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How to maintain leader wellbeing Maths Pathway bucks the trend ACARA’s latest curriculum iteration
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EDITOR’S NOTE
Esteemed psychologist Edward de Bono is credited with devising the term lateral thinking, which is defined as an indirect and creative approach to problem solving. In layman’s terms, we understand it as the ability to think outside the box and it’s an idea we focus on in this edition of Education Matters. Our Science and Mathematics features question the status quo and suggest we need to be teaching students more than just the methodology of equations and scientific formulas. It’s all well and good to understand a problem, but experts suggest going beyond that and encouraging a spirit of enquiry is the best way to get students thinking. Turn to page 28 to find out about how this ties in with reSolve’s exciting new project, which promotes this model. A curiosity for Mathematics will no doubt allow students to solve and discover their own problems on their Mathematical journey. On page 24, we’ve spoken to the makers of a unique Mathematics program – known as the Maths Pathway. It offers a tailored and personalised approach to learning. Teachers can schedule fortnightly tests to develop an individualised learning program that focuses on student achievement gaps. Turn to page 34 to hear from Deakin University’s Professor Russell Tytler, who sees Australia’s declining educational standards as a lack of student engagement with Mathematics and Science. Professor Tytler says science at a primary school level is a “poor cousin” to literacy and numeracy. By teaching students how to reason and generate ideas, we can better prepare them for the challenges that lie ahead. Teacher health and wellbeing is also on the agenda. Earlier this year, the Hunter Institute of Mental Health released the findings of its 12-month survey, which found that almost half of all new teachers are walking out on the job due to heavy workload and stress. On page 70, Dr Gavin Hazel, the organisation’s Mental Health and Research Manager, responds with a thought-provoking discussion on improving the high rates of teacher attrition. As Dr Hazel argues: “This is not about making people clinicians, it is about strengthening their [teachers] capacity to support and assist their colleagues by providing them with evidence-informed strategies, practical information and paths to connect people to other kinds of support. “By fostering supportive workplace environments we can create experiences that assist those who may be in need, as well as strengthen the teaching profession.”
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Toli Papadopoulos Editor
Cover Image St Mary’s Primary School, Whittlesea Copyright Education Matters is owned by Prime Creative Media Pty. Ltd. and published by John Murphy. All material in Education Matters is copyright and no part may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means (graphic, electronic, or mechanical including information retrieval systems) without the written permission of the publisher. The Editor welcomes contributions but reserves the right to accept or reject any material. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information, Prime Creative Media will not accept responsibility for errors or omissions or for any consequenses arising from information published. The opinions of the magazine are not necessarily the opinions of, or endorsed by the publisher unless otherwise stated. All photographs of schools (including students) depicted in feature articles and advertisements throughout this magazine have been supplied to the publisher (and approved) by the contributing school. All material supplied by schools is done so with the understanding that such images will be published in Education Matters and may also appear on the our website: www.edumatters.com.au.
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education matters primary
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contents PRIMARY Oct 2017 - Apr 2018
DEPARTMENTS
FEATURES
Editor’s Note 4 20 Introducing the Digital Technologies curriculum
Advertisers’ Directory
8
Foreword
9
Senator the Hon. Simon Birmingham, Minister for Education and Training
Primary Column
Dennis Yarrington, President, Australian Primary Principals Association
10
James Curran, Director of the National Computer Science School, explains why digital literacy is critical to maintaining a functioning society.
30
Australia’s three-dimensional curriculum
34
Maintaining support for science
How does the Australian Curriculum prepare our students for a complex and uncertain future world? ACARA’s Tracy Zilm explains. Deakin University’s Russell Tytler explores the gaps in the curriculum.
National Education News
12
38 How schools can best prepare Australia’s future
Events Diary
14
Principally Speaking
16
Future generations will need to be able to adapt themselves in new ways to address the jobs of tomorrow, writes Byron Scaf, CEO Stile Education.
Kim McNamara Principal of West End State School
workforce
44
Leading the self
Bronwyn Johnstone, Principal of Capalaba State College, discusses her new platform, which enables educational leaders to understand the reasons behind their decision-making.
70 An investment in the future
By fostering supportive workplace environments we can create experiences that assist those in need, writes Dr Gavin Hazel, Mental Health and Research Manager, Hunter Institute of Mental Health.
80 A day in the life
Pip Thomas explains the day-to-day challenges of being a school business manager.
82
An effective bridge for the gender divide
The Parallel Learning model suggests that offering both single-sex and co-educational schooling provides the best of both worlds, writes Bradley Fry, Principal of Tintern Grammar.
6
education matters primary
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For more information visit renault.com.au † Three (3) year/200,000km warranty offer and 3 year Roadside Assistance both apply. Warranty and Roadside Assistance valid for 3 years or 200,000km (whichever comes first) for new and demonstrator Master Bus models. Roadside Assistance terms and conditions apply. Call our Customer Service Team on 1800 009 008 or view the Terms and Conditions statement at www.renault.com.au/drivingpeaceofmind for details. ^First 3 scheduled maintenance services capped at $349 per service on new and demonstrator Master models, based on standard scheduled servicing from new and on normal operating conditions. Scheduled maintenance services required every twelve (12) months or up to 30,000km (whichever occurs first). However, Master is subject to adaptive servicing requirements, as determined by the Oil Condition Sensor, and may require servicing prior to the standard twelve (12) months or 30,000km service interval. If vehicle is not presented within three (3) months of when the scheduled service is required, right to that capped-price service under the program is forfeited.
ADVERTISERS’ DIRECTORY
Science and Maths Promotional Features
19, 24, 25 Maths Pathway 21, 26
ORIGO Education
23, 28, 29 reSolve: Mathematics by Inquiry
Before & After School Care
60, 61
Sherpa Kids
62, 63, 66 Camps Australia
School Maintenance Furniture & Equipment Health & Wellbeing
64, 65
Extend
68
Tennant
58, 59
Woods Furniture
69, 72, 73 Peer Support Australia 74, 75
Institute of Positive Education
Playgrounds
5, 67
Adventure Plus
Teaching and Learning Resources
11, 15
Modern Teaching Aids
Professional Development
53
Monash University
56
Deakin University
57
Open Universities Australia
49, 54, 55 ACEL 2, 3, 50,
Corwin
51
School Camps and Excursions Sustainability
52, 53
Principal Australia Institute
47, 83
Future Schools
78 76, 77
Melbourne Discovery Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation
Technology
27, 42,
Epson
43, 84
Transport
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41
Hitachi
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Renault
education matters primary
FOREWORD
Need-based funding in action SENATOR THE HON. SIMON BIRMINGHAM, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING, DISCUSSES THE IMPACT OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S EDUCATION REFORMS, WHICH PASSED PARLIAMENT EARLIER THIS YEAR. Schools funding in Australia is turning a corner. As you probably would have seen, earlier this year
International Student Assessment, which found that our kids are falling behind their peers across the globe.
the Turnbull Government’s Gonski needs-based funding
NAPLAN results for reading, writing and literacy have
reforms passed the parliament.
also stagnated.
In the white noise of chatter about funding
Over the next nine months, David Gonski, alongside
levels, SES measures, resourcing standards, loadings
a team of educators and policy experts, will make
and percentage increases, it can be hard to hear the
recommendations on practical measures and initiatives
message of what this significant reform really means
that are proven to work to boost student outcomes.
– that students will now get the support and quality education they need to succeed. For many of the school administrators reading this,
The Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools will draw on best-practice examples around Australia and beyond. It will kickstart our efforts
I can assure you our plan delivers long-term funding
to reverse those declining results and to boost the
certainty.
preparedness of students for the challenges of life after
Ultimately our reforms are a big win for our kids.
school in an ever-changing modern economy.
They will get funding based on the specific needs
That’s not to say that there aren’t great initiatives
they have. It will no longer matter which school system
already underway in our schools that are making a big
they’re in or where they live.
impact.
And for the first time, the support for students with
I’m really pleased that the $4 million Digital Literacy
a disability will be informed by the Nationally Consistent
School Grants program – part of the $50.6 million
Collection of Data on School Students with Disability,
earmarked for teachers and students to embrace the
ensuring that the expert opinions of the educators
digital age – is getting great results.
working with those children drives funding allocation,
One example is Ogilvie High School, a public all-
rather than the different definitions of disability that exist
girls school in Tasmania. Its boosting students’ exposure
between jurisdictions today.
to digital technology through an innovative project called
Under the new reforms, schools with the greatest
#codelikeagirl-projectOHS. The school’s primary school
need get the fastest funding increases. So schools
outreach program matches Year 5 and 6 students with
getting less than their fair share from the Commonwealth
peer leaders from Year 7 and 8 to enhance their digital
will move to the right level within six years.
learning.
And the pool of Commonwealth money they’ll be
The new Gonski Review will look at how we can
drawing from is larger than ever – an additional $23.5
support more projects like that and how we can harness
billion for Australian schools. That is a record amount of
the great work and excellent teachers in schools at the
money.
moment, making sure that we capture the imagination
However, while we all understand how vital a strong level of needs-based funding is for our schools, we know that what is more important is how that funding is used. That’s where David Gonski, often referred to as the
of the students and take their digital literacy skills to the next level. Today our schools are diverse places, where children can learn practical skills like how to grow their
“architect” of the Gonski funding reforms, comes in. With
own vegetables or write code for a website, in addition
needs-based funding in place, his new focus is how we
to the basic and essential academic skills.
spend that funding to improve student achievement and school performance. Like all parents, I’ve been disappointed by recent international data, undertaken by the Programme for
Our additional funding, distributed fairly, alongside recommendations from the new review, will ensure that students become the best they can be and have the support they need.
education matters primary
Simon Birmingham has served as a Liberal Party senator for South Australia since May 2007 and in September 2015 was appointed to position of Minister for Education and Training. Simon grew up near Gawler in Adelaide’s north on his family’s small horse agistment property. He was educated at government schools before going on to study at the University of Adelaide where he completed a Masters of Business Administration. Prior to entering the senate, Simon worked for a number of industry bodies, establishing particular experience in the wine, tourism and hospitality sectors – industries that are critical to South Australia’s prosperity. After less than three years in the senate, Simon was appointed to the Shadow Ministry, serving as Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Murray-Darling Basin and the Environment until the 2013 election. Following the change of government in 2013, Simon served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment, with responsibility for water policy, including the Murray-Darling Basin, National Parks and the Bureau of Meteorology. In 2014, Simon was appointed to serve as the Assistant Minister for Education and Training, with specific responsibility for vocational education, apprenticeships, training and skills. He is now the Minister for Education and Training. He is married to Courtney and has two young daughters, Matilda and Amelia. Simon is an active supporter of the Parliamentary Association for UNICEF and a proud, but sometimes frustrated, Adelaide Crows fan.
9
APPA Column
Take control and be the influence HIGH PERFORMING LEADERS DEFEND THEIR VALUES AND BELIEFS AND PRIORITISE THEIR HEALTH AND WELLBEING, WRITES DENNIS YARRINGTON, PRESIDENT OF THE PRIMARY PRINCIPALS ASSOCIATION.
DENNIS YARRINGTON PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIAN PRIMARY PRINCIPALS ASSOCIATION (APPA) Dennis Yarrington has been the Principal of Harrison School, a new and expanding preschool to Year 10 school in Canberra, Australia. The school caters for 1500 students. Dennis has a Masters in Educational Leadership, Masters in Special Education and a Bachelor of Education. He has been involved in education for more than 30 years, including the positions of teacher, executive teacher, consultant and principal of a small country school, a large regional school, special school and establishing a large metropolitan P-10 school. He has been involved with concept designs for new schools in the ACT. He has presented at state, national and international conferences on leadership, school culture and implementing learning communities. Dennis was Vice-President of the Australian Government Primary Principals Association and is currently the President of the Australian Primary Principals Association. He has experience in developing leading schools in the integration of technology, 21st Century learning tools and structures and an inclusive school community. This includes teaching and learning communities and a coaching culture to improve teacher performance.
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As leaders, we have two levers that can be empowering – the decision to control ourselves or influence others. To control is to lead and make decisions. To influence is to lead and influence the decisions of others. Knowing when and how to make decisions on control and influence is the challenge faced by principals. The impacting factor is having the confidence and competence. Confidence comes from knowing yourself, your strengths and the wisdom gained through experience. Competence is built from learning and the application of that learning. The application of control and influence will depend on the location of the issue. We have heard about the circles of control and influence. Stephen Covey (1989) talks about circles of influence and concern. Proactive people focus on issues within their circle of control and influence. Reactive people tend to neglect those issues that are under their control and influence, and focus more on concerns, thereby reducing their circle of influence. WHAT IS WITHIN YOUR CIRCLE OF CONTROL? Sometimes we can spend too much time trying to control things in our circle of concern. This can lead to a feeling that our circle of control is small and disempowering. When we look at the critical issue of principal health and wellbeing, leaders have the permission and the responsibility to implement a control and influence approach. A high performing leader is healthy and has a positive outlook on their
education matters primary
wellbeing. It is not a work/life balance approach. It is about prioritising the things important in life and work. We often hear the phrase work is not life, however, many have the perception that life is work. Or is it that others project that perception, so we respond and react to the expectations and viewpoints of others (circle of concern)? These viewpoints can come from our family, friends, staff, students, parents and employers.
Leaders make decisions and direct. When you remove the perceptions of others by directing your role and function, you will also increase the control and influence over your health and wellbeing.
WHERE THERE IS A VACUUM OF LEADERSHIP AND VISION, CHAOS WILL PREVAIL In the absence of vision, it is not the chaos of panic or destruction that will prevail, but the chaos of a lack of direction. It is when others project or voice their perception of what should happen, that this can become the reality of our role and function. We are operating at the direction of others. We spend our time managing directions
given by others. Even our own health and wellbeing is being influenced by others. Leaders make decisions and direct. When you remove the perceptions of others by directing your role and function, you will also increase the control and influence over your health and wellbeing. If someone acts busy and continually presents the image of busyness, then others will expect it all the time. They may even express a dislike for the life and the workload that person is prepared to accept. The physical and emotional drain of trying to please everyone every time and doing everything on a timeframe decided by others will often end in troubled days. You have to accept that you cannot please everyone and do everything. This expectation is not something that happens overnight. It happens over time and is impacted by change. Change is constant and its impact is far reaching. The longer we accept the additional task, the latest initiative, a new change process or an extra responsibility, the more we become trained to operate under the expectation, concerns and directions of others. The claim that principals have a huge workload and that this has intensified is not fake news. What we have done is not stopped doing things or placed limitations on our time. We may even have lost the art of saying no, for fear of missing out or displeasing others. This habit can be hard to shift but to find the time, energy and focus for what matters and what is aligned to your values, the habit has to change. Saying no graciously and sending a clear message that this “new idea” or “latest initiative” is not on the agenda, the better able we are begin to direct work and find the time. As Hill (2016) points out, by piling up the to do list or taking on additional tasks, progress and achievement are impacted.
If people know your values and your processes for dealing with things then you are projecting with your lens, not the lens of others. This becomes your reality and you will more likely become a high performing leader. WE NEED TO STOP TALKING ABOUT BEING BUSY I have the same amount of time as anyone else, it is how I use it. This needs to be decided by me, not by others. I would suggest making time in your diary for you. Set aside a permanent 30-minute lunch break, a time to go home reminder, admin and email reading time. Another hint is to block out time for being present on the playground or around the school. This is different to instructional walks or leadership coaching. You will be amazed how quickly people realise you are serious about directing your time. It is then time to take back control and influence. And what a great example to your staff! When you have a list of things to do or requests to respond to, what decides your priority? The principal’s role is complex and each of us has to make the decisions on where to spend time effectively. However, coming to those decisions is not always a simple matter. Being able to decide what is important is influenced by how we operate. Is it based on our values and beliefs or other people’s values and needs? If people know your values and your processes for dealing with things then you are projecting with your lens, not the lens of others. This becomes your reality
and you will more likely become a high performing leader. How you project will be through communication and action. Expectations need to be clearly understood, so what people expect aligns with the reality of what they experience. As a leader, you have the control and influence to lead and manage the communication in your school. A successful school with teachers working together to help students achieve their potential generally has a high performing leader. Having clear priorities and focus allows us to lead and manage the busyness and demands on our time. WE NEED PRINCIPALS TO IDENTIFY THEIR CIRCLE OF CONCERN AND TAKE CONTROL The circle of influence can then be directed by this control. What matters is important. Make your health and wellbeing matter, and others will do the same. As Covey (1989) points out, we must take responsibility for our own lives. Our behaviour is a function of our decisions, not our conditions. We can become distracted by the conditions or decisions of others to the extent that we lose sight of the things within our control. Proactive people spend time on the issues and things they can do something about. Their energy is positive and enlarges the circle of control and influence. High performing leaders, I would suggest, defend their values and beliefs, and ensure their behaviours align with what matters. Be the influence by how you take control. Dennis Yarrington President Australian Primary Principals Association References Covey, SR, 1989. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. New York. Simon and Shuster. Hill, AC, 2016. Stand Out. Milton. Wiley and Sons
NATIONAL EDUCATION NEWS
Bullied primary school students fall behind New research by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
peaking during the mid to late primary school years. We call this
(MCRI) has revealed that one in three boys and one in four girls
the ‘juvenile phase of development’ as it’s the time just before
aged 8 to 9 years are experiencing weekly bullying at their
puberty,” said the study’s lead author, Dr Lisa Mundy.
primary school.
“This is the stage where peers become more important to
The new results, published in Academic Pediatrics, showed that the high level of frequent bullying is having an impact on
may explain why there is such an increase in bullying at this age,”
children’s academic performance.
Dr Mundy said.
The study found that children who experienced bullying had poorer academic performance and the detrimental effect was stronger for girls than boys.
“Teachers have an essential role in maintaining good relationships between children in primary school and the tackling
Bullying can take many forms, including physical
of bullying. Their success in doing so will determine not only the
victimisation (pushing and hitting) and verbal victimisation
future mental health of these children but also their success in
(teasing and threatening), as well as relational bullying (spreading
education,” said co-author Professor Patton. The study used data from MCRI’s Childhood to Adolescence
Children who were physically victimised were found to be
children as they approach adolescence. The study began in 2012
academic performance.
and is following more than 1200 children from Grade 3 (eight to nine years of age). It aims to improve understanding of the many
the importance for education systems to invest in the prevention
influences on the health and emotional adjustment of children as
of bullying and promotion of positive peer relationships from the
they approach their teens.
earliest years of school.
“Bullying is a worldwide health problem. We need to better
Boys were more likely to be physically victimised, whereas
equip schools and teachers to deal with the prevention of bullying
there were no gender differences for teasing and name calling.
to minimise the potential long-term effects it can have on a child’s
“Bullying is most common during primary school with rates
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Transition Study (CATS) which is a unique longitudinal study of
around six to nine months behind their peers on measures of MCRI said the results provided strong evidence to highlight
Education Minister Simon Birmingham
MCRI said the findings provide compelling evidence for the benefits of more bullying prevention in primary schools.
The study surveyed 965 primary school children.
rumours and being left out).
“We should always acknowledge that Australia has a high performing education system by world standards with hard working principals, teachers and good school communities.”
kids and they start to become aware of group hierarchies, which
social and emotional development,” Dr Mundy said.
NAPLAN results show drop in writing The latest NAPLAN results for 2017 show school students’ results have improved slightly since the tests were first introduced.
since 2011. Federal Government Education Minister Simon Birmingham told ABC Radio the writing results were “a real concern”.
The results show nationally there has been a 0.72 per cent
“We should always acknowledge that Australia has a high
improvement in reading results and a 0.81 per cent increase
performing education system by world standards with hard
for numeracy for students across years 5, 3, 7 and 9. However,
working principals, teachers and good school communities,”
writing performance has dropped by half a per cent.
Minister Birmingham said.
Overall reading scores across the nation have improved
“So this is improvement in writing, in reading and
0.72 per cent since last year, but writing is down 0.55 per cent
numeracy off of a high base, but the writing results are of
and over the long-term it is down by more than two per cent
course really a worry and I’ll be talking to state and territory
education matters primary
ministers as part of our school reforms about how we can turn that around.” ACARA CEO Robert Randall said the data showed there had been improvement across all year levels in most domains when comparing the results over a 10-year period. “Importantly, we see a gradual redistribution of students
“In other areas, this improvement has not always been great enough to significantly impact national averages, but it is certainly a positive trend.” Queensland and Western Australia have shown the most improvement since 2008. The data also show that, compared with 2016, there is
from lower bands of achievement to higher ones, particularly in
no improvement in average results across the country that is
some domains and year levels, such as Year 3 reading,” he said.
considered significant.
Almost half of teachers stressed, finds ASG-ACE report Up to 48 per cent of educators feel stressed either “most of the
maintain a sense of pride about their profession and speak
time” or “fairly often”, according to a new report.
positively about their jobs to friends and family.
The results are part of the inaugural ASG-ACE Teachers Report card, which surveyed teachers on a range of issues, including testing, curriculum, stress and wellbeing. The joint initiative between the Australian College of Educators (ACE) and ASG surveyed 380 teachers with varying degrees of experience, ranging from school principals to parttime teaching staff. Among the findings are that one in five teachers have considered leaving the profession in the past three months. Other areas include that almost half of educators (49 per
“This is not surprising as teaching is widely acknowledged as a profession that is driven by passion,” the report read. Other findings include that nearly six in 10 teachers agree having the opportunity to get promoted is important, but more than half think it rarely happens. “The opportunity for promotion appears more prevalent in secondary schools with 80 per cent of preschool teachers and 68 per cent of primary school teachers revealing promotion was ‘limited’ or ‘very limited’, compared to 51 per cent of secondary teachers.”
cent) believe there is too much standardised testing (such as
“These results correlate with the finding that one in five
NAPLAN), while three per cent of teachers believe there is too
teachers (21 per cent) have seriously thought about leaving the
little.
profession in the past three months.”
Teachers in faith-based schools say they have the worst
The report concluded that the current rate of teacher
work-life balance, with 74 per cent reporting a typical week is
retention was unacceptable, and it was essential that the views of
“less balance than they would like” or “not balanced at all”.
teachers were heard by decision makers, policy makers and key
Yet despite these challenges, nine out of 10 teachers
stakeholders to help improve this outcome.
“The opportunity for promotion appears more prevalent in secondary schools with 80 per cent of preschool teachers and 68 per cent of primary school teachers revealing promotion was ‘limited’ or ‘very limited’, compared to 51 per cent of secondary teachers.”
EVENTS DIARY
Upcoming events in education A RANGE OF EVENTS ARE COMING UP ACROSS AUSTRALIA FOR PRINCIPALS AND TEACHERS – FROM PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE CONFERENCES TO TECHNOLOGY EXPOS – CHECK OUT THE LIST BELOW.
OCTOBER
2017 APACS National Conference
October 4-6, Rendezvous Hotel, Melbourne, Victoria.
The promotion of wellbeing, inclusion and engagement in education www.apacs2017.com.au
Australian International Education Conference 2017
October 10-13, Hotel Grand Chancellor, Hobart, Tasmania
Embracing diversity www.aiec.idp.com
eResearch Australasia
October 16-20, Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Brisbane, Queensland
Showcasing communication technologies to help researchers www.qcif.edu.au
Reinvent Your Career Expo 2017
October 21-22, Rosehill Gardens, Sydney, NSW
Designed to help adults find their career passion reinventyourcareer.com.au
Leading Mathematics at Your Primary School: Strategies & Tools
October 27, the Epping Club, Sydney, NSW
A professional dialogue about the art of teaching and learning mathematics bit.ly/2fpWmB3
PESA Conference 2017
December 1-5, Crowne Plaza, Newcastle, NSW
Does philosophy of education need a new subject? pesa.org.au/conference
BESSH Sydney 2017
December 4-5, Rydges Camperdown, Camperdown, Sydney, NSW
Advances in collaborative research for Business, Economics, Social Sciences and Humanities bit.ly/2fr5KEj
ICCED 2017
December 4-5, Sydney, Australia
19th International Conference on Advanced Pedagogy and Educational Sciences www.waset.org/conference/2017/12/sydney/ICAPES
The Conocophillips Science Experience
December 6-8, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia
Three days of interactive activities www.scienceexperience.com.au
AustMS 2017
December 12-15, Macquarie University, North Ryde, Sydney, NSW
61st Annual Meeting of the Australian Mathematical Society www.austms.org.au/tiki-calendar.php?calitemId=727
National Youth Science Forum
January 2-13, Canberra, ACT
The career options available in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics www.nysf.edu.au/programs/year-12-program
Hong Kong International Conference on Education, Psychology and Society
January 23-25, Regal Oriental Hotel, Hong Kong
An international platform for scholars, researchers and practitioners to discuss interdisciplinary research and practices hkiceps.org
ICSTE 2018: 20th International Conference on Science and Technology Education
February 1-2, Hotel Grand Chancellor Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria
Bringing together leading scientists, researchers and scholars www.waset.org/conference/2018/02/melbourne/ICSTE
FutureSchools
March 20-22, Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre, Melbourne, Victoria
Australia’s largest national education event for schools www.futureschools.com.au
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PRINCIPALLY SPEAKING
Hands-on leadership WEST END STATE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL KIM MCNAMARA SPEAKS TO EDUCATION MATTERS ABOUT HER COLLABORATIVE AND ON-THE-GROUND APPROACH TO LEADERSHIP.
HOW DOES THE SCHOOL’S PHILOSOPHY AND ETHOS GUIDE IT TODAY? Our school motto, we all smile in the same language, reflects our diverse culture. With more than 80 cultural backgrounds and over 55 different languages spoken at home, we live and breathe this motto. We embrace this multiculturalism and ensure it is weaved into the fabric of our school. HOW DOES WEST END STATE SCHOOL DIFFER FROM OTHER SCHOOLS? West End maintains a close-knit community with all of its students living in the local area. Our school’s proximity to the CBD, universities and Brisbane’s cultural precinct has resulted in the establishment of partnerships and links which provide our students with additional educational experiences and opportunities. It is common for our students to attend events at South Bank, the Queensland Museum, Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art or Opera Queensland to trial new programs they have developed. A close partnership with Brisbane State High School, a high achieving secondary school, also provides our students and staff with the opportunity to work on specialised subjects and projects. IN WHAT WAYS HAS THE SCHOOL EVOLVED OVER THE PAST 10 TO 20 YEARS? Our enrolment growth in the last few years has been unprecedented with an average of 12 per cent each year since 2013. Many apartments built in the area accommodate an increase in families wanting to live close to the CBD. This year, an additional 60 students have joined us and we expect more students to enrol as residential developments reach completion. We are about to commence a master planning process with the Department of Education and Training to plan for future growth and expand our infrastructure. Already our enrolment increases have resulted in
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new developments. Additional buildings, the recreation of much needed play space and the recent announcement of an additional site for the school are all underway. Despite the building works and the changes, I am most proud that our staff remain positive and continue to provide West End students with an outstanding and engaging education. HOW DO YOU PROVIDE SUPPORT AND LEADERSHIP TO YOUR STAFF? Supporting the professional development of my staff members is a major priority and a passion. As our school gets bigger, so does its teams and complexities. We have helped develop our middle leadership team leaders through collaboratively expanding roles, responsibilities and accountabilities. Professional learning around team work, leadership and self-awareness have provided teachers with the skills to lead. Line management structures ensure there are opportunities for discussion, problem solving, reflection and feedback. Collective teacher efficacy is vital to implementing an agenda to improve schools. This educational principle refers to a unifying belief that through collective action, we can positively influence student outcomes. We make sure our staff are on the same page before we implement a strategy. We have five professional learning communities which lead each of the school’s major focus areas. Supporting teachers to lead and contribute to these has also been a major part of my leadership. Line managing a year level and one of the professional learning communities ensures that I stay connected at the grassroots and provides me with information about what is really going on in the school, which helps to inform any challenges we as a community need to address. WHAT ROLE DO YOU PLAY IN THE DAY-TO-DAY ACTIVITIES OF THE STUDENTS? Building positive and effective relationships with staff, students and the community are my priority. Most mornings and afternoons I prioritise my time to ensure that I am out and about, connecting with students and parents. Getting to know students and their
families provides me with an understanding of their backgrounds and contexts. Taking the time to visit classrooms is important to me. Not only does it ensure that I keep students as a focus for my leadership but it also provides me with the opportunity to see the amazing teaching that goes on all day, every day in our school. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MORE CRITICAL ISSUES FACED BY EDUCATORS IN THE PRIMARY SECTOR? With an increase in anxiety and stress, supporting the wellbeing of staff members, students and their families is critical. This year at West End we introduced mindfulness into school. Research shows mindfulness improves cognition. Classrooms practice daily mindfulness and we also begin each professional learning session and staff meeting with a mindfulness activity. We recently invited parents to an information session about this initiative and it was the most attended parent session to date. WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT, EITHER AS A TEACHER OR SPECIFICALLY IN THE ROLE OF PRINCIPAL? My career has spanned a couple of decades and I have had a range of different roles so I have many memorable moments. Every day something happens that makes me smile. From the Prep student who told
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me he didn’t need spelling because he wanted to be a ninja when he grew up, to one of my former Year 1 students who said I was still her all-time favourite teacher. Being a principal is definitely a highlight. To know that you are responsible for leading a school and its community is an honour. This is my third principal role and I still can’t believe that I get to do something I love so much each day. WHAT TRAITS MAKE FOR AN EFFECTIVE AND SUCCESSFUL LEADER IN EDUCATION TODAY? Successful school leaders need to have the ability to think strategically – to be able to see the big picture, break it into manageable chunks and engage everyone around them. They need to ensure that at the heart of everything they do is the student. It is easy to get waylaid with all the different agendas and issues that crop up daily, but if we keep the student at the core of our decision making, we will be doing a good job. Leaders also need to be able to build strong relationships, be effective communicators and have the intellectual capacity to ensure what they are doing will make a difference. They need to bring passion and commitment to their role. The ability to build the capability of others around them is also paramount. I believe that we have the most important job in the world.
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PRINCIPALLY SPEAKING
CAN YOU DESCRIBE ANY SPECIFIC WAYS IN WHICH THE DIGITAL ERA IS BEGINNING TO DISRUPT THE EDUCATION FIELD? It is an exciting time for educators as it is my view that the digital era has enhanced student learning and engagement. Schools utilise digital devices as a tool for learning and coding, and it has become an additional language. It has also become an effective tool for communication, connecting students with teachers, teachers with parents, staff with staff and schools with their communities. WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT NAPLAN AND ITS EFFECTIVENESS? At a system level, NAPLAN provides us with important feedback on the effectiveness of our pedagogical practices in schools. It would be difficult to talk about NAPLAN without mentioning how proud we are in Queensland of our improved NAPLAN results. At the school level, NAPLAN is used as just one source of data to inform our teaching practices and student learning. We use it to triangulate other student data to ensure that we are responsive to intervention needs and extending students who require it.
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West End State School is an inner-city primary school located just outside the Brisbane CBD with more than 960 students from Prep to Year 6. Established in 1875, it is one of Brisbane’s older schools and its architecture reflects its rich history.
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Maths Pathway is improving how mathematics is learnt throughout Australian schools... ...and we’re achieving some exceptional results. 1.0 Students should be able to master 1 level of maths, in one school year. 0.54 But on average, students only gain 0.54 levels of maths. 1.18 Maths Pathway is helping teachers and students achieve an average growth rate of 1.18 levels of maths.
See how we’re doing it: Download our Impact Report. Schedule a chat with our teachers. Organise a demo with our team.
03 9910 4737
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mathspathway.com/impact2016
HOT TOPIC // Mathematics
Introducing the Digital Technologies curriculum JAMES CURRAN, DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL COMPUTER SCIENCE SCHOOL, EXPLAINS WHY DIGITAL LITERACY IS CRITICAL TO MAINTAINING A FUNCTIONING SOCIETY AND THE WORKFORCE.
The introduction of Digital Technologies is perhaps the most disruptive curriculum change that Australia has seen in many years, especially in primary. Teachers will need substantial support and professional development to teach it confidently and correctly. Many educators will be unfamiliar with the knowledge and skills that the new Digital Technologies curriculum entails. The curriculum is ambitious and will stretch teachers, but the learning and engagement opportunities will be rewarding for students and educators who embrace it. The Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies is a new subject within the Technologies learning area that Australian schools will teach in Foundation to Year 8, with an elective for Year 9 and 10 students.
Digital Technologies was first endorsed in September 2015. Most jurisdictions have started teaching the subject, with reporting required in 2018. The NSW Education Standards Authority, which sets and monitors teaching standards for all schools in the state, is currently developing the NSW technology syllabuses for K-6 and Year 7-8, with no indication of first delivery – my guess is 2019. Digital Technologies is a new name signifying a new approach to computing education – with a focus on introducing deeper intellectual disciplines, not just digital literacy or specific technologies. In the Australian Curriculum, Digital Technologies and the ICT capability explicitly define the minimum expectation that every Australian child has the opportunity to not only
develop digital literacy, but also discover the fundamental ideas and skills of computer science and information systems. CONCEPTS AND VOCABULARY In my experience as an educator, many teachers are uncomfortable with the Digital Technologies vocabulary. However, many concepts, such as representation and algorithms, and the umbrella term, computational thinking, are ideas that every teacher has taught implicitly in Mathematics, Science, English, and the Arts. Many educators are understandably apprehensive about teaching computer programming or coding for the first time (from Year 3). Coding and debugging require considerable effort to master, and teachers will need to invest in developing their own skills to teach them confidently. However, there are many engaging websites, apps and activities designed to help inexperienced educators teach coding.
RESOURCES TO HELP IMPLEMENT THE CURRICULUM There are many fantastic resources and professional development programs available to help teachers and school leaders get started with Digital Technologies. The Federal Department of Education and Training is supporting a number of initiatives as part of coding across the Curriculum and the National Innovation and Science Agenda. These include: • the Digital Technologies Hub • the Australian Digital Technologies Challenges • the University of Adelaide CSER MOOCs
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Teachers who are prepared to explore and learn with their students, supported by these activities, can shift their role from delivering content to modelling learning behaviour. WHAT IS A DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY? The Australian Curriculum glossary defines a digital technology as: “Any technology controlled using digital instructions, including computer hardware and software, digital media and media devices, digital toys and accessories, and contemporary and emerging communication technologies. These technologies are based on instructions given, using binary (0 or 1) code, that invariably mean one or more processors are present to respond to these instructions. Computers, smartphones, digital cameras, printers and robots are all examples of digital technologies. When something is digital, it means that data is stored, manipulated, or transmitted as binary digits (a 0 or 1). A digital system is any system that creates, processes, or transmits data in digital form. Nearly every intelligent device we interact with
is a digital system or is controlled by one. This isn’t just the obvious devices: computers, tablets, and phones. They control everything – from the small (toys, household appliances, and medical devices), to the big (cars, planes, and buildings), and the huge (transport networks, industrial plants and the internet). Digital technologies have transformed our lives because: • We can store, process and transmit data in digital form faster, and on a larger scale, than any other technology in human history (speaking, writing, or printing) • We can describe a wide range of problems for the data we can collect or create, solve them by manipulating that data, and (sometimes) actuate change in the physical world In Digital Technologies, students not only study the use of these digital technologies (digital literacy), but also the fundamental concepts, skills and dispositions from computer science and information systems. Mastering these ideas gives students the capacity to create and exploit future digital technologies to their fullest potential, rather than simply consume them.
RESOURCES TO HELP IMPLEMENT THE CURRICULUM The Digital Technologies Hub (DT Hub) is an online repository of resources for teachers, students, school leaders, and parents focused on the Digital Technologies curriculum. It is a great starting point for teachers who are new to Digital Technologies. The DT Hub contains resources specifically created for the Australian Curriculum, including videos explaining the key concepts, detailed lesson ideas for particular content descriptions, and case studies from schools around Australia. It also includes existing resources and activities curated and classified for the content descriptions they cover. Teachers can filter activities by band level, integration with other learning areas, or browse activities by broad topics. Visit digitaltechnologieshub.edu.au
F–6
HOT TOPIC // Mathematics
WHY IS STUDYING DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES IMPORTANT? Digital Technologies have completely reshaped how we go about every aspect of our lives: • Financial: our jobs, online shopping and banking, automated trading • Social: email, mobiles, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Skype, blogs •P olitical: electronic voting, grassroots movements (Arab Spring) • Recreational: computer games, streaming video and music, augmented reality (Pokémon Go), fitness and activity monitoring (FitBit) • Educational: free access to information, web search (Google), collaborative resources (Wikipedia), online learning (Khan Academy) and MOOCs, learning analytics • E thical: privacy and cyber security, data protection (Facebook, the census) Technologies affect how we engage with each other as individuals and as a society. For better or worse, Digital Technologies will continue to disrupt our lives. Teaching Digital Technologies also plays a role in solving challenging problems. It provides students with authentic learning challenges that foster curiosity, confidence, persistence, innovation, creativity, respect and cooperation.
RESOURCES TO HELP IMPLEMENT THE CURRICULUM Australian Digital Technologies Challenges (aca. edu.au) The Australian DT Challenges are free inclassroom activities designed to address the most technically challenging aspects of the Year 5-6 and 7-8 bands of Digital Technologies. They are developed by curriculum experts in the Australian Computing Academy (ACA) at the University of Sydney. Each challenge provides online and unplugged learning resources, engaging, authentic, realworld problems, modular lesson plans and online training and support for teachers. Some of the DT Challenges are integrated with other learnings areas. Year 5 and 7 students have free access to a learning platform that enables self-paced learning with immediate, intelligent feedback.
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CAREER OPPORTUNITIES Careers in Digital Technologies continue to be professionally rewarding and well remunerated. Talented IT graduates are in high demand and will remain so for the foreseeable future. At the same time, many service jobs are under threat from automation. The Queensland DET’s #codingcounts discussion paper predicts 40 per cent of Australian jobs are at more than 70 per cent risk of being automated in the next 10-15 years. The Australian Computer Society and Deloitte Access Economics report on Australia’s Digital Pulse predicts that demand for ICT workers in Australia is forecast to increase by 80,000 workers over six years to more than 722,000 workers in 2022. However, Digital Technologies is not just about creating the next generation of computer scientists, software developers or system administrators. Not everyone will become a full-time programmer, but they will find Digital Technologies skills critical in a wide range of other careers. INTELLECTUAL AND CREATIVE VALUE Because IT products have transformed many aspects of our lives, it is easy to get caught up in the hype for digital technologies. In many ways, computing education is also a victim of this transformation. We have made digital systems so affordable, powerful, easy to use, and ubiquitous that students and their parents often think they are digital natives, and know “how a computer works”. And while we should not undervalue the skills students have developed, such as interacting on social media, their digital literacy has gone backwards in recent years, and it is unclear that they have developed any deeper understanding of computing. Digital Technologies has a lot to offer as a challenging intellectual and creative pursuit. Unfortunately, the existing focus on digital literacy and technology, rather than deeper concepts and skills, has exacerbated this perception of computing as an easy, unchallenging subject and future career path. This could not be further from the truth – computer science and software engineering are among our most difficult, creative and collaborative pursuits. FUTURE-PROOFING THE CURRICULUM The writing process for the Technologies learning area commenced in October 2010, with the draft
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curriculum published in 2013, and final endorsement in September 2015. In some jurisdictions, students will not see Digital Technologies for the first time until 2019, and they won’t finish the mandatory bands until 2027 and school until 2031. That means the current curriculum won’t see students finish until more than 20 years after the writing process began – almost prehistoric times in computing terms. To put it in perspective, 20 years ago, in 1997: • There were no smartphones – one of the most popular mobiles was the Nokia 5110 • Google was just founded (1998), but AltaVista was the most popular search engine. • There was no Facebook (2004), Twitter (2006), Instagram (2010), Snapchat (2011) • Microsoft introduced Windows 98 in 1998 Digital technologies have changed enormously in that time – and changed our world. A curriculum focused on (or even mentioning) specific technologies would be incredibly out of date by then. What hasn’t changed are the fundamental concepts of computer science and information systems. Although our understanding of these fields continues to grow, the fundamentals have largely remained the same since the first general purpose computer (ENIAC – Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer) was developed in the mid-1940s and will continue to be true long into the future. Students still need to know how to type efficiently and ergonomically (despite speech to text systems), and how to structure a document and use styles correctly, but now they also learn to text rapidly using just their thumbs on their smartphones and can consult or update a Google Doc on the run. GET STARTED NOW The most important thing is to recognise that Digital Technologies is a big change from existing computing education – it is much more than digital literacy (the ICT capability), and so teachers and school leaders cannot take a business as usual approach. Schools need a strategy to give all relevant teachers the time, resources, and support to engage with the new subject in a meaningful way, so they can develop their confidence and skills in the concepts, technology and pedagogy necessary to fully realise the potential of Digital Technologies and ultimately thrive in a world where mobile devices have become ubiquitous.
HOT TOPIC // Mathematics
The power of individualised learning TRADITIONAL MATHEMATICS EDUCATION DOESN’T ALWAYS TAKE INTO ACCOUNT EACH STUDENT’S INDIVIDUAL ABILITY, BUT A NEW LEARNING MODEL IS PROVING THERE IS ANOTHER WAY.
American psychologist Carol Dweck’s theory of the growth mindset inspired a generation of educators including the team at Maths Pathway, a learning and teaching model that unlocks the ability of teachers to deliver tailored and personalised learning to their students. The critically acclaimed author theorised that our intelligence is not a fixed trait, but can be developed through effort, quality teaching and persistence. The results are documented in her 2007 book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Dweck contrasts a growth mindset with a fixed mindset – individuals with a fixed mindset believe their intelligence is predetermined. Dweck argues these students believe that their talents alone lead to success – as opposed to hard work and effort. Of course, teachers know that each student learns at a different pace, which is why encouraging a growth mindset has extraordinary benefits.
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The tailored and personalised approach of the Maths Pathway teaching model means that students can work at their own pace, whether they are advanced, behind, or on par for their year level, unleashing their full potential. Maths Pathway caters to each student’s individual level by completing a diagnostic test which pinpoints their level across the F-10 curriculum. The diagnostic makes no assumptions of student knowledge based on their age, meaning a Year 5 student could be learning Year 10 algebra. The data from the diagnostic feeds into an online platform, which provides students with work in their zone of proximal development. When you consider the classic learning model, and the way many of us were educated, teachers have typically been required to teach all students the same curriculum level content. For years, standardised testing and whole-class lectures have been the norm for most Australian students. The outcomes of this approach can in some cases create major obstacles to progress. Maths Pathway is driven by the belief that all students should be able to learn Maths in a way that allows them to thrive. Through its program, student learning is supported with content tailored to the Australian and state curriculums and a model which encourages independent learning alongside peer collaboration. Students complete fortnightly tests to check in with their progress and as they demonstrate mastery of concepts in those tests, the online platform automatically unlocks the content that they are ready for next. Maths Pathway has documented incredible results in its 2016 Impact Report, which found that Year 7 students grew an average of 218 per cent faster than they were before they started using the program. St Mary’s Primary School in Whittlesea has readily embraced the platform. Located about 40 kilometres north-east of Melbourne’s CBD, the
school is utilising the program in Grades 5 and 6, after trialling it in 2016 for three months with Grade 5 students. Stephanie Callaway, Maths Leader, says she’s been amazed by the initiative students are showing with the program. “One Grade 6 student was operating at a Year 10 level, so naturally the one-size-fits all curriculum didn’t apply to him. Maths Pathway has helped him become an independent learner. He is questioning concepts for himself and is now able to work on Mathematical understandings that he is ready to learn,” Stephanie says. She explains that Maths Pathway’s focus on personalised tests has been key to each student’s personal development. The regular assessment enables teachers to obtain instant data on each student and plan more effectively for individual
learning needs. This would otherwise have been extremely difficult and, not to mention time consuming in a traditional classroom setting. “After our students complete fortnightly tests, we give them an individual feedback session and we talk about anything they’re uncertain about and how we can help them. Together we set their learning goals for the next fortnight and depending on if they’ve mastered their previous goals, they can progress towards achieving new goals that will support and extend their learning,” Stephanie says. Because teachers are aware of the levels and growth rates of each of their students, they are able to provide informed, targeted feedback. Stephanie says these meetings typically take place in a lesson or two following the test and are focused on learning dispositions, which help each student improve
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their personal growth and understanding. The main aim for the teacher is to help students set a specific goal for the upcoming learning cycle. “These meetings take just a couple of minutes, but have a powerful impact on the extent to which students engage with the curriculum, and their longterm success.” Most importantly, it demonstrates to students that they can determine their own path and breaks down the fallacy that they are either ‘good’ or ‘bad’ at Maths. It’s not all computer based, Stephanie adds, as the model offers a healthy balance of bookwork, rich tasks and longer projects. Students are encouraged to develop their independent learning skills, while Stephanie is there to assist them should they encounter any difficulties. To further strengthen their independence, Stephanie adds that this contemporary teaching and learning model encourages students to constantly justify their thinking, allowing them to reflect on the reasons for their decisions. Teachers also plan for students to be involved in small focus learning groups as well as rich learning tasks that promote investigative and collaborative learning. The Foundation for Young Australians found 35 per cent of Australian students show low proficiency in problem solving, which is a skill influencing Australia’s increasingly fluid workforce. Independence is therefore key to building job-ready students. By working with students individually, they are able to build meaningful problem-solving skills vital to adult life. It all returns to Dweck’s theory of the growth mindset, which has struck a chord with Stephanie. “Developing a growth mindset is the catalyst that enables students to reach their full potential. Learning new Maths is often challenging and will inevitably require students to make mistakes in order to identify misconceptions in their methodology and develop a solid understanding of the problem,” she says. Stephanie says students with a fixed mindset see mistakes as a threat to their self-esteem and will often default to completing work that is in their comfort zone. She explains that teachers who warmly embrace mistakes, praise effort and strategies, and avoid labelling their students as either good or bad at Maths have the best chance of fostering a growth mindset. “A task shouldn’t be easy, it’s okay to be overwhelmed – that means you’re learning something new. By challenging yourself and pushing the boundaries of comfort, you can achieve greatness.”
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HOT TOPIC // Mathematics
The Stepping Stones to a prosperous career ORIGO EDUCATION EXPLAINS HOW A SOLID MATHEMATICAL EDUCATION IS KEY TO PREPARING STUDENTS FOR INCREASINGLY STRINGENT UNIVERSITY REQUIREMENTS.
In 2016, the University of Sydney revealed up to 62 degrees would require the completion of Higher School Certificate Mathematics, at a higher level than General Maths. The new requirements, which begin in 2019, don’t just apply to traditionally Maths-focused degrees such as economics, but even psychology and pharmacy. It comes off the back of a need to prepare students for future career challenges, as learning becomes increasingly focused on problem solving. According to the Foundation for Young Australians 2016 report, The New Work Mindset, young people will need enterprise skills to succeed in an increasingly automated and globalised workforce. Its survey found 35 per cent of Australian 15-year-olds show low proficiency in problem solving, and 29 per cent are low in financial literacy. The report argued an urgent need exists for a strategy that begins early in primary school and is built consistently year-onyear. James Burnett, President of the Mathematics curriculum provider, ORIGO Education, believes universities across the country have already begun responding to the new economy. He says Mathematics and problem-solving skills are increasingly becoming compulsory for a number of university degrees. “The University of Queensland just started a whole new finance degree which is much more quantitative-based, so you can’t get into it unless you have the highest level of Mathematics,” James says. “The highest earning university degrees all involve Mathematics. From computer engineering to economics and civil engineering, even marketing. If we encourage problem solving at a primary school level, then students will be
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prepared for high school and able to deal with complex equations such as algebra when they get to them.” One of ORIGO’s core programs is Stepping Stones. Delivered online from Foundation to Year 6, the program gives teachers a central location to access all their lesson plans, student activity pages and teaching tools. Key to the Stepping Stones structure is teaching students how to
think, rather than what to think. In this way, students build confidence, develop a deeper understanding of strategies and concepts, improve communication and collaboration and it helps them connect new ideas to existing ones. And the results show, as the company’s data indicates ORIGO Stepping Stones schools perform above the national average, experiencing a 24 per cent student gain in their Year 3 and 5 NAPLAN results in the past year. Further to this, more than 100,000 students across Australia are taught using the program. John Hopkins University, a world leader in education research also recently conducted a study showing ORIGO Stepping
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Stones students outperformed their peers. Stepping Stones is a comprehensive core program that provides modules of learning that include everything a teacher needs to teach Maths effectively. Each module begins with background information for teachers such as learning targets and language development. Assessments cover in-class observations, portfolio samples, checkups, performance tasks and individual interviews. Teachers looking to enrich their Maths lesson can also choose from a range of investigations, problem-solving activities and cross-curricula links. Most importantly, the program has professional learning videos embedded right where the teachers need them, so they can increase their own pedagogical and content knowledge of the subject. “Applying mathematical equations to the real-world is instrumental to getting students engaged. Providing a situation with context gives it meaning. The learner will be more motivated if you focus on units of measurement they will use outside of the classroom, whether that be metres or dollars,” James adds. “Technology can answer even the most sophisticated mathematical equations, but there’s no technology that will work with solving real-world problems. Our solution is to present students with the problem, and then ask them to write the equation to get it solved.” James says providing teachers with a conceptual approach to teaching is also important in the new economy, as opposed to a procedural one. “We provide visual models, these can be pictures or concrete resources so that students understand the concepts, rather than following a procedure. The problem with procedural learning is that if you forget the procedure you have no way of re-creating it.”
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HOT TOPIC //Mathematics
reSolve: Promoting a spirit of inquiry THE AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE IS AT THE FOREFRONT OF AN EXCITING PROJECT THAT AIMS TO FOSTER STUDENT CURIOSITY AND A DESIRE TO KNOW WHY IN MATHEMATICS.
In his 2010 speech to young researchers in Mathematics at Cambridge University, renowned mathematician, Fields medallist and Abel Prize winner Sir Michael Atiyah looked back on 60 years of Mathematics. Upon reflection, Atiyah referred to the “views I have seen from the heights” and the “challenges [that] lie ahead for the next generation” (Atiyah, 2010). He suggested there were many more “mountain ranges” to explore in Mathematics, and talked about what motivates mathematicians: understanding, curiosity, exploration and ideas. These concepts lie at the heart of an exciting new Australian government funded project, managed by the Australian Academy of Science in collaboration with the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers. The project, reSolve: Maths by Inquiry, produces classroom and professional resources to promote a spirit of inquiry in school Mathematics from
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Foundation to Year 10. But what is a spirit of inquiry? The reSolve team describes it as a desire to know why an answer has been developed and a curiosity for this, as opposed to simply understanding the methodology behind each individual problem. It will also develop the knowledge and skills of more than 240 teachers across Australia who will become the champions to take the messages of the project out into the world. THE PROTOCOL The guiding principles behind the project are described in what the reSolve team has called the Protocol – a vision for the teaching of Mathematics and numeracy that emphasises mathematical purpose, challenge and access, and a collaborative knowledgebuilding culture. The three principal elements of the Protocol stress that Mathematics is more than covering
content, that if we design the tasks well everyone can be part of a rich mathematical experience, and that classrooms are learning environments focused on developing deep understanding. One of the resources that the reSolve team has developed for Foundation is based on the children’s book One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab (Sayre & Sayre, 2006). In the book, children create numbers based on the total number of legs in the picture. A snail alone is the number one, a person is two, and a snail and a person is three. The book, perhaps surprisingly, goes from ten (a crab) to twenty (two crabs). Our first inquiry question is what numbers are missing? The second is how do you calculate those numbers? Children conclude that if seven is made with an insect and a snail, then 17 is a crab, an insect and a snail. So it begins to develop an early understanding of place value. The third inquiry is how many different ways you could make numbers, which relates directly to
INQUIRY AND EXPLICIT TEACHING The word explicit comes from the Latin words ex (out) and plicare (to fold). To make something explicit literally means “to unfold”. This is completely in line with the reSolve team’s view of inquiry, which focuses on unfolding important mathematical ideas, such as coming to understand the structure of number via the book One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab. The reSolve resources are carefully designed and structured to help the teacher lead students to a deep understanding of purposeful Mathematics. Students learn through the teacher’s active intervention, such as the use of enabling prompts to reduce cognitive load and provide access, attention to misconceptions, and the unpacking of alternative strategies. Students do much more than reproduce an approach demonstrated by the teacher, they understand the mathematical concepts underpinning the method and appreciate why it is accurate and efficient. the mathematics of partitions. The number 4, for example, can be partitioned in exactly five ways: 4, 3 + 1, 2 + 2, 2 + 1 + 1, and 1 + 1 + 1 + 1. For the number 70, the number of partitions is a staggering four million. In 1748, the mathematician Leonhard Euler described a method for finding the number of partitions of a number, but this is time-consuming, even with a computer. In the 300 years since Euler’s work, the theory of partitions has been the subject of ongoing research, including by the Indian mathematician Ramanujan, who, with G.H. Hardy, in 1918 published a formula that is quick to calculate and that very closely matches the exact answer. By engaging in a simple inquiry, children come to see Mathematics as a living discipline, involving characters such as Ramanujan, whose life has been so richly described in the book and film The Man Who Knew Infinity. THE RESOURCES reSolve: Maths by Inquiry is developing three types of resources that capture the spirit of inquiry in Maths, exemplify the Protocol and promote fluency, deep understanding, strategic problem solving and mathematical reasoning. More than 88 exemplary
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lesson plans will highlight key ideas in every strand of the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics at every year level from Foundation to Year 10. Each is carefully designed to develop progressive understanding through tasks that promote a spirit of inquiry. The eight special topics are significant resources that address the needs of 21st century learners. They provide imaginative opportunities for creatively using new technologies in real world contexts such as coding, modelling and engineering. The eight professional resources provide the link between the Protocol and the teaching and learning resources. They are designed to inform individual teacher and whole school change. CONCLUSION The example above captures the spirit of inquiry that we hope permeates all our resources. The resources do not eliminate the need for carefully constructed intentional teaching, nor do they eliminate the need for activities that will sustain the learning. But like the young mathematicians addressed by Sir Michael Atiyah, through activities such as these we hope that students begin to find their own mountain ranges to explore, motivated by understanding, curiosity, exploration and ideas. We hope that they, too, can experience the joy and delight of mathematical discovery. We invite you and your colleagues to join us in the exciting venture that is reSolve: Maths by Inquiry. Visit www.resolve.edu.au or email mbi@science.org.au
References Atiyah, M. (2010). A Panoramic View of Mathematics. Retrieved from http://sms.cam.ac.uk/media/753316;jsessioni d=30C071FEDDCBD0EBBE3014FB9797C443 Sayre, A.P. & Sayre, J. (2006). One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press
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Australia’s three-dimensional curriculum HOW DOES THE AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM PREPARE OUR STUDENTS FOR A COMPLEX AND UNCERTAIN FUTURE? ACARA’S TRACY ZILM EXPLAINS.
Tracy Zilm is the Curriculum Specialist, Health and Physical Education, at the Australian, Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. She manages ongoing development, monitoring, research and stakeholder engagement in order to support the implementation and enhance the effectiveness of the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education. Tracy has more than 40 years’ experience within a variety of settings and leadership roles across Australia and overseas. She has taught in city and country high schools, held a national leadership role with MindMatters (the national mental health in schools initiative) and lectured at universities and tertiary institutions in South Australia and England. She has spent years developing, presenting and monitoring professional development tools and training activities that encourage educators, school communities and other organisations to reflect on and plan how they support learning.
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How well do you remember 2005? Internationally renowned burns specialist Dr Fiona Wood was named Australian of the year, England won the Ashes for the first time since 1987 and a videosharing website called YouTube was launched. For the high school graduates of 2017, 2005 also marked the start of their secondary education. The world has changed a great deal since. Students who began their first year of schooling in 2017 will graduate from high school in 2029. They will enter a workforce full of occupations and opportunities that don’t exist. The education they receive over the next 13 years will need to equip them with the skills to thrive in and shape that unknown future world. In 2008, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) commenced the development of the latest iteration of the national curriculum for Australia. The process that followed involved thousands of educators drafting, writing, trialling and refining what students were to learn in schools across the country. Last year, ACARA completed the first iteration of the Australian Curriculum for students in Foundation to Year 10 – the Auslan and Classical Languages curricula. The national web-based curriculum can be accessed by teachers, parents, students and educators across the country and internationally. It sets the expectations of learning for all Australian students, regardless of their location or background. Countries and organisations around the world are working to design curricula that are deliberate, comprehensive and systematic in supporting and developing young people. The Australian Curriculum, with its three-dimensional structure, is leading the way. A three-dimensional curriculum means that it must be an evolving product. If we accept, as the evidence all around us indicates, that students need to be creative, critical thinkers and responsible citizens who can manage
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rapid technological and social change, then our curriculum design needs to reflect this and should continue to be updated. Part of this three-dimensional structure is an understanding that international educators and governments are emphasising 21st century skills as essential to curriculum design. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is one of many international forums leading the exchange of research and ideas, and ACARA is contributing on Australia’s behalf. More than 30 countries around the world are participating in this project to explore curriculum design and its implementation. Key to this is defining the learning priorities and objectives that educators and policymakers must consider during their curriculum development process. “So how does a national curriculum prepare Australians for a globalised world that is complex, uncertain and volatile?” (Taguma, 2016). The Australian Curriculum was developed with a three-dimensional approach to learning: it integrates eight learning areas, seven general capabilities and three cross-curriculum priorities. General capabilities equip students to engage effectively with global, national and local issues. Cross-curriculum priorities give a focus across subjects on priorities critical to Australia’s future. Learning areas focus on the inclusion of staple topics such as English, Science and the Arts. The Australian Curriculum is both structured and agile. Teachers can adapt its content to the needs of their communities and students. For example, teachers in a regional school community may focus a unit of work on local geography, agriculture, sustainability, and critical and creative thinking. An inner-city school may focus on the impact of urbanisation on the environment, with a focus on sustainability and personal and social capability, while accessing the same curriculum dimensions.
“There is general acknowledgement around the world that to equip young people for success we need to shift from a knowledge-only based education towards incorporating skills such as creative problem solving, collaboration and character skills such as resilience, agility, compassion and respect. These elements are central to the new success.” Charles Fadel, Center for Curriculum Redesign Founder, 8 May 2017 Teacher Magazine ACER A CLOSER LOOK AT THE AIMS OF THE THREE DIMENSIONS The learning areas (Mathematics, English, Science, Humanities and Social Sciences, Technologies, the Arts, Languages, and Health and Physical Education) are widely recognised as the basis of teaching, learning and timetable structures in schools. Each learning area outlines the knowledge, skills, understandings and values of successful learners, as described in the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians in 2008. The general capabilities aim to develop the skills of young people to: • be critical and creative thinkers who are innovative, enterprising and adaptable • have a strong ethical understanding, and can reason, investigate, evaluate and reflect • be confident, competent and safe information and communication technology users and creators • be empathetic, responsible young Australians with intercultural understanding, and respect their own and others’ cultures • have the personal and social capability to effectively communicate and collaborate, and display resilience and leadership • be literate and numerate, and be able to develop a deep understanding of subject content Cross-curriculum priorities include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures, Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia, and Sustainability.
These priorities each give students the tools, values and language to engage with, and better understand, their world. They are developed through learning area content, which specifies what is learned in a topic. Incorporating the priorities in teaching and learning also encourages conversations between students, educators and the wider community. NAVIGATING THE AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM ACARA produces a number of online tools and resources to support schools and teachers in engaging with the Australian Curriculum. ACARA works with schools, industry, and states and territories to develop the ‘curriculum connections’ – resources that demonstrate ways to organise and deliver content in the Australian Curriculum. Resources are available in the areas of consumer and financial literacy, food and fibre, food and wellbeing and outdoor learning. Each curriculum connection has been designed to demonstrate how content can be organised: • within and across subjects or learning areas • across one or more of the general capabilities • across one or more of the cross-curriculum priorities • to support connected and personalised learning The Curriculum connections can be accessed at: resources.australiancurriculum.edu.au/curriculumconnections
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ACHIEVEMENT STANDARDS AND WORK SAMPLES From Foundation to Year 10, the Australian Curriculum’s achievement standards show the expected breadth and depth of learning that students should typically demonstrate by a particular age or stage. The achievement standards are accompanied by portfolios of student work that illustrate this, allowing educators to make judgements about whether students have achieved the standard. Schools can use these work samples as a basis for moderation conversations or professional learning activities. Work samples contribute to a shared understanding of standards, and build consistency and confidence in making judgements about students’ CREATE A LEARNING PROGRAM USING THE AC RESOURCES A Year 4 teacher who wants to focus on the topic of food and nutrition can: • find relevant content descriptions from across learning areas and links to general capabilities in the food and wellbeing curriculum connection • see what Year 3 and 4 student achievement looks like in the food and nutrition work samples • gather ideas about how to integrate aspects of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander food and nutrition by viewing the Medina Primary School illustration of practice video • consider strategies to differentiate teaching for a student in the class with additional needs
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progress and performance. When teachers have a solid understanding of the design and intent of achievement standards they can make connections to the other dimensions of the curriculum. The student work samples can be accessed at: resources.australiancurriculum.edu.au/worksamples
skills. They are another demonstration of how the three dimensions of the Australian Curriculum work together. STEM illustrations of practice explore the experiences of five Australian schools and can be accessed at: resources.australiancurriculum.edu.au/ stem/
STEM CONNECTIONS Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education has recently become the focus of considerable political, industry and media commentary in Australia and overseas. ACARA’s STEM Connections project presents a cross-disciplinary approach to the teaching of STEM subjects. The resources illustrate how schools can increase student interest in STEM-related learning, while improving students’ problem-solving and critical analysis A REFRESHED WEBSITE The Australian Curriculum website has been refreshed with a new look and feel to enhance its functionality and usability. The new platform reflects contemporary design and has the flexibility to accommodate future additions and enhancements to the Australian Curriculum. www.australiancurriculum.edu.au
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ILLUSTRATIONS OF PRACTICE ACARA has developed illustrations of practice to support the implementation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures crosscurriculum priority. The illustrations of practice have been gathered from a diverse group of Australian schools that have shared their stories of innovation
“Australia is a vast country, with a small, diverse population. From the bush to the beach, young Australians are living and learning in an incredibly wide range of contexts, and each one of them deserves the best educational opportunities that states and territories can deliver.” Fiona Mueller, Director, Curriculum, ACARA and inclusion. Illustrations of practice cover a range of learning areas such as Science, Work Studies, HASS and Technologies, demonstrating how the three dimensions of the Australian Curriculum can work together in any classroom setting. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student enrolment varies across the schools. Educators can be inspired by the creative and effective approaches used by these schools. DIFFERENTIATING THE 3D CURRICULUM FOR ALL STUDENTS Student Diversity materials guide school leaders and teachers on how they can use the threedimensional design to differentiate curriculum for all students. Teachers are guided by a flow chart which outlines the process for personalising learning for all students. Additional advice is available to help teachers plan programs for students with disability, gifted and talented students, as well as English as a second language students. Illustrations of practice show authentic examples of how schools are using the flexible design of the Australian Curriculum to meet the diverse learning needs of students. While the world was a vastly different place in 2005, ACARA’s development of the Australian Curriculum as a multifaceted and flexible framework will remain relevant for decades to come. The design of the curriculum ensures that teachers and students can understand, adapt to and take action within the ever-changing reality of their lives, regardless of whether YouTube remains in the fold.
REFERENCES: ACARA. (2012). Curriculum Development Process, Version 6. Sydney: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. ACARA. (2012). The Shape of the Australian Curriculum version 4. Sydney: Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). ACARA. (2013). Curriculum Design Paper v3.1. Sydney: ACARA. Ministerial Council for Education, E. C. (2008). Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians. Canberrra: MCEECDYA. OECD. (2013). Synergies for Better Learning, an International Perspective on Evaluation and Assessment. Paris: OECD publishing. Taguma, M. &. (2016). E2030 Conceptual Framework: Key competencies for 2030 (DeSeCo 2.0). Paris: OECD, Directorate for Education and Skills.
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HOT TOPIC //Science
Engaging school students in Science ARE TEACHERS ADEQUATELY PREPARED TO TEACH STUDENTS HOW TO REASON AND GENERATE IDEAS IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE? DEAKIN UNIVERSITY’S RUSSELL TYTLER EXPLORES THE GAPS IN THE CURRICULUM.
Russell Tytler is Alfred Deakin Professor and Chair in Science Education at Deakin University. His research covers student learning and reasoning in Science, and extends to pedagogy and teacher and school change. He researches and writes on student engagement with Science and Mathematics, school-community partnerships and STEM curriculum policy.
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Over the past decade there has been growing concern about the levels of engagement with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects by Australian students (Chubb). The fact that Australia has been slipping down the rankings in international testing such as PISA and TIMSS (Thomson, 2016) has given bite to these concerns, alongside figures showing decreasing participation in post-compulsory physical Science and Mathematics (Marginson et al., 2014). There is also a projected shortfall of the STEM skills needed to create and maintain wealth in a modern society. The concerns are therefore a real-world problem. There are however cogent reasons, beyond the economics, for being concerned about students becoming disengaged with Mathematics and Science. They are major systems of thought that underpin many of the skills and understandings needed to function as literate citizens in contemporary society. The problem-solving capabilities, critical reasoning and questioning that underpin the pursuit of understanding the natural world are of value not just in scientific research and development, but in many occupations and in everyday life. The recent National Assessment Program Science literacy results for Australian Year 6 students (ACARA, 2017) showed on the one hand a majority of students are interested in studying Science and learning new things, but on the other hand there has been a pattern of stagnation in inquiry skills since 2006. It comes despite considerable policy emphasis and resource support over the last two decades. So what
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can we do better to engage students in quality Science thinking? RESOLVING SYSTEMIC PROBLEMS At a system level, primary Science has always suffered, along with other curriculum areas, as a poor cousin to literacy and numeracy as fundamental concerns. This has meant that time devoted to Science has traditionally been well below that recommended (Crook & Wilson, 2015). It has meant that often, Science has been ‘integrated out’ of the curriculum. A lack of teacher enthusiasm for Science is commonly held to be due to a lack of confidence and competence, with few primary teachers having strong Science backgrounds or a “feeling” for Science. Personally I think this argument is simplistic. I think teachers make choices about classroom content based on what ideas and skills are important for children and what they can offer by way of support for reasoning and learning, and without a feeling for Science, they tend to focus elsewhere. They need to see, and feel the excitement and payoffs of Science in children’s lives. So how can we support teachers to recognise the value of Science for children’s developing thinking, and the richness of learning associated with the subject? There is evidence that primary science teachers focus on exploratory activities that work (Appleton, 2002), such as in the Primary Connections 5E inquiry model, but tend to stop short of orchestrating the deeper levels of reasoning and understanding that really engage children with the literacies of Science.
This involves experimenting, modelling, discussion, and explanatory writing (Skamp & Peers, 2012). Engagement is often taken to indicate busy absorption in an activity. I argue that what we need is engagement with the quality thinking that represents the specific forms of reasoning in Science – the asking of new questions, the search for explanation, the argument from evidence, and the creation and mastery of representations and models that make sense of the world. We want children to experience the deeper satisfaction that comes from engagement with ideas. MORE RESOURCES AND SUPPORT NEEDED Teachers need adequate resources and substantial support to foster engagement in the subject. This means modelling classroom pedagogies that engage students in substantial investigation, discussion and representation. Over a number of projects we have found students have the appropriate tools to learn when
there is a Science leader/enthusiast in the school, trained to support teachers to plan and implement coherent learning sequences. Recently, the Victorian Department of Education and Training Victoria has been running an initiative with Science (and Mathematics) specialists, providing training and time to lead Science in their schools (Campbell & Chittleborough, 2014). Research into the actions of these specialists in establishing Science as a school priority shows that the pathway to success is not straightforward, with schools harnessing a range of strategies to bring teachers on board. For many schools, the adoption of Primary Connections curriculum resources provided the impetus for planning a more comprehensive program. For some, this was a first step following which they injected their own contexts and sequences into the curriculum. Often the specialist began by taking Science lessons, then gradually withdrawing to a modelling and planning support role. Some schools built a renewed Science program around special projects, such as the
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monitoring and modification of local wetlands, or around special events such as family Science nights, or competitions. For some, links with local scientists or industries provided the necessary support, as well as the role-modelling of scientific processes (Tytler, Symington & Smith, 2011; Cripps Clark, Tytler, & Symington, 2014; Tytler et al., 2015). Schools that established sustainable practices invariably had strong support from the leadership team. As a result, many schools are self-proclaimed STEM schools, with leadership driving the development of a vision that encompasses strong professional learning support for teachers to develop students’ scientific literacy. Parents can also play a role in enhancing the Science program. Those who work across the various STEM sectors can offer expertise for both teachers and students. MAKE SCIENCE A PRIORITY I have argued that the lack of progress in student engagement with deeper Science learning relates to a culture in primary schools where
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Figure 1: A student report on temperature effects on the dissolving of food colouring.
Science has not traditionally been a priority, and insufficient time and energy has been devoted to the subject. To turn this around, teachers need support from colleagues who are enthusiastic, knowledgeable and committed to a strong Science program. Leadership support is essential. So what approaches to teaching and learning are needed? For the past few decades, scientific literacy has been promoted as the most important facet of Science education. It marks a shift from the previous focus of teaching budding Science professionals, to a concern instead for the education of citizens to participate in, understand and make decisions about Science in their lives (Fensham, 1985). The focus has included understanding how Science works to establish knowledge, what scientists do, as well as the knowledge of key concepts. There have been criticism of some versions of scientific literacy that emphasise interpretation of science in the media or to inform health decisions – rather than ‘doing’ science. But ‘doing’ has always had a strong place in the curriculum. Recently, there has been a renewed emphasis in Australia and elsewhere on Science, with other subjects, serving a general capabilities agenda, including critical and creative thinking and collaborative reasoning.
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It has been argued that Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects have an important role to play in this area, and this underpins the push for the inclusion of engineering/technology design and digital literacies in an authentic-problemfocused STEM curriculum (English, 2016). In a recent article co-authored in The Conversation (Tytler & Prain, 2017), I argued that the National Assessment Program Science literacy should be expanded to include these critical and creative reasoning elements, to encourage the involvement of students in meaningful problemsolving and imaginative reasoning that reflects the way scientists create knowledge. DEVELOPING LITERACY IN PRACTICAL TERMS In our own research, we have developed a guided inquiry approach to Science that reflects contemporary understandings of the way that scientists collaboratively invent and refine multi-modal representational systems (ie figures, diagrams, visual resources) (Latour, 1999; Nersessian, 2008) to build and apply new knowledge. In this approach (Tytler, Prain, Hubber & Waldrip, 2013), students are strategically challenged to draw, construct models, role play or generate animations to explain phenomena, and then under the guidance of the teacher to discuss
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and refine these. We have found that student engagement with the tasks and with ideas is enhanced, teachers attest that class discussion is enriched, and test results show considerable knowledge gains (Tytler & Hubber, 2016). Underpinning our work is a view of student learning as an induction into the multimodal disciplinary literacies of Science – the ways of speaking, writing and representing that characterise scientific reasoning (Tytler, Prain & Hubber, in press). As an example, we recently worked with Grade 5/6 teachers at Wenona School, in North Sydney, to develop approaches to teaching about material properties and electricity. Investigative approaches through a range of variables were modelled before students designed tests to compare consumer products. In Figure 1 on the left, students reported on an experiment to investigate the effect of temperature on the spread of food colouring. The class had discussed particle ideas and brainstormed views about the mechanism of dissolving, and about the structure of the report. Notice the emphasis on explanation and modelling through visual representation. This is distinct from traditional ‘aim, method, results, conclusion’ which do not encourage imaginative speculation or generation of explanatory ideas. A further example of the approach involved a Year 5/6 unit on animals in the school ground where students investigated invertebrate classification, structure and function and adaptation. Teachers structured the tasks to challenge students to develop representations of animal diversity, habitat and adaptive behaviours. Students became absorbed in explorations of invertebrates, becoming an expert in classification and in behaviour, and often independently explored animals outside of class time. One activity involved students modelling the movement of a chosen animal. Academics from the US, Richard Lehrer and Leona Schauble, have been demonstrating significant learning advantage in primary school Science and Mathematics through children inventing representational systems in a guided classroom environment. An example of their work is a unit on fast plants in which children became absorbed in tracking patterns of growth through representing it visually, and then mathematically.
CHALLENGES In designing units of work that engage students with the reasoning and idea generation characteristic of Science, I argue that these ‘representational challenges’ are true to the knowledge generation processes of scientists, and the multimodal literacies underpinning scientific thinking. Imaginative work in STEM does not only reside with technology design, but needs to be
expressed through the way we challenge students to explore phenomena and generate and negotiate explanations. Engaging students in authentic instances of thinking and working scientifically may involve them working on real-life problems such as exploring and protecting local environments, evaluating consumer products, working with school gardens, or designing go-carts in an
engineering competition. It can just as well, however, involve them becoming engrossed in exploring intrinsically interesting phenomena and generating representational explanatory systems. The key is to structure and harness children’s ideas towards genuinely imaginative ends, rather than presenting pre-determined conclusions. Teacher knowledge and expert guidance is key.
References ACARA (2017). NAP Sample assessment science literacy. http://www.nap.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/20170309-nap_sl_final.pdf?sfvrsn=2 Appleton, K. (2002). Science Activities That Work: Perceptions of Primary School Teachers. Research in Science Education, 32(3) 393-410. Campbell, C., & Chittleborough, G. (2014). Promoting and improving the teaching of science in primary schools. Teaching Science: The Journal of the Australian Science Teachers Association, 60(1), 19-29. Cripps Clark, J., Tytler, R., & Symington, D. (2014). School-community collaborations: Bringing authentic science into schools. Teaching Science, 60(3), 28-34. Crook, S., & Wilson, R. (2015). Five challenges for science in Australian primary schools. The Conversation, June 4. http://www.nap.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-documentlibrary/20170309-nap_sl_final.pdf?sfvrsn=2 English, L. (2016). Targeting all of STEM in the primary school: Engineering design as a foundational process. Keynote address at the ACER conference: Improving STEM learning: What will it take. Brisbane, August. http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1277&context=research_conference Fensham, P. J. (1985). Science for all: A reflective essay. Journal of curriculum Studies, 17(4), 415-435. Latour, B. (1999). Pandora’s hope: essays on the reality of science studies. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press. Lehrer, R., Schauble, L., Carpenter, S., & Penner, D. E. (2000). The inter-related development of inscriptions and conceptual understanding. In P. Cobb, E. Yackel, & K. McClain (Eds.), Symbolizing and communicating in mathematics classrooms: Perspectives on discourse, tools, and instructional design (pp. 325–360). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum Marginson, S., Tytler, R., Freeman, B., & Roberts, K. (2013). STEM: Country comparisons. Melbourne: The Australian Council of Learned Academies. www.acola.org.au. Nersessian, N. (2008). Model-based reasoning in scientific practice. In R. Duschl & R. Grandy (Eds.), Teaching scientific inquiry: Recommendations for research and implementation (pp. 57-79). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. Skamp, K., & Peers, S. (2012. Implementation of science based on the 5E learning model: Insights from teacher feedback on trial Primary Connections units. Paper presented at the Australasian Science Education Research Association Conference, Queensland, June. The Conversation, March 15. https://theconversation.com/science-curriculum-needs-to-do-more-to-engage-primary-school-students-74523?sg=a595be3b-9166-4473-bb4e75fd56e7037a&sp=1&sr=3 Thomson, S. (2016). Ideas for Australia: Why is Australia falling behind in maths, science and literacy – and what can be done about it? The Conversation, April 13. https://theconversation.com/ ideas-for-australia-why-is-australia-falling-behind-in-maths-science-and-literacy-and-what-can-be-done-about-it-56267 Tytler, R. (2009). School Innovation in Science: Improving science teaching and learning in Australian schools. International Journal of Science Education, 31(13), 1777-1809. Tytler, R. & Hubber, P. (2016). Constructing representations to learn science, in B. Hand, M. McDermott, & V. Prain (eds.) Using multimodal representations to support learning in the science classroom, pp. 159-181. Switzerland: Springer. DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-16450-2_9 Tytler, R., & Prain, P. (2017). Science curriculum needs to do more to engage primary school students Tytler, R., Prain, V., & Hubber, P. (in press). Representation construction as a core science disciplinary literacy. In K-S Tang & K. Danielsson (Eds.) (In press). Global developments in literacy research for science education. Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Springer. Tytler, R., Prain, V., Hubber, P., & Waldrip, B. (Eds.). (2013). Constructing representations to learn in science. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers. Tytler, R., Symington, D., & Smith, C. (2011). A curriculum innovation framework for science, technology and mathematics education. Research in Science Education, 41, 19-38. Tytler, R., Symington, D., Williams, G., White, P., Campbell, C., Chittleborough, G., Upstill, G., Roper, E., & Dziadkiewicz (2015). Building productive partnerships for STEM Education: Evaluating the model and outcomes of the Scientists and Mathematicians in Schools program. Melbourne: Deakin University. Available at: http://www.scientistsinschools.edu.au/downloads/ SMiSEvaluationReport2015.pdf
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How schools can best prepare Australia’s future workforce FUTURE GENERATIONS WILL NEED TO BE ABLE TO THINK CREATIVELY, PROBLEM SOLVE AND ADAPT THEMSELVES IN NEW WAYS TO ADDRESS THE JOBS OF TOMORROW, WRITES BYRON SCAF, CEO AT STILE EDUCATION.
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When asking ourselves what skills schools need to be teaching to prepare students for the modern workforce, we must first ask, “what does the modern workforce look like?” We know that 75 per cent of the fastest growing careers will require Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) skills, however STEM performance in Australian schools has stalled and even declined over the past 20 years. Studies have estimated that Australians will make 17 changes in employers across five different careers. Regardless of the career paths students pursue, success in the modern workforce demands critical thinkers and confident problem solvers. While we can’t know what technologies today’s young people are going to utilise in their future roles, we do know that strong critical thinkers are going to be best placed to adapt to this fast-changing environment. In addition to being directly relevant to the jobs they’ll be going into, a strong STEM education builds these very skills. THE CURRENT STATE OF PLAY In 2015, the Foundation for Young Australians (FYA) undertook a report called The New Work Order, which analysed how ways of working have changed for young people, largely as a result of the unique amalgamations of automation, globalisation and collaboration. The first report found that as young Australians transition from school to work, there’s a noticeable gap between the enterprising skills they need and the level of skills they possess. For example, around 35 per cent of Australian 15-year-olds showed low proficiency in problem solving – an essential skill for the professional workforce they’re entering. In a more recent report, The New Basics, FYA analysed 4.2 million job ads between 2012 and 2015 to show that the predicted changes in skills required by young Australians in order to succeed in the workforce have already begun to be realised. In the past 25 years, Australia’s workforce has lost one million jobs in manufacturing and labouring, but gained more than one million jobs in the knowledge and
“Regardless of the career paths students pursue, success in the modern workforce demands critical thinkers and confident problem solvers. While we can’t know what technologies today’s young people are going to utilise in their future roles, we do know that strong critical thinkers are going to be best placed to adapt to this fast-changing environment.”
service industries. Specifically, demand for digital skills increased 212 per cent over three years, while the need for critical thinking increased 158 per cent, and creativity by 65 per cent. The evidence is clear: more employers are demanding enterprising skills from their young employees. These are exactly the types of skills that a well-rounded STEM education is designed to foster. SOLVING TOMORROW’S PROBLEMS Significant and frequent developments in technology are having a huge impact on the way we work and do business. It’s likely that many of the most important issues of the future haven’t been realised yet. While there’s no doubt that climate change, artificial intelligence, automation, technologies and the need to accommodate an ever-expanding global population will remain key issues, it’s hard to foresee what else we’ll be dealing with by the time today’s school age students enter the workforce. The World Economic Forum notes that, “In many industries and countries, the most in-demand occupations or specialties did not exist 10 years ago.” For future generations to be appropriately equipped to solve the most pressing issues of tomorrow, they’ll need to be able to think creatively, problem solve, and adapt themselves in new ways, addressing problems we haven’t considered. By prioritising a strong STEM education today, schools can not only equip students with the subject matter knowledge they’ll need, but also foster the critical thinking
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and enterprise skills that will set young people up with the best chance of success after graduation. THE IMPORTANCE OF STEM – A WARNING While developing strong critical thinkers across the board is important, nowhere is the impact more pertinent than for STEM careers. Today, the foundation of this knowledge is most commonly taught separately, in traditional science, technology, engineering and mathematics classes – subjects that will mould tomorrow’s inventors and innovators. One of the biggest issues that we see, is that despite significant new funding and a focus on STEM as an integrated approach, there is still a lack of consensus on what this actually means for teachers in terms of its practical implementation within the framework of the curriculum. We must teach to the curriculum, but we know that we should be teaching to build these critical skills. The challenge at hand isn’t that we’re slipping in global rankings (though we are), it’s that Australia’s education system is producing young people who have a limited interest and understanding in how the world around them works. This will have the inevitable result of stifling innovation and our ability to find domestic talent to fill crucial roles that will require STEM skills in future. HOW DO WE DEVELOP CRITICAL THINKERS? This takes us back to the findings of the 2015 Program For International Student Assessment report, which found a strong and positive
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relationship between performance in science and mathematics, and a student’s ability to problem solve. It makes sense really – those with a solid foundation knowledge are well-equipped to come up with unique solutions to unforeseen challenges. The answer lies in tying these disciplines – Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology – together in a meaningful way for students and showing the interplay between them, as well as how they apply to real life problems that they can relate to and are going to need to solve. It’s unrealistic to think that teaching via rote learning will ever be phased out completely, but it’s important that schools teach students to recognise the critical difference between memory and intelligence. As the OECD noted, “modern economies reward individuals not for what they know, but for what they can do with what they know.” WHAT NEXT? We need to provide schools and teachers with frameworks for thinking about and tools for implementing an integrated approach to STEM.
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We need to experiment and push the boundaries of conventional thinking about how we approach these subjects and their delivery in the classroom environment. Surely, technology is going to play a greater role in the classroom as we integrate STEM into a more unified curriculum, but what this actually looks like is going to be defined largely by the innovations of today’s critical thinkers. If we get this right, tomorrow’s workforce will be even better equipped to innovate and drive change in education and beyond. The writing is on the wall, industries everywhere are demanding young people with the confidence to ask the hard questions, take risks, learn through experimentation and learn from their mistakes. Regardless of year level, schools should be prioritising tools and technology that enable students to think critically – a skill that is inevitably developed when students are provided with a well-rounded STEM education. This approach will develop well-equipped individuals who are poised to become the next generation of problem solvers in the modern workforce.
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Byron Scaf is the CEO of Stile, an Australian education start-up that creates STEM curriculum resources used by over 100,000 school students. Born and educated in Melbourne, Byron studied neuroscience and engineering at Melbourne University before joining Better Place, an electric car infrastructure start-up, where he built and oversaw the Australian technical operation. Byron then transitioned from a focus on renewable energy to one of education. In 2012, he developed a learning platform for the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering’s STELR program, an online STEM resource for Australian schools. Shortly thereafter, Byron was brought on to lead Stile where he continues to head a team of passionate teachers and engineers. Byron’s vision for Stile is to a create a thought-leading education organisation that works collaboratively with teachers, students and school leadership to create resources, professional development opportunities and industry partnerships to best prepare students for the future.
TECHNOLOGY // Interactive Learning
The brighter side of learning EPSON’S ULTRA-SHORT THROW PROJECTORS ARE HELPING THE NEXT GENERATION OF DIGITAL LEARNERS, AND THE STUDENTS OF ST LUKE’S GRAMMAR SCHOOL ARE REAPING THE BENEFITS.
In today’s bring-your-own-device (BYOD) learning environment, a generation of students have grown up with handheld devices. With the proliferation of mobile devices, interactive projectors have become a staple item in every classroom, catering for collaborative learning spaces which support visual and auditory learning. iPads, laptops and tablets are now commonplace, and aid the experience through digital note-taking, audiobooks and video lessons. To keep pace with this digital revolution, St
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Luke’s Grammar School, in northern Sydney, is constantly looking for the latest technology. Andrew Longhurst, Director of IT, says the school recently installed four Epson EB-695Wi interactive projectors to augment its existing devices across two campuses, which cater for pre-kindergarten through to Year 12. Andrew says he has been working with Epson for more than four years and their reliable projectors were installed for the school’s new stateof-the-art library renovations, the Learning Hub, an open plan space.
“Our school offers a BYOD iPad program in our junior school for Years 5-6 and a laptop program in our senior school through to Year 12,” Andrew explains. “BYOD fits in with our new Learning Hub because we’ve changed from a traditional and rigid learning space to an open plan. This flexibility allows for students and teachers to work remotely with a range of multimedia apps, including YouTube videos, interactive flip charts and PowerPoint presentations.” Andrew says the school installed the EB-695Wi because of the technology’s capacity to project a larger image than usual. The ultra-short throw projectors provide a 100” image from as little as 28cm away with virtually no shadow interference. The end result means students can take in and read information from all sides of the room. “Size of image and price per size of image was the overall factor in our decision-making. We’re using them predominately in two types of spaces. One of which is our two new music rooms, which have fairly wide dimensions so size of image is crucial. “The Learning Hub is a bright room so the larger images help reduce glare in a room with glass windows. The projectors have been paired with the Epson Cable Management & Connection Box, which allows us to simplify the use of each projector for users in a shared space, so we don’t have remotes that go missing.” Andrew explains that a key consideration was the brightness of the projector. Using the company’s powerful 3LCD technology, Epson says the projectors provide an image three times brighter than their leading 1-chip DLP competitors, with equally high colour brightness and white brightness. Andrew says the colourful effect leaves student’s feeling more
engaged with their learning, as the brighter images display colours of up to 3,500 lumens. All Epson projectors are based on 3-chip LCD technology. One chip processes each primary colour continuously (red, green and blue), which adds to the realism of the image. Colour brightness is also particularly important in classrooms where ambient light is overbearing. “We specifically use the Epson projectors because of the 3LCD technology. LCD provides equal brightness across the colour range. After seeing the results, we’d never go anything below 3200 lumens,” Andrew says. He says the projectors have been paired with Apple TVs which allows BYOD students to share images from their iPads and laptops in a collaborative learning space. “A BYOD projector is really powerful for students who want to share what they’ve learnt with their peers and also lead other students in their own learning, whether that be lesson plans in the form of movies, images and websites – or their own creations.” Finger touch and dual pen capabilities allow multiple students to annotate their learning on a whiteboard, Andrew adds, and supports an engaging and flexible learning environment. It also caters to those who learn visually, he adds. “We pair our Epson projectors with standard whiteboards. One of our music teachers makes use of interactive flip charts. But we also have teachers who prefer to use that more tactile whiteboard marker approach so having an interactive projector means that we can cater to both teaching styles.” The projectors can also be seamlessly installed with a flexible wall mount function, reducing the need
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for third party installations. Andrew says a number of Epson models have been installed in-house by school staff in a simple and quick relocation. He adds that another crucial factor schools consider when purchasing any technology is its reliability. As schools often find themselves time poor and budget conscious, minimal maintenance issues are just as important as an effective product. Epson’s lamp and filter share the same 10,000 hour replacement schedule when run in eco mode. This saves schools money and time by having only one replacement cycle. Power is also conserved through eco mode and light optimiser mode, which adjusts the lamp brightness and standby audio. “The replacement lamps and the cost of those make them a really economical unit. I’ve got older units up to five years old that are still going strong.” And as school’s increasingly move towards collaborative and flexible learning spaces, today’s BYOD learner will increasingly look to mobile technology that can be used in a variety of areas. “Most of our spaces we are building now align with a view that they will be flexible and used in a different way in five years’ time. Those classrooms with desks all facing forwards have gone by the wayside.” St Luke’s Grammar School’s Learning Hub is a multi-modal environment which allows students and teachers to access a range of intentionally designed learner-centred spaces, as well as carefully collected and curated resources. With access to interactive technology, students will learn to use their devices responsibly and in consideration with others.
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MAKING THE GRADE
Leading the self BRONWYN JOHNSTONE, PRINCIPAL OF CAPALABA STATE COLLEGE, DISCUSSES HER NEW PLATFORM, WHICH ENABLES EDUCATIONAL LEADERS TO UNDERSTAND THE REASONS BEHIND THEIR DECISION-MAKING AND DEVELOP ON THEIR OWN SHORTCOMINGS.
Leadership is a multifaceted construct with an important component being leading oneself, intentionally influencing your thinking, feelings and behaviours to achieve your goals (Bryant & Kazan, 2012). It is a practice that requires deliberate consideration and structured self-reflection and is essential for growth (Nesbit, 2010). But there’s one key aspect to leading oneself and that’s developing a leadership platform. Leadership platforms are based on theoretical underpinnings of self and coupled with structured
Bronwyn Johnstone is the College Principal at Capalaba State College, a P-12 College in the Redlands, Queensland. She also leads an Early Childhood Development Program, a Positive Learning Centre and Alternative Education Provision – amounting to a total of five schools under her leadership.
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self-reflection, aim to demonstrate one avenue for personal development. My leadership platform is designed as a flow chart of concepts that guide the user through a self-reflection process to allow a deep exploration of the issue at hand. It is derived partly from the self-structured Branson (2009) exercise and the theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991). This approach to leading the ‘self’ aligns with Jackson’s (2013) suggestion that, “once you realise that great influence is not personality
BRONWYN’S LEADERSHIP PLATFORM
How you feel impacts on self-esteem Key questions to explore personal choices: What are the events in your life that stay with you as a lasting memory? What has been a key event in your leadership journey? What is a critical choice you have had to make or are going to make?
Personally evaluate a specific event or a critical choice and the value you place on yourself. What did you say to yourself about the event or choice? What are the thoughts you generally have about yourself?
Life Experience
driven, but rather, the results of choices you make to shape your style, you will be well along the path to new opportunities”. This framework can be applied to many scenarios in life and I have found it particularly useful when considering leadership development. PLANS RESULT IN ACTION According to Ajzen (1991), the theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991) has become the most influential model of predicting human behaviour. The model is based on the notion that, “if we plan to do something we are more likely to do it”. A person’s intention or attitude toward carrying out the behaviour is a central factor in the individual’s intention to perform a given behaviour” (Ajzen, 1991, p.181). This concurs with Gilbert (2014) who claims “intentions as the best prediction of behaviour”. The theory of planned behaviour outlines three fundamental elements that affect the ability of a person to
Belief Thoughts
How does this situation affect your self-esteem? How does the situation or choice affect your core needs? What rules do you make to guide your response?
What do you think is true based on your experience? How does the critical choice or situation align with your values?
What was the outcome of an event and how does it relate to your views?
How did you act during the event or critical choice?
Motivation Needs
undertake a challenge and be successful: behavioural attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control (Downey, 2015). The first element, behavioural attitudes, consists of two aspects: affective attitude and instrumental attitude, and these directly reflect enjoyment and the likelihood of success in undertaking an activity. The second element, subjective norms, also consists of two aspects: injunctive norms and descriptive norms. These norms reflect the level of support an individual will require for success from close relationships and associates. Finally, the third element, perceived behavioural control, is the extent to which the person feels capable and confident to adopt the behaviour and is influenced by previous success with similar activities. Ajzen (2011) reports that “past behaviour is the best indicator of future behaviour” and furthermore, contributes to “people’s perception of the ease or difficulty of performing the behaviour
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Behaviour Enacted
of interest” (Ajzen, 1991, p.183). Factors such as confidence, past experience and familiarity with the circumstances all influence a person’s response and likely success with the task. The theory of planned behaviour highlights the power of our thoughts. Self-reflection and thinking through issues is the only way clarity and leadership development can be achieved (Nesbit, 2010, Gilbert, 2014, Branson, 2009). It is the initial thoughts that shape and lead to action. Equally interesting to me is Dan Gilbert’s comment that “human beings are works in progress that mistakenly think they are finished”. Again, this highlights for me the importance of being conscious of our thoughts, words, and actions as overconfidence can hinder progress and self-doubt can inhibit action (Branson, 2009). We think we are at our best and discourage the type of self-reflection that will lead to personal (improvement) development. Furthermore, my leadership platform guides the user
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MAKING THE GRADE
to dabble in the detail of challenges and events to understand ones’ self. I adopted the theory of planned behaviour to develop my leadership platform because it is a theory underpinned by motivation and action – which are key concepts to my leadership approach. The theory of planned behaviour has enabled me to utilise the study of self, which fundamentally states that if you think it and devise a plan around it, then you will do it. Additionally, if the key to successful leadership is in knowing yourself (Bryant & Kazan,
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2012, Branson, 2009) then I suggest in my platform that you must first want to know yourself and make a plan to know yourself, as this mirrors the stages of the theory of planned behaviour. Furthermore, in seeking to understand self it is important to undertake critical reflective practices (Cunliffe, 2004), to understand yourself and your decision-making processes. My leadership platform invites the user to develop an understanding of self by cycling or navigating forward and backwards to explore how an event influences motivation and behaviour.
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SELF-ESTEEM’S EFFECT ON LEADING Five dimensions of self have been employed in the platform. They are identified in the illustration on page 45 as life experience, self-esteem, needs, thinking and behaviours enacted and explained. Life experience relates to the key memories of your life, which according to Branson (2009), “are those many important memories from your past that you carry around with you” (Branson, 2009). In my role as a leader there are two significant categories of life experiences: those events that have occurred throughout my life that influence my values, and those life experiences which affect my current position. The latter includes present and future challenges which have the potential to have some influence on my leadership journey. The second element in the illustration is selfesteem. Self-esteem is the opinion you have of yourself (Fennell, 1999). This reflects how you feel and the dialogue you have with yourself (Cleghorn, 2002). Positive experiences are likely to elicit positive feelings towards yourself and vice versa for negative experiences. Your self-esteem is reflected in your language and behaviour and permeates all that you do. Needs or motives “enable you to operate effectively regardless of your level of self-esteem” (Branson, 2009). They are the rules you live by and often we are unaware of these key motives. Our core needs drive our actions and attainment influences our self-worth. “Developing an ability to become conscious of your motives is at the heart of authentic leadership” (Branson, 2009). This requires patience, practice and a commitment to understanding your self. Belief is what you think is true and right based on your experience, values, needs and thoughts. Your beliefs greatly influence your actions and are cemented over time based on your experience, while you are often unaware of your underlying values. “As such, your personal values play a key role in guiding your actions” (Branson, 2009). This can lead to conflict between your actual values and what you want others to believe you stand for (espoused values) or what you personally would like to commit to (desired values) (Branson, 2009). Authentic leaders maintain integrity by knowing what they believe and acting in line with their beliefs (Jackson, 2013). Behaviours are an enacted and observable product of the internal process of making meaning
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MAKING THE GRADE
of life’s experiences. They are “formed through the interplay of your self-esteem, motives, values and beliefs” (Branson, 2009). DuFour’s (2012) work on positive learning teams suggests that behaviours can influence belief, as practitioners see reward for effort with a given strategy. I adopt this mindset when working with staff on a collective agenda. I initially designed the leadership platform to support aspiring leaders to unpack a key experience in their journey. Through critically reflecting on an experience, the individual can become more selfaware and better able to respond in challenging times. Increased pressure on leaders makes it “more important to develop different ways of thinking, organising, managing, and relating to people” (Cunliffe, 2004). The platform asks the user to identify a leadership experience. The process then enables reflection on the experience in terms of self-esteem, needs, beliefs and behaviour. Each layer requires deep reflection and consideration of the personal driving forces behind the key elements. The design of the platform allows the user to move forward and backwards along the tool guiding reflective analysis. “Reflective analysis can be both retrospective – making sense of something that happened in the past and examining reasons why we made a decision or acted in a particular way – and anticipatory – planning our future actions” (Cunliffe, 2004). CRITICAL THINKING The platform enables the leader to reflect on a critical event and deconstruct the thoughts, feelings and actions that played out. “By thinking more critically about our own assumptions and actions,
“I initially designed the leadership platform to support aspiring leaders to unpack a key experience in their journey. Through critically reflecting on an experience, the individual can become more selfaware and better able to respond in challenging times.”
we can develop more collaborative, responsive and ethical ways of managing organisations” (Cunliffe, 2004). I have used the platform to reflect on a difficult conversation with a member of my middle management team. The conversation, while at times uncomfortable made me feel positive as I was pleased with the way I engaged. I was motivated to build a positive relationship and to work through the issues. The event continued to reinforce my thinking and beliefs that clear and direct communication is essential in positive relationships. The behaviours I observed were open, conciliatory body language, clear and direct dialogue and solutions-focused outcomes. These behaviours in turn encouraged me as a leader and reinforced my self-esteem and overall was a positive experience, all be it, in a challenging situation. The platform for me provides the structure for self-exploration and analysis of present and potential challenges. Additionally, I have used my leadership platform with my aspiring leaders group. They have found the tool useful regardless of where they are on their leadership journey. Professional growth occurs when the leader is able to “look beyond their own self-interests to focus on larger mutual interests” (Graen, 1995). However, the potential of the platform may be diminished when the leader does not make the time
to engage in the practice fully. All leaders are busy and the latest principal wellbeing survey reflects the challenging times principals face. This data only serves to reinforce the importance of understanding self to allow leaders the inner confidence to act and serve their community. Branson (2009) also recognises the dynamic nature of the educational climate, where principals need to make moral decisions every day. These decisions cannot be solely cognitive assessment, not just a problem solving perspective. To find true solutions, the leader is driven by their morals and makes decisions that they truly own. Contemporary leadership frameworks which guide school systems in the development of their leaders refer to the importance of the self in leadership. Now is the time to engage fully in the development of our leaders. The latest principal wellbeing survey serves to signpost the change in times and the importance of systems to invest in their leaders’ development. Nesbit, (2010) proposes that self-directed reflective practices are a cost-effective method of leadership development. Similar Ben Jenson (2017) acknowledges that the inquiry cycle is the best driver of adult learning that leads to behavioural change. I recommend that schools invest in their leaders by developing their skills in self-reflection.
References: Branson, C. M. (2009). In search of authentic leadership. Brisbane: Australian Catholic University . Bryant, A., & Kazan, A. L. (2012). Self-Leadership: How to Become a More Successful, Efficient, and Effective Leader from the Inside Out. Sydney: Mc Graw Hill. Cleghorn, P. (2002). The secrets of self-esteem: Make the changes you want in your life. London: Vega. Cunliffe, A. L. (2004). On becoming a critically reflexive practitioner. Journal of Management Education, 28(4), 407-426. Downey, A. (2015). Introduction to the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Retrieved from Youtube: http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Theory+Planned+Behavior+YouTube+Video&&view=detail&mid=65 474B11EC39D2024DF665474B11EC39D2024DF6&FORM=VRDGAR DuFour, R., & DuFour, R. (2012). The school leader’s guide to Professional learning communities at work. Victoria: Hawker Brownlow Education. Fennell, M. (1999). Overcoming low self-esteen. London: Constable & Robinson Ltd. Gilbert, D. (2014). The Psychology of your future Self. Retrieved from Youtube: V Graen, G. B. (1995). Relationship-based approach to leadership: Development of leader-member exchange theory of leadership over 25 years: Applying a multi-levle mulit-domain perspective. Leadership quarterly, 6(2), 219-247. Group, C. L. (2014). Locating yourself the key to conscious leadership. Retrieved from www.conscious.is: https://youtube/fLqzYDZAqCl Jackson, D. (2013). The Leader who Inspires. Brisbane: Dan Jackson. Jenson, B. (2017). 2017 Principals’ Conference: Every student, every school: lighting the path for innovation, equity and impact. Brisbane. Nesbit, P. L. (2010). The Role of Self-Reflection, Emotional Management of Feedback, and Self-Regulation Processes in Self-Directed Leadership Development. Human Resource Development Review, 11(2), 203-226. Principal Wellbeing Survey. (2017). Retrieved from Principal Health & Wellbeing: http://principalhealth.org/au/index.php
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Claim as n Self-educatio on your Tax Return
SETTING THE LEARNING AGENDA
BARBARA BLACKBURN
PASI SAHLBERG
TANIA MAJOR
RUSSELL QUAGLIA
H
O ST
DAVID MARQUET
KIRSTI LONKA
DAVID HOPKINS
Australian Council for Educational Leaders: PO Box 876, Strawberry Hills, NSW 2012 1800 680 559 | F 1800 680 561 | national.conference@acel.org.au
BEN WALDEN
MARIAM ISSA
HON. GLADYS BEREJIKLIAN MP
TONY MACKAY
Register at acel.org.au/conf17
MAKING THE GRADE
The Visible Learning approach CORWIN EXPLORES THREE KEY THEMES FROM VISIBLE LEARNING RESEARCH, AND HOW THESE PRINCIPLES CAN HELP TEACHERS TO MAXIMISE STUDENT LEARNING.
Extensive research by education academic Professor John Hattie has over time revealed what works best in maximising student learning. Hattie’s Visible Learning research (2009, 2012) serves as a compelling narrative for educators to question what we choose to spend our time, energy and resources on. Several key themes can be gleaned from the research that invite educators to think about their impact, and more importantly to understand and act on their impact. Visible Learning outlines that how we think about our role as educators powerfully impacts on the pedagogy we implement. How can we reimagine our learning environments to ensure they are founded on building some of the core themes of Visible Learning research? To achieve this, educators should explore key interconnected themes and related questions that have emerged from the research. These can serve as an impetus for educators to inquire into their current practice, ensuring their approach is deliberate and responsive and seeks to maximise success. SEE LEARNING THROUGH THE EYES OF STUDENTS In what ways can we truly imagine learning from the perspective of our students and importantly act on this? Seeking feedback from students about how effectively they are learning is a powerful invitation to understand the impact of teaching. Using students’ assessments as evidence, to know who has been taught well
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and where the gaps are, enables educators to understand how to assist students to make progress and maximise success. Being attuned to the learning lives of students, listening to their struggles, misconceptions and successes can be facilitated through frequent classroom discussions that are focused on learning. Visible Learning identifies the potential of classroom discussions to greatly impact on students’ collaborative reasoning. Deliberately planning for and structuring frequent learning conversations offer powerful learning opportunities for teachers to see learning through students’ eyes, and develop their next teaching approaches. It also reinforces to students that at the heart of learning is the need to feel safe in expressing the challenges they encounter and in
ASK YOURSELF: How often do you engage in sustained dialogue with your students that is deeply focused on their learning? How safe do your students feel in expressing their struggles? What evidence do you have?
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the process serves to normalise errors as being central to learning. POSITION STUDENTS AS BEING THEIR OWN TEACHERS Teach students about the research. Share with your students what has the greatest impact on learning – in essence providing the ‘why’ for all you do together. Royce Sadler (2007) believes we need to “let students in on the secrets of learning”. The implications are that students know what they are learning and how to be successful, as too often they are unsure and consider learning in terms of completing tasks, rather than engaging in thinking processes. The role of teacher clarity has been identified in Visible Learning research as greatly impacting on student learning. We need to ensure learning intentions and success criteria are explicit to students at all times, yet importantly expect that students are able to use and articulate these. At the heart of students being their own teachers is enabling them to understand their next steps in their learning and to know what to do when they don’t know what to do.
ASK YOURSELF: Do we consistently demonstrate high expectations for students to articulate their learning and next steps? What actions, strategies and approaches do we use to enable students to own their learning? Do we use the learning intentions and success criteria as a basis for feedback?
POSITIONING EQUITY AT THE CORE The recognition of how language plays a powerful role in legitimising unquestioned beliefs invites educators to consider how students define their role as learners. How often do we have explicit discussions with students about what being a good learner means? How does this relate to the notion of equity? Students learn quickly about what they consider being ‘smart’ means and who they define as being a good learner, and it is often associated with characteristics aligned with being fast, neat and right. We need to constantly challenge these beliefs by deconstructing what being smart means – even banishing the word and reinforcing a language of learning that honours the role of effort and persistence. How many students are excluded or opt out of schooling when we privilege smart as being something you either are or are not? Ritchhart (2007) advocates for approaches that position students as being able to grow their intelligence, to shift beliefs from being smart to acting smart. He describes the role of language as a powerful cultural force in shaping how students perceive themselves as learners.
How can we become more attuned to the language we use daily that has the potential to invite or exclude specific students? When we put equity at the core, we recognise the power of having high expectations for all students regardless of their achievement levels and this is reflected in the language we use. Johnston (2004) believes that language creates realities, invites identities and works to position people in relation to each other. Saying “you are so smart” is very different from saying, “you are so thoughtful”, as they invite different views of who you are as a person. When we are conscious of how we can use the language of learning to reinforce learning as something that is accessible by all, not a chosen few, we honour the contributions of all our students. Hattie (2009) states that educators need to believe that their role is that of a change agent – that all students can learn and progress. He believes achievement for all is changeable, rather than fixed, and that demonstrating to all students that they care about their learning is both powerful and effective. When we ask deeper questions of all students, expect all to engage and provide wait time, we position them as active agents in their learning. It is intentional and deliberate and not left to chance. Visible Learning research can be described as a compelling narrative that invites educators to be evaluators of their impact. Central to this notion is the need to constantly question, re-imagine and
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ASK YOURSELF: How often do we question and explicitly teach students about what being a good learner means in order to challenge their perceptions and build understandings? How could we group students flexibly to maximise their interactions with peers? How do we equally privilege student progress as opposed to just achievement through our words and actions? implement approaches in order to see learning through students’ eyes, position students as their own teachers, and recognise the power of language in our daily interactions in the learning lives of students that powerfully underpin their identity and agency. The three suggested key themes and questions invites educators to reimagine how their approaches impact student learning and design deliberate interventions to strengthen their practice. Corwin is the exclusive provider of Visible Learningplus professional learning and development, based on Professor John Hattie’s research in Australia. For more information, visit au.corwin.com. References: Hattie, J. (2009) Visible Learning A Synthesis of over 800 metaanalyses related to achievement. New York: Routledge. Hattie, J. (2012) Visible Learning for Teachers Maximising impact on Learning. New York: Routledge. Johnston, P.H. (2004) Choice Words: How our language affects children’s learning. Maine: Stenhouse. Ritchhart, R. (2002) Intellectual Character. California: Josey Bass.
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Workshop aims to tackle wellbeing PRINCIPAL WELLBEING IS A MAJOR CONCERN REQUIRING IMMEDIATE ATTENTION, WRITES PAUL GEYER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF PRINCIPALS AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE.
The role of principal is a rewarding, yet challenging, leadership career. The breadth and magnitude of responsibilities can weigh heavily on a school leader, from student wellbeing and discipline to staffing issues and teaching evaluation. Not to mention budgeting and resource allocation, legal responsibilities, change management, community engagement and public relations. It’s an immense workload for one individual, and many principals are reporting that they feel stretched to the limit. Principals Australia Institute (PAI), the national professional services organisation supporting principals and school leaders, has identified principal wellbeing as a major concern requiring immediate attention. To address this, PAI has developed the Principal Wellbeing Workshop. The one-day, face-to-face workshop will address health and wellbeing issues for principals, which have also been raised in recent research and media reports. The Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey, led by Dr Philip Riley from the Australian Catholic University, is a key piece of research informing the wider community about the challenges and struggles facing Australian school leaders. Its 2016 report found principals experience high levels of job demands (1.5 times the general population) and emotional demands (1.7 times higher), as well as high levels of burnout (1.6 times the general population), stress symptoms (1.7 times higher), depressive symptoms (1.3 times higher) and difficulty sleeping (2.2 times higher). In addition, 44 per cent of survey respondents had received a threat of violence at work in 2016, and 34 per cent had experienced actual physical violence, which is 8.6 times the prevalence within the general population. “These statistics, though not surprising
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given what we’re hearing from principals are unacceptable and deeply concerning,” says Paul Geyer, PAI’s Chief Executive Officer. “While important work is underway by schools, associations and education departments to improve broader issues that impact on the principal’s job, PAI is focused on working personally with principals to help support and boost their mental health and wellbeing. “We’re inviting principals to take this day and quarantine it as an important time to come together with peers, reflect on their experiences, recharge their batteries, then go forth with strategies to look after their own wellbeing, as well as that of their school.” The workshops will be facilitated by Lynne Symons, a former principal who is now an educational leadership consultant. Lynne will
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bring her personal experience and expertise in school leadership to the discussion. “Too often it takes a personal crisis for a principal before they recognise they have their own major health or wellbeing issue. “We must become proactive rather than reactive. The PAI Principal Wellbeing Workshops are a positive, proactive strategy for principals.” PAI offers a suite of workshops supporting school leaders and their communities, including Teacher Wellbeing, Graduate and Grow (mentoring and supporting early-career teachers), Leading Change (change management in schools) and more. Visit the Events Calendar at pai.edu.au to find a workshop near you, or contact PAI for more information on 08 8394 2100 or contact@pai.edu.au
Applied behaviour Applied behaviour analysis is a scientific discipline that systematically analyses and applies principles of learning theory to bring about positive changes in behaviour. Monash’s new Master of Education in Applied Behaviour Analysis will give you an understanding of the major theoretical and professional debates in education. You’ll also gain knowledge and expertise in: • The principles of behaviour modification and their application • The identification and assessment of behaviours • Evidence-based practices for behaviour analysts • Experimental design for research into behaviour analysis • Professional ethics in behaviour analysis The Behavior Analyst Certification Board, Inc. has verified the above course sequence as meeting the coursework requirements for eligibility to take the Board Certified Behavior Analyst Examination. Applicants will have to meet additional requirements to qualify. For further information on BCBA requirements visit: bacb.com/bcba/ For more information on the Master of Education in Applied Behaviour Analysis visit: monash.edu/education/edaba
MAKING THE GRADE
In discussion with ACEL EDUCATION MATTERS SPEAKS TO AASHA MURTHY, THE CEO OF THE AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL FOR EDUCATIONAL LEADERS, ABOUT THE ORGANISATION’S VISION TO STRENGTHEN EDUCATIONAL LEADERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
WHAT IS ACEL? The Australian Council for Educational Leaders (ACEL) is the largest professional association for education in Australia and the wider Asia-Pacific region. We have more than 7000 members and a 45,000-strong network of educators from all sectors and all levels of education. Our strength lies in the fact that we are independent and cross sectoral with a national reach. We have branches in all states and territories and a strong governance structure with a national board of directors and a professional operations team at the national office. ACEL also collaborates with other education-focused organisations in Australia, to further extend our support for educational leadership. WHAT IS THE VISION BEHIND ACEL? Our stated purpose is “to inspire, support, recognise and advocate for excellence in educational leadership.” We cultivate a collaborative learning community of educational leaders by: 1. E nhancing leadership capacity through delivery of high quality programs, events and publications 2. Elevating the standing of educational leadership by recognising excellence 3. Representing, supporting and advocating for the education profession 4. Sustaining strong ACEL state, national and international networks
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Our underlying approach across all our areas of endeavour is to be evidence-based, profession-led and positive. WHAT DOES ACEL PROVIDE? We offer a wide portfolio of conferences, seminars and workshops, leadership and mentoring programs, in-house publications, online learning resources and a comprehensive list of titles in our bookshop. We host several events, including four conferences, and annually more than 100 professional learning events and networking forums for members and the wider education community. We recognise excellence in educational leadership through state and national awards and fellowships. Our New Voice Scholarship program launched three years ago provides new voices in educational leadership and researches the opportunity to attend our flagship national conference and to contribute to our publications and other activities. WHAT HAVE BEEN RECENT HIGHLIGHTS FOR ACEL? We have experienced growth in all areas in the past few years, extending our reach, adding richness to our portfolio of resources and have ensured that everything we do is relevant to the current and future needs of educational leaders in all settings. A few key highlights from the last few months includes - The Well Being Conference – This inaugural event held in Darwin
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was successful and attracted more than 300 participants from across the country. The theme focused on the power of confidence and strengths-based perspectives and the need to focus on the positive aspects of education - The Disability Leadership Summit – Held in Sydney for the fifth year in a row, this event draws attention to leadership’s role in delivering outcomes for students impacted by disability. The sector has recently undergone significant change and reform and the summit provides a powerful platform for experts to share their research, policy and best practice -O nline learning – The ACEL Resource Centre is an online database containing more than 700 articles, podcasts and videos. It is a new benefit for ACEL Members and provides learning opportunities, particularly for educators in regional/remote areas. This curated library sets out resources set against AITSL professional standards and will be updated regularly
- Networking forums – our branches in all states and territories have hosted several events in the past few months bringing into sharp focus emerging issues facing schools and the wider community HOW CAN EDUCATIONAL LEADERS GET THE MOST OUT OF ENGAGING WITH THE ACEL COMMUNITY? We are a profession-led association initially established to provide an opportunity for educational leaders to engage with their peers and share their knowledge and experience. Through our conferences, events and publications, we provide a diverse range of platforms for educational leaders to provide insights, share their successes and reach out to their peers for support and advice. For example, ACEL Perspective is just one of our many avenue for educators to share their research in a series of journals published six times a year, from wideranging issues such as graduate readiness to the government’s role in education.
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HOW DOES ACEL SUPPORT POSITIVE DISCOURSE IN EDUCATION? ACEL considers itself to be a forward thinking, relevant and responsive agent of change and innovation. It is a learning organisation that is continuously improving its practices to harness national and global opportunities. We would like to make this a watershed year for our sector’s “narrative of optimism”. ACEL is no pollyanna in its championing of the sector’s cause. It recognises that there are improvements needed to make the sector’s performance exemplary. However, it heeds the poet Kahlil Gibran’s stricture: “You have been told that, even like a chain, you are as weak as your weakest link. This is but half the truth. You are also as strong as your strongest link. To measure you by your smallest deed is to reckon the power of the ocean by the frailty of its foam.”
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MAKING THE GRADE
Deakin University – Dedicated to developing specialised skills and knowledge Ever thought about broadening your horizons? Gain a languages specialisation with Deakin’s Master of Languages Teaching or Graduate Certificate of Languages Teaching. The course is designed to broaden the skills of those working as registered teachers in primary and secondary schools, by adding a VIT-endorsed specialist teaching method area in languages teaching to their existing teacher registration. A Masters-level qualification in Education additionally
offers relevant professional learning, to teachers who seek to move into, or already occupy, leadership, coordination or specialist positions in school systems. At Deakin, you will learn from experts in the industry who are highly experienced, engaged in contemporary research and working to improve the quality of learning to make a positive impact on education in Australia and around the world. Deakin’s unique trimester system also provides
students with an incredible amount of flexibility and the option to fast track your degree allowing you to complete your studies while you work. Find out more Deakin.edu.au/tlote Talk to us: 1800 693 888 or email artsed-pg@deakin.edu.au
Opening the door for career growth YOU ALREADY KNOW THAT GREAT TEACHING MAKES A DIFFERENCE FOR YOUR STUDENTS, BUT RETURNING TO STUDY CAN ALSO TRANSFORM YOUR TEACHING CAREER, ACCORDING TO OPEN UNIVERSITIES AUSTRALIA.
Teachers who study at a postgraduate level develop the skills to influence the curriculum, modify established teaching methods and take on leadership roles. Beyond guiding your students to succeed, a Master’s degree can increase your salary and expand your career opportunities. Through Open Universities Australia, you can study a Master of Education from Curtin University
online. By studying online, you can fit study into your lifestyle and graduate with exactly the same qualification as on-campus students. “Economies of the future require people who are going to be highly skilled in STEM and people who are highly-skilled in critical thinking, problem solving and creative thinking,” says Dr Brad Gobby, Course Coordinator/Lecturer at Curtin University.
“We’re looking to attract teachers who want to build and develop their professional knowledge with contemporary and relevant theory and literature, and to really make a difference.” Hone your abilities and become an expert educator with a Master of Education. Start today at www.open.edu.au
UNI ON YOUR TERMS
open.edu.au
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FURNITURE & EQUIPMENT
At Woods, we’re for flexible learning WOODS FURNITURE LOVES SHARING ITS CUSTOMER’S JOURNEY AND THEIR FINAL PRODUCT – WHICH WAS RECENTLY SHOWCASED AT ST MONICA’S PRIMARY SCHOOL IN MOONEE PONDS, VICTORIA.
At Woods Furniture, our end product is the environment we are proud to have helped create, collaborating with architects and the education community. One of our most recent projects, created for St Monica’s Primary School, in Moonee Ponds, Victoria, was no exception. The only difference was that this 1917 heritage building revamp was this year shortlisted for an Australian Interior Design Award in the Public Category. The contextually-driven design for the school’s Senior Centre re-conceptualised an underutilised courtyard into a central modern learning environment, providing six general purpose learning areas and a presentation space catering for more than 150 Year 5 and 6 students. Our brief was to create a sophisticated and mature space
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for senior students transitioning to high school, while respecting and working within the school’s heritage framework. This was implemented through a restricted material palette. Critical to the architect’s thought process was maintaining the feeling of light and sky, designing the ceiling to be a sculptural interpretation. The ceiling serves as a gentle curve, linking two sides of the previous courtyard into a mirrored horizon edge, with the light shaped like a pebble. At the same time, the custom joinery promotes a sense of connectivity, visibility and safety. Three key pieces of joinery occupy the facility – the learning lounge, campfire and the communal table, which addressed the requirement to have multiple areas for learning. The campfire allows for an entire class group to gather and hold small presentations, while its seating and workbench can be used for study or group activity. The architects also concentrated on applying passive sustainable design principals. Five pebble skylights provide a generous level of natural light while ensuring architects met the correct specifications of glass. The facility can be naturally ventilated using high and low-level louvres that generate cross ventilation through the space. Landscape architects introduced resilient plants – bringing natural foliage into the space. From the start, the budget had critical implications on the design, but architects worked within existing conditions, retaining surfaces, and affordable materials. The newly-remodeled Senior Centre now provides students with a flexible interchange between classroom-based learning, collaborative workspaces, presentation or individual learning. This exciting development looks to the school’s future and promotes a mature learning philosophy among its students. How can we inspire your next learning space? Get in touch via www.woodsfurniture.com.au
At Woods, we believe that education is of the utmost importance – not just for the children of today but for our world tomorrow. This belief has driven our team, for over half a century, to study how children learn – from a behavioral, ergonomic and cognitive perspective – to develop furniture that is flexible, adaptable and stimulating. It’s this philosophy that inspired our innovative Hokki Stool. An intelligent ergo-dynamic stool designed to improve motor and muscular-skeletal development of growing children. To find out more about our innovative range of educational furniture visit woodsfurniture.com.au or call 1800 004 555. We’re for flexible learning
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM //Before and After School Care
A fresh approach to childcare SHERPA KIDS IS AN INTERNATIONAL COMPANY WHICH RUNS BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL AND VACATION CARE ACTIVITIES WITH PRIMARY SCHOOLS AND OTHER COMMUNITY FACILITIES. IT HAS SOME 100 LOCAL OWNERS WORLDWIDE, LOOKING AFTER AROUND 5,400 PRIMARY SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN EVERY DAY, SUPPORTING OVER 100 SCHOOLS.
Sherpa Kids’ activities include arts and crafts, music and drama, sport and games, cooking and technology. Many of them are based on specific themes, such as the circus, recycling, sporting events and space, and are tailored to fit in with the individual requirements of schools, their curriculums, children engagement and the surrounding environment.
Sherpa Kids aims to deliver a ‘fresh and vibrant’ approach to childcare – and to “give children such a great time that they do not want to go home!” In addition to offering a wide range of activities, it also capitalises on its international connections by, for example, encouraging Sherpa children from Adelaide in Australia to send postcards to children in County Cork, in Ireland, to
learn about life on the other side of the world. By using a franchise model, Sherpa Kids not only benefits from the local knowledge of the provider, it also contributes to the economic and employment prospects of local communities since all decision-making is done at local level by owners and franchisees are encouraged to source products locally. Contact us today on (08) 8295 6848.
LOOKING FOR A SOLUTION TO YOUR OOSH / OSHC CHALLENGES? Australian families are desperate for good quality, affordable day care or outside school hours care. These days both parents are likely to be employed and working longer hours than ever. This, combined with transport issues, can make the issue of after school clubs or after school care a stressful one for parents and children alike. And it’s becoming a major issue in early childhood education. Volunteer-managed OOSH or OSHC committees are struggling with the issue of out of school care in the face of new regulatory reforms that increase quality expectations but also increase administrative burdens. Senior educators like you are looking for a better way and OOSH service providers are frequently an attractive option. You’ll be well aware of the difference it makes to you and your school community when you have high quality, well managed outside school hours care on your site. At Sherpa Kids we deliver exactly that – but with a difference that other after school care and OOSH service providers cannot match. Because our business is built on the local franchise model you get the best of both worlds; the care and concern of a local decision maker based in your community, combined with the confidence and authority of stable, professional central management. Firstly, your service is owned and managed by a carefully selected local community member; usually a mum or dad and, in some cases, an education professional. They understand families, they understand schools, and they want to mirror your school’s
values in their before and after school care services and vacation care. The Out of School Hours (OOSH) care sector is intensely regulated. So it’s important that procedures are followed correctly. When you partner with us we will take care of your OOSH services set-up in full. We’ll manage all your administration, recruitment, training, staff rota, parent communication and compliance obligations. And we’ll buy all food and resources locally from retailers in your area. Secondly, the franchisees are all part of a highly professional group with centralised resources geared to ensuring State and Federal regulatory compliance, and enabling development of engaging programs for the children we care for. We’ve developed a fun and flexible, engaging programme of before and after school activities that is syllabus-led and can be tailored to fit the individual requirements of schools and their curriculums. We’re currently working with schools in Sydney, Tamworth, Narellan and Cootamundra (NSW); Melbourne, Mornington, Frankston area, Sale and Taralgon (VIC); Adelaide, Port Lincoln and Naracoorte (SA); North Canberra, Canberra and Goulburn (ACT) We’re always looking for new schools to partner with. If you think we might be able to help with your particular school’s needs please get in touch through our website, sherpa-kids.com.au.
Fun, flexible and engaging OOSH / OSHC programmes that are syllabus-led.
CALL US TODAY +61 8 8295 6848 www.sherpa-kids.com.au
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM // Before and After School Care
Childhood in the digital age THE CHALLENGE FOR PARENTS, SCHOOLS AND EDUCATORS IS KEEPING THE BEST PART OF PRE-DIGITAL CHILDHOOD AND BLENDING IT WITH THE BENEFITS OF THE DIGITAL AGE, WRITES ADAM PEASE, CEO OF CAMP AUSTRALIA.
Over the past decade we’ve seen the market domination of smart phones, tablets, gaming consoles and wireless internet. Combined with social media platforms Facebook and Instagram, the explosion of these technologies has reinvented the way we interact with videos, music and books. While the advantages of technology are easy to see, there are also an array of negative effects, which if left unmanaged could be detrimental to a child’s physical and mental development.
Adam Pease is an experienced education, technology, administration and communications professional. A passionate industry advocate, Adam has worked in the education and early childhood care sector for 15 years and is focused on bringing out the best in kids. Adam, like all members of the Camp Australia team, takes great pride in leading the industry in best practice, working with all levels of government and education to ensure children get the care they need and deserve.
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CONSEQUENCES Schools have a responsibility to prepare children for the future, and technology is a key component of that. In his 1997 book Figments of Reality, British mathematician Ian Stewart coined the term extelligence – which refers to the intellectual capital that is available through external media such as video and audio. In a world where external media is growing at an exponential rate, teaching children to use it well
“There is, and should always be, a time and place for technology. It shouldn’t replace reading, writing, playing or problem-solving activities.”
may be more important than intelligence. Children can benefit intellectually from interactive programs and apps, as well as those based around music, movement and stories. However, the unrestrained expansion of extelligence through the internet conflicts with the measured release of information children generally receive based on their progress. Consequently, children can be exposed to concepts and experiences that are inappropriate for them. Technology is not just used for the pursuit of knowledge, the consequences of its misuse are broad. Television, computer games and internet sites are colourful, loud and enticing and it’s easy for children to feel the lure of technology to relieve their boredom. The time children spend immersed in technology outweighs the period they spend doing physical activities. As a society, our lifestyles are becoming much more sedentary than they once were and the incidence of obesity, especially in children, is rapidly increasing. The number of children that are overweight has doubled in recent years, with approximately 25 per cent of children currently considered overweight or obese[1]. Data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows that children who experience more than three hours of screen time a day are more likely to:
• Be overweight • Underachieve at school • Be less physically active • Drink more sugary drinks • Snack on foods high in sugar, salt and fat • Sleep less • Have fewer social interactions [2] There is, and should always be, a time and place for technology. It shouldn’t replace reading, writing, playing or problem-solving activities. As educators, it is our responsibility to promote, encourage and make space for unplugged learning and play to help develop these crucial skills. GETTING THE BALANCE RIGHT As much as we should embrace technology and take full advantage of its benefits, so too should we embrace no screen policies for our children and encourage them to learn through experience, play and adventure. Finding opportunities to do this can be difficult in our modern world. Many parents are trying hard to ensure physical activity is part of the kid’s childhood. This is one of the reasons that organised sport is such a major part of the lives of many children outside of school hours.
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While this is commendable, structured sporting activities, particularly competitive ones, do not replace the benefits children were getting from unstructured play a generation ago. Unstructured or free play allows children to explore and extend their physical and mental capabilities in their own way. Learning life skills like negotiation, compromise, leadership and teamwork in a variety of circumstances and often from a number of perspectives. For example, a simple game of capture the flag quickly gives a child the perspective of both the hunter and the hunted. It is ironic that after school care, which a generation ago was regarded by children as restrictive, is now one of the best opportunities a child has for free play. This is not to say that it is unstructured chaos, or a longer version of lunch time. Quality after school care does provide children with a safe no screen environment in which they are encouraged to explore their own ideas as well as new experiences. After school care delivers a safe, reliable and nurturing environment for kids to play grow and smile – that is why we do it. Imagination games allow children to explore the role and importance of rules as they create their own world order. It also helps them understand that in order to lead, one needs to have the ability to get others to follow. Many of these games by their nature combine physical and mental stimulation and activity in ways that build a child’s self confidence in both of these spheres. References: [1] [2] Australian Health Survey 2011-12. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
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BEYOND THE CLASSROOM // Before and After School Care
Leading and inspiring children AS CHILDREN GROW OLDER, THEY INEVITABLY BEGIN TO QUESTION AUTHORITY AND THE INFORMATION PRESENTED TO THEM. DARREN STEVENSON, OF EXTEND AFTER SCHOOL CARE, OUTLINES HOW EDUCATORS AND PARENTS CAN INSPIRE CHILDREN, AS OPPOSED TO ASSERTING THEIR AUTHORITY.
Small children are powerfully driven to follow. They do so for their own survival. That’s why parents have such a strong influence over their young children and the reason small children blindly adopt the beliefs of their parents, at least in the early years. For all humans, parents are simply the first leaders with who we align ourselves. I’ve spent my entire working life in education and in my observations, children have continued to follow from generation to generation. But this isn’t guaranteed forever. As they grow up, children start to think for themselves. They listen to others. They’re influenced by the world around them. Starting school is a turning point for children, where teachers become an additional influence, the second leaders in each child’s life. As children approach teenage years, their friends become the next leaders in their lives. Before they start school, mum or dad are right about everything and the world is black and white. As we educate our children and allow them to create bonds outside the family home, it slowly dawns on them that there are different opinions in the world – more shades of grey. It’s at this time they start to question and challenge. If the challenge isn’t met with satisfactory answers and actions from parents or teachers, the consequences can be brutal. This is the time when your leadership skills as a teacher are really tested. Do you assert your authority as a parent or do you inspire? Asserting your authority may give you the immediate outcome you desire on that occasion, particularly in the stage where children lack their own autonomy. However, it won’t inspire and it won’t create believers of the path you’re promoting. A better method is to inspire and this should start well before the first time you’re challenged. If you’re talking to children constantly about the ‘why’ in your ideas, you’re gaining credibility every day, well before you actually need it. For instance, if you want your children
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to focus more on a healthy lifestyle, then very early on you need to be showing them what a healthy lifestyle is, and talking to them about why it’s important. “Because I said so”, doesn’t inspire. Children understand a lot more than we think. Understand you are their leader, and they look to you for inspiration. It’s never too early to start respectful, inspirational two-way communication with kids. In my book Finders Keepers, I present seven lessons of leadership learned from observing the journey from following to challenging in kids, and apply these to leadership in business. I discuss how fair weather leaders come and go but long-term leaders champion and inspire from day one. Finders Keepers explores everything from having an authentic message, to being ready for any challenge that comes your way. It outlines the importance of accountability and maintaining a focus on solutions, and accepting that sometimes leadership is scary. Darren Stevenson is Managing Director of Extend After School Care. Finders Keepers is available for purchase electronically through all e-readers, in paperback via Booktopia, or directly from Extend.
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AUSTRALIA'S LARGEST
FAMILY-OWNED PROVIDER OF
AFTER SCHOOL CARE
Playgrounds // BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
An important schoolyard asset WHILE OTHER STATIC PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT PROVIDE SIGNIFICANT PLAY VALUE, NO EQUIPMENT ALLOWS CHILDREN TO CLIMB SO FREELY, SAFELY AND AS HIGH AS ROPE STRUCTURES DO.
Climbing is more than just a fun children’s activity. Rope play not only has potential to improve a child’s motor and balancing skills, but assists a wide range of areas, including muscle development. As rope is a flexible material that moves when you use it, it constantly challenges children as they climb, and every action on a part of the structure has a reaction in another area. For example, when a child stands on one side of the structure, it wobbles the opposite side, thus improving their balance and ability to play with others. One of the fundamentals of rope-based play is that while it is challenging, it is safe. “Over the many years of supplying equipment to schools, we have had very few safety complaints about these structures. In fact, we mostly hear that they are so successful that schools have to roster on turns for their students,” says Glenn Kelsey, adventure+ Design Director. At first glance, the structures may appear risky, however, all compliant rope structures are designed in such a way that children can’t fall from the top to the bottom of structures that are taller than the maximum free height of fall allowed. The configuration of the net is strategically designed so as to catch the user if they were to fall. While many different configurations of rope structures are available, one fundamental is their capacity to accommodate large numbers of children. The large web net allows children of all age groups to play and socialise at the same time. “We have installed rope climbing structures in a variety of different school types, including secondary schools, where older children use them to sit and chat in their lunch break, special schools and of course, primary schools,” Glenn adds. Most rope structures are suited to all age
groups – juniors can play on sections of the structure where there are narrower distances between ropes, while seniors can use more challenging sections with large distances between ropes. Of course, while rope structures are a great choice for school playground equipment, other traditional types are also suitable. adventure+ provides a range of playground equipment and being a manufacturer allows it to take into account specific budgets, site restrictions or desired styles to create a solution that suits the exact individual needs of a school. Need advice on your play project? Contact a Consultant on 1300 237 587 or visit www.adventureplus.net.au
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BEYOND THE CLASSROOM // Cleaning
Carpet Care DEEP CLEANING CAN BE A HEADACHE. BUT WITH A TENNANT READYSPACE CLEANER, YOU CAN HAVE CARPET THAT’S CLEAN, DRY AND READY FOR FOOT TRAFFIC IN JUST UNDER 30 MINUTES.
Spring cleaning season is well and truly upon us which means it’s the ideal time to treat your carpets to a ReadySpace cleaning. This complete carpet solution features advanced, patented technology and includes optional wet/ dry options. The end result means a faster, and more effective and frequent clean, while maintaining a fresher, healthier environment and vastly minimising odours and moulds caused by excess water. Tennant’s ReadySpace deep cleaning machines use unique soil transfer rollers to grab dirt from carpet fibres and lift it into the machine. Sprayers rinse the soil from the rollers, not the carpet which is left dryer, cleaner and revitalised. The controlled amount of water effectively removes dirt and debris, leaving a sharper carpet appearance. With the increase in Workplace Health & Safety audits, it’s critical to utilise equipment and processes that keep staff, cleaners and others safe from physical hazards and elements that can be detrimental to health. Tennant explains the enhanced productivity and cost savings delivered by these
cutting-edge cleaners makes ReadySpace the obvious choice. “Anything that reduces cleaning and drying time and returns a room to billable service faster is ‘money in the bank,” says Cameron McKean, National Account Manager, Distribution ANZ.
INVEST IN A COMPLETE CARPET CARE SOLUTION TENNANT HAS EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KEEP YOUR SCHOOL’S CARPETS LOOKING GREAT We offer a complete line of upright, backpack and canister vacuum cleaners, well suited for both small and large areas. We also provide restorative carpet cleaning equipment including portable extractors, deep cleaning extractors and daily use carpet cleaners.
Contact us at www.tennantco.com/au/education to schedule a FREE cleaning assessment!
WORKING TOGETHER
FOR WELLBEING
Peer Support Australia works together with hundreds of Australian schools each year to enhance the mental, social and emotional wellbeing of their students. Peer Support Australia provides your school with a dedicated Wellbeing Education Consultant who can provide invaluable advice/consultation regarding the application of the Peer Support Program including planning, best practice model of implementation addressing your specific school needs, and deliver awareness-raising talks for staff, students and parents. The Peer Support Program for primary schools is underpinned by the concepts of resilience, sense of self, connectedness and sense of possibility. Using a universal, strengths based approach the unique peer-led structure of the Program provides a platform that informs young people and increases their self-efficacy and foster invaluable skills in leadership and empathy, and improves the social and emotional wellbeing of students.
BE INVOLVED Learn more about how Peer Support Australia can work with your school to further enhance the mental health and wellbeing of your students. Email or call our helpful Wellbeing Education Consultants today.
education@peersupport.edu.au
1300 579 963
PEERSUPPORT.EDU.AU CONSULTANCY
WORKSHOPS
RESOURCES
HEALTH & WELLBEING
An investment in the future FOSTERING SUPPORTIVE WORKPLACE ENVIRONMENTS CAN CREATE EXPERIENCES THAT ASSIST THOSE WHO MAY BE IN NEED, WRITES DR GAVIN HAZEL, MENTAL HEALTH AND RESEARCH PROGRAM MANAGER AT HUNTER INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH.
Dr Gavin Hazel is dedicated to creating and sharing knowledge that helps children, families and the professionals who support them. Gavin’s work focuses on the development, implementation and evaluation of resources, practices, and professional education. Gavin holds an honours degree in Education, a master’s degree in Educational Studies and a PhD in Educational Psychology. He is an experienced education and capability development professional, specialising in child and youth mental health, wellbeing and resilience. Gavin is well regarded for his in-depth knowledge and understanding of learning and development, mental health promotion, knowledge translation, resource development and research. Gavin has worked as a lecturer in teacher education, a research academic, a senior research scientist and a mental health projects manager. He holds a conjoint appointment with the School of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Newcastle. Gavin leads a multidisciplinary team who work on building the capacity of professionals through practical programs, resources and polices to support children and families. He is responsible for the strategic development of research and mental health areas at the Hunter Institute of Mental Health.
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The mental health and psychological wellbeing of early career teachers is a consideration for education systems both locally and internationally. Concerns have been raised about teacher burnout, mental ill-health, and the rate of attrition among early career teachers. Although there is not conclusive evidence to suggest that mental ill-health among teachers is higher than other professions, it is clear that teachers are exposed to highly demanding and at times, stressful situations (Gardner, 2010). Safe Work Australia’s (2013) report on mental stress compensation claims identified school teachers, along with police officers and general clerks, accounting for the majority of “work pressure” claims. Our understanding of early career teacher wellbeing is emerging. There is a growing body of literature on key dimensions such as stress, resilience, retention, the development of professional identity, and the role of social support and mentors (Gibbs & Miller, 2014). What has typically received less attention is evidence informed recommendations about how things can be done differently to better support early career teacher wellbeing. In response to this gap, the Hunter Institute of Mental Health has released the outcomes of its Start Well research project conducted in New South Wales with more than 450 graduate teachers to better understand their experiences and to make recommendations to help them start and stay well. Start Well provides a snapshot of NSW teachers within the first five years of their careers. They were asked about what it’s like to be an early career teacher, what’s rewarding and what’s challenging about their jobs, what impacts on their wellbeing and what support
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they could use. Key leaders and influencers in the education sector were also interviewed to provide complementary perspectives to the direct experience of the school and classroom contexts. This was combined with a literature review of evidence on early career teacher mental health and wellbeing. The responses revealed that early career teachers have many positive and rewarding experiences as part of starting their employment, but they are also challenged. Some of the key challenges cited in the research include a lack of work-life balance, managing their workload and responsibilities, and difficulties finding the time needed for planning and collaboration. To help meet these challenges, most early career teachers reported turning to their family, friends, colleagues, mentors and peers for support. The findings of this study suggest that good peer and social support, alongside formal processes like induction, is critical for early career teachers’ resilience and coping mechanisms, and was associated with plans to stay in teaching long-term. Start Well identified the key aspects of perceived workload, work-life balance, and levels of peer/social support as providing modifiable features of the early career teaching experience that could be targeted for both professional and health benefits (Bennett, Newman, Kay-Lambkin, & Hazel, 2016). So what are the implications of to teachers, schools and the overall system? SYSTEM LEVEL There are opportunities to enhance the support of workplace mental health and wellbeing of the education community in a more intentional and targeted way at a system
Schools can start with a focus on valuing respectful interactions, encouraging care and concern for others, and promoting a sense of belonging. These ideas are already in school communities, but it’s about ensuring that they are as relevant for the teachers as they are for the students.
level. We know that well-coordinated integrated and systemic programs and approaches used in the workplace can improve mental health and wellbeing and reduce mental ill-health. Start Well recommends the adoption of strength-based approaches that emphasise wellbeing and collegiality as a mechanism to build and support teachers’ capacity to give and receive support. Digital strategies should also be considered for their capacity to work in a mutually reinforcing way with both existing and future strategies to support teacher wellbeing. The development of a blueprint for wellbeing of the education community would be a good first step in this direction. The application of a clear framework about mental health promotion, the prevention of mental-ill health and early intervention (Hunter Institute of Mental Health, 2015) would provide a way to build a sector-wide strategy.
SCHOOL LEVEL Workplaces can have both a positive and negative impact on mental health and wellbeing. The culture of the school, and indeed the community, including its induction and mentoring procedures, can clearly help support wellbeing. Successful uptake of wellbeing and resilience innovations in the workplace context requires more than one-way communication or one-off training events. Strategies that target the whole school community, that are multi-dimensional, and are sustained over time, are more likely to help drive change. A key challenge faced in the implementation of wellbeing programs in the workplace is that success cannot occur without change, and change is difficult. Key ingredients include: obtaining buy-in from critical stakeholders within the workforce, fostering a support climate for up-taking change, building capacity, providing support, process evaluation and feedback.
INDIVIDUALS Supporting teachers can start with simple strategies such as asking the right questions at the right time. Some of the most critical moments for improving the wellbeing of people can occur in their day-to-day contact with people in the workplace. These conversations and informal support strategies provide an opportunity for us to build the capacity of mentors, supervisors and school leaders to support early career teacher wellbeing. We can prepare people to actively listen, provide information about wellbeing and support their colleagues. This is not about making people clinicians, it is about strengthening their capacity to support and assist their colleagues by providing them with evidenceinformed strategies, practical information and paths to connect people to other kinds of support. By fostering supportive workplace environments, we can create experiences that assist those who may be in need, as well as strengthen the teaching profession. A WAY FORWARD The Start Well project calls for the application of a strength-based approach, potentially leveraging technology as either an enabler or enhancer of active intervention strategies, to build teachers’ capacity to give and receive psycho-social support. These approaches should be designed to work in a mutually reinforcing way with both existing and future strategies to support teacher wellbeing and retention. We need to help all teachers start well, be well, and stay well in their profession. The Start Well research was supported by the Teachers Health Foundation. For more information visit: www.himh.org.au/startwell
REFERENCES: Bennett, G.A., Newman, E., Kay-Lambkin, F., Hazel, G. (2016) Start Well: A research project supporting resilience and wellbeing in early career teachers – summary report. Hunter Institute of Mental Health, Newcastle, NSW. Gardner, S. (2010). Stress among prospective teachers: a review of the literature. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 35(8). Gibbs, S., & Miller, A. (2014). Teachers’ resilience and well-being: a role for educational psychology. Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice, 20(5), 609-621. Hunter Institute of Mental Health (2015). Prevention First: A Prevention and Promotion Framework for Mental Health. Newcastle, Australia. Johnson, B., Down, B., Le Cornu, R., Peters, J., Sullivan, A., Pearce, J., & Hunter, J. (2010). Conditions that support early career teacher resilience. Paper presented at the Australian Teacher Education Association Conference, Townsville, QLD. Safe Work Australia (2013). The Incidence of Accepted Workers’ Compensation Claims for Mental Stress in Australia. Safe Work Australia, Canberra.
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HEALTH & WELLBEING
Working together towards wellbeing PEER SUPPORT AUSTRALIA EXPLAINS HOW IT PROVIDES SCHOOL COMMUNITIES WITH THE SUPPORT THEY NEED TO ENHANCE THE WELLBEING OF YOUNG PEOPLE AND HELP INFORM POSITIVE CULTURAL CHANGE.
For more than 34 years, Peer Support Australia has been the go-to-organisation for Australian primary and secondary schools looking to enhance the mental, social and emotional wellbeing of their students. Peer Support Australia provides support and resources to primary and secondary schools, most notably through its Peer Support Program. The organisation estimates that more than 500,000 young people in hundreds of schools across Australia participate in the program each year. SUPPORTING SCHOOLS Peer Support Australia views the work they do with schools as more than just the provision of a program. Greg Cantwell, Peer Support Australia CEO, explains that the program complements and builds on existing practices at a number of schools across Australia, noting the importance of maintaining ongoing relationships with schools. “Peer Support Australia places an emphasis on working together with all members of the school community including administrators, teachers,
Peer Support Australia provides a dedicated Wellbeing Education Consultant for your school that can provide: • Specific advice/consultation regarding implementation of the Peer Support Program: including planning • Recommendations for a best practice model of implementation for the Peer Support Program which addresses specific school needs • Awareness-raising talks for staff, students and parents • Video conferencing and ongoing communications • An evaluation package designed to measure satisfaction with the program
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students, and parents to develop a culture that is cohesive and supportive,” Greg says. Peer Support Australia offers schools the support they need with dedicated wellbeing education consultants placed across Australia. Sara deVries, Education Services Manager of Peer Support Australia, explains how schools and Peer Support Australia work together. “Initially, a core group of teachers from a school are trained by a Peer Support Australia wellbeing education consultant at an Implementation Workshop. This is a highly informative and effective training which builds capacity within the school to initiate and sustain an effective Peer Support Program,” Sara says. “Our wellbeing education consultants provide schools with continued support beyond the workshop to ensure wellbeing is embedded across the life of the school. “This valuable advice and expertise can be accessed through such services such as school visits, in-school workshops, and video conferencing,” Sara says. This personal touch from supportive,
In a survey of more than 200 primary and secondary principals: • 91 per cent indicated that the Peer Support Program was beneficial in building positive relationships • 80 per cent said it was beneficial in developing peer connections across year groups • 79 per cent believed it to be beneficial in developing and enhancing students interpersonal, communication and decisionmaking skills resourceful, and knowledgeable professionals has contributed to Peer Support Australia’s longevity and their ongoing relationships with hundreds of schools across Australia. THE PEER SUPPORT PROGRAM The Peer Support Program is an evidenceinformed program that centres on peer-led interaction. The Program benefits a whole-school culture and promotes leadership, wellbeing, positive relationships, resilience, and mental and social health.
Sara explains that the program’s peer-to-peer sessions provide a platform which helps children increase their sense of connectedness with their peers, teachers and community, and increases their self-efficacy. “The coordinating teacher conducts an awareness raising session with all staff. This unites teachers in addressing wellbeing with a common mindset, using a shared language. Year 6 Peer Leaders are trained to work with small multi-aged groups of students using materials focusing on topics
such as relationships, resilience, optimism and antibullying,” explains Sara. Furthermore, the Peer Support Program is enabled by a supportive school staff community as all teachers provide support through briefing, debriefing, and supervision during the sessions. It is envisaged that content covered during the sessions is utilised by teachers and students to work through everyday scenarios as they arise. This encourages students to practice the skills and strategies they have learned. Building a positive school culture can lead to a host of improved outcomes for students. These include: improved wellbeing, resilience, authentic leadership opportunities, positive relationships and improved social skills to name a few. BE INVOLVED “We look forward to working together with primary schools across Australia to boost the social and emotional wellbeing of their students,” Greg says. There are places available at the remaining 2017 Peer Support Australia Implementation Workshops across Australia. The full 2018 workshop schedule is scheduled for release in October. Learn more about Peer Support Australia and how your school can work together with them to enhance the social and emotional wellbeing of your students at www.peersupport.edu.au or by emailing their Education Team at: education@peersupport.edu.au
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HEALTH & WELLBEING
A wellbeing pathway POSITIVE EDUCATION CAN HELP TEACHERS DEVELOP THE SKILLS AND STRATEGIES TO HANDLE DIFFICULT SITUATIONS MORE EFFECTIVELY, WRITES JESSICA TAYLOR, TRAINER AND CONTENT DEVELOPER AT GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL’S INSTITUTE OF POSITIVE EDUCATION.
The trend toward greater accountability has increased the demands and complexity of teaching, resulting in growing concerns about wellbeing (Renshaw 2015) and a lack of resilience. American psychologist and author Dr Maria Sirois defines resilience as the capacity to adapt in a healthy way to stressors. Identifying and implementing healthy ways to adapt to stressors, particularly those outside one’s control, requires great effort but is worthwhile. With growing concerns relating to teacher stress and burnout, a focus on recognising and building resilience can complement whole-school initiatives in supporting wellbeing. Teacher stress carries negative consequences at both individual and institutional levels (Pillay et al., 2005) and support for their wellbeing should be a primary objective in wholeschool Positive Education programs. The pivotal role that teachers play in nurturing the growth and development of children alone warrants specific support for their own physical and mental health.
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This awareness and responsibility for student welfare may contribute to teacher stress. By its very nature, teaching is stressful. However, some individual-level factors may allow teachers to thrive, despite such stressors. Recognising and harnessing these factors can help to build resilience and support wellbeing. Over the past decade, school leaders have increasingly recognised the impact that staff wellbeing and resilience have on helping an entire school to flourish. Thousands of schools around the world have turned to the burgeoning field of positive psychology to help provide evidence-based insight into how best to nurture the wellbeing and resilience of staff and students. Positive psychology is the science that explores optimal human functioning, and the application of this science, research and practice into school contexts, is known as Positive Education. Geelong Grammar School (GGS) has recognised the importance of wellbeing for its whole school community through their
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engagement with Positive Education for nearly a decade. GGS supports all staff to undergo training that helps its educators deal effectively with the demands of teaching, while enhancing their own resilience. Although Positive Education is no silver bullet, it can help people to develop the skills and strategies to handle difficult situations more effectively. The GGS model of Positive Education proposes six key domains that contribute to wellbeing (emotions, engagement, relationships, purpose, accomplishment, and health), with each domain supporting the use of strategies to build resilience. Interestingly, research continues to show that teachers who apply meta-strategies, such as nurturing positive relationships, cultivating gratitude, and connecting to values, can adapt more effectively and healthily to stress (Slemp et al, 2017). Resilient teachers place great value on social connections which provide both practical and emotional support in difficult times. Studies have found that belonging to a cohesive group at work helps reduce the risk of stress and prevents burnout (Li et al, 2014). In addition, social connections lead to lower rates of anxiety and depression (Lee et al, 2001), strengthens our immune system (Pressman et al, 2005), and can enhance longevity (Brown et al, 2003). Positive relationships involve the frequent exchange of emotions such as gratitude and appreciation. A survey released by the John Templeton Foundation (2013) revealed that just hearing the words “thank you” increases employee motivation and helps to bond people together. Robert Emmons, author of the book Gratitude Works!, conducted a series of studies that found the exchange of gratitude and appreciation can help people become more resilient and even thrive during stressful times.
Another key factor that seems to be shared by the most resilient teachers is a deep personal and professional connection to their values. An exploratory study on primary school teachers conducted in the UK attributed an increase in teacher stress to the lack of compatibility between teachers’ personal values and the values of educational authorities (Bachkirova, 2005). This disconnect can have impacts on both teaching practice and teachers’ personal identity. Resilient teachers harness values connected to positive relationships, such as collegiality, interdependence and self-regulation. Values help connect us to a wider view of our lives, and it is through this perspective that we are better able to orient ourselves toward what is good for us in the long run, resulting in decisions that are less reactive and more aligned with what really matters. The ever-changing face of teaching and the increase in demands placed upon teachers appear to be contributing to an upward trend of stress and burnout (Riley, 2015). Teachers who are thriving are not only likely to handle stress more effectively but they are likely to perform at their best in the classroom. So let’s build resilient schools by enabling teachers, students, and entire school communities
to access and harness skills and strategies that research shows can work. Ultimately, Positive Education is about creating and building thriving communities. A key objective should be to support the wellbeing of teachers because this inevitably flows into the lives of their students, colleagues and the extended school community.
References Bachkirova, T. (2005). Teacher stress and personal values: An exploratory study. School psychology international, 26(3), 340-352. Brown, S. L., Nesse, R. M., Vinokur, A. D., & Smith, D. M. (2003). Providing social support may be more beneficial than receiving it: Results from a prospective study of mortality. Psychological science, 14(4), 320-327. Lee, R. M., Draper, M., & Lee, S. (2001). Social connectedness, dysfunctional interpersonal behaviors, and psychological distress: Testing a mediator model. Journal of counselling psychology, 48(3), 310-318. Li, A., Early, S. F., Mahrer, N. E., Klaristenfeld, J. L., & Gold, J. I. (2014). Group cohesion and organizational commitment: protective factors for nurse residents’ job satisfaction, compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, and burnout. Journal of Professional Nursing, 30(1), 89-99. Pillay, H. K., Goddard, R., & Wilss, L. A. (2005). Well-being, burnout and competence: Implications for teachers. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 30(2), 22-33. Pressman, S. D., Cohen, S., Miller, G. E., Barkin, A., Rabin, B. S., & Treanor, J. J. (2005). Loneliness, social network size, and immune response to influenza vaccination in college freshmen. Health Psychology, 24(3), 297. Renshaw, T. L., Long, A. C., & Cook, C. R. (2015). Assessing teachers’ positive psychological functioning at work: Development and validation of the Teacher Subjective Wellbeing Questionnaire. School Psychology Quarterly, 30(2), 289. Riley, P. (2015). The Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Well-being Survey. Slemp, G. R., Chin, T. C., Kern, M. L., Siokou, C., Loton, D., Oades, L. G., & Waters, L. (2017). Positive education in Australia: Practice, measurement, and future directions. In Social and Emotional Learning in Australia and the Asia-Pacific (pp. 101-122). Springer Singapore.
SUSTAINABILITY
Cooking and gardening for the senses A MELBOURNE PRIMARY SCHOOL IS LEARNING THE JOYS OF GROWING AND COOKING THEIR OWN FOOD, ALL THE WHILE ENHANCING THEIR KNOWLEDGE IN OTHER KEY SUBJECTS.
Classrooms across Australia are learning valuable life skills while experiencing the extraordinary sights, smells and tastes of freshly grown produce. It’s all part of the hands-on Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program, which introduces students to the joys of growing and cooking their own food. Year 1 and 2 students at Melbourne’s Montmorency Primary School recently joined in the fun. The Melbourne school has been running the hands-on program with its Year 3 to 6 students since 2009, but this year decided to expand its scope. While Year 3 to 6 students are involved in regular kitchen classes all year, the school is running the cooking sessions with Year 1 and 2 students with a twist.
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Acting Principal Janene Worsam says each Year 1 and 2 class had weekly kitchen sessions for one term, before rotating to another class. Janene says as the younger students were still developing their kitchen skills and needed more supervision than the older students, the classes were organised so that just a small group of students cooked each week. To help make the week’s recipe, the lesson plan is structured with teachers choosing a group of students to participate, as the other students in the class become the audience for the session. The audience is encouraged to ask questions, and ingredients are passed around for them to touch and smell. Janene says feedback has been overwhelmingly positive with students immersing
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themselves in the taste and aroma of their experience. In one of the early cooking sessions, students helped prepare dough for a potato and rosemary pizza. One of the students in the kitchen class audience asked the student helping to prepare the dough “how does the pizza dough feel?”, to which the student making the dough replied “comfy”. Other dishes prepared in kitchen classes with the Year 1 and 2 students have included seasonal muffins, cheese and herb scones, green hummus, greens and feta triangles, sushi, bruschetta, and tomato and herb focaccia. When making the tomato and herb focaccia, the students passed around the herbs so they could smell the different varieties and learn their names. A class of Year 2 students also recently took part in a special cooking session with the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation team. The students were some of the first to try out activities from the Foundation’s new Kitchen Garden Syllabus for Primary (Years F–2). The Year 2s excitedly prepared guacamole, sweet potato dip, damper and a leafy salad, then sat as a group and shared the meal. Janene says the students have shown so much enthusiasm and passion for cooking that a number of Year 1 and 2 students have participated in a popular lunchtime gardening club, held once a week. When the Kitchen Garden Foundation team visited the school, a group of Year 2 students went out to the school garden and completed a Garden Word Cards activity from the new F–2 Syllabus book – which allows them to work on their vocabulary. The hand-on activity involves students making labels for the plants in the veggie garden using both an adjective and a noun. Their
creative combinations included “lovely lemons” and “eggcellent eggplants”. The students class teacher, who helped run the activity, says it links nicely with their classroom learning about adjectives and nouns. Janene says seamlessly integrating kitchen garden activities with
other subjects in the curriculum allows students to learn multiple skills at the same time. “Schools are all so time poor and curriculum heavy that it’s about being clever in terms of covering curriculum areas while cooking and gardening,” she says.
“We’ve put our Kitchen Garden Program under our Science curriculum umbrella this year, and are being really clever about ticking off Science outcomes in kitchen classes. For example, students have been boiling eggs and looking at boiling temperatures.” Janene says the school’s garden specialist was also a Science specialist, which meant that integrating garden classes into the Science curriculum was a natural fit for the school. She says the school plans to further integrate their Kitchen Garden Program into the curriculum. Janene says they would look to resources from the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation, such as the new Kitchen Garden Syllabus for Primary (Years F–2), for additional support. As well, the positive benefits of the Kitchen Garden Program in the school environment also has a flow-on effect in the home, Janene adds. She says she has heard many stories of children being more open to trying new foods at home after growing and cooking them at school. Details: kitchengardenfoundation.org.au
Start a kitchen garden adventure in the early primary years with this new F-2 Syllabus
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Working together to grow healthy kids
CAMPS & EXCURSIONS
Discovery Melbourne Discovery Melbourne knows school accommodation. Planning a camp can be stressful but they make it easy. If you want a stress free, easy and educational camp, that most importantly, is full of fun – then Discovery Melbourne should be your number 1 choice. They’re the premier provider of school group accommodation in Melbourne. Ideally located in the heart of the city and right on the doorstep of everything the city has to offer. Take advantage of the free tram zone to get to all of Melbourne’s major attractions or make your way by foot through Melbourne’s famous laneways. School camps are what they do with free itinerary planning, onsite catering and numerous facilities such as a conference room and cinema. Expert groups consultants will help you every step of the way and make sure your camp goes off without a hitch and that you get to see the most that Melbourne has to offer. Discovery Melbourne has you covered. W: discoverymelbourne.com/group-accommodation/ P: +61 3 9329 4012
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Education Matters
2018
Promotional Features - Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths (STEAM)
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SCHOOL BUSINESS & ADMINISTRATION
A day in the life PIP THOMAS, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF THE ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATORS, OUTLINES THE CHALLENGES OF BEING AN INDEPENDENT SCHOOL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATOR AND THE SUPPORT AVAILABLE.
Pip Thomas is an FCPA with 30 years accounting experience. She has worked across commerce, foreign currency and treasury accounting, owned her own tax firm and been an independent school business manager for six years before becoming the CEO of ASBA Limited in August 2014. Pip’s goal is to help ASBA members to be the best business managers they can be with the support of the ASBA network.
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Being the sole accountant and chief financial officer among a school of educators can be quite intimidating and sometimes lonely. This is why more than 1300 business managers/bursars of independent schools across Australasia have joined the Association of School Business Administrators (ASBA). Our efforts have continually supported school-specific professional learning, networking and collegiality. Being the business manager of an independent school requires great skill in a wide range of areas, including finance, governance, risk, project management, compliance, leadership and management. Many independent schools require their business manager to be an ASBA member, ensuring they are well-trained, supported and up to date. Many business managers join independent schools from private practice or commerce, and are surprised by the immense variety of the role. Before taking up the role of CEO of ASBA three years ago, I was the business manager of a large independent girls’ boarding school
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in Queensland for many years. My working week (and weekend) was filled with diverse activities, interactions with a diverse range of stakeholders and exciting challenges. A day might be filled with: • Accounting (my happy place) • Dealing with staff issues (a staff of 100+) • Negotiating catering, laundry or maintenance contracts • Talking with my grounds staff about oval/lawn health • Speaking to architects about a multi-milliondollar building project • Meeting with the school solicitor about child protection issues on behalf of the principal • Arranging and attending a school board meeting, preparation of board papers, updating one of the school’s 72 policies • Helping the school parents and friends committee arrange the annual fair • Meeting the kindergarten children in my office as they undertake a school incursion to the business office – the highlight of my year
Not surprisingly, an independent school business manager is in need of custom training and support and this bespoke training is provided by ASBA across Australia and New Zealand. ABOUT ASBA For 30 years, ASBA has been the peak body for independent school business managers/bursars and has eight chapters (state and territory groups) across Australia and New Zealand. Members join each chapter as individuals, rather than the school, to ensure that all members fit the criteria. Professional learning and networking events are held each term at the regional and chapter level. The chapters each hold a conference each even calendar year, which includes a sponsor exhibition and high-quality speakers and social events. In the odd calendar year, ASBA Limited hosts the national conference, where approximately 800 delegates and 100 exhibitors/ sponsors are in attendance. This event usually runs for three days and is at a minimal cost. Membership to ASBA provides access to the website which includes a rich resource of personal development documents, an increasing number of webinars for viewing and event registration capability. Members receive a quarterly technical update covering issues relating to funding, management, leadership, governance, compliance and much more, and receive the twice-yearly hard copy magazine, Associate. Later this year, ASBA is beginning a new mentoring program, where experienced business managers will receive certified mentor training, and then be paired with voluntary mentee business manager members. We hope this will allow a cross population of ideas, skills and knowledge between our greatly experienced members and newer ones. In late September 2017, our ASBA2017 National Conference will be held at the Sydney International Convention Centre over three days with around 850 delegates and more than 100 exhibitors. This will be a great opportunity for members and non-members to learn about the latest in finance, governance, leadership and management along with many networking opportunties. By providing a network of support, ASBA can help business managers with the challenges and daily pressures that lie ahead while reaping the rewards. If you are interested in what we do or in joining ASBA, visit www.asba.asn.au or ring (02) 9431 8682. To register as a nonmember for the ASBA2017 conference, visit www.asba2017.ptly.com
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MODERN LEARNING
An effective bridge for the gender divide THE PARALLEL LEARNING MODEL SUGGESTS THAT OFFERING BOTH SINGLE-SEX AND CO-EDUCATIONAL SCHOOLING PROVIDES THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS, WRITES BRADLEY FRY, PRINCIPAL OF TINTERN GRAMMAR.
Bradley Fry is Principal of Tintern Grammar, a leading independent school based in East Victoria that provides enriched education to students of all ages, from earlylearning to senior school. Brad is Tintern Grammar’s tenth Principal in its 140year history, and he is committed to maintaining a learning environment that is vibrant, dynamic and student-centred. He also champions the school’s Parallel Learning model that enables students to achieve a perfect balance between gender-specific learning and social integration. Alongside Brad’s leadership responsibilities, he immerses himself in all aspects of the school and takes an active role in teaching students in the classroom. With a Master of Education from the University of Melbourne and a Graduate Diploma of Company Directorship, Brad understands that lifelong learning should be practiced not only by the student body, but also by members of the faculty. Prior to joining Tintern Grammar, Brad was Deputy Headmaster and Director of Boarding at Ballarat Grammar.
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The debate on whether single-sex or coeducational schools provide the best learning environments for students continues. Numerous well researched, yet contradictory articles are published on the subject each year, providing teachers, students and parents with the difficult task of choosing the best approach for them. The Parallel Learning model suggests that the best choice may be not to have to choose at all. Having taught in both single sex and coeducational schools, my observations of the Parallel Learning model is that it offers a great middle ground between the two. Boys and girls learn at different rates and in different ways, so it’s advantageous to be able to tailor classes to suit the specific needs of each gender, while still enabling social interaction between the sexes in the wider school environment. There are a few variations of the Parallel Learning model in existence. Tintern Grammar’s model offers a combination of single-sex and co-educational years, whereby co-educational sessions are offered in the early learning years, and then with girls and boys in separate classes through Junior and Middle Schools. Mixed classes are re-introduced in Year 10 where students benefit from a greater variety of subjects and tertiary-style facilities and gender interaction in the classroom remains. Proponents of entirely single-sex education argue that the final, intensive academic years of school are the most crucial for separation, ensuring classes can be delivered in a distraction-free environment. My concern is that complete gender separation during secondary education leads to a peer-supported environment of gender stereotyping, resulting in discomfort and difficulty in adulthood. Supporters of a completely co-educational education take this one step further, suggesting that any gender separation creates a lack of
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understanding of gender diversity, as well as challenges for students in forming effective cross-gender relationships and developing realworld preparedness. I am not convinced that this level of dogma acknowledges, far less supports, the substantial physiological, psychological and social differences that appear between boys and girls through pre-adolescence and adolescence. During the final years of secondary school, students must be prepared for life beyond the school gate and able to collaborate with and learn from other boys and girls equally, in their day-to-day interactions. Co-educational Year 10-12 classes promote gender acceptance and understanding. Practically, this model also allows schools to use resources to offer subject diversity. I see these single-sex and mixed classes being delivered on a co-educational campus as the critical combination for an effective parallel learning structure. It allows for social mixing of students in playgrounds and co-curricular activities, which is important as students negotiate their way carefully through preadolescence and adolescence. At the same time, classes are designed to address the differing learning needs, academic orientations and points of engagement of boys and girls at different stages in their mental and emotional development. Tintern’s academic results suggest the model is working. In 2016, a third of our students achieved an ATAR of 90 and above. These results are encouraging, however, equally important is the feedback I receive. When I sit down for lunch with our Year 12 students shortly before they commence their end of year examinations, they invariably remark on how positive the learning environment was for them. While not a solution to every educational challenge, I am buoyed by the results we have seen at Tintern and am proud of the young adults we are developing.
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