum support networks, the behaviour management support units and the disability support networks,” says Haythorpe.

She says one of the union’s most important tasks is to use industrial bargaining to address the significant health and wellbeing issues of excessive workloads.

AEU Victoria paved the way for positive change in 2017, reaching a deal with the state government that acknowledged the overwhelming workload for educators in a new schools agreement and included measures to address it, such as four non-teaching professional practice days per year for teachers to focus on work related to teaching including planning, preparation and assessment.

In an attempt to keep the focus on what really counts, the Victorian agreement mandates that 30 hours of a teacher’s working week is spent on activities directly related to teaching and learning, leaving the remaining eight hours for other school activities such as lunch, yard duty and meetings.

Principals’ massive workloads were also recognised through changes aimed at reducing paperwork, emails and meetings, and increasing support.

The agreement’s focus on workload was significant and it has made a difference, but its implementation has not always been smooth, says AEU Victoria branch president Meredith Peace.

“There’s just so much work to do. People are still frustrated by the number of

Workload

to excessive workloads as part of her role on a new Workload Advisory Council. The formation of the council was negotiated by the Queensland Teachers Union as part of the 2019 enterprise bargaining agreement to find ways to reduce workloads.

I’m working with a new teacher and he’s at school into the evening and working on weekends to try to manage his workload. It's a real struggle for him.

Jacki Knizek Bakewell Primary School, NT

"We’re getting all of our assessments in, but it’s highly modified this term for all but senior students. Only maths, science and English are being reported on at our school.”

That minor victory aside, the more than 50 hours of work she puts in each week largely comes down to paperwork and the preparation she needs to complete because she is teaching out of her subject areas.

As an English/history teacher, this year Humphreys is teaching senior classes in biology, agricultural practices, visual art and English, as well as a Year 9 science class.

“It requires so much study time so that you’re abreast of the curriculum materials.

I find myself working weekends just to get in front. I don’t want to let the students down,” she says.

Humphreys is aiming to find solutions

BALANCING THE ADMIN For Jacki Knizek, a Year 6 teacher at Bakewell Primary in Palmerston, NT, a solution of sorts is to be clear about what she can manage.

“I’ve learnt to say, I can’t make that deadline, this is when I can get it done,” Knizek says.

Knizek believes the administration work is often valuable to the school or students, but she says it can be overwhelming, particularly for new educators.

“I’m working with a new teacher and he’s at school into the evening and working on weekends to try to manage his workload," she says. "It’s a real struggle for him.”

The percentage of Australian teachers who report they have too much administrative work and experience a lot of stress is above the OECD average, according to former Productivity Commission economist and education researcher Trevor Cobbold.

Cobbold, who is convenor of Save Our Schools, says results from the recent OECD’s Teaching And Learning International Survey report show that more than half of all secondary school teachers in Australia say they have too much administrative work, which takes away time for preparing for classes and is a major source of stress.

“They are significant factors behind teachers leaving the profession,” Cobbold says.

SPR IN G 20 2 0 // 21

Celebrating public education Politicians and academics, unionists and businesspeople, philanthropists and judges all came together recently on Public Education Day to applaud public school educators. They spoke with joy about their experiences at school and advocated strongly for fair funding for public education.

Here is a selection of their contributions.

You can find the full posts and videos at aeufederal.org.au/news-media/public-education-day

JULIA GILLARD

PROFESSOR OF LAW AND RESEARCH DIRECTOR Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning University of Technology, Sydney

FORMER PRIME MINISTER

I don’t think I would have ever been picked as 'Most Likely to go to Harvard Law School'. As an Aboriginal person, you have to really fight. I remember one time when I was in Redfern, I heard one of the kids at the school say: “I’m going to go to Harvard like that Aboriginal girl.”

Most people have a teacher who had some significance for them. My English teacher, Ms O’Sullivan, was somebody who really shaped my confidence. I was encouraged to have a voice and to be passionate about what’s right and wrong.

To be able to go from Kirrawee High School through to an elite law school in this country, and then to Harvard Law School, shows that the public system was everything that I needed. This is what a girl from The Shire can do.

2 2 // SP RI NG 2 0 2 0

I first became a supporter of public education in 1967. That was the year when, as a terrified five-year-old migrant girl with traces of a Welsh accent, I started at Mitcham Infants School. I can easily recall how big the play area seemed and the unfamiliar routine of filing in and out of classrooms. But I also remember the kindness and professionalism of the teachers, who wanted their young pupils to both learn and find joy in doing so.

My public education continued at Mitcham Primary School and Unley High, all in suburban Adelaide. Not every day of school was fun, but every day mattered.

It would have been impossible for me to have lived the life I have without my great public education.

Public education is dedicated to creating the best kind of society. It teaches us to accept, respect and share, to be an openhearted and inclusive Australia.

It would have been impossible for me to have lived the life I have without my great public education.

Julia Gillard Former Prime Minister

ILLUSTRATION ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

LARISSA BEHRENDT

Public Education Day

MICHELE O’NEIL ACTU PRESIDENT I’m full of pride and admiration that we have a public education system founded on the right of every single child to access high-quality education. I also know that public education is the most powerful weapon we have to fight inequality. We need increased and fair funding for public education because public education is a public good.

DR JOHN FALZON SENIOR FELLOW Per Capita You don’t build a strong economy without a fully resourced public education system.

You don’t plan for the future without valuing and investing in teachers.

You don’t create a vibrant, caring and diverse society by widening the gap in education resource funding, giving to those who have too much and taking from those who have too little.

All of this was obvious before the pandemic. Now it is even more patently clear. Now, more than ever, it’s time to redress the disparity in school funding; it’s time to value and respect public educators; it’s time to make sure that every child is able to enjoy a high quality education in a safe and inclusive environment. Gough Whitlam said: “We are all diminished when any of us are denied proper education.”

Public education is a powerful reminder that there are some things too precious to leave to the market. Public schools, and the educators who work in them, are a bulwark against growing inequality; a defence of democracy; a space for creativity, learning and respect; a building block for a more equitable society.

PROFESSOR PETER C DOHERTY IMMUNOLOGIST, NOBEL LAUREATE AND 1997 AUSTRALIAN OF THE YEAR The best thing that could come out of COVID-19 is that we re-evaluate, then change many of the ways we are doing things. At the forefront of that is the need to fund the public education sector properly, from schools to TAFEs to universities. We have to focus on the needs of all Australians and, indeed, on the needs of all those we accept as temporary or permanent residents. We are talking about children!

If we want to reach our potential as a nation, we must have a broadly educated and smart workforce. That means providing the best possible opportunities to all, including those with the least resources…

Professor Peter C Doherty Immunologist

If we want to reach our potential as a nation, we must have a broadly educated and smart workforce. That means providing the best possible opportunities to all, including those with the least resources. We have all seen the appalling conditions in too many public schools.

It’s time to change. It’s time for all parents and grandparents to focus on the needs of the young. It’s time to put politicians on notice, interrogate them concerning their policy positions regarding public education and, if they don’t give satisfactory answers, vote them out.

KURT FEARNLEY THREE-TIME PARALYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST AND TWO-TIME COMMONWEALTH GAMES GOLD MEDALIST There’s nothing more powerful to an individual’s life than high quality education and that’s what public education is: not for the elite few but for every child across Australia.

STEPHANIE GOTLIB DISABILITY ADVOCATE AND FORMER CEO Children and Young People with Disability Australia Reform is much needed in Australia to enable the experience of inclusive education to become a lived reality for every child with disability. I have met and worked with so many people who work in the public education system who acknowledge the significant barriers that exist, and who are focused on and committed to progressing the educational rights of students with disability. I have no doubt that our public education will continue to lead the way.

My son completed Year 12 last year at Fitzroy High School. He has extremely high behaviour and communication needs and every aspect of his curriculum needed adjustment throughout his school life. He was a valued member of the school community and his disability was regarded as an aspect of diversity that enriched his school community and beyond. I am convinced that his experience was only possible because of the commitment and values inherent in our public education system.

SPR IN G 20 2 0 // 23

Public Education Day

AMANDA GRAHAM AUTHOR Inspiring, generous public school teachers are everywhere. Their task of educating and supporting children places an enormous responsibility upon their shoulders.

Their work, although often rewarding, is exhausting, and doesn’t finish at the school gate. Teachers spend evenings and holiday time planning lessons they hope will engage and motivate. They call parents after hours to chat about their son or daughter’s progress or raise concerns. And yet, so many of them do so much more to bring joy and excitement to their classrooms.

Teachers care deeply about children – everyone’s children. School support officers who work closely with teachers and students are cut from the same cloth.

They keep our children safe, they strive to help them succeed and they barrack for them from the sidelines as hard as any parent does. Heartfelt thanks to them all.

MICHAEL KIRBY FORMER HIGH COURT JUDGE International jurist and academic I am proud that my entire school education was in public schools.

Wonderful teachers. Excellent values.

Appropriate discipline and focus. Lifelong friendships. A continuing indebtedness.

COVID-19 has imposed added pressures on public schools, their staff and students. However, the shining values of public education have continued and even strengthened.

Public education remains one of our nation’s most precious features. We must guard it, support it and fund it properly.

2 4 // SP RI NG 2 0 2 0

ALAN REID PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF EDUCATION University of South Australia Public education has been central to the fight against COVID-19 in 2020. From the outset, and even as the health strategy changed as circumstances changed, public school educators acted in the same spirit in which public schools were established – in the public interest and for the common good. In so doing, they demonstrated the key values and characteristics that are the essence of public education, such as universality, equity and community.

If the crisis tells us anything, it is that for too long public schools and the educators who work in them have not been sufficiently recognised for the key role they play in Australian society. As post-pandemic planning starts, this can and must change.

New approaches should be based on at least two key principles.

The first is that well-resourced and inclusive public schools are the central educational provision in our society. They do not exist as an alternative to private schools. Once that principle is accepted, it is clear that the grossly inequitable funding arrangements that have short-changed public education for so long can no longer be tolerated.

The second principle is that from here on, the knowledge and professional expertise of public school educators – so profoundly relied upon during the crisis – must be used in the formulation of education policy.

For too long public schools and the educators who work in them have not been sufficiently recognised for the key role they play in Australian society.

Alan Reid Professor Emeritus of Education

DR JOHN DAVIS CEO Stronger Smarter Institute We love our sunburnt land of sweeping plains and have grown a deeper connection through ongoing sharing of great national ideologies. We have “mateship” connected to ANZAC spirit, “egalitarianism” connected to workers’ rights and the most powerful of all, the “fair go” – which, for me, is the best way to describe the centrality of public education to our nationhood.

Why and how? Because true public education is a celebration of all our Australian identities. Providing public education practices diversity and equity.

Quality is the benchmark we strive for through the pursuit of public education.

LESLEY PODESTA CEO Alannah & Madeline Foundation Education is a human right, as well as a public good and a public responsibility.

Without a properly funded and considered public education system, our society is at grave risk of endemic poverty, inequality, brutality and injustice.

Critical and creative thinking is envisioned as a primary purpose of education, says the Australian Curriculum: to "challenge [students] to think logically, reason, be open-minded, seek alternatives, tolerate ambiguity, inquire into possibilities, be innovative risk-takers, and use their imagination".

I am a product of a robust public education system and am grateful to my teachers and mentors along the way who encouraged me to learn, to explore, to think and to create.

Unlimited Online PD Subscriptions from $149+GST Purchasing TTA’s Unlimited Subscription has been one of the most successful professional learning initiatives for Glenwood High School.

Teachers have really appreciated the wide variety of courses on offer and having the flexibility to complete these courses at a time and place that suits them.

Richard Schiliro, HT Teaching & Learning, Glenwood High School

 140+ online courses  Self-paced learning  Lifetime course access  NESA Registered (NSW)

For more information or to request FREE online access* so you can take a completely risk free look around call 1300 789 961 or head to tta.edu.au/go/products (*1 free access account per school)

Educating about racism

Lessons from the field A powerful Australian sporting documentary has found a vital place in classrooms across the country.

BY L E ANN E T O L RA

Cool Australia resources The Cool Australia resources are broken into “watching the film” lessons and follow-up lessons that align across the curriculum and assist with forward planning.

At primary level, the resources explore race relations and social action. Students are asked to consider how formal and informal treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples impacts upon their sense of belonging.

Secondary lessons work with specialist units from health and physical education to social action, civics and citizenship, media arts, English and music and include topics such as societal values, equity, equality and inclusion, casual racism and vilification and how the media influences audience perspectives.

PHOTOGRAPHY GETTY IMAGES

I

n the nine months since Cool Australia released its 52-lesson package of resources around the racism and related issues in 2019 documentary The Final Quarter, compliments and feedback have poured in from teachers and students around the country.

One group of secondary students from a predominantly Indigenous school in Western Australia were so inspired by their lessons they wanted to write personal letters to Adam Goodes and asked Cool Australia to forward them to him.

Produced by Shark Island Institute, the film is about the final stages of the Australian Rules Football career of Sydney Swans player Adam Goodes and raises many important themes and concepts across the Year 5 to 12 curriculum.

“It has been a story that Jason Kimberley, our CEO and founder, has been incredibly passionate about even before the film was developed. He’s a Swans fan and had quite a response to the Goodes story when it was occurring,” says Cool

Australia general manager Thea Stinear.

Cool Australia was launched by Kimberley, a retailer, builder, restaurateur, photographer and adventurer, in 2008.

He identified educators as the “best voice” for his goal of providing students with relevant and engaging information about three pillars of sustainability: social, economic and environmental responsibility. All lesson packages and resources are available for free.

RESOURCES IN DEMAND The organisation has more than 132,000 teacher members supporting its programs and Stinear says they have shown an overwhelming demand for resources to help them teach students about racism.

A team of teachers and topic experts lead by education specialist, Janine Meadley, has worked together to create the lessons, with advice from a youth psychologist, Reconciliation Australia and the Australian Human Rights Commission.

“It has been very much a collaborative

experience, and we have worked to ensure we are accessing the most up-todate information,” says Meadley “Subject-specific educational writers have worked on the content to ensure an accurate fit for the curriculum across all age groups and relevant subject areas.”

Stinear says the lessons have been downloaded more than 20,000 times in less than a year.

Students are encouraged to watch the documentary before beginning any lesson and Stinear says the resources were used extensively during the COVID-19 lockdown, with traffic up by more than 240 per cent.

“The resources are more than just a Q&A guide to the film," she says. "It is about really supporting teachers to build their confidence and their capacity to talk about racism and tall-poppy syndrome and mob mentality within the classroom.”

Leanne Tolra is a freelance writer.

SPR IN G 20 2 0 // 27

Opportunity for change Students say the COVID-19 lockdown showed that global action on climate change is possible and that sustainability education is a vital starting point.

BY L E ANN E T O L RA

T

CURRICULUM REVIEW As the world turns its focus to the aftermath of the pandemic, students and educators fighting for climate change say sustainability education is now critical.

2 8 // SP RI NG 2 0 2 0

In mid-June, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) announced education ministers have agreed to terms of reference for the review of the Foundation to Year 10 Australian curriculum to be released by the start of 2022.

Australian Association of Environmental Education (AAEE) vice president and former author of the CSIRO’s CarbonKids program Angela Colliver has assessed links to climate change being taught in the Australian curriculum.

IN SHORT // Up to 70,000 students globally tuned into virtual School Strike 4 Climate protests on 15 May. // Schools only take on climate change education if there is a 'champion' at the school. // Children need schools to help develop their critical and creative thinking about sustainability.

PHOTOGRAPHY GETTY IMAGES

he COVID-19 pandemic has proven to many members of the worldwide youth movement demanding urgent action to save the planet, that governments, business and individuals can work together quickly to deal with an international crisis.

“During COVID-19, global governments listened to health scientists and professionals and acted,” says Sancha Macpherson, a Year 9 student and climate action leader at Stanthorpe State High School in Queensland. “I think that really showed us that change can occur quickly when pressure is put on governments to take action on a global issue.”

Macpherson, a member of School Strike 4 Climate Australia, with her peers across the globe, held protests from their bedrooms on 15 May during the shutdown.

School Strike 4 Climate Australia says up to 70,000 students tuned into the SS4C livestream protest and tens of thousands more put down their pens while attending school at home.

“Obviously we have gone online at the moment, but we will be back on the streets,” Macpherson says.

She had changed schools prior to the COVID-19 lockdown as “90 per cent of the students at my old school did not believe in climate change or climate science”.

“Although I did the first five weeks at my new school online, I could see that across Stanthorpe High’s curriculum there were references to climate change in many of my subjects.”

Agenda

Resources

Centre for Research and innovation in Sustainability Education espaces.edu.au/climate_change_education Getting started with sustainability in schools sustainabilityinschools.edu.au 30 quests for students around the world to celebrate, explore and connect with nature ed.ted.com/earth-school

It’s easier for the government to ignore the climate changing rather than a lot of people getting infected with a specific illness.

Declan Cass-Hunter MacGregor State High School, QLD

“But teachers are still not really comfortable in that field and schools will generally only take it on if there is a ‘champion’ in the school,” she says.

“We find that when that champion moves, any programs that have been put in place are at risk of being lost.”

“I was horrified when I actually mapped links to subjects such as humanities, geography and science to see where our current curriculum authority ACARA saw opportunities for climate change education to be embraced," she says.

“There is a need for a more holistic, pedagogically relevant and integrated approach to teaching and learning that addresses the science of climate change."

AAEE president Jennifer Pearson, says the organisation has resources to support teachers in sustainability education.

GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT Declan Cass-Hunter, a Year 9 student at MacGregor State High School in South Brisbane, says an inspirational teacher at his school has supported the climate strike, but climate education has not been consistently incorporated into his learning.

He joined the 15 May strike online after becoming involved in the School Strike 4 Climate campaign as an organiser of the November 2019 Bushfire Solidarity SitDown in his local area.

“COVID-19 showed that we can act on a crisis, but there is a big difference in the visibility of COVID-19 and the climate crisis," he says. "It's easier for the government to ignore the climate changing rather than a lot of people getting infected with a specific illness.”

Cass-Hunter says social media has been his main source of climate learning and

is the area from which he believes the movement will continue to grow.

Professor Bob Stevenson, adjunct professor at James Cook University (JCU) and Cairns Institute and and honorary professor of education at University of Queensland, says sustainability as a crosscurriculum priority in Australia isn't working.

He cites a 2017 study at JCU which found that young people in Australia and around the world must go outside their schools to take action on sustainability.

“They participate in social media environmental interest groups in order to have opportunities and avenues to connect with a wider audience and work with other community members to address local environmental issues,” he says.

“Students also reported gaining leadership skills for collective action from their informal online experiences. These kind of opportunities and experiences need to be established within schools.”

Stevenson says today’s children will need schools to help develop their capacities for critical and creative thinking about sustainability issues.

“Scott Morrison’s response to the student climate strikes that ‘what we want is more learning in schools and less activism’ ignores the fact that learning about both civics and important global issues occurs from activism.

“Given the constraining factors teachers have reported (in another PhD research study at JCU) of addressing climate change education, school curriculum and organisational structures need rethinking to support them to develop these students’ capacities,” Stevenson says.

Leanne Tolra is a freelance writer.

SPR IN G 20 2 0 // 29

Back to school Returning to classrooms after the COVID-19 shutdown has taken some adjustment for our new educators.

BY MARG ARE T PATO N

love hearts to give to his girlfriend. It was really sweet,” she says.

FLEXIBLE AND RESPONSIVE Leaver has had to revamp her teaching program in other ways, too. She had been taking a Year 9 unit for a teacher who was on leave and returning in 2021.

“A lot of the teaching material wasn’t working for this particular group of students, and I knew they needed to be motivated to learn.

“The content was very technologybased, but not all of my students had iPads. So, I had to change the plan as we went. That was my biggest ‘ah-ha’ moment: that I should change things if they’re not working.”

Meanwhile, in her home economics classes, she’s been extra vigilant about hygiene in response to the lessons of COVID-19.

“I check students’ dishes to make sure they’re thoroughly dry, and I don’t let them leave the room until they put things away properly.”

ASHLEIGH LEAVER Aveley Secondary College, WA

A STITCH IN TIME High school textiles and home economics teacher Ashleigh Leaver says she had a “massive breakthrough” with her Year 7 sewing class.

“I helped these kids love sewing,” she says, and that was after she had to change her plan for them to make iPad cases.

“When they came back to school after the COVID-19 shutdown, we didn’t have much time, so instead they made emojis on key chains. They used a stencil to cut pieces of yellow felt, stuffed and sewed them up, adding hearts, eyes or faces.”

3 0 // SP RI NG 2 0 2 0

Many students hooked them onto their backpacks, which was “good promotion” for the next group of Year 7 students entering her class.

Another highlight was making sewing “rock” for a Year 7 student who she thought might be a challenge to engage.

“He was amazing on the sewing machine and would quietly come in at lunchtime so his mates wouldn’t know.

He made two emoji keyrings in the time his peers made one. He even made a simple pin cushion, embroidering it with

A DRIVING FORCE In term three, Leaver will start her postponed after-school academy for students experiencing disadvantage.

“Another teacher and I are keen to run an art/home-economics fusion academy.

Like a crafty academy. We’ll do some crochet and wearable art.”

Leaver says she is happy that things are returning to normal.

“During the COVID-19 lockdown, it was hard to maintain my passion for teaching. I think it has been hard for everyone to keep up their energy when you feel as though the world is falling down around you.

“But I knew I was lucky, and I still had a job to look forward to going back to.”

New educators

We follow new teachers throughout this year and feature their challenges and achievements in each issue of Australian Educator.

PHOEBE MORRIS Camira State School, QLD

PHOTOGRAPHY RICHARD WHITFIELD

A CHANCE TO REFLECT Phoebe Morris has been taking on extra professional development to support the learning of a new Year 6 student in her class.

The student, who is on the autism spectrum, needs support to improve his learning and social skills, and Morris has gained some helpful advice from the head of inclusive education at her school.

“It’s been a big learning curve to figure out what works and to find strategies to help him be successful,” she says.

“I set him some tasks and, when he completes them, he has some reward time with a friend. The skills he’s developing are patience, turn-taking, and resilience.

“Some of the other students have been on board with that and are volunteering their time to work with him and help him with social skills.”

In term three, Morris is keen to take on further professional development and trial ways to increase students’ peer teaching for inclusive education. She says she’ll also need to work on her students’ collaboration, teamwork and resilience skills to help them cope with the demands of high school next year.

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS The COVID-19 shutdown changed perspectives for many teachers, and Morris says she has tweaked her way of teaching since her school reopened.

“I’ve been trying more partner and small-group work to facilitate students’ social relationships because some of them found it tough dealing with the social isolation for five weeks.

“I realise how much the kids make your class. Without them physically there, you don’t see their full personalities and hear their funny stories. It was a different relationship online.

“Building relationships with my students has formed the basis of my behaviour management strategy, and it’s good to have them back,” Morris says.

She described the shutdown and the experience of teaching children of essential workers face-to-face as a “big adventure”.

But, she says, it’s back to business as usual.

“When COVID-19 first hit, nearly every

other day the prime minister and premier would make some change. The union was good at keeping us up to date.”

Outside of school, Morris has been recharging by heading away on road trips, and roller-skating at a local rink with her partner.

She has also been visiting a local reserve for some stand-up paddle-boarding and kayaking with her siblings.

“I play AFL, too, and we’ve gone back to training, but we still have to social distance.

Taekwondo isn’t back on yet because it was indoors, but life is slowly returning to normal.”

SPR IN G 20 2 0 // 31

Recognising and rewarding Nominations open for the

Arthur Hamilton Award This is your chance to celebrate AEU members who are making an outstanding contribution to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education.

The Arthur Hamilton Award commemorates the achievements of Arthur Hamilton, a Palawa man who was active in promoting cross-cultural awareness, recognition of Indigenous peoples and the right for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to access a high quality public education.

The winner will receive a $1500 prize and be flown to Melbourne to accept the Award at the AEU’s annual Federal Conference in February 2021.

All nominees will receive a certificate from the AEU.

Get nominating!

Download your nomination form at: aeufederal.org.au/our-work/indigenous or request a nomination form from Suzanne Lowndes: (03) 9693 1800 slowndes@aeufederal.org.au

Find out more

Visit aeufederal.org.au/our-work/indigenous or contact AEU Federal Secretary, Susan Hopgood: aeu@aeufederal.org.au

The 2019 Arthur Hamilton Award went to the Port Augusta Children’s Centre.

The award was presented by Correna Haythorpe, AEU federal president (left), to Mandy Dempsey, director, Port Augusta Children’s Centre, at the 2020 AEU Federal Conference.

New educators

We’ll have a relief teacher for the first time in three years so our educators can have more release from face-to-face teaching to do planning and other administrationrelated work.

Colin Kiel Alekarenge School, NT

PHOTOGRAPHY SUPPLIED

COLIN KIEL Alekarenge School, NT

CROSSING INTO NEW TERRITORY Northern Territory’s Colin Kiel has been supporting a Year 7 to 9 teacher who was running classes remotely from Perth through, and even after, the COVID-19 shutdown.

“We’ve had to be really flexible, creative, and delicate in the way we’ve managed this situation,” Kiel says.

The teacher, who needed to be based in Perth for personal reasons, teaches all of the key learning areas and uses Skype to run her classes. She emails the school office each morning to print students’ worksheets

and her day includes a release from face-toface teaching and her breaks.

ISSUES OF ATTENDANCE The school had lifted its attendance rates earlier in the year, but after the COVID-19 shutdown sometimes just seven students came to class.

“We’re meant to have about 80 kids, so that was tough. Those kids who turned up wanted to be here, learn, and be part of what we were doing. When you have kids turning up despite the odds, it’s easy to be passionate,” he says.

In mid-year, the school earned $100,000 from the education department due to increasing student attendance rates. That was spent hiring two new teachers, who started in term two.

“We’ll have a relief teacher for the first time in three years so our educators can have more release from face-toface teaching to do planning and other administration-related work,” says Kiel. He promoted the vacancies widely, but ended up recruiting via Facebook.

“I encourage people to keep thinking about applying to teach in the Northern Territory. The department of education is willing to pay for new recruits who are required to isolate and for moving costs.”

Kiel is also investing in the school’s ICT hub. He’ll buy a drone and has $15,000 to spend on technology training for his staff.

They’ll use the drone to film the community visiting on an open day.

By then, he’ll be a real local: in term three, Kiel’s wife and infant daughter will relocate from Alice Springs to a house close to the school, so he’ll no longer need to make the seven-hour return drive to see them on the weekends.

Margaret Paton is a freelance writer and casual K-12 teacher.

SPR IN G 20 2 0 // 33

Mobilising for democracy, social justice and equity Union solidarity is needed now more than ever to help rebuild societies that have been devastated by COVID-19.

3 4 // SP RI NG 2 0 2 0

It is not just the combination of health, equality, and economic crises causing alarm, says EI president and AEU federal secretary Susan Hopgood. These are exacerbated by political opportunism, disinformation and manipulation to such an extent that even some of the world’s oldest and most stable democracies are under threat.

Hopgood says there are authoritarians with political power who define patriotism “not by what you are for, but by who you are against”, creating extreme levels of

IN SHORT // Governments cut funds for public services because we don't know how to value their output. // COVID-19 has shone a spotlight on longstanding inequalities. // Global federations of education and public service workers' unions are uniting to bring about real change.

PHOTOGRAPHY GETTY IMAGES

T

he threats and challenges to democracy, social justice and equity worldwide can be overcome by determined union solidarity and alliances with other movements, an international forum has been told.

The online conference, Unions standing for democracy, social justice and equity, was organised by Education International (EI) and Public Services International, global federations of education and public service workers’ unions.

World view

polarisation. “They mobilise their mobs around fear, bigotry, and hatred, not around positive values or visions for the future.”

Global business is playing a role too, with its focus on guarantees and protections for investors, she says. “But it has been blind to the same assurances for workers, for human rights, the environment, and social justice.”

Meanwhile, business models have infected the provision of public services – such as education and health – with governments casting aside the public good in favour of increased cost cutting and deals with private partners.

Why? Because we don’t know how to measure the real effect of public service investment on the economy.

Professor Mariana Mazzucato, an economist from University College London, told the conference the problem was that economists did not know how to value most public services.

“Economics basically confuses price with value. We don’t know how to value the output [of public services]. That’s why there’s so much talk of cost cutting.

“It hasn't just been the privatisation crisis and the outsourcing trend, but also a fall in the actual investments and the dynamic capabilities of different types of public institutions,” says Mazzucato.

TALK ABOUT VALUE One solution is to clearly communicate the value created by public services and government funding.

Mazzucato says unions are “absolutely fundamental” to help change the way we think about business and markets.

“Markets are outcomes of how we govern our system,” she says. “We need better marketing, better storytelling.” None of the businesses and innovation produced by

the digital revolution – Amazon, Google, Facebook and others – would have happened without initial public investments in both the development of the internet and the world wide web, Mazzucato adds.

On the other hand, the austerity measures championed by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank following the global financial crisis in 2008 have failed. Instead, economies must be transformed by investing in research and education to make public institutions more resilient, she says.

“That’s what we've learned from COVID-19. You can’t just throw money at health during the emergency when we’ve decimated those very services for the last 20 years.”

A NEW PERSPECTIVE In the United States, “desperately neglected” health services available to people of colour and those living in poverty had led to higher COVID-19 infection rates, the Rev Al Sharpton, president and founder of the National Action Network told the conference.

COVID-19 has brought longstanding class and racial inequalities to the forefront, says Sharpton.

Many essential workers were also people of colour and on low incomes, taking on high-risk jobs and suffering high rates of infection.

“Essential worker” is an ironic term, says Sharpton. “No one considered them essential when it was time to negotiate their contracts … when it was time to talk about their living conditions.

“All of a sudden in the panic of the pandemic, they are finally labelled essential.

They’ve always been essential, but they have been essentially overlooked.”

Sharpton, who delivered the eulogy at George Floyd’s funeral in June, says the

We don’t know how to value the output [of public services]. That’s why there’s so much talk of cost cutting.

Professor Mariana Mazzucato University College London

pandemic helped ignite the Black Lives Matter uprising that followed Floyd’s death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.

He says the video and news of the killing received more attention than it would have otherwise because so many people were in lockdown in their homes.

Floyd was the third victim of US police brutality and racial injustice in a matter of weeks and “people had just had enough”, says Sharpton.

“Long-term, sustained indignation leads to real change,” says Sharpton, who at 13 joined Dr Martin Luther King’s organisation, the same year that King was assassinated.

He called for the creation of a transformational movement to help solve inequities.

It is a time for progressive forces to stand together, EI general secretary David Edwards told the conference.

“Going back to business as usual is not an option. We must mobilise and organise so that the world that emerges from this crisis is better and fairer for all. We are taking the lead to make it happen.”

SPR IN G 20 2 0 // 35

Recess

Grassroots activists in the United States are challenging the powerful and well-funded education ‘reform’ movement. Author Diane Ravitch says Australia can learn Rooty Hill High School’s Yasodai Selvakumaran is from their success. one of the top 10 teachers in the world.

BY C Y ND I T E B B E L

High honours

BY C Y ND I T E B B E L

IS TURNING

3 6 // SUMME R 2 0 1 9

A

ILLUSTRATION ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

THE TIDE

ustralia has been spared the very worst of the movement to “reform” public education that has swept through the United States over the past 20 years.

But in some ways, the difference is only a matter of semantics.

There are no charter schools in Australia – privatisation has been largely in the vocational sector. However, the over-reliance on test scores as a way of measuring student achievement sets up public schools to fail and teachers get the blame for low test scores. The answer to this, according to neoliberal politicians and assorted busy-bodies is to turn schools into businesses.

Diane Ravitch was once a supporter of both privatisation and standardised testing.

She was assistant secretary of education for research under President George H W Bush, and was invited to the White House in 2001 when George W Bush announced his post-election promise: the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, a major reform based on the premise that setting high standards and measurable goals could improve individual education outcomes.

She changed her mind when results didn’t live up to the hype, and warns that Australia’s affinity for standardised testing could be a pathway to privatisation. “I came to understand that testing and privatisation were really two related movements and one feeds into the other,” says Ravitch.

A prolific author and professor of education at New York University, Ravitch’s new book Slaying Goliath is an exposé of the decades-long education reform movement in the United States and the unmitigated failure by individual billionaires and corporate reformers (‘disruptors’) to replace public schools with charter schools.

Toolkit

All [tests] do is feed the narrative that our schools are failing, our teachers are failing, when the job of the school is to develop children’s many different talents and abilities and interests.

Diane Ravitch Author and professor of education

RESISTING DISRUPTION Ravitch says that the very nature of standardised testing is defective and the people who believe in it have a very limited imagination about what children are capable of.

What the tests teach children is that there’s only one right answer, and if they don’t get that right then somehow they’ve failed. But Ravitch says there’s no way that everybody is going to get it perfect. “This is not like going for a driver’s test.”

In fact, failure is built into the design of the tests to ensure some children will do very well and some will inevitably fail.

“And yet there’s a chorus of people saying only perfection will be accepted. If there’s any failure, the school is failing, the teachers are failing. They’ve created this narrative of failure which is, in my view, a giant hoax.”

Slaying Goliath: The Passionate Resistance to Privatization and the Fight to Save America’s Schools by Diane Ravitch is published in Australia by Penguin Books.

The “chorus” Ravitch refers to are who she calls the ‘disruptors’: a “cabal of selfcentred billionaires” including the Koch family, the DeVos family (Betsy DeVos is President Trump’s Secretary of Education), the Waltons (who own Walmart), Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Netflix owner, Reed Hastings, who has given millions to create charter schools and reportedly spent US$20million building a luxury 'training ground' for public school teachers in Colorado.

But a far less powerful and decidedly less affluent group of volunteer parents, teachers, students, bloggers and leaders – which Ravitch calls the ‘resistance’ – are fighting back to keep their public schools alive.

They believe universal education, free and open to all, is part of the promise of democracy. And they’re winning: charter schools are no longer growing, now taking in only around six per cent of students in the US, and individual parents and schools are opting out of standardised tests.

Even universities and colleges such as Harvard, Yale and the University of California are rethinking admission tests, looking at other measures – such as cumulative grades and specific skills and talents – to select students.

REIMAGINING EDUCATION Ravitch was moved to write Slaying Goliath after witnessing a wave of teacher strikes that started in 2018 over low salaries and lack of school funding, and rolled across the US winning pay rises and better budgets, even in cash-strapped states like West Virginia.

And in the book’s post-script she presents another oddly positive outcome for the public education sector as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She recalls that as governments shut down schools and children began distance education, parents suddenly discovered a newfound respect for teachers. “You could hear them saying ‘I’m having trouble doing this with two children, how do teachers do it with 30?!’” says Ravitch.

Australian parents were learning the same lessons and Ravitch advises that now is a good time to stop worrying about NAPLAN and PISA scores, which she says are mostly meaningless for children but end up corrupting education.

“All they do is feed the narrative that our schools are failing, our teachers are failing, when the job of the school is to develop children’s many different talents and abilities and interests,” she says. “So, if you want to know how your child is doing, ask their teacher.”

As we try to imagine what schools will look like after the pandemic, Ravitch is eager to see “a revival of the joy of learning and the joy of teaching”. That would mean public schools with no standardised testing at all.

And she hopes that current economic conditions won’t see a diminution of the arts and humanities.

“It is very bad for the social and emotional development of children not to have the opportunity to be creative, to have the chance for imaginative activities; not to be dancing or singing or learning to play an instrument.

“All those things teach tremendous self-discipline, whereas test taking is a mechanical skill. And when you’re finished with school, no-one will ever ask you to take a standardised test again.”

Cyndi Tebbel is a freelance writer.

SPR IN G 20 2 0 // 37

Recess

Code for learning This former business consultant began her teaching career five years ago by paving the way for computer coding to be taught instead of a language in Queensland schools.

Why do you teach?

We want to hear your tips for engaging young minds. Email educator@hardiegrant.com if you have something to share.

You can provide a written piece or we’d love to interview you.

BY MARG ARE T PATO N

P

eita Bates was so passionate about the role technology can play in the lives of regional and rural students, that she gained her principal’s and regional education department support to write a coding curriculum.

Bates was concerned that many school-leavers needed to leave their hometowns to find employment or training, so she retrained from business consultancy and event management to become a champion for teaching digital technology.

Now, as the digitech ambassador for Maryborough State High School, she teaches coding, digital, and multimedia technologies to students in Years 7 to 11. As part of her role, Bates runs coding classes for Years 5 and 6 students in a local feeder primary school.

She’s also running a project for Year 10 to 12 girls to identify mentors and pathways into entrepreneurialism.

The project has an ESTEAM bent – entrepreneurship, science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics.

Bates says she’s drawn to teaching because “the profession is a very tangible and direct way of making the world more positive”.

Her school is three hours’ drive north of Brisbane and has 1010 students, many of whom have been faced with social and economic disadvantage. School-leavers there assume they will have to leave the region to find meaningful employment or training, she says.

“If you want to move, great, but don’t think you have to move. In the tech field, for example, there are hidden, dynamic industries where people work from home as the COVID-19 shutdown has demonstrated.”

3 8 // SP RI NG 2 0 2 0

communicate with a visual presence, rather than a voice on their phones.

“It’s OK that some of my kids just want to create the next Flappy Bird or Candy Crush. We want them to look at big-world problems, and sometimes, kids just need to be kids and do what brings them joy.”

Bates says her students needed that creative outlet to help deal with COVID-19”.

“It’s also proven to be a time to reflect.

Educators and best practice should drive change, not the pandemic,” says Bates.

We want them to look at big-world problems, and sometimes, kids just need to be kids...

Peita Bates Maryborough State High School

INSPIRING DIGITAL CAREERS Bates is helping students explore careers in digital technology and is chuffed 17 of the 28 students she taught coding for a Year 7 pilot subject five years ago continue to enrol in her coding elective.

“That first year, I didn’t have a curriculum, I had to write it from scratch.

The class is now doing amazing things and designing with technology to create real-world applications,” she says.

One student is working on augmented reality glasses to translate sign language to captions; another is changing Apple’s Siri to an animated face, so students

TECH SHOULD BE SEAMLESS She encourages her peers to incorporate tech into their practice.

“Teachers use digital technologies in every part of their lives. It can be seamless, even in the classroom. Don’t see it as an extra or a replacement for pen and paper, paint and brush, or running around with a soccer ball.”

Bates continues to refine the “coding as a language” curriculum. That work and her STEM-related projects saw her named as a finalist in last year’s Queensland College of Teachers TeachX Awards for Education Excellence.

She’s also working on a doctoral thesis topic to improve school community members’ perceptions about barriers to using digital technologies for learning.

Bates encourages early-career teachers to trust their instincts and try not to get overwhelmed by paperwork and differentiating lessons for students’ needs.

“The key to successful teaching is relationships. Leverage from those, and your students will value what you’re offering them.”

Margaret Paton is a freelance writer and casual K-12 teacher.

NEW TITLES, EVENTS & ONLINE RESOURCES NEURODEVELOPMENTAL DIFFERENTIATION: Optimising brain systems to maximise learning

FIVE WAYS OF BEING: What Learning Leaders think, do and say every day

THINKING PROTOCOLS FOR LEARNING

Imagine a school where the motto is ‘Everyone gets smart’. Not just some students. Every student.

Clinical psychologist Andrew Fuller and educator Lucy Fuller help bring this school to life through the power of neurodevelopmental differentiation – identifying students’ strengths while developing learning skills in new areas.

Leadership is traditionally viewed as a competencybased skill. This book challenges that view and argues leadership is about being: about who we are, who we need to become and who we can become to help develop others. Through evidence-based strategies, readers will embrace the Five Ways of Being and build their ability to lead learning.

It is vital to ensure students have the skills to navigate the complexities and challenges of a changing world. Most importantly, they must know how to think. This resource provides educators with the tools to prepare students for the future through the explicit instruction of thinking and relational skills – skills that are critical to student success now and in the future.

HB5411 • $49.95

HB9242 • $39.95

HB9921 • $44.95

The Hawker Brownlow Education Thinking & Learning Conference brings together the biggest names in education, in one location for three days of exceptional professional learning. From data to differentiation, PLCs to well-being, the 2021 Thinking & Learning Conference will inspire educators and equip them with the knowledge and practical strategies to advance student achievement.

20–22 May 2021 | MELBOURNE w w w. h b e . c o m . a u / h b c o n f

Meet our presenters

Jane Danvers, Heather De Blasio and Gavin Grift

Andrew Fuller and Lucy Fuller

Janelle Wills

SELENA FISK

ANTHONY MUHAMMAD

ADRIENNE GEAR

CAROL TOMLINSON

GAVIN GRIFT

LEE WATANABE-CROCKETT

JAY McTIGHE

JANELLE WILLS

Data and leadership

Literacy

PLCs & leadership

Curriculum & 21st century skills

Leadership & school improvement

Differentiation & curriculum

21st century skills & well-being

Teaching practice

… and more!

Go-anywhere online PD with accredited mini-courses, 700+ videos, books, study guides and more!

• Access hundreds of videos and resources developed by educational experts for educators.

The pow

er to is in your improve hands

• Unpack the work of leading authors with bite-sized videos aligned to their books.

— with

• Discover topics such as professional learning communities, Response to Intervention (RTI) at Work™, assessment, leadership and more!

—

Learn mor e›

• Use online tools to unpack standards, build common assessments, review team data and manage interventions.

The power to improve is in your hands with Global PD — claim your FREE 14-day trial today!

Visit hbe.com.au/global-pd or contact info@hbe.com.au

ORDER NOW AT HBE.COM.AU +61 3 8558 2444

+61 3 8558 2400

www.hbe.com.au

orders@hbe.com.au

Thank

for all that you do.

Your dedication in caring for our community is inspiring.

You’re the reason why we do what we do.

And have been since 1912.

Visit qsuper.com.au to find out how we are supporting our members.

Product issued by the QSuper Board (ABN 32 125 059 006, AFSL 489650) as trustee for QSuper (ABN 60 905 115 063). Consider the PDS on our website to see whether QSuper is right for you. © QSuper Board.