Education Matters (Secondary): May 2018 by Prime Creative Media

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2018

A SENSE OF COMMUNITY Principally Speaking: Macleay Vocational College Speaking with Sir: Sir Ken Robinson visits Unreal expectations: What goals are we setting? Proudly supported by the Australian Secondary Principals Association

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Having attended the National FutureSchools 2018 conference in Melbourne in late March, I had the welcome opportunity to meet and talk with many of the dedicated professionals working in all aspects of the education field. I also had the great honour to sit down for a chat with Sir Ken Robinson, the educator and creativity proponent whose Ted Talk, Do Schools Kill Creativity? is the most widely viewed video on the platform. I had attended Sir Ken’s keynote speech earlier that day, in which he regaled a packed auditorium with witty and inspirational tales that ranged from “hanging out” with fellow Liverpudlian Sir Paul McCartney and being on a panel with The Dalai Lama, to home-schooling his daughter, Kate, who now works as a consultant in creativity and innovation in education and was expecting a daughter any day herself (see page 24). I also sat in on a presentation from Dr Adam Fraser and Bob Willetts, the Principal of Berry Public School, about The Flourish Project. The project came about at Mr Willetts’ request to improve the efficiency and mental and physical wellbeing of principals, and has been an outstanding success (see page 32). Principal and teacher wellbeing was a frequent concern of many I spoke with and is also the topic of our foreword from Senator The Hon. Simon Birmingham, Federal Minister for Education and Training (see page 10), and an article from Andrew Pierpoint, President of the Australian Secondary Principals’ Association (see page 12). Despite this, all I spoke to were passionate about their chosen profession and eager to learn from others and share their own experiences. I came away feeling the future of Australia’s students truly is in great hands. As always, it’s an honour to join you for this edition of Education Matters Secondary. These print productions can be large undertakings and we are always looking to improve, and for that reason I’d love to hear your feedback. Please feel free to pass on any comments or questions to me directly via email tracie.barrett@primecreative.com.au. The latest news can also be found on our website, at educationmattersmag.com.au, where you can also sign up to receive our e-newsletter, The Whiteboard.

Publisher: John Murphy john.murphy@primecreative.com.au Chief Operating Officer: Brad Buchanan brad.buchanan@primecreative.com.au Managing Editor: Robbie Parkes robbie.parkes@primecreative.com.au Editor: Tracie Barrett tracie.barrett@primecreative.com.au Art Director & Production Coordinator: Michelle Weston Designers: Blake Storey, James Finlay, Adam Finlay Group Sales & Marketing Manager: Terry Wogan terry.wogan@primecreative.com.au Advertising: Chelsea Daniel-Young chelsea.daniel@primecreative.com.au 0425 699 878 Client Success Manager: Justine Nardone Education Matters is a division of Prime Creative Media Pty. Ltd. 11-15 Buckhurst Street, South Melbourne 3205 Ph: (+61 3) 9690 8766 Fax: (+61 3) 9682 0044 Subscriptions Education Matters is available by subscription from the publisher. The rights of refusal are reserved by the publisher. Ph: (+61 3) 9690 8766 E: subscriptions@primecreative.com.au

Tracie Barrett Editor

Articles All articles submitted for publication become the property of the publisher. We reserve the right to adjust any article to conform with the magazine format. Cover Image Macleay Vocational College 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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contents SECONDARY MAY - OCT 2018

DEPARTMENTS Editor’s Note 4

Advertisers’ Directory

Foreword

Senator the Hon. Simon Birmingham, Minister for Education and Training

Secondary Column

Andrew Pierpoint, President, Australian Secondary Principals Association (ASPA)

Events

News Principally Speaking

Mark Morrison Principal of Macleay Vocational College

SPECIAL FEATURES 22

Adaptive excellence

Peter Goss, School Education Program Director at Grattan Institute, looks at lessons learned in the classroom to develop more adaptive systems.

24 Sir Ken speaks

Author, speaker and international adviser on education Sir Ken Robinson speaks with Education Matters.

Seeking a smokefree country

Principal support

New Zealand researchers follow the lead of Australia to reduce the incidence of smoking. Dr Adam Fraser of The Flourish Project works to improve the performance and wellbeing of school leaders.

34 Taking STEAM outside the classroom

Dr Michael Cowling of CQUniversity and Dr James Birt of Bond University look at the role of technology in all aspects of students’ lives.

Technology as a tool

Unreal expectations

Sydney Grammar School Principal Dr Richard Malpass addresses the negatives of over-reliance on devices. Leading teacher and curriculum leader Daniel Steele asks what expectations we are really setting in education.

64 Dive into an ocean of knowledge

Cool Australia provides a lesson plan for sustainability.

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FOREWORD

Celebrating teachers SENATOR THE HON. SIMON BIRMINGHAM, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING, EXPLAINS HOW THE NATIONAL REVIEW OF TEACHER REGISTRATION SUPPORTS QUALITY EDUCATORS. A mathematics teacher from Cherrybrook Technology High School was recently recognised as one of the world’s best, reaching the top 10 in the 2018 Global Teacher’s Prize. That teacher is Eddie Woo – whose engaging approach to teaching mathematics, and openly sharing his lessons online via YouTube, has virtually made him a household name in Australia. Indeed, since launching his “WooTube” channel in 2012, Eddie has built up more than 227,000 subscribers and has accumulated nearly 13 million views. Eddie’s success in inspiring students to share his enthusiasm for mathematics confirms for me that what we need to keep focused on and talking about is the positive impact of our teachers. Critical to this is maximising teaching effectiveness and raising the status of the profession. This is a long-term commitment that requires a shift in how society views and values teachers and teaching. It also includes publicly celebrating the impact that effective teachers have every day in our classrooms, schools and communities. Eddie exemplifies the everyday passion and commitment of all Australian teachers. He’s not afraid to talk about the challenging realities of teaching and the pervasive under-valuing of the profession. His teaching practice resonates with a broad audience and demonstrates how an inspired and engaged teacher can inspire and engage students. Teachers understand the impact of their practice. In assessing your teaching practices, you become expert at knowing how to improve and hone your skills so that you can improve each and every student’s learning. The certification of teachers at the Highly Accomplished and Lead career stages of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers is an important way of enabling profession-led improvement in classroom practice – practice that is built around evidence of what works. Certification provides both recognition and reward for expert practitioners who assess their impact on student learning and demonstrate a commitment

to educational leadership and excellence through improving their own and their colleagues’ teaching practice. We also need to be confident the systems we have in place to register teachers are working effectively and efficiently and properly support the profession. A National Review of Teacher Registration is currently being managed by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) to help determine if teacher registration processes nationally are doing the most they can to support quality teaching. The Review is being undertaken under the guidance of an expert panel which is conducting a comprehensive consultation process as I write this. The Review will also consider the registration requirements for VET teachers in school settings to ensure barriers are not created by inconsistent or different jurisdictional requirements. A nationally consistent approach to teacher registration should effectively support teacher mobility across jurisdictions as well as career progression and professional learning. AITSL and the panel will be seeking the views of stakeholders through roadshows, submissions, group forums and online surveys. I encourage you to contribute to their work by participating in the review process and I look forward to seeing the findings of the Review later this year. Lastly, I have recently received the recommendations of the David Gonski-led Review to Achieve Education Excellence in Australian Schools and I look forward to sharing those findings with you in the next edition of Education Matters and my plan to work with the states and territories to roll out evidence-based reforms which the review has identified will be critical in supporting students and boosting their performance. It is vital that we make sure that schools and teachers have the support they need, as well as resources they can use to focus on the programs that are best suited to their students. This is a central tenet of the Turnbull Government’s commitment to school education through our new needs-based funding

education matters secondary

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 Master 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.

system that this year alone is delivering an extra $1.2 billion for Australian schools and will see around 5 per cent average annual funding growth per student for the next four years. Thank you once again for all of your hard work and I look forward to continuing to work with you to ensure we have a teaching profession that is focused on high-impact and positive outcomes for each and every student in Australia.

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ASPA COLUMN

School Leader wellbeing ANDREW PIERPOINT, PRESIDENT OF THE AUSTRALIAN SECONDARY PRINCIPALS’ ASSOCIATION, ADDRESSES AN AUTHENTIC WAY FORWARD IN SUPPORTING SCHOOL LEADERS.

ANDREW PIERPOINT Andrew Pierpoint is President of the Australian Secondary Principals’ Association – the peak body for school leaders across Australia. He previously was President of the Queensland Secondary Principals’ Association for four years. Andrew has had extensive experience, over 35 years, in high schools as a science teacher, Head of Department Science, Deputy Principal and Principal as well as having several system positions in the support of principals. Throughout his career, Andrew has worked in complex rural and remote communities through to large regional and metropolitan schools. He has led communities and reference groups at district, regional, state and national levels. Andrew’s special interests are the provision of professional learning for school leaders, principal health and wellbeing and is highly active in school sport. Andrew has demonstrated a passion for state education in Queensland for many years and possess an excellent understanding of the principalship from first hand experience. Most importantly, Andrew has a genuine desire to make a real difference for school leaders in the application of their ever increasing, complex roles in schools and the broader community.

Quality education is essential to national future growth. “The quality of schooling in a country is a powerful predictor of the wealth that countries will produce in the long run.” Strongly supported school leadership is crucial to driving sustained improvement in educational outcomes and innovation for the future. High quality school leadership is essential to get the best from our teachers in order to maximise student learning. Recently, The Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey 2017 Data was released – this being the seventh year in a longitudinal study. The report by Riley contained several recommendations and notes: 1. S ince no single stakeholder group is responsible for the state of education in Australia, the power to effect change on the system must emerge from joined-up collaborative action from the various stakeholder groups. 2. M any issues impacting negatively on the education system are entrenched in the wider Australian culture

Strongly supported school leadership is crucial to driving sustained improvement in educational outcomes and innovation for the future. High quality school leadership is essential to get the best from our teachers in order to maximise student learning.

education matters secondary

3. Taking a long-term, rather than short-term focus is essential for significant improvement in the system. 4. Taking a holistic inquiry approach to both the successes and failures in the Australian education system is also essential. We can learn a great deal from both if we do not limit our gaze or look for quick fixes. 5. D e-politicising education at the macro and micropolitical levels will promote equity, continuity and transparency. For example, the politicisation of the Gonski report from 2011. It wasuniversally agreed by educators to provide a sensible and equitable way forward in education that should have set the conditions for a decade of educational development. Instead, it is suffering the fate of many educationally sensible reforms in Australia and its potential is being diminished. This becomes demotivating to educators. It is an example of the ‘moral harassment’ suffered by educators. 6. Australian education needs a change of mindset: moving beyond sectorised thinking. The problems and the solutions are very similar in all sectors so the differences between the sectors are more superficial than substantive. The variation in social capital inside schools demonstrates that simple resourcing, while important, is not going to fix intractable issues. A change of mindset is essential. These recommendations are strongly supported by the Australian Secondary Principals’ Association (ASPA). The Riley report went on to comment, “This change of fundamentals in Australian education systems might be difficult, particularly point 5, but together they hold the greatest chance of long-term success, and there is strong international evidence to support it”.

It is the strongly held view of ASPA that consistent philosophical, professionally supported and appropriately funded programs to enhance school leader wellbeing are central to increasing school leader effectiveness, student performance and for many of rural and remote schools, community stability. Although all recommendations are important, the fifth has significant potential for meaningful impact. Over the last four to five years, ASPA has been a leader in the field of school leader wellbeing; going from innovative to accepted practice. The practice of school leader wellbeing, however, remains differential across the educational jurisdictions within Australia. It is the strongly held view of ASPA that consistent philosophical, professionally supported and appropriately funded programs to enhance school leader wellbeing are central to increasing school leader effectiveness, student performance and for many of rural and remote schools, community stability.

The Riley report went on to write about “a whole of government approach to education. This would mean the federal government, states and territories combining to oversee a single education budget in a managerial way. All school funding should be transparent so that anyone, at any level of the system can confidently know how much money they will have at their disposal, so budgeting can be long term. The role of government should be to fairly set the global amount, not specify the detail of how it is to be spent. That should be the role of specialist education bureaucrats working collaboratively across jurisdictions. The current mixed jurisdiction model is antiquated, complex, obscure and difficult to traverse.

education matters secondary

Australia needs bipartisan and crossjurisdictional agreement regarding school funding and a transparent mechanism that is simple to understand. This may be seen as a naïve recommendation, but the demolition of the Gonski funding model also had a significant symbolic as well as financial impact on schools. When everyone knows things will change significantly whenever governments do, it is demotivating for the educators. We need highly motivated educators, if we are to have the best school system possible”. ASPA very strongly calls for governments, at all levels, to focus on authentic collaboration, trustbased responsibility, professionalism and equity to build genuine engagement in finding solutions to the school leader wellbeing challenge we currently face.

References: Hanushek and Wössmann, 2015, Universal Basic Skills: What Countries Stand to Gain Centre for Education Statistics & Evaluation Research, 2015, Effective Leadership, Learning Curve, Issue 10 Nairn, R (2017) Why become a Secondary Principal? - in Education Matters Riley, P (2018) The Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey 2017 Data Australian Catholic University

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.

MAY

JUNE

JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER

2018 Early Years Conference

May 17 – 18, Hotel Pullman Cairns Internatonal, Cairns, QLD

Today’s children, tomorrow’s future www.earlyyearsconference.com.au/2018-Conference

2018 Inquiry and Innovation Institute

May 25 – 26, Belise, Brisbane, QLD

Providing the skills for leading the Spiral of Inquiry process in your school, cluster or network www.qassp.org.au/events

Leadership for Principals & Aspiring School Leaders Workshop

May 28 – 29, Cliftons Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC

Designed specifically for the challenges and demands faced by principals and aspiring principals www.liquidlearning.com

Positive Schools 2018 Mental Health and Wellbeing Conference

May 30 – June 1, Melbourne Convention Centre, Melbourne, VIC

Education that supports equity and diversity www.positiveschools.com.au

EduTECH Australia 2018

June 6 – 8, International Convention Centre, Sydney, NSW

The largest education event in the southern hemisphere www.edutech.net.au

The Big Day In

June 7, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD

An IT careers conference designed by students for students www.thebigdayin.com.au/brisbane2018

The Mental Health and Wellbeing of Young People & Kids in Cyberspace

June 8, Melbourne Convention Centre, Melbourne, VIC

Responding to the challenges posed by a rapidly changing online environment www.generationnext.com.au

International Science Education Conference 2018 Singapore

June 19 – 21, National Institute of Education, Singapore

Researching science education: Same issues from different lenses www.isec2018singapore.org

2nd Australia and New Zealand Conference on Advanced Research

June 22 – 23,Rydges, Melbourne, VIC

Share the possibilities apiar.org.au

2018 Literary Studies Convention: The Literary Interface

July 4 – 7, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT

From the Association for the Study of Australian Literature http://slll.cass.anu.edu.au/events

2018 Global Studies Conference

July 30 – 31, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

The Global Studies Conference draws participants from all over the world www.onglobalization.com/2018-conference

International Conference on Science, Engineering and Technology 2018

August 5 – 6, Castlereagh Boutique Hotel, Sydney, NSW

To share cutting edge development in the field http://researchfora.com/Conference2018/Australia/10/ICSET/

2018 National VET Conference

September 13 – 14, Adelaide Convention Centre, Adelaide, SA

Skilling Australia’s VET Future www.velgtraining.com/nvc

TO HAVE YOUR ORGANISATION’S EVENT LISTED IN THE NEXT EDITION OF EDUCATION MATTERS MAGAZINE, PLEASE EMAIL THE DETAILS TO TRACIE.BARRETT@PRIMECREATIVE.COM.AU

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NATIONAL EDUCATION NEWS

International student numbers pass half-million mark The number of international students studying in Australia has already passed the half-million mark for 2018, new government statistics show.

ensure we’re supporting connections across the globe and in different regions,” he said. Mr Birmingham said the Government is thankful so many

Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham

international students choose to enhance their knowledge and

said for the first time this early in the year, the data showed

skills in Australia, providing a richer and more diverse experience

international student numbers had grown 12 per cent to 509,610

for both Australian students and other international students.

in the year to February 2018, on top of a 54 per cent increase

“International education is vital to the people-to-people links

over the past five years since the current Federal Government

and knowledge sharing between Australia and the rest of the

came to power in 2013.

world,” he said.

That figure is expected to go higher as commencement for

The education sector also supports around 130,000 local

many higher education and vocational education and training

jobs through tourism, retail and hospitality and recent data

courses typically take place in March each year.

from the Australian Bureau of Statistics has shown the value of

“International education is going from strength to strength,” Mr Birmingham said.

international education jumped 22 per cent from 2016 to $32.2 billion last year,’ Mr Birmingham said.

“We’ve already seen more than 509,000 international

He added that Australia is uniquely positioned to meet

students from over 190 countries flock to our shores this year.

the demands of an increasingly competitive international

We’re on track to continue our record-breaking run of growth in

education market.

international education.

“Students know we have some of the best education

“The broad diversity in the countries where we’re seeing

institutions in the world, they know how much we value the

the biggest increases in enrolments – like Nepal (54 per cent),

diversity of experiences and views they bring with them, and

Colombia (29 per cent), Brazil (27 per cent), India (17 per cent)

they know the quality of living and opportunities here are

and China (16 per cent) – highlights the work of the Turnbull

second to none.”

Government’s National Strategy for International Education to

NSW to overhaul student syllabus to address modern life New South Wales plans to help students handle the complex

The new syllabus will tackle contemporary issues plaguing

questions of modern life with a new Personal Development,

students; such has how to behave responsibly, safely and sensibly

Health and Physical Education (PDHPE) syllabus from

online, along with measures on how to report cyberbullying.

“Almost unbelievably,

Kindergarten to Year 10 announced on 13 April.

students are being taught from a text drafted before social media or smart phones

overhaul of the PDHPE syllabus to take effect next year was long

students on how to spot the early warning signs for stress and

overdue with the current course being first published in 2003.

depression, along with information on where and how to seek

were invented.”

NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes said the complete

“The world is unrecognisable compared to just 15 years ago,” Mr Stokes said. “Almost unbelievably, students are being

NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes

One of the most significant changes is a greater emphasis being placed on mental health. The new syllabus educates

out help. “Stigmas surrounding mental health are a thing of the past.

taught from a text drafted before social media or smart phones

Students need to know that help is always available, and that

were invented.”

they should speak openly about mental health.” Mr Stokes said.

education matters secondary

Almost half of female teachers face discrimination at school, survey shows Almost one in two female teachers in Australian schools have

women in leadership roles – particularly for schools. 80 per

experienced some kind of barrier or discrimination throughout

cent and 58.4 per cent of In Australia’s primary and secondary

their careers, according to a new survey administered by the

schools, 80 per cent and 58.4 per cent of teachers are female,

National Excellence in School Leadership Initiative (NESLI).

respectively, yet only 57.5 per cent and 41.7 per cent of principals

The 2018 Australian Schools Gender Survey is believed to be the first of its kind in Australia, and points to consistent patterns

in each of those sectors are female. Respondents were also asked what they think would be most

of severe bias in hiring practices, salaries and professional

helpful or supportive in addressing this issue. The most common

development plans, a boys’ club culture in some schools and

sentiments included better support from colleagues, mentoring

behavioural prejudices against women leaders within the

schemes/arrangements, leadership training and professional

education sector.

development and being offered more opportunities to progress.

When asked “As a woman, have you ever experienced

Other ideas included allowing women to work flexibly in

barriers or discrimination within a school (can be your current

leadership roles and not being penalised for taking maternity

or former school)?”, 46 per cent of respondents said yes, 39 per

leave, identification of institutionalised sexism and gender

cent said no and 15 per cent were unsure.

discrimination and an action plan to remedy, and developing a

Respondents were asked to specify what kind of barriers or discrimination they most commonly faced. They reported

strong reciprocal network of female trusted leaders. A more positive response was achieved when NESLI asked

that women in schools are often undermined in meetings and

the survey respondents to rate their current level of personal

do not get the same promotional opportunities (especially when

wellbeing at work. The most common responses were ‘Good’

of childbearing age), and that women leaders are sometimes

(46.7 per cent), ‘Fair’ (27.31 per cent) and ‘Excellent’ (20.7 per

seen as weak and ineffective, especially when working in

cent). Only 1 in 20 respondents said that their level of wellbeing

boys’ schools.

was either ‘Poor’ or ‘Very Poor’ (5.29 per cent).

Survey respondents reported that these prejudicial

The survey was launched by NESLI as part of its 2018 Year

behaviours and attitudes don’t only come from within the internal

of Women in School Leadership. The 12-month period includes a

ranks of the school. Parents (particularly fathers) exhibit the same

range of research activities, events and development programs to

predispositions, whether it’s their preference for speaking with

address the problems highlighted in the 2018 Australian Schools

a male member of staff, bullying from male parents on a school

Gender Survey.

council who did not perceive that a female leader was capable

Although only 253 female teachers responded to several

of understanding the finances of a school, or just a general

thousands of surveys distributed, of those respondents, 88 per

perception from parents that women aren’t as ‘strong’ as men

cent of those had been in the teaching industry for more than

and that males are better principals.

10 years and 90 per cent were principals or school leaders,

Dr Janet Smith, Leader of NESLI’s 2018 Year of Women in School Leadership, said she finds these results extremely

NESLI reported. “The results of this survey have further strengthened NESLI’s

disappointing and problematic. “It is totally unacceptable that

commitment to this issue,” Dr Smith said. “We look forward to

in 2018, nearly half of the women teachers who were surveyed

working with women teachers and school leaders throughout

have reported experiencing some form of disadvantage or

2018, to support and inspire them and to help reduce the

discrimination because of their gender.”

challenges and barriers they face.”

The Education and Training sector is officially ‘female-

The results of the survey will be discussed further at the

dominated’, with 70.6 per cent of the workforce being women.

forthcoming Australian Schools Women’s Leadership Summit in

Since 1995, this is an increase of 5.2 per cent, when females

Sydney on 18th April.

made up 65.4 per cent of industry employees. The picture is starker when looking at the participation of

More information on the Summit is available at http://www.

The 2018 Australian Schools Gender Survey ... points to consistent patterns of severe bias in hiring practices.

nesli.org/schoolssummit.html

education matters secondary

PRINCIPALLY SPEAKING

Helping holistically MARK MORRISON, PRINCIPAL OF MACLEAY VOCATIONAL COLLEGE, TELLS EDUCATION MATTERS HOW HE AND HIS STAFF ENSURE EDUCATION IS AVAILABLE TO ALL.

WHAT MAKES MACLEAY VOCATIONAL COLLEGE UNIQUE AND HOW DOES IT DIFFER FROM OTHER SCHOOLS? We help our students holistically with anything they need. Our college caters for youth who are disenfranchised from education due to homelessness, disrupted or transient domestic situations, exclusion from mainstream schools, violent or volatile behaviour, addictive behaviours due to parental influences, young Macleay Vocational College Principal Mark Morrison believes in empowering the school’s students.

mothers and babies, and court-ordered attendees who come from Juvenile Justice programs or incarceration. We have students enrolling in the College who are brought from a young age due to exclusion or restrictions from mainstream schools by Police and Community Youth Clubs Liaison Officers, Juvenile Justice Officers, Caseworkers from a number of non-government organisations (NGOs), Family and Community Services, and Home-Schooling Liaison Officers. Some students are 11 through to 13 years of age. We have flexible, understanding and patient staff who recognise that these young people need someone to listen first, then share their traumas and treat them with respect. We all want to see our students given the support and skills to succeed in life. The College is truly holistic with all staff involved in working with young people and the community. An example would be our administration team completing Youth and Community Service qualifications as well as learning natural therapies to support our students’ health and wellbeing. We also operate 51 weeks a year with staff running a variety of holiday programs for students and the children in the community. WHAT IS THE SCHOOL’S PHILOSOPHY AND HOW DOES IT GUIDE YOU AND THE TEACHERS? Our vision is about developing a sense of belonging, pride, personal identity and cultural awareness, to empower our students to become resilient, tolerant and self-confident participants in society. Our overall guide is always what is in the best interests of the young person, which is different for each. All staff understand each student’s traumas and challenges in life and deal with each individually. WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE? Our community is a small college in Kempsey, which was formed under the inspiration of the “Universal Declaration for Education for All”. Through the joint involvement of all three high schools in town, two state schools and a Catholic school, it began with the Training for Retail and Commerce program, then had an influx of donations of rooms and resources from the community and local high schools, and operated through various grants and workplace programs. The Macleay Vocational College became an independent ‘special school’ in 2000. We commenced offering alternative vocational programs to mainly 16- to 19-year-olds who

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had fallen out of education, as a primary way of reengaging misguided youth. I would like to acknowledge the oustanding contribution of Jann Eason as our Foundation Principal. HOW DO YOU PROVIDE SUPPORT AND LEADERSHIP TO YOUR STAFF? By being a role model, coach and mentor, maintaining a passionate and enthusiastic interaction with them and helping out with challenges from students by providing the background information or reminders of the wonderfully positive things that happen on a daily basis. I see where each young person commenced their education and where are they now, due to the support of my very generous staff. I lead through the service model and would like to think I know my staff, understanding their family and personal needs, and provide direction and growth for the school in the years to come. WHAT ROLE DO YOU PLAY IN THE DAY-TO-DAY ACTIVITIES OF THE STUDENTS? I do everything to help each student feel welcome to our community each morning, being a person who listens to them, interacts with them, has a laugh with them, supports them as a priority, mentors them in their behaviour and recognition of where they are with tolerance of others. I feed the students during the first two lessons by walking food around to each classroom, so all the students and staff feel safe and valued. The list goes on. If a student needs support in the cells or at court or to come clean on their legal issues, then I am there. If a student needs support with domestic challenges including violence, I will go and pick them up whatever time of day or night it is. If they need support with domestic challenges, we organise appointments for them, take them to the doctor, and speak on their behalf to the NGOs who come to College to make things happen faster.

Support of students and welcoming them as part of the wider community is integral to Macleayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s success.

Principal Mark Morrison, centre, sees himself as a role model, coach and mentor to all students.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT, EITHER AS A TEACHER OR SPECIFICALLY IN THE ROLE OF PRINCIPAL? I have lots every day. I love coming to the College and being with our staff and young people every day. I have never woken up and thought I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to go in today, no matter what the challenge is we are facing. I feel that for our young people to trust us and want to be involved in what we offer them is amazing. I remind myself of that each day and smile.

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PRINCIPALLY SPEAKING

When students feel part of a community, they want to help others within the community.

I have never woken up and thought I don’t want to go in today, no matter what the challenge is we are facing. I feel that for our young people to trust us and want to be involved in what we offer them is amazing. I remind myself of that each day and smile. It is memorable when my students give back to the community through cooking for others, helping those less fortunate than themselves with our 17-kilometre beach walk for charity, or returning after they have left to mentor and share with current students going through similar things. I remember a young woman who is a young mother. She came to the college in 2011 and then left for personal reasons, and she returned late in 2013 as a young mother who wanted to be active and maintain a positive influence in her child’s life. She completed her Higher School Certificate (HSC) and a traineeship in business over a three-year period, secured a safe place to raise her family, gained her driver’s licence

and now works at the local hospital. She was the first in her family to complete her HSC and continues to be involved as a mentor in our Ginda Barri centre, which is a place for young mothers and their children to come to share in educational success. With the young people I visit in detention centres across the state, they are so grateful to see me and

speak fondly of our time together and their time at the college. When they leave detention and return to the college, they are determined to stay out of detention, and as a result we have a high success rate at keeping them from returning to gaol. They feel part of our community and want to help others to avoid going down the same path. WHAT TRAITS MAKE FOR AN EFFECTIVE AND SUCCESSFUL LEADER IN EDUCATION TODAY? Building trusting relationships is at the forefront of developing a culture of belonging within any community. This allows each staff member to find their purpose in the mechanisms of the community. Being aware of the strengths of your staff and supporting them to use these to promote a positive culture and standing by them when times are tough is part of being a leader. WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT NAPLAN AND ITS EFFECTIVENESS? We use NAPLAN as a way to promote the students’ feeling of belonging to a wider educational group than just college, as most of our students have not participated in NAPLAN testing in their other schools before coming here. We use this as their chance to have a go. I’m not concerned with the result as it gives us a place to start.

Principal Mark Morrison celebrates with a student and his family.

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HOT TOPIC

Building adaptive excellence PETER GOSS, SCHOOL EDUCATION PROGRAM DIRECTOR AT THE GRATTAN INSTITUTE, LOOKS AT LESSONS LEARNED IN THE CLASSROOM TO DEVELOP A MORE ADAPTIVE SYSTEM.

School Education Program Director Dr Pete Goss joined Grattan in 2014, and has focused on how education systems and data can help schools and teachers adapt and improve their practice. Prior to joining Grattan, he spent more than 10 years as a strategy consultant, most recently with the Boston Consulting Group, and worked with Noel Pearson to improve education outcomes for Cape York school students. Pete trained as a biologist, with a focus on understanding complex systems. His discussion paper Towards an Adaptive Education System in Australia is available at www.grattan.edu.au and he posts on Twitter @peter_goss

A new Gonski review is examining how to achieve educational excellence for Australia’s 3.8 million school students. The success of the review will ultimately depend on whether its recommendations lead to better practice in the classroom. And the best way to improve classroom practice at scale is to develop a more adaptive education system. To explain what I mean, let me tell you a story about three young teachers I met in early 2015, whom I will call Kate, Naomi and Natalie. Kate, Naomi and Natalie work in a disadvantaged regional New South Wales school I’ll call Bright Vale. Four years earlier, unable to tell which of their methods was really working, they were tearing their hair out. But by 2015 they could identify what was working best to help students learn, by regularly tracking each student’s capabilities in literacy and numeracy. Now, Kate said, her job was better. Natalie talked about working harder, but being more efficient. Naomi even used the ‘A-word’, saying she felt more accountable than ever now that she knew exactly how much or how little her students were learning. In fact, they all felt accountable to the students and their parents, and to each other – not to some faceless bureaucrat. I was thrilled to hear it: this is the sort of collective accountability to which all professionals should aspire. One surprise was that Kate’s students consistently made about two months more progress each year. What was she doing differently? Kate settled her kids down more quickly. So Naomi and Natalie focused on better routines at the start of each lesson. That is, they changed their ways based on evidence. And it worked. This story is not about the virtues of managing classroom behaviour. Nor is it actually about gathering more data. As their principal explained: “It’s the dialogue, not the data.” The point of the story is the use of data to adapt teaching practices, and continually evaluating what

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is (and isn’t) working. All teachers should keep doing the things that help students learn more, and stop or change the things that don’t. But Naomi and Natalie only discovered that Kate was doing something different and better because they had good data about their students’ progress that made them ask the question. Therein lies the rub. Tracking student progress is hard to do. Teachers need “small data” that they trust, gathered regularly enough to inform the way they teach. The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) doesn’t do that, nor was it designed to. Schools seem to find it particularly hard to use data to improve teaching. In my 2015 Grattan Institute report Targeted Teaching, I found many schools were trying to use data better, but I did not find a single school that had nailed the process without outside help. Secondary schools typically find it harder to track student progress, given that there are not as many clear steps in learning as there are in the early years. But the benefits are just as large. So how had Bright Vale improved so much so quickly? The answer lay in part in the school’s own efforts, but even more in the support it received from outside. A NSW department program called Early Action for Success had provided better tools to assess learning, more time for teachers to collaborate, and access to an expert leader to show how use of small data could improve teaching. The other teachers liked what they saw of Kate, Naomi and Natalie’s new, more systematic approach, and the principal rolled the model out across the whole school. Rather than telling Bright Vale exactly what to do, the education system had created an environment where the school would improve by adaptive, local decision-making. Bright Vale is no fluke. Early Action for Success has been implemented in more than 400 NSW primary schools. Principals have broadened the

program in more than 70 per cent of schools, and a recent evaluation confirms that teaching practices are changing for the better. My visit to Bright Vale got me thinking. If rigorous use of data can help teachers in a deeply disadvantaged school decide which practices to keep, which to stop, and which to start, could we embed adaptive improvement across all schools in Australia? Australia has many Bright Vales. And we have many local examples of continuous improvement. But we do not have an adaptive education system that systematically identifies and spreads excellence, balancing local decision-making with top-down guidance and support. The goal is not for all teachers to use exactly the same teaching methods. Teachers are responsible for how they teach their students (informed by the research), and for adapting their teaching over time to maximise impact. This is an inherently local process. The point is that it should not be done independently in every classroom. If each teacher or school tried to evolve and improve in isolation, we would never achieve the gains needed, because there would be no systemic learning or adoption of best practice. To create a more adaptive education system, we must at a minimum bring three pieces together: an explicit focus on inputs (what is done), an equal focus on outcomes (what is measured), and a systematic learning process to decide what to do differently next time. Act, evaluate and adapt. Too many previous reform efforts have prioritised only one step of this feedback loop, not all three, and fallen short. The Bright Vale story shows feedback being used to improve teaching within a school, but the same logic holds true at higher levels of the education system, as illustrated above right. Networks, dioceses or regions of schools within each state should use feedback to improve the support they offer schools, states should learn what works best at a network level, and so on. The key to adaptive improvement is not more innovation, but better selection of what to keep. Education guru John Hattie captures this idea in his phrase “know thy impact”, an exhortation for teachers to track how much their students learn, and then use that information to inform their future practice. Making this the norm in classroom practice is no easy task: it will require changes at all levels of the system, including to the evidence base, career pathways, leadership capability, and reporting, accountability and governance.

An adaptive education system needs nested feedback loops at multiple levels

To create a more adaptive education system, we must at a minimum bring three pieces together: an explicit focus on inputs (what is done), an equal focus on outcomes (what is measured), and a systematic learning process to decide what to do differently next time. In other words, act, evaluate, then adapt. So let’s cut to the chase. Here are four ways Australia can make its education system more adaptive, thereby improving student outcomes. First, teachers and schools must be better able to track their students’ progress over time in ways that directly inform their teaching. Naomi and Natalie increased their focus on classroom routines because the data showed Kate’s students were learning faster. Second, we need to build better ways to spread and share information and practices, both within schools and across schools. Too often, schools waste time reinventing the wheel, rather than figuring out the best way to use pre-existing approaches in their local context. Third, Australia should make better use of its most expert teachers, using them to teach other teachers and spread the word about what works best in the classroom. A key to Bright Vale’s success was the quality of its instructional leader. The teacher filling this role at Bright Vale did not have a class herself; instead, her day job was to equip Kate and

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her colleagues with the skills they needed to be more rigorous and adaptive in their teaching. Fourth, teachers and school leaders should embrace the benefits that come from standardising elements of teaching practice. When I asked Natalie about being more efficient, she talked about the time and effort saved by using a common language about teaching and assessment. Standardising practice in core academic areas also creates more space to systematically innovate where the evidence isn’t strong, including how to help young Australians develop broader skills for a changing world. Here’s the bottom line: to make these changes at scale, education policy makers need a new model of system leadership. Australia won’t achieve excellence in school education unless policy makers give practical support to teachers like Kate, Naomi and Natalie to help them rigorously adapt and improve their practices. It would be worth it: an adaptive education system would build professional responsibility, and ultimately transform all our schools.

HOT TOPIC

From Sir, with love SIR KEN ROBINSON, EDUCATOR, AUTHOR AND SPEAKER ON THE MOST WATCHED TED TALK IN HISTORY, TALKS TO EDUCATION MATTERS.

“Educational policies across the world are based on three precepts that are misconceived and hostile to human development. Those are conformity, compliance and competition.”

When you have the opportunity to ask questions of an educator who advises departments of education around the world and has the most viewed Ted Talk ever, the smartest thing you can do is simply listen. This was the case when Education Matters sat with Sir Ken Robinson, whose Ted Talk, Do Schools Kill Creativity? is the most viewed on the platform and who was knighted by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth for his services to the Arts. Sir Ken was a keynote speaker at the National FutureSchools Expo 2018 in Melbourne, where he captured a packed auditorium with his view that the pattern of educational reform for more than 20 years has been a “catastrophic failure”. Educational policies across the world, he says, are based on three precepts that are “misconceived and hostile to human development”. Those are conformity, compliance and competition, Sir Ken says. His keynote speech was, unsurprisingly to those who have viewed his talks, witty, insightful and name-

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droppingly funny, as he spoke of hanging out with Paul McCartney (also a “Sir”, but just “Paul” to Sir Ken) and “The” Dalai Lama. But he was hailed more by the educators in the room for his mission to “speak truth to power” to policymakers who regulate education around the world. Sir Ken describes politicians who want to ‘fix’ education, as if it’s an exotic virus we just don’t know what to do with. “We already know what to do in education, and there are brilliant schools doing it everywhere,” he says. In addition to his keynote speech, Sir Ken took part in a panel discussion, met with officials from the Victorian Department of Education, and signed his latest book in a session that went almost an hour overtime because of his popularity. The book, You, Your Child and School, was written with author Lou Aronica to help parents learn about the type of education their children need, and how to ensure they get it. Sir Ken says he was lucky enough to fit well with the education system of his time, but his daughter did not. “I think that a lot of parents naturally work on the assumption that kids need the same kind of education that they had, or that the way the system in the country is set up is the right system – they have to get their kids to adapt to it,” he says. To him it is clear that the current systems are not conducive to helping students, especially those that don’t fit in. “For some people, it works, but it doesn’t work for a great many people,” he says. “There is no reason we shouldn’t have education systems that work for everybody.” The book instructs parents on what their children really need, given the way the world is shifting. “How the system works, and also to encourage them to know they have more power than they think in getting the education they do need.” He doesn’t see what he says as complicated or deliberately provocative, but says he is merely trying to

“We are born with an exuberant curiosity to learn, but have institutions and systems that are sometimes obstructive to the process of learning.” set out what seem to him some obvious truths about children, about how they learn and how society can create conditions where they will want to learn. “Kids love to learn, they don’t always like education, some have a big problem with schools,” he says. However, a school, properly conceived, is a community of learners rather than a place with bells and hierarchies and competitions, Sir Ken says. We are born with an exuberant curiosity to learn, but have institutions and systems that are sometimes obstructive to the process of learning, he says. He sees Australia as having a lot of ‘wriggle room’ for beneficial change in education, but says it takes a clear vision for how things can be. “Here, as elsewhere, it’s in spite the political system, rather than because of it,” he says. “There is a tendency for governments to stick with the old model because they understand it, and the model, on the whole, is command and control.”

National FutureSchools 2019 is in Melbourne from 19 to 21 March, 2019.

HOT TOPIC

National Education Summit returns to Melbourne in 2018 THE TOPICS OF SPECIAL NEEDS, DIGITAL CLASSROOMS AND CODING LITERACY WILL HEADLINE THE CONFERENCE

From 31 August to 1 September 2018, Australia’s education sector will come together for the National Education Summit, produced by the International Exhibition and Conference Group, at Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre. The Summit is a must-attend for principals, school leaders, business managers and educators from K-12. All events at the National Education Summit are also attributable to Professional Development hours for teachers. Across two jam-packed days, attendees can dive into four conferences addressing critical subjects from special needs education

to digital classroom innovations, plus a masterclass series shedding light on how to design and align improvement reforms. The Summit will also include The Education Show, a free trade expo featuring more than 100 leading businesses and organisations exhibiting the latest resources, services, products and technology, including Enhance TV, the Melbourne Graduate School of Education and Faber-Castell. Marie Kinsella, CEO of International Exhibition and Conference Group, is thrilled to bring the sector’s latest discussions and innovations under the spotlight. “Audiences will discover the cutting

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edge of the education world, from riveting talks from thought-leaders such as renowned ADHD advocate and journalist Ruth Devine, to showcases of incredible Australian educational development tools including Seven Steps and THRASS,” Mrs Kinsella said. According to Mrs Kinsella, the show will also address the crucial issue of special needs education. “With recent studies revealing that almost 80 per cent of all school principals felt they were inadequately resourced for special needs education, these talks on special needs education will generate thought-provoking discussion on ways to move forward,” she said.

Peter Cole

CONFERENCES Featuring 38 captivating sessions across the four conferences, the two-day conference program will explore crucial issues across a variety of educational contexts, featuring a line-up of influential thought leaders including iconic ADHD advocate Ruth Devine, and President of the Australian Literacy Educators Association Professor Beryl Exley. “The conference program is essential for those looking to stay ahead of the curve, discover new ways of thinking, strengthen their existing skills, and meet other like-minded educators passionate about the future of education,” Mrs Kinsella said. Leading the pack is the Special Needs Symposium, which will dispel myths about special needs and explore inclusive strategies across four streams: ADHD, dyslexia, autism and anxiety. Renowned advocate Ruth Devine will open the ADHD Stream with a candid discussion on being a mother to three sons with the disorder. The Anxiety Stream will feature the symposium’s keynote presentation, “Square Pegs in Round Holes”. Exploring the significant challenges children with special needs face in mainstream classrooms, paediatrician Dr Jo Martin and neuropsychologist Dr Renee Testa will discuss practical solutions to support these vulnerable children. The Special Needs Symposium features: special needs teaching specialists Cressida Crossley and Jamie Coombs of NEST discussing the importance of inclusivity in the Autism Spectrum Disorder Stream, and Learning and Curriculum Support Leader at Bentleigh West Primary School Sarah Asome will explore the importance of early identification and intervention in the Dyslexia Stream. In the Legal & Risk Management Frameworks Conference, leading Australian law firm Piper Alderman will examine pertinent legal issues in an educational setting. “Sexting in Schools – How to

Jamie Coombs

Manage the Legal Implications” will shed light on the legal issues around sexting in an Australian context, and how to undertake investigations. The Literacy Conference will investigate the unique challenges of literacy in modern classrooms. Victoria University’s Academic Director, Professor Chris Walsh will examine the meaning of coding literacy, including robots and apps, with Professor Beryl Exley exploring playful uses of grammar in reading and writing. K-12 Digital Classroom Practice Conference will shed light on innovative ways to integrate digital technologies in teaching numeracy and literacy. Highlights include: “Blogging in the classroom”, “Examining the rise of Edublogs in fostering digital skills”, and “How does technology empower the modern learner?”, exploring how teachers can effectively leverage technology in developing literacy, numeracy, and beyond. MASTERCLASS In 2018, highly experienced education consultants G9 will again host a masterclass for principals and school leaders, a four-session program with a school-wide focus outlining proven practices on how to design, align and implement key school improvement reforms. “We’re very proud to have G9 host our masterclass sessions again,” Mrs Kinsella said. “Attendees can expect to be challenged by the latest research and stats, highlighting the importance of creating change in the current schooling system.” Highlights from the masterclass include: Reach (and Teach) for the Stars: An Optimistic Approach to School Improvement, building a positive view of students, teachers and schools by focusing on curiosity and empowerment; Never Ending Capacity Building, discussing downfalls of the conventional learning model; and Getting Your Staff Performance

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Right, exploring teacher performance, processes for reviewing, and providing effective feedback. THE EDUCATION SHOW The Education Show is a free trade expo showcasing businesses and organisations from a variety of product sectors, including School Resources, Learning Programs for the classroom, School Camps, Incursions, Excursions, Technology, Online Learning, Post Graduate Courses, Stationery, and Recruitment. “Whether you’re a company with an innovative new product or service, a passionate educator looking for the latest updates in the field, or just have a keen interest in the future of education in Australia, the Education Show is not to be missed,” Mrs Kinsella said. Confirmed exhibitors include: innovative phonetics teaching tool THRASS; the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, the University of Melbourne’s dedicated education school; educational video platform Enhance TV; Bostik, one of the world’s largest sealant and adhesive manufacturers; and Faber-Castell, the world’s longest family-run manufacturer of colouring, drawing and writing instruments. The show will also include a Free Seminar Program, featuring: Dr David Zyngier, Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Monash University; Jen McVeity, creator and CEO of innovative writing program Seven Steps; and Denyse Ritchie, CoDeveloper of THRASS. Professional Development hours are available on all events attended at the Summit.

To register for tickets to the National Education Summit 2018, visit www. nationaleducationsummit.com.au, group bookings are available.

HEALTH & WELLBEING

Positive Education: Practices for teacher and student wellbeing GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL’S INSTITUTE OF POSITIVE EDUCATION PLACES WELLBEING AT THE HEART OF EDUCATION. As educators, we know that supporting student wellbeing is integral to the work we do. Increasingly, schools are prioritising wellbeing as a response to the prevalence of mental illness in youth and the link between wellbeing and positive learning outcomes. The wellbeing of teachers also plays a key role in student wellbeing and, as such, should be considered part of a whole-school approach to

Author Rhiannon McGee Rhiannon McGee is the Head of Positive Education at Geelong Grammar School, leading the School’s wellbeing program across four campuses. Rhiannon has held a range of leadership roles in the area of student wellbeing in the past 10 years in different school settings. She is passionate about the promotion of community wellbeing and this has motivated her to complete the Masters of Education (Student Wellbeing), and the Masters of Applied Positive Psychology at the University of Melbourne.

wellbeing. Positive Education is one such approach and can be defined as the application of Positive Psychology in the educational context, to promote mental health and to nurture flourishing school communities. At Geelong Grammar School (GGS), we emphasise the importance of four key processes which bring Positive Education to life in an educational setting: “Learn it, Live it, Teach it, Embed it”. According to this model, it is important that educators engage with and implement evidence-based wellbeing practices into their own life before they can be imparted to students in a meaningful and authentic way. While the GGS model for Positive Education encourages a whole-school approach, the field of Positive Education still has a great deal to offer educators whose schools may not yet have adopted this model. Teachers are encouraged to explore the range of evidence-based practices which comprise Positive Education, introducing them to their own lives before bringing them into the classroom. Three suggested approaches involve engaging character strengths, cultivating growth mindsets and practising self-compassion during challenging times. ENGAGING AND DEVELOPING STRENGTHS Strengths are defined as “patterns of thinking, feeling or behaving that, when exercised, will excite, engage and energise you, and allow you to perform at your optimum level”. Identifying and cultivating character strengths is a core component of Positive Education. Teachers and students can take the VIA Character Strengths Survey online to identify their top five signature strengths. These will likely be the strengths which are essential to our daily life, which are energising and easy to use. As well as identifying and utilising your signature strengths, observing strengths in others, or “strengths spotting”, is another way

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of introducing the language of strengths into our own life, our classrooms and the broader school environment. It is also important to understand that strengths can be developed. Undertaking a simple 11-minute daily “strengths routine” to cultivate a strength which may appear lower on the VIA report is an achievable goal for teachers and students. For instance, the strength of gratitude might be developed by making a note at the end of each school day as to what went well that day. CULTIVATING A GROWTH MINDSET Perhaps the most well-known theory associated with Positive Education comes from Carol Dweck’s research on mindsets. Dweck identified a “fixed mindset” as being based on the underlying belief that our intelligence and talent don’t really improve over time. In contrast, a “growth mindset” is based on the belief that intelligence and talent can always be improved upon with practice. It is important to know that we are likely to have a combination of both a fixed and growth mindset, and to observe what triggers our fixed mindset. It is also helpful to be aware of how we model these mindsets for our students. As teachers, do we set ourselves learning goals, welcome criticism and embrace failure as part of the learning process, in order to engage a growth mindset? If we seek to nurture a growth mindset in our students, the type of feedback we provide is key. Dweck warns against oversimplifying growth mindset theory by simply praising effort for effort’s sake. Instead, provide ‘process praise’ by focusing on the learning process and how hard work, good strategies, and a good use of resources leads to better learning. PRACTISING SELF-COMPASSION There is growing research to support the

benefits of self-compassion for adults and adolescents. Self-compassion is an alternative to damaging self-criticism and essentially means treating ourselves as we would a good friend, particularly during difficult times. Self-compassion has been found to raise motivation, performance and resilience and to reduce stress, anxiety and self-doubt. Self-compassion practices include becoming aware of your critical self-talk and reframing this in a more compassionate way, as a kind friend would. Also, writing a compassionate letter to yourself or comforting yourself with a physical gesture, such as a hand on the heart or by placing one hand over the other to soothe the nervous system. Throughout the school year, there

will be many opportunities to encourage students to become aware of their own self-critical voice and to treat themselves with self-compassion when experiencing personal or academic challenge. While it is preferable that schools undertake a whole-school approach to wellbeing, it is just as important that teachers are able to explore evidence-based practices which enhance their own personal and professional lives. Once the benefits of these practices have been experienced first-hand, they can be introduced into the classroom in a more authentic way, assisting the creation of positive learning environments which promote wellbeing.

References Dweck, C. (2006). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. New York: Random House. Gross-Loh, C. (2016, December 16). How Praise Became a Consolation Prize. (online) The Atlantic Daily. https://www. theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/12/how-praise-became-a-consolation-prize/510845/ Hoare, E., Bott,D., & Robinson, J. (2017).Learn it, Live it, Teach it, Embed it: Implementing a whole-school approach to foster positive mental health and wellbeing through Positive Education. International Journal of Wellbeing, 7(3), 56-71. doi: 10,5502/ijw.v7i3.645 Linley, A., Willars, J., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2010). The strengths book: What you can do, love to do and find it hard to do-and why it matters. Coventary, UK: CAPP Press. McQuaid, M., & Lawn, M. (2014). Your Strengths Blueprint: How to be Engaged, Energised and Happy at Work. Melbourne: Michelle McQuaid. Neff, K. (2011). Self-Compassion: Stop beating yourself up and leave insecurity behind. UK: Hodder & Staughton. Roffey, S. (2012). Pupil wellbeing—Teacher wellbeing: Two sides of the same coin?. Educational and Child Psychology, 29(4), 8.

The Institute of Positive Education PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE, YOUR TEACHING AND YOUR SCHOOL. Join us for the following Positive Education courses and explore the science of wellbeing: · · · · · · · · · ·

Discovering Positive Education Discovering More Positive Education Positive Teaching Practices Embedding Character Strengths Exploring Mindfulness Getting Started with Positive Education Positive Education in Action How to Change a Culture Values-based Stress Management Implementing Positive Education

For more information visit www.instituteofpositiveeducation.com

HEALTH & WELLBEING

Seeking a smokefree country JANET HOEK, PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND MARKETING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF OTAGO EXPLAINS HOW NEW ZEALAND RESEARCHERS ARE LOOKING TO AUSTRALIA’S EXPERIENCE IN PLAIN PACKAGING OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS TO DECREASE THE INCIDENCE OF SMOKING.

New Zealand has an ambitious goal to become cleaner and greener by being smokefree by 2025. Realising this world-leading goal would significantly reduce illnesses caused by smoking and bring considerable public health benefits. But there’s a lot that needs to be done between now and then, with leading tobacco control researchers in New Zealand from all disciplines working together to underpin the tobacco-free legacy.

Janet Hoek’s main research interests are in public health-marketing-policy. She is Co-Director of ASPIRE 2025, a University of Otago Research Theme whose members undertake research supporting the Government’s smokefree 2025 goal. Professor Hoek led an Health Research Council (HRC) project examining plain packaging and tobacco branding, and a second HRC project examining novel on-pack tobacco warnings. She is currently leading an HRC feasibility study that uses a smart e-cigarette to explore whether and how transitions from smoking to vaping occur.

Right now, the focus is on plain packaging as announced on 14 March, 2018, but New Zealand researchers from the University of Otago in Dunedin are also developing innovative new cessation technologies and have some interesting new insights into tobacco and young people. Standardised packaging, featuring an unappealing brown-green colour and large health warnings, will replace tobacco brand imagery from the 6 June, 2018. Janet Hoek, Professor of Public Health and Marketing and co-director of ASPIRE2025 (one of the University of Otago’s Research Themes) believes standardised packaging is a pivotal measure for reducing smoking uptake amongst young people. Based on Australia’s experience, she expects standardised packaging will decrease the number of smokers. “Australia has already found plain packaging has transformed attitudes,” Professor Hoek says. “Research evaluating the impact of plain packaging in the country found it had resulted in over 100,000 fewer smokers during the 34 months following the policy’s implementation. This has changed how young people view smoking and reduced the likelihood they will experiment with smoking. It has also influenced adult smokers, who report noticing health warnings more and feeling more motivated to quit. “New Zealand is now following Australia’s plain packaging lead.” Standardised packaging increases the visual impact of health warnings, since the health warnings are larger and no longer compete with distracting brand imagery. These images have a particular impact on adolescents and young adults, who are now less likely to view smoking as attractive. Professor Hoek and the wider ASPIRE2025 research team support New Zealand’s smokefree 2025 goal, which aims to see smoking prevalence

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fall to 5 per cent or less. Professor Hoek argues that warnings on packs need rapid rotation and calls on policy makers to develop an ongoing evaluation process that ensures new warnings are regularly introduced. “We need to ensure these new standardised packs maintain their impact on smokers; we need to avoid the situation where we have the same warnings in place for an extended period of time. People will become desensitised, the messages will wear out, and the policy will lose its effectiveness.” “No marketing manager would allow its business to run the same campaign for 10 years and expect it to maintain its effectiveness. “We need warnings that resonate with all groups and provide ongoing and relevant reasons to quit smoking now.” Professor Hoek and her team are focusing on messaging which will work as a deterrent for adolescents and young adults. “It’s very important to help people quit smoking, but we also want to make it hard for young people to take up smoking in the first place,” Professor Hoek explained. “We know that it’s difficult for teenagers to imagine what it will be like to be 30, so telling them that smoking will harm them when they are 50 has little impact,” she said. “It’s therefore very important that we evaluate the new warnings and continue introducing new warnings that elicit strong emotional responses, and continually provide smokers with new and salient prompts to quit.” She also argues that New Zealand should recognise the existing approach may need to be tailored to reach particular population groups. “On-pack warnings are very important because they allow us to reach all smokers but we must recognise that people who have smoked for 30 years differ from young people who are experimenting or who regard themselves as social smokers. “

HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Helping principals flourish THE FLOURISH PROJECT IS A COLLABORATION BETWEEN DR ADAM FRASER CONSULTING, DEAKIN UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL AND THE SHOALHAVEN PRIMARY PRINCIPAL’S COUNCIL, DESIGNED TO IMPROVE THE PERFORMANCE AND WELLBEING OF SCHOOL PRINCIPALS. DR FRASER TELLS EDUCATION MATTERS OF THE PROJECT’S GENESIS, ACHIEVEMENTS AND WHY HE THINKS IT CAN HELP PRINCIPALS THRIVE PROFESSIONALLY, PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY.

In February, the 2017 Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey was released, reporting the latest annual figures on the state of our school leaders in a project that has run since 2011 and in which approximately half of the country’s principals have taken part. The respondents reported high levels of job demands (1.5 times that of the general population), especially emotional demands and emotional labour. This correlated with higher levels of burnout, symptoms of stress, difficulty sleeping, cognitive stress, somatic and depressive symptoms. The two greatest sources of stress for principals that have remained consistently high over the seven years of the survey have been the quantity of work, and the lack of time to focus on teaching and learning. The report quantifies the effects of changes in the role of the school principal, as new technology, increased reporting systems and curriculum updates add to expectations from parents and communities to make many school leaders feel overworked and undervalued. The Flourish Project came about in response to one such principal, Bob Willetts of Berry Public School, who decided it was time to do something about the situation. Mr Willetts called Dr Adam Fraser, whom he had previously heard give keynote speeches on education. “He said, ‘I’m not coping, the principals around me aren’t coping. Rather than waiting for the cavalry, we want to be proactive about our wellbeing and hire you to come up with a solution for us’,” Dr Fraser said. Dr Fraser brought Dr John Molineux from Deakin Business School on board to undertake research for The Flourish Project, looking at how the job has changed and how principals could work differently to become more efficient, while improving their mental and physical wellbeing. Mr Willetts was the driving

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force behind the program and helped customise the material for principals. The initial research, which began in October 2016, involved the principals keeping detailed diaries and participating in surveys and interviews. It studied what the job entails, how much time is spent in each aspect, and how the principals feel about the different parts of their roles – what inspires them, what demoralises them and what strategies they use to manage their schools and their own lives. The data was given back to individuals and their groups, typically of about 30 principals, and also shared with government and industry groups. Getting that information surprised many of the participants, Dr Fraser said, as they hadn’t realised how much time they spent on some aspects, as they were simply too busy to quantify their time commitments. “Due to the pace of their positions, their huge workloads and number of interruptions, one of the big findings was that principals did not know where their time went. Some of the groups underestimated their time on admin tasks by 200 per cent, and overestimated how much time they spent leading and coaching and developing people by 70 per cent.” Dr Fraser said the role of a school principal was probably the broadest job he had ever seen, and the data allowed each participant to see just how their day was taken up. “There are so many aspects to the job, and the job is so varied. Just the number of roles and tasks they go through in a day makes their heads spin.” The volume of compliance and reporting has risen dramatically, as have the expectations of students, parents, teachers, staff, communities, and the media, he said. Parental interactions have become much more frequent across all socioeconomic levels, principals have reported.

“The project has enhanced the productivity and effectiveness of principals, as well as having a profound impact on their wellbeing.” - Bob Willetts, Principal, Berry Public School

“We’re also seeing a lot of change with social media as they are far more accessible,” Dr Fraser said. There’s a constant juggle for principals, he said, of how to fulfil all the tasks that are part of their jobs while also keeping their families together and maintaining their emotional and physical health. “They have to do things that are outside their training – conflict resolution, tree audits, fire safety – so many things that they never used to do that are not related to teaching.” During the 12-month program, each group of about 30 principals takes part in a full-day workshop each term, is given behavioural resources such as videos and articles, and the groups form networks in which the members engage with and support each other. This collegiate support is one of the factors Dr Fraser credits most with striking behaviour and attitude changes among those who have taken part in The Flourish Project. He spoke of a principal who shared a scathing letter she had received from a parent with the

group members on their social media page. Not only did she get messages of support and understanding, but another principal in the group drove to her house to talk with her in person. Another principal, who was mourning the unexpected death of a teacher who was also a close friend shortly before attending a principals’ conference, arrived at the conference accommodation to find her Flourish group waiting in her hotel room to show their support. Thus far, 228 principals from New South Wales have completed or are still taking part in the project and the results, again taken from diary studies and interviews, have been clear. In terms of efficiency, participants who have completed the project have reported a 22 per cent decrease in time spent on email and phone, a 15 per cent drop in time required for administration and compliance tasks, and a 27 per cent drop in interruptions.

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The participants are reporting better work-life balance, with fewer taking stress related work home and more enacting strategies outside of work to reduce stress and look after themselves. Most notable is a reported 56 per cent improvement in positivity towards work, an 18 per cent increase in energy levels and a 10 per cent increase in hope and optimism. Dr Fraser said the department of education has been positive about the project’s results and the team is talking with all states in Australia in the hope of rolling out The Flourish Project nationwide. Mr Willetts as also working with Dr Fraser and his team to develop and trial a school-based Flourish Project for principals to deliver to their staff. Mr Willetts said he is sincerely grateful that Dr Fraser has consulted him and other principals in every aspect of the project development since the two had their initial conversation. Mr Willetts said he would highly recommend the project because it has been proved to support principals to take back control of their environment and make significant personal changes to enhance their productivity and wellbeing. Dr Fraser credits several factors for the success of the project. First, he said, is the quality of the research the team does. “Because we have studied them, we can give the principals very targeted things they can do.” Having done that research, the project then gives participants evidence-based tools that they can implement to function more efficiently in their roles and also flourish in their personal lives. Dr Fraser returned to the ‘buddy system’ the project’s participants develop as an integral part of strengthening their resilience as they share personal experiences and swap ideas with their peers – people who understand because they are also “in the chair”. “You put 30 people in need together and they have some frank conversations and start to share and start to really generously care about each other,” he said. Mr Willetts said the Flourish team had known since the initial feedback from the pilot group that the project was having a positive impact. “The data from the Deakin University study is outstanding but it is the personal stories of how the project has enhanced the productivity and effectiveness of principals, as well as having a profound impact on their wellbeing and relationships, that is the real driver behind my passion for the project,” he said.

TECHNOLOGY

STEAM outside the classroom DR MICHAEL COWLING, OF CQUNIVERSITY, AND DR JAMES BIRT, OF BOND UNIVERSITY, LOOK AT HOW TO ADDRESS THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN ALL ASPECTS OF STUDENTS’ LIVES.

Dr James Birt is an Assistant Professor of Interactive Media and Design in the Faculty of Society and Design at Bond University, where he runs the Mixed Reality Research Lab (www. mixedrealityresearch.com). His research spans computer science and visual arts, with an emphasis on applied design and development of interactive mixed reality (virtual reality, augmented reality, 3D printing, mobile) experiences assisting learning, skills acquisition and knowledge discovery. The distinctive contribution Dr Birt brings to education scholarship is in digital media teaching and learning, where he received a 2014 Australian Office of Learning and Teaching citation for outstanding contributions to student learning. Dr Birt utilises novel pedagogical approaches, curriculum and resources to balance the science and art predilections of his students, whilst supporting them with learning how to learn. His service to the university and wider community has formed around his experience in emerging technology, teaching and learning, where he takes an active role in supporting learners and peers through mentorship, presentations and expert judging.

You might have noticed that, at the end of last year, a commercial by technology giant Apple caused a little bit of a fuss. No, it wasn’t in relation to the famous 1984 commercial directed by Ridley Scott, but rather a commercial they developed late last year of a young millennial girl using an iPad Pro as she travelled around town, chatting with friends, paying for goods, and doing her homework. The fuss about this commercial was in particular at the last line, where the girl is lying on the grass behind her house using her device when somebody comes out onto to the porch and asks, “What are you doing on your computer?” To which the girl responds, “What’s a computer?”. It was this final line that caused the fuss, with pundits suggesting that Apple was implying that their device replaced a computer and that computers were an inferior product, destined for the scrap heap (despite them selling a successful Mac line for 40 years). But fuss aside, the ad does start to make you think. If you’re teaching a primary school class today, then perhaps you are teaching a generation of students who will never use a device that resembles what we pre-millenials might consider a “computer”. As they move up the ranks of school, it’s entirely possible that students will find themselves using next-generation devices that perform all the functions of a desktop computer, but are not what we’d consider computing devices. This could even remain true as they move into work (don’t forget, it’s a good 15 years before these students move into the workforce if they study at university). Of course, this doesn’t mean they don’t need computing skills. In fact, you could argue that computing skills are even more important for our upcoming students, as every device they interact with becomes more and more a

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computer, and computing becomes so much more a ubiquitous part of our everyday lives. With the rise of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, computing automation, artificial intelligence and major changes to the labour markets, the World Economic Forum places even more importance on the integration of technology, digital literacy and creative problem based learning. So, given this, isn’t it beholden on us as educators to work out how technology fits into every aspect of the students’ lives? Not just within the STEAM classroom, but also in all other possible contexts? Although a perfect world scenario, the issue among teachers of the next generation is, firstly, how these technologies assist in pedagogy and, secondly, how students can use the technology effectively as digital knowledge workers of the future. In fact, a number of teachers themselves struggle with the rapid change and shift in the technology with ever increasing demands on their time. Work that we are conducting in The CREATE Lab (www.thecreatelab.org) and The Mixed Reality Research Lab (www.mixedrealityresearch. com) looks to bridge this gap. Where commonly a technology before pedagogy approach is used with IT managers buying equipment and asking educators to integrate into the classroom, we focus on the pedagogy, first exploring the problem at hand and then identifying where a technology solution may benefit the learning outcome. Beyond this the Labs are also thinking about how this model can be taken out of the STEAM classroom and making it a part of everyday activities. Within The CREATE Lab, whether it’s the use of a robot as a robotic teaching assistant in the classroom, fielding student questions and building a knowledge base on answers they can use later; or the use of a Sphero robot to teach not only

programming, but also history, and mathematics, and language; or the use of computing devices to deliver exams electronically, allowing students to view multimedia content in-situ with their exam, the concepts are intrinsically those that can be taken outside the STEAM classroom and used to enhance student knowledge and digital literacy across all contexts. Similarly, work in The Mixed Reality Research Lab looks to add a digital layer to our physical world, seamlessly blending the two together so that students see no difference between the digital and the physical. Whether it’s using 3D printed tools and an augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR) app for skill development, or AR/VR for knowledge acquisition, or the addition of AR to existing environments to link real world concepts with abstract symbolism for older students, all of the concepts rely on this blending of the physical with the digital, and exist outside the usual STEAM context. In all cases, the key message is not teaching students to use technology or even creating the technology and examples yourself, but rather reminding them how seamlessly technology can fit into their lives. Of course, there is always a balance of technology and traditional methods, and we are in no way suggesting that the other methods be removed, but by weaving the technology into the fabric of the classroom, we provide methods to

show students how digital can make their everyday interactions better, and improve their digital literacy with the world going forward. This allows the teacher to focus on inquiry-based learning having the students themselves think about the creative development. Which makes the final challenge how to bring the necessary skills and knowledge out of the STEAM classroom and into the general classroom. Some schools are already doing this with digital technology officers and other admin staff, but in this, perhaps a page can be taken from the book of universities, where, just like a support area for academic skills and library skills, there also exists in many universities a support area for technology learning. More than just technology support, this area contains individuals that can help map pedagogy to technology, ensuring that a pedagogical problem is solved using the technology, rather than adding the technology to an area where it’s not needed. These educational designers must not only have a pedagogy before technology mindset, but also well-developed technical skills, freeing up the teachers to focus on inquiry and not chasing the latest fad or working out how to integrate the latest purchased equipment item into their classroom to work into someone else’s KPIs. In this way, we can prepare our students for a life where computers are simultaneously everywhere and nowhere in their lives.

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Dr Michael Cowling is an information technologist with a keen interest in educational technology and technology ubiquity in the digital age, with respect to the use of mixed reality in skills training, the changing technology culture in education, and the specific needs of students from non-English speaking backgrounds. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in the School of Engineering & Technology at CQUniversity Australia. Dr Cowling is a partner in an OLT Innovation and Development grant and is the recipient of three CQUniversity Learning and Teaching grants related to teaching technology. He is a recipient of an Australian Government Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning, is a three-time recipient of a CQUniversity Learning & Teaching Award, and gained a CQUniversity Student Voice Commendation for his teaching practice in 2014. He is a regular contributor to the media outlet, The Conversation, and is also a regular contributor in Australian radio and print media on the topics of educational technology and technology ubiquity. Dr Cowling has a passion for the practical application of technology in the classroom, with a focus specifically on not just bolting technology onto a classroom setting, but instead investigating how technology can be weaved into the pedagogy of a classroom setting. Living by the mantra “pedagogy before technology”, Dr Cowling works to help teachers and academics innovate with technology, improving student motivation and learning outcomes, and leveraging technology as a tool to improve the overall education process.

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TECHNOLOGY

Banana pianos and space robots MONASH UNIVERSITY POP-UP MAKER SPACES ALLOW TEACHERS TO EXPLORE THE CONNECTION BETWEEN TECHNOLOGY, TEACHING AND LEARNING.

Did you know you can make a piano from bananas? And use it to show students the connection between electronics and computing? Ideas like this were on show at a recent popup Maker Space held at Monash University, as part of a free STEM education seminar series. “It’s about connecting the electronic world with the real world, in a very tactile way,” explains Monash lecturer Roland Gesthuizen. The technology — called a Makey Makey — is both affordable and easy to use.

“Once the kids see it, and are shown how to use it, they begin to use it for making, not just a banana piano, but a musical staircase, an interactive game controller or even a drum machine.” Roland is passionate about Maker Spaces that allow students to learn in a creative way. “What we are doing is more than just playing games. Students can actually start to tap into what you can do and become a bit of an inventor and creator.

“Maker Spaces are hands-on, open-ended environments, where children are encouraged to ask questions, try out ideas and design solutions to projects. It’s a space where they are allowed to make mistakes and tinker,” Roland explains. Monash hosts these pop-up Maker Spaces to allow schools to get a taste of how these spaces might work, talk to experts and see what’s possible. “We explore the connection between technology, the way we teach and the way children learn. It’s part of what we do that goes beyond a technical how-to guide.” Also on display were a host of tiny, programmable robots, a Rubik’s Cube solver, virtual reality and a joystick-controlled electric wheelchair. A popular stand displayed equipment from an open-source satellite, used by students to design experiments in space. On hand to explain was inventor and programmer Jonathan Oxer. “They could design their own experiments in the classroom using off-the-shelf Arduino boards,” he says. “They could upload the code to satellites deployed from the international space station.” According to Arivu, a teacher from a local Melbourne high school, these pop-up spaces and seminars are a chance to connect and network with other teachers. “[We] hear people talk about their experience in STEM. We get more ideas as we listen to people, and we get inspired.” The Maker Space and Seminar Series are part of a free suite of professional development opportunities offered to teachers throughout the year.

To see upcoming events and sign up for our community newsletter, visit www.monash.edu/ education/free-events

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TECHNOLOGY

Technology as a tool SYDNEY GRAMMAR SCHOOL HEADMASTER DR RICHARD MALPASS ADDRESSES THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF TOO MUCH RELIANCE ON TECHNOLOGICAL DEVICES.

I was struck recently by an archived article I read from The Sydney Morning Herald, advocating as it did the importance of computer-centred teaching and learning in the classroom. As it happens, the article was written by a (then) student espousing the value of such technology, claiming that “one of the roles of a 21st century school is to equip students in the best way possible for life outside the classroom. In today’s technology-reliant world, learning how to effectively learn and work with technology is an absolute necessity”. Certainly, proficiency in an age of ubiquitous

Dr Richard Malpass is Headmaster of Sydney Grammar School. He has previously taught in schools in Australia and across the United Kingdom. He holds a PhD in English Literature.

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devices is essential, and perhaps inevitable, regardless of the approaches adopted in the school classroom. Nonetheless, it seems that those two discrete elements (the ubiquity of devices and the life of the classroom) have increasingly been merged in the forward thinking of so many educational leaders. A somewhat convenient logic has asserted that the existence of unprecedented technological possibilities will ipso facto transform the classroom to achieve unprecedented teaching and learning. This aspirationally crafted and technologically progressive “classroom” is

unsurprisingly termed the “21st century classroom” by many, and its potential is frequently projected as so impressive as to dwarf the relatively limited classrooms of former eras, bereft (as they might now be seen) of our access to instantaneous online information and effortlessly interconnected approaches to work, general communication and limitlessly fascinating diversions. Consequently, discussions in the field of education in recent years are thus tightly linked to the role to be played by laptops, iPads and BYODs (bring your own devices) in that envisaged classroom. A question facing schools across recent years seems to have been how to integrate the use of laptops, iPads and BYODs into the effective (or rather the more effective) running of our classrooms. The question less frequently asked seems to be the more important and pre-determining one: how is the introduction of this technology into a classroom going to lead to a fundamentally more meaningful

learning experience for our children? A school needs to be clear on what it believes is the best learning environment for its students. Laptops and iPads are powerfully engaging devices, but that does not in turn automatically amount to them being better tools for children to learn subject knowledge and develop cognitively progressive skills. We should guard against the risk of losing focus on the essential qualities of a great classroom (whatever the century), and the core dynamic between a fine teacher and his or her students. It has been often said that students don’t in every case easily “learn subjects” but that in so many cases they “learn teachers”, a seemingly flippant but often highly relevant reflection of the primacy of the teacher’s too frequently underestimated role as the inspirer and engager of the young people in their classroom. Over the years, I’ve been privileged to witness and learn from a very wide range of teachers

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across five major schools in Australia and the United Kingdom. As an observer of so very many lessons delivered by other teachers, it has become abundantly clear that the most effective lessons were those in which the teacher’s presence, his or her subject knowledge, that palpable passion and communicative warmth in sharing the experience of their topic simply inspired the room. By contrast, there seems to be a trend in some recent thinking about pedagogy that the teacher should take something of a backward step, and largely cease to be the focus of the lesson; rather, he or she should be a facilitator. Instead, the focus should move to “studentcentred” learning, a branding that seemingly presumes to dismiss other classrooms as monolithic chalk and talk. Student-centred learning is at its peak, I would argue, when a child is shielded from distractions and utterly focused on the idea-rich classroom that such an engaging teacher has brought to academic

TECHNOLOGY

The question less frequently asked seems to be the more important and pre-determining one: how is the introduction of this technology into a classroom going to lead to a fundamentally more meaningful learning experience for our children? A school needs to be clear on what it believes is the best learning environment for its students. life. Thus, I do not think that such student-centric learning can best come through the teacher being limited to a facilitator who takes a back seat to the laptop, instead alerting those students to websites and setting them projects to pursue. I fear that too little consideration has been given to what I’ll term the “lived experience of the classroom” when educational leaders have seen fit to impose iPads and laptops on every child. When I talk of that lived experience of the classroom, I am thinking of a number of aspects. First, sustained student attention is essential. Any teacher knows that the very first duty is to have the attention of your students, whatever their age and whatever the topic. What is profoundly sought is the dedicated and uninterrupted communication between teacher and student, free from diversion and unnecessary distraction. The teacher in decades past who berated the boy for mindlessly doodling in class was bringing him in line for becoming distracted. By contrast,

the modern device, notwithstanding its almost incalculable internet reach, is nonetheless the triumph of potentially near-infinite distraction with the temptations of social media and the sheer multiplicity of information on offer instantaneously and evertemptingly in quick view. Recent research from the US has offered the following: “Online content is more stimulating than traditional classroom distracters (e.g., passing notes or talking), and interferes even more with the student’s ability to learn material. Results showed that students who used laptops in class spent considerable time multitasking and that the laptop use posed a significant distraction to both users and fellow students”. Secondly, how much consideration (and indeed meaningful research) has been achieved to assert the cognitive advantages of such devices in the classroom? Much discussion seems to have skated effortlessly over the impact on learning techniques for those children who now click and type as opposed

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to those who once handwrote and drew. These are fundamentally different experiences, and such experiences are enormously significant to the quality of learning for a student, of any age. Furthermore, research psychologists, when exploring the move away from traditional rotelearning towards internet-derived factual knowledge, concluded: “The advent of the ‘information age’ seems to have created a generation of people who feel they know more than ever before — when their reliance on the Internet means that they may know ever less about the world around them”. For some time, research has suggested that even when laptops are used solely to take notes, they may still be impairing learning because their use results in shallower processing. These correlational studies have focused on the capacity of laptops to distract and to invite multitasking. Experimental tests of immediate retention of class material have also found that Internet browsing impairs performance. These findings are important but relatively unsurprising, given the literature on decrements in performance when multitasking or task switching. I think Nicholas Carr of The Wall Street Journal is right to question “what happens to our minds when we allow a tool such dominion over our perception and cognition”. Thirdly, from an importantly pastoral perspective, what might be the impact on our children and their

social experience of school life if all were accustomed to classrooms in which the laptop screen and internet were their essential daily diet? One of the chief delights of being involved with the life of our students is to witness and be part of their inexhaustible thirst for discussion and debate, perhaps the key facet of our collective intellectual life. The opportunities for exciting learning through various computer and device-based approaches will continue to evolve and should be adopted by teachers as they see appropriate. Thinking teleologically, we should remind ourselves that laptops, iPads and the like were not necessarily designed to further the profession of education. There may well be an intersection between their various offerings and the best of educational practice, but the craft of our teachers and their classrooms together, with their exciting Socratic dimensions, have more than a little life in them yet.

References: Segaert, Anthony. Sydney Morning Herald, retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/comment/why-we-need-laptops-in-classrooms-20160403-gnx31h.html Carrie B. Fried. 2008. In-class laptop use and its effects on student learning. Computers & Education. Vol. 50(3): 906-914. Wegner, Daniel M., & Ward, Adrian F. (2013). Scientific American, retriebed from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-internet-has-become-the-external-hard-drive-for-our-memories/ Oppenheimer, Daniel M., & Mueller, Pam A. “The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard: Advantages of Longhand Over Laptop Note Taking”, (University of California, Los Angeles and Princeton University) Carr, Nicholas (2017). Wall Street Journal, retrieved from https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-smartphones-hijack-our-minds-1507307811

TECHNOLOGY

EduTECH 2018 is back – bigger and better NOT ONLY KNOWN FOR HAVING SOME OF THE GREATEST PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE WORLD, EDUTECH IS AN INTERNATIONAL EVENT THAT GIVES LEADERS AND EDUCATORS ALIKE ACCESS TO AN INCREDIBLE AND EXPANSIVE NETWORK OF PEERS IN A GIANT FESTIVAL OF EDUCATION.

EduTECH 2018, to be held on the 6 to 8 June at the International Convention Centre Sydney, brings together more than 10,000 people across the three-day event. In over 1500 individual Professional Development sessions, EduTECH has a huge range of keynote speakers taking to the stage this year to give a fresh perspective on secondary education. Participants will be spoilt for choice and can choose the subjects and topics that matter most to them. This year, EduTECH attendees will get the chance to hear from: • The Hon. Rob Stokes, Minister for Education, NSW Department of Education. What will the minister announce at EduTECH? Find out at the closing plenary of Day 2 at EduTECH. • Julia Gillard, former Prime Minister of Australia; Chair of the Board of Directors, Global Partnership for Education; and Australia’s 27th Prime Minister.

Education Matters readers can receive $200 OFF all EduTECH and EduBUILD conference packages! Quote promo code “EM200” Register online at: www.edutech.net.au 42

Ms Gillard established the country’s first national curriculum and ensured significant investment in school buildings, reformed Australia’s education with a special focus on disadvantaged children, and delivered new standards to improve quality and access to early childhood education. She will open the K12 Ed Leaders Congress on Day 2. •D r Yong Zhao, Foundation Distinguished Professor, School of Education, University of Kansas (US); and Global Chair, University of Bath (UK). An international scholar known for his work on the implications of globalisation and technology on education. Find him at the closing plenary of EduTECH Day 1. • K aren Spiller, OAM, Principal, John Paul College. In 2017, Karen was awarded a Medal of Order of Australia Queen’s Birthday Honour for her service to women, and to education. Find her in the K12 Ed Leaders Congress on Day 2. • P eter Hutton, education change-maker and the former Principal of Templestowe College. Discover a school with no school levels, no school bell, and where the staff selection and curriculum is decided by the students. Hear about this in the K12 Ed Leaders Congress at EduTECH. •O on Seng Tan, Director, National Institute of Education (Singapore). The man who spearheaded the Teacher Education for the 21st Century (TE21) initiative as a major milestone innovation for teacher

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education both nationally and internationally. Find him in the K12 Ed Leaders Congress at EduTECH. • Kieran Nolan, Education Technologist, Wooranna Park Primary School. The man who created the first school on the blockchain with his students. Find him in the K12 Schools ICT Management Congress at EduTECH. • Andrea Patrick, Chief Procurement Officer, NSW Department of Education. Ms Patrick is responsible for ensuring high quality strategic procurement advice and practices. • Marcia Mardis, Associate Professor and Assistant Dean, Florida State University (Canada). The leader of Florida State University’s School of Information, which is home of the #1 nationally ranked school librarianship preparation program 2012-2017, and project director of an educational digital library. Find her in the Future Library Congress at EduTECH. • Professor Toby Walsh, leading Australian AI scientist, University of NSW. Professor Walsh was hailed by media as a “rock star” of the digital revolution and included on the list of the 100 most important digital innovators in Australia. Find him in the K12 Ed Leaders Congress at EduTECH. EduTECH features 12 congresses, 10 masterclasses and a giant expo with over 250 exhibits. Delegates can gain the latest education

technology updates through attending the congresses and masterclasses. They will discover how other schools and institutions are changing with the introduction of the newest technology in classrooms. Congresses include: • K-12 Ed Leaders Congress • K-12 Schools ICT Management Congress • School Business Management Congress • Future Library Congress • Higher Ed Leaders Congress • Tertiary Education IT Leaders Congress • National VET Leaders Congress • AITD National Conference 2018 • EduBUILD • EduPROCURE • EduFM • EduTECH Expo Main Stage. This year, EduTECH introduced the addition of EduBUILD – Australia’s largest education infrastructure and buildings event. This event is designed for education leaders and decisionmakers involved in design, construction, renovation, maintenance, operation and management of buildings for schools, colleges and universities. Visit the EduBUILD website here: www.edubuild.net.au

THE EXHIBITION A highlight of EduTECH is the exhibition showcasing the latest education technology and services. The show floor is divided up into three zones: EduTECH, EduBUILD and Learning@Work. There’s so much to see across the two days and it is free for everyone to visit! Here are some of the highlights on the show floor: • Free Expo Seminars – Sit in on free educational seminars over the two expo days (7-8 June) at the EduTECH Expo Main Stage and Learning@ Work Expo Stage. • TeachMeets – By teachers, for teachers. Join in on the fun as teachers jump up from the crowd to deliver short, sharp talks on a range of teaching and learning ideas. • NSW Education – Learning Space – Join a team of passionate educators and technology experts from NSW public schools as they explore the varied ways technology can enhance futurefocused learning and teaching. • Robotics Demo – Watch robots play soccer, dance and conduct rescue challenges, and head over to the RoboCup Junior demonstrations area and workspace to enjoy hands-on robotics experiences.

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• Exhibits – If conferences are where the learning, theory and inspiration happen, then the exhibition is where the testing, networking and product interactions happen. Visit over 250 exhibits and discover the latest ed tech solutions. • Prizes and giveaways... Including a car – With many great prizes on offer, the best one has got to be the chance to win a car. Go around the exhibition hall and complete the EduTECH mission for your chance to win. Entrance is free for everyone.

EduTECH and EduBUILD exhibition opening hours Thursday 7 June – 9am – 4pm Friday 8 June – 10am – 5pm Free entry for all visitors Register online: www.edutech.net.au

TECHNOLOGY

Formalising STEM training LINDA HOBBS, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR IN SCIENCE EDUCATION AT DEAKIN UNIVERSITY, LOOKS AT THE NEED FOR EFFECTIVE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN STEM SUBJECTS. As teachers and schools embrace the challenge of interpreting what the subjects of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) needs to be for their school, STEM professional development (PD) opportunities are becoming increasingly common, some at considerable cost, and some through Government intervention. STEM is not an explicit part of the Australian or state curricula in Australia, therefore PD or resources tagged as STEM can vary in content, applicability and usefulness for schools. A PD program delivered by Deakin University, ‘Successful Students – STEM’ (STEM Program) was designed to respond to teacher and school needs rather than as a ‘onesize-fits-all’ approach to STEM. Where previous large or medium scale interventions use PD based on delivering specific programs or practices, unique to the STEM Program was the encouragement of schools to develop their own approach to conceptualising and implementing STEM that makes the best use of their resources. A STEM Vision framework, informed by other successful Deakin-led professional development programs, provided a common language for teachers to reflect on their practice and develop new and innovative curriculum initiatives. Contemporary pedagogies informed by

leading research supported teachers’ pedagogical developments. In particular, problem- and projectbased learning, design-based learning, inquiry learning through a representation construction approach, digital technology, and exposure to 21st century technologies were the basis of workshop intensives. Teachers participated in four PD cycles comprised of university-based two-day intensives, school-based implementation of new programs over approximately 10 weeks, then a universitybased reporting day where teachers shared their initiatives and planned for future initiatives. A Deakin STEM project officer provided invaluable support for teachers in the schools. SCHOOLS AND INDUSTRY WORKING TOGETHER One part of the STEM Program was to support schools to use local industries as contexts for STEM learning. Five schools established links with people from local industries. One school established links with Baum Cycles, Marand and Ford as part of a vehicle construction project integrating Science, Mathematics, Technology and Art; this school has made industry-links their ‘point of difference’ and a priority within the school’s ‘STEAM Vision’ (STEAM being Stem with the addition of Arts). The other schools made

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links with representatives from Barwon Water (river to sea science unit), Redine Constructions (3-D in mathematics), CSIRO Animal Health Laboratories (debate on environmental issues), and ANZ business banking centre (algebra and simultaneous equations applied to modelling of bank loans). This involvement of industry provided the students with an authentic experience of hightech STEM related industries and raised student awareness of potential future STEM pathways. The evaluation showed that the content of the activity or learning sequence worked best when: the story of the industry person’s career trajectory could be incorporated in some way, the content was related to the skill set of the industry person, the activity was mapped to the curriculum, and teachers selected areas of the curriculum that they were struggling to connect to students’ life or that were difficult to do well. Another observation was that teachers’ awareness and/or experience of contemporary high-tech manufacturing or industrial processes was limited and conversely, industry partners’ understanding of the education process and pedagogy was equally limited. Overcoming this disconnect was crucial and involved careful brokering of relationships between partners to

FRAMING STEM

How will you frame STEM for your school? Subject oriented OR interdisciplinary approach

COMMUNITY/ INDUSTRY ENGAGEMENT

How might cross sector involvement be promoted and fostered?

STEM VISION FRAMEWORK

TEACHING & LEARNING

What STEM practices and pedagogies will be needed?

(Hobbs, Cripps Clark & Plant, 2018)

TEACHER LEARNING

How will your learning needs be met? How will you balance personal exploration and leadership of change in your school?

match goals and ensure delivery arrangements were practical and fit for purpose. The broker and Deakin’s STEM Program Officer were essential in facilitating this process. OUTCOMES FOR SCHOOLS The main outcome has been a wide variety of STEM curriculum initiatives involving different combinations of the STEM subjects, for example, single subject programs, and integrated programs incorporating science/mathematics, science/ technology or science/technology/mathematics/arts. Linking with 21st-century technologies and industries was a key focus for schools. By the fourth PD cycle, many of the schools had multiple initiatives occurring at multiple year levels, and included both curricular and extra-curricular activities. Teachers indicated that the program was successful because it was longitudinal in nature, included formal professional development and ongoing support, fostered a community of teacher learners who were willing to share and take risks, responded to teacher and school needs, and gave teachers time and space to reflect, plan and change beliefs and practice. Comments from those involved included: “I have been given the time to work with other staff to create and implement some real-world STEM investigations in Year 7 and 8 Mathematics, which have now been embraced by other staff.”

CURRICULUM

What curriculum model/s will be needed?

“Requiring that the participants develop a unit of work, deliver the unit of work and report on it, I think that’s probably the most important thing out of all of it.” Teachers reported that using problem solving taught them to take risks and relinquish control of the learning (“letting go of the reins”). Many reported that there was more intense and focused reflection on their teaching and curriculum reform, one teacher reporting doing “more review of the program than we would’ve done otherwise, and that feedback was really empowering and positive”. Teachers also reported being more adept at supporting students to engage in problem solving, mathematical reasoning and engaging with the design process, and that they were more confident with linking content to students’ lives. ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP IN STEM EDUCATION As demonstrated through this program, academic leadership can play a significant role in supporting schools to embrace STEM innovation. Academic leadership enables a researchinformed and coordinated approach to providing a common language around STEM, but flexibility in responding to and meeting the respective needs of each school. The STEM Program took a flexible, school-directed approach to building an expectation of sustained, school-generated, evidence-based change. Negotiation with schools is critical to this flexibility and can only occur where there are ongoing

and trusting relationships that are built over time. Academic leadership can provide a coordinated approach to development and promotion of STEM education at a regional level. A STEM Education conference in 2016 (and forthcoming in 2018) and a STEM teacher network coordinated by the STEM Program were examples of Deakin staff working with and for schools in the region to share innovation and promote cross sector interaction. Also, universities can play a vital role in brokering meaningful links with members of local industries, companies and community groups. Academic leadership can support schools to generate a body of evidence of the impact of the school-based initiatives. Documenting such evidence can, for example: mobilise future buy-in from other teachers at the school, the school parent communities, and other schools; attract the attention of governments/policy makers and funding bodies; and provide evidence to support career advancement for the participating teachers. In recognition of the teacher learning and curriculum innovation, the participating teachers can receive Credit for Prior Learning for two units within the Deakin Graduate Certificate in STEM Education.

Associate Professor Linda Hobbs lectures in science education at Deakin University. She works with local primary and secondary schools through the delivery of professional development in science and STEM education. Her research and supervision interests relate to acknowledging teaching as a profession by examining teacher and school change, and issues around supporting out-of-field teachers.

References: Hobbs L., Cripps Clark J. & Plant B. (2018) Successful Students – STEM Program: Teacher Learning Through a Multifaceted Vision for STEM Education. In Jorgensen R., Larkin K. (eds), STEM education in the junior secondary: The state of play (pp. 133-168). Singapore: Springer. Office of the Chief Scientist. (2014). Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics: Australia’s Future. Canberra: Australian Government Office of the Chief Scientist. (2016). Australia’s STEM Workforce: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Canberra: Australian Government

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TECHNOLOGY

Size matters NATHAN FULCHER OF EPSON AUSTRALIA EXPLAINS THE BASIC PHYSICS OF PROJECTORS IN A DIGITAL AGE.

As today’s students grow in a rapidly changing digital environment, it can be hard for parents and educators to keep up. Interactive classrooms are accepted and expected, but it’s not enough to simply display information and assume students will take it in, as basic physics still comes into play.

Nathan Fulcher of Epson explains the 4/6/8 rule means that the further you sit from a display, the harder it can be to see what is being displayed, especially if it is fine text and numbers that require ‘analytical viewing’. Factor in that those students who feel disengaged are often more likely to migrate to the back of the room, and this presents a major learning disadvantage. A study was done by Radius Research in multiple markets in the United States that showed students fit into three distinct categories based on their distance from the information screen, versus the size of the display. These they termed “optimal” or “analytical viewing”, “basic viewing” and “passive viewing”. More than half of the students wrote one item incorrectly when viewed on a 70-inch panel. There was a clear delineation in terms of distance. Those students closer to the screen were more likely to be fully engaged with the content and make analytical decisions about the details.

“It doesn’t matter how good the source material is or the preparation that has gone into it, it could be wasted on the students if they can’t see or interact with it properly.”

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Epson’s projectors provide a wide viewing angle, enabling clear images to be seen from any angle with no limitations of reflective glare. The projected images also allow viewers to get closer to the image without straining their eyes.

Those who saw a little less were engaged and able to make basic decisions on what they saw. The students most distant from the screen were only viewing passively, able to recognise the images and general gist of the information but not the specifics. However, a larger screen size, available with Epson’s projectors, removes any student from needing to be in the distant, ‘passive viewing’ category. “It doesn’t matter how good the source material is or the preparation that has gone into it, it could be wasted on the students if they can’t see or interact with it properly,” Mr Fulcher says. Epson offers solutions for the classroom, including the EB-700U ultra short-throw 3LCD laser display, which offers superior image quality matched by continuous performance. “When it comes to displays in classrooms, whether interactive or not, it is critical to consider the size of the display,” Mr Fulcher says. “Parents and educators may think that a large flat panel is fine for the job but that may not be the case.” Epson’s projectors provide a wide viewing angle, enabling clear images to be seen from any angle with no limitations of reflective glare. The projected images also allow viewers to get closer to the image without straining their eyes. As students rapidly adjust to new media and become more technologically adept, Epson understands the need for teachers to adapt, while understanding that the basics of teaching remain the same. Epson’s range of projectors allow students to access information easily, enhancing the learning process. For more information visit https://www.epson.com.au/ thelastmile/ or call 1300 361 054 and press 2, then 4.

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TECHNOLOGY

Weighing up warmth SEAN TOWNER, SALES MANAGER SCIENCE, INSTRUMENTS FOR FLIR, EXPLAINS HOW THE COMPANY’S THERMAL CAMERAS ARE IDEAL TO TEACH STUDENTS ABOUT A FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE OF PHYSICS.

With the secondary school curriculum having made a seismic shift to the STEM subjects of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, a perennial obstacle for educators was the lack of tools to demonstrate practically what they were teaching in theory. Sean Towner, Regional Manager East, Instruments for FLIR, says that is where his company’s thermal imaging cameras come in, allowing educators to teach a fundamental principle of physics that is everywhere in our daily lives: heat. “Heat is such an important scientific indicator

across all science disciplines, whether it be heat conduction and radiation principles, required when designing 21st century energy efficient dwellings, understanding the inflammation process in sickness and ensuing elevated body temperatures, or the demonstration of energy or heat release in chemical reactions,” Mr Towner says. He says FLIR has been developing and manufacturing thermal infrared (IR) imaging cameras for more than 50 years and is recognised as the global market leader in the technology. “The FLIR products are built on a proud

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engineering pedigree extending back to postsecond World War,” Mr Towner says. “The things that really make FLIR IR cameras stand out is that FLIR is seen as the innovator, so it is always bringing new features to its cameras before its competitors. A good example of this is the patented MSX technology that allows the thermal image to have the corresponding visual image outline overlaid, giving a much more detailed and nuanced perception of what the observer is seeing.” Another factor is the diversity of camera models that FLIR manufactures for different markets and applications, he says.

FLIR’s Educational Kits include a thermal imaging camera and software, in addition to a range of practical exercises. These allow the collection of quantifiable data that form the basis of further lessons and discussions.

The products are used in a wide range of markets. These include industrial preventative maintenance on electrical and mechanical components, visualisation of gas leaks that would otherwise go undetected, fire and rescue operations, aerial thermography and unmanned aerial vehicles (drones). They are also used in the building industry to look for moisture penetration and assessment of energy envelopes, the electricity utility market that keeps the country’s lights on, in research and development in the military and academia, in medical and veterinary fields, in security and surveillance and in defence markets where the cameras can save lives. “To be able to design and manufacture specific models for such a diverse market really sets FLIR apart in the thermal imaging market,” Mr Towner says. As educators and policy makers realise the importance of scientific and technical skills that students require for their future economy and employment, FLIR’s thermal imaging cameras are ideal, he says. “A FLIR thermal imaging camera, at an affordable price, now allows educators and students to visualise the heat pattern on an image, and as we all know a picture is worth a thousand words.” FLIR’s C3 or E6 models are part of its Educational Discounts Program and give

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students the opportunity to discover how thermal imaging finds problems that are normally invisible. The cutting-edge technology can help them enhance their skills and gain an advantage in the workplace. The C3 offers professional grade features in a compact, rugged thermal camera that fits in a pocket. It has a three-inch intuitive touch screen, is Wi-Fi enabled for instant image sharing, uses FLIR’s registered MSX thermal image enhancement with visible detail, and features an area measurement box that measures maximum and minimum temperatures. The larger E6, also now with Wi-Fi, is one of FLIR’s most affordable for building inspections, energy performance, restoration, and safety checks. Its 160 by 120 pixel infrared resolution, has a 45° field of view to capture more, the MSX thermal image enhancement and a focus-free lens and bright liquid crystal display for point-and-shoot simplicity. FLIR’s Educational Kits include a thermal imaging camera and software, in addition to a range of practical exercises. These allow the collection of quantifiable data that form the basis of further lessons and discussions. Mr Towner says that with the school curriculum being increasingly slanted toward STEM subjects, thermal imaging technology is becoming a staple item in many classrooms. Because FLIR has been in the thermal imaging market from the outset, it has layer upon layer of technical and engineering expertise, patents and knowhow to draw on that other more recent manufacturers don’t have, he says. “FLIR recognises the learning perspectives that an infrared thermal imaging camera can bring to a classroom and we hope to advance the STEM skills of students nationwide.”

TECHNOLOGY

Collaboration across continents AN ANZ PROMETHEAN GRANT HAS AIDED STUDENTS IN COFFS HARBOUR TO PARTNER WITH THEIR PEERS IN BALI, INDONESIA.

Since 1999, schools in Coffs Harbour, based in sunny New South Wales, have pioneered an exciting and unique language learning program in partnership with five schools in Bali, Indonesia. The scheme promotes authentic communication between students from the school and its sister schools. As well as regular contact, a student and teacher exchange program for the senior years students provides the opportunity to meet the children they have built relationships with. There are approximately 1200 students actively involved in the Bali Buddies program across the two campuses, which positions Coffs Harbour as a centre of excellence for the Indonesian language. Coffs Harbour Christian Community Junior School has students from

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ages five to 11 and its middle and senior schools are situated in Bonville, approximately 15 kilometres south. Coffs Harbour contacts its â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;buddy classesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; via conference call up to twice a term and also tries to connect as a whole at an assembly or presentation once a term. The sessions are planned to enable maximum learning opportunities. Historically, the schools have communicated by writing letters, create drawings, artwork, crafts and cards, but recently the school is realising the potential of interactive technology to collaborate in real time. In 2017, Coffs Harbour Junior School submitted a video to the ANZ Promethean Grant competition, with students presenting the reasons why its Android-based, interactive

“The ActivPanel has assisted the development of our joint learning both here in Australia and in Indonesia, as aside from the endless collaborative opportunities that this now provides us with, the biggest benefit is having direct access to native speakers of Indonesian (and Balinese), while our partners in Bali get direct access to native English speakers. The benefits work in both directions.”

display ActivPanel would be perfect for the unique program. The successful video communicated how the technology had potential to provide clearer interaction with their friends and Coffs Harbour became one of only 11 schools in ANZ to be awarded a Promethean Grant. Speaking about the success of the Bali Buddies sessions, program coordinator and Coffs Harbour teacher Andrew Pratley said: “Having access to an ActivPanel is such an exciting development for the future of our Bali Buddies program as we strongly believe in learning language through relationships. “The ActivPanel has assisted the development of our joint learning both here in Australia and in Indonesia, as aside from the endless collaborative opportunities that this now provides us with, the biggest benefit is having direct access to native

speakers of Indonesian (and Balinese), while our partners in Bali get direct access to native English speakers. The benefits work in both directions. “Students are able to put a face to their buddy’s name, which means they are more motivated to communicate and learn Indonesian, Balinese or English. We have even found that new enrolments tend to pick up the language quickly through their exposure in a ‘live’ context.” The ActivPanel has enabled spontaneity in learning and communication with teachers and students alike having immediate access to maps, and the ability to search topics or questions as they arise, meaning that the children are much more engaged in their learning. Activity is planned and varied according to the age group, with the younger students enjoying whole class games. Mr Pratley explained: “Games are great as the kids don’t realise they are using a different language and they learn through osmosis. We have played games like ‘International Twister’ and Bingo, all on different topics or themes, with great success.”

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Part of the collaboration has been the ability to harness the ActivPanel’s android capabilities with apps such as OneDrive, Google Docs, Dropbox, Messenger, WhatsApp, Rocketbook and videoconferencing, helping Coffs Harbour to communicate quickly and efficiently. As students move through the school the format of the conference calls slowly change until students are having one to one conversations. Critically, the interactive calls allow the children to show their buddies that they have received their letters, postcards and artworks, with teachers from both schools helping to shape conversations. “We wanted to be using cutting edge technology that compliments what we do and is easy to use,” Mr Pratley said. “Being online and interactive helps to research and understand the world around us, across all subjects. The greatest success of our program has been this development of personal relationships between students. Through these relationships we hope to foster greater cultural understanding of our nearest neighbours.”

TECHNOLOGY

Defending your data NICK BARBAGIANNOPOULOS, DIGITAL AUTOMATION & SOLUTIONS MANAGER FOR RICOH AUSTRALIA, ADDRESSES WHAT THE NOTIFIABLE DATA BREACHES SCHEME MEANS FOR SCHOOLS – AND WHAT THEY NEED TO DO ABOUT IT.

Australia’s new Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) regulations came into effect on 22 February. However, many schools are still struggling to come to terms with the implications. Designed to ensure better protection of personal data held by private and public sector organisations, the regulations lay down clear guidelines for what must happen in the case of a data breach. If the data loss could result in serious harm for the individuals involved, those individuals must be notified as soon as the breach is uncovered. The new laws have significant implications for schools which regularly collect and store large amounts of personal information relating to both students and staff. Collected in printed and electronic form, this data can include everything

from contact details and banking information to photos, videos and medical records. It might be tempting to think that breaches of such information can only occur through hacking or cyberattacks against a school’s IT infrastructure, but this is far from the case. It’s much more common for breaches to happen as a result of human error or a failure to follow information handling policies. For example, a breach that meets the NDB criteria could be the loss or theft of a laptop on which is stored the personal information of a teacher or group of students. Alternatively, it might be as simple as personal information being inadvertently provided to the wrong person, or student records being stolen from an unsecured waste paper bin.

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Once a school becomes aware that a breach has occurred, a detailed statement must be prepared for any people affected. This statement must set out a description of the breach that the school believes has happened, the nature of the information lost, and recommendations about the steps the affected individuals should take. Failure to comply with the new NDB rules can be costly for a school. Monetary penalties will apply and are up to $360,000 for individuals and $1.8 million for organisations. Clearly, if a school should fail to meet its obligations, the impact to its annual budget could be significant. HOW TECHNOLOGY CAN HELP Ricoh has been a trusted technology partner in the education sector for many years. Working

closely with schools across Australia, the company has a clear understanding of the issues they face and the most appropriate technology solutions they can adopt. When it comes to compliance with the NDB regulations, Ricoh has a range of solutions that can ensure schools are best placed to meet their obligations. These include: • Digital automation While computers have changed the way schools operate, there is often still a heavy reliance on paper documents. Everything from student files and academic results to budgets and financial records are regularly stored in paper form. Ricoh offers a robust, easy-to-use document and records management platform that can assist a school migrate its printed data into the digital realm. Documents can be efficiently scanned, categorised and stored on dedicated servers located on the school campus. For additional security, this data can also be backed up to a cloud platform to ensure nothing is lost should problems occur in the local infrastructure. From an NDB perspective, shifting stored information from paper to digital form reduces the chance of it being accessed inappropriately or falling into the wrong hands. Records can be stored securely based on state-based regulations, further improving the level of data security within the school. • Secure printing Even if a school is successful in migrating its data stores to a digital platform, there will continue to be a need to print some documents. Student records might be needed for a planning session or financial charts required for a management meeting. To ensure printed documents are only accessible by the person who creates them, Ricoh offers a “follow-me” print solution. Users send a document to a nearby printer, but it is not actually produced until that user enters a code into the device or swipes their access pass. This means the user must be at the device for the document to be printed, thereby reducing the chance that sensitive information be left in the output tray or collected with other printed output. In this way the security of information on paper throughout the school can be significantly improved.

As data moves through the network, it is possible for a knowledgeable hacker to intercept raw data streams, files and passwords. Indeed, data sent in a print stream can be exploited if unencrypted and captured in transit. Ricoh uses a number of techniques to help protect against threats, including authentication, endto-end encryption of print and scan files, encryption of data on servers and segregation of administrator duties. Ricoh’s multi-function devices also use a digital signature to judge firmware validity. In addition, a range of security services and managed services can also monitor, optimise and effectively manage document and information security. • Secure administrative processes Schools regularly request and obtain sensitive personal data relating to students from parents. This could be anything from updates on medical conditions to details of extra-curricular activities and events. To allow this data to be collected, processed and stored securely, Ricoh offers an internet-based portal platform. Parents can enter required information via the portal which is connected directly to the school’s central administration infrastructure. In this way, data relating to everything from student enrolment applications to permission forms and incident reports can all be retained in digital form and stored securely behind the school’s firewall. This significantly reduces the chances of a data breach that would invoke the penalties associated with the NDB regulations. Also, it can help to remove a number of currently paper-based processes and improve overall administrative efficiency.

• Secure IT infrastructure Modern schools are heavily reliant on both wired and wireless networks to allow staff and student to access the applications and data they need on a daily basis. With the number of cyberattacks on the rise, ensuring this infrastructure is secure at all times has never been more important. Ricoh works with schools to consult, design, build and manage IT infrastructures that meet their needs for performance and flexibility while also being secure. Teachers can use the network to access curriculum details, create lesson plans and connect with their peers. Equipped with mobile devices, students can access academic materials, complete tests and interact with other students. Cloud-based solutions can also be added to the mix. Rather than having to establish, manage and maintain growing racks of server and storage infrastructure, a school can instead purchase capacity from a cloud provider. Then, using the high-speed networks, teachers and students can securely access resources on any device and from any location. When considering the NDB regulations, it becomes clear that maintaining security of this infrastructure has never been more important. Ricoh can work with schools to manage school networks to ensure data is only accessed by authorised parties. Should an incident occur, the school can be immediately notified. By adopting these types of solutions, a school can be confident it has the systems and processes in place to reduce the likelihood of suffering a notifiable data breach and the implications this can have. Attention can instead remain on the most important facet of any educational institution: the students.

• Embedded security Managing devices can be a time-consuming activity for school IT departments. Indeed, the networked nature of school IT infrastructures can make them vulnerable to attack and compromise.

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MAKING THE GRADE

Unreal expectations TEACHER AND CURRICULUM LEADER DANIEL STEELE ASKS WHAT EXPECTATIONS WE ARE REALLY SETTING IN EDUCATION.

Daniel Steele is an Educator, Learning and Teaching Leader, M.Ed and Founder of the education blog www.upgradethinklearn.com

Seeking to shift or change a whole system is fraught with challenges, known and unknown risks, and benefits. During this last term, a possible change to our state’s approach to the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) was reported on, with a specific focus on the setting of minimum standards. Before we revise and lay down these new standards, I really believe there are some things we need to put on the proverbial school table for discussion. Yes, it is important to have clear expectations and measurable outcomes, but there’s something everyone should know: assessment isn’t just about students. Assessment is about the teaching and learning that has taken place to support students long-term progression. Now, before the pitchforks are dusted off and grabbed from your nearest Bunnings, I’m definitely not having a go at teachers. Far from it, as I am one too. Within our system, we need to focus on investing and building up our teachers. Before we overhaul and shift our VCE and set minimum expectations, there is a need to clarify our collective understanding of assessment and set clear, supportive and realistic expectations for our teachers with assessment. If we don’t know why we are assessing, what we are actually assessing, and most importantly, how the assessment data affects the next steps in learning for students and teachers, understanding our overall impact on student progression is made much more difficult. As challenged by Professor John Hattie, it’s about educators building a shared understanding of progression and ultimately knowing thy impact. Professor Geoff Masters, CEO of Australian Council for Educational Research speaks of assessment as a road map. If we aren’t aware

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of where our students are on the map, engaging and supporting them to their next point in their learning journey is fundamentally difficult. Ultimately, as students feel a greater engagement and positive sense of belonging with their classroom and school community, there is a greater likelihood of improved student achievement and motivation. So what does this tell us? Investing in our understanding and process of assessment will not only equip our teachers with greater skills to reach students, but can also create conditions and opportunities for students to experience success academically, personally and emotionally. Now, this is awkward, but we need to also talk about the c-word – collaboration. This overused, yet underestimated word, is a game changer. It is about the collective purpose in taking responsibility to co-labour in the learning of ourselves, as well as the learning of others. No teacher, leading teacher or school leader can do it all on their own in a school. We intuitively know we need to work and learn together. The positive links between teaching teams, faculties or schools with high levels of collaboration and increased student achievement

Investing in our understanding and process of assessment will not only equip our teachers with greater skills to reach students, but can also create conditions and opportunities for students to experience success academically, personally and emotionally. continues to jump off the pages within the literature. What we need to be aware of though, is that the greatest discrepancies aren’t occurring between our schools, but between the classrooms within our schools. If we are serious about raising our students’ achievement and growth, the focus needs to be supporting and challenging teachers to collaborate and mentor one another effectively. The role of collaborative mentoring within classrooms, middle leadership teams and executive leadership teams must become the norm. Developing an expectation that we share our knowledge, experiences, failures and successes is critical for any classroom teacher, teacher leader, school leader and policymaker. While it may appear that the discussion playing out is on setting expectations for our students, we really need to think about the expectations and support structures for our educators. The thing is, we already have these at our disposal through a variety of frameworks, models, tools and knowledge including, but not limited to, the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership and Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group evidence-based research report. The problem is we are nowhere near critical mass with this knowledge reaching schools – yet. The questions that arise now are how can we make this knowledge base real within schools? How

will we be supported to work together and challenge one another to achieve the lofty ideals that are developed? Before we change the expectations for our students, we need to seriously consider our expectations of us collaborative assessors, learners, community inspirers. As important as policy, politicians and systemic innovation may be, the greatest drivers and influencers of sustainable change are already in front of us: the many teachers standing up in our classrooms.

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References: Connell, J.P. & Wellborn, J.G. 1991. Competence, autonomy, and relatedness: A motivational analysis of self-system processes. In M. Gunnar & L.A. Sroufe (Eds.), Minnesota Symposium on Child Psychology (Vol. 23). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Fredricks, J.A., Blumenfeld, P.C., & Paris, A.H. 2004. School engagement: Potential of the concept, state of the evidence. Review of Educational Research, vol. 74, no. 1, 59-109. Fullan, M., & Quinn, J. 2016. Coherence: The Right Drivers in Action for Schools, Districts, and Systems. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. Hattie, J. 2012. Visible learning for teachers: Maximizing impact on learning. London: Routledge. Hattie, J. 2015. What Works Best in Education: The Politics of Collaborative Expertise, pp. 1-2, Pearson. Masters, Geoff. 2017. ‘Rethinking how we assess learning in schools’, Research Developments, ACER. https://rd.acer.org/ article/rethinking-how-we-assess-learning-in-schools Masters, Geoff. 2018. Keynote Speech, Eastern Region Learning and Teaching Network, Melbourne, 15th March 2018. OECD. 2017. PISA 2015 Results (Volume III): Students’ WellBeing, PISA, OECD Publishing, Paris Rigelman, N. & Ruben, B. 2012. Creating foundations for collaboration in schools: Utilising professional learning communities to support teacher candidate learning and visions of teaching. Teaching and Teacher Education, 28, 979-989. Ronfeldt, M., Farmer, S., McQueen, K. & Grissom, J. 2015. Teacher collaboration in instructional teams and student achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 52(3), 475-514. Sharratt, L. & Planche, B. 2016. Leading collaborative learning: empowering excellence. Thousand Oaks, California : Corwin. Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group (TEMAG). 2014. Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group Final Report, Action Now: Classroom Ready Teachers. Australia.

MAKING THE GRADE

Stellar line-up for ACEL National Conference 2018 AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL FOR EDUCATIONAL LEADERS CEO AASHA MURTHY IS PROUD OF THE CALIBRE OF KEYNOTE SPEAKERS.

THE 2018 NATIONAL CONFERENCE KEYNOTE SPEAKERS ARE: • Mark Scott - Secretary, NSW Department of Education • Dr Robert Biswas Diener - Psychologist, author, researcher • John Hattie - Professor, author and director of Melbourne Education Research Institute • Gill Callister - Secretary of the Victoria Department of Education and Training and President of IPAA Victoria • Andy Hargreaves - Author, speaker, leader and Thomas Moore Brennan Chair, Lynch School of Education Boston College • Elizabeth Ross Hubbell - Educator, author, speaker and Program Manager for Student Affairs at Academic Impressions • David Kolb - Chairman of Experience Based Learning Systems • Alice Kolb - President of Experience Based Learning Systems • Dr Lyn Sharratt - Practitioner, researcher, author and presenter • Evonne Goolagong-Cawley – Australian icon and inspiration

The Australian Council for Educational Leaders (ACEL) is hosting its 2018 national educational leadership conference in Melbourne in October, focusing on the learning theme of “Evidence and Experience”. The conference will feature worldrenowned speakers who will “set the learning agenda” in experiential learning, evidence-based research and leadership experience. Professional development is integral to teacher quality, student learning outcomes, and ongoing development of personal leadership capabilities. The ACEL National Conference 2018 presentations and panels aim to encourage attendees to trust their experience, reflect and grow as leaders, and engage with current research to inform key practices and learning

Gill Callister

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environments in schools and systems. ACEL CEO Aasha Murthy said: “It is a source of great pride and achievement to witness the growing role our National Conference is playing in being the premier conference for educational leaders in Australia and bringing together current and emerging leaders to discuss, share and develop ideas and skills to ‘set the learning agenda’ moving forward.” In addition to keynote speakers, this year’s conference incorporates a series of concurrent sessions each day, a cocktail networking event, the annual ACEL National Awards evening and the announcement of the recipients of the New Voice Scholarships. The ACEL New Voice Initiative represents a commitment of $300,000 over 10 years by ACEL. As part of its ongoing pledge to give back to the profession, ACEL has developed a suite of scholarships to provide world-class learning opportunities to up-and-coming leaders. Scholarships are awarded across four categories – School Leadership, Educational Leadership Research, Indigenous School Leadership, and the recently announced Early Education and Care. Each scholarship aims to welcome the recipients into the ACEL network and support the dissemination of new learning and thought. The recipients will be recognised as forward-thinking, relevant and responsive educational leaders by their peers and the wider education community. ACEL has invited local and international speakers who are experts in leading and learning, who will bring to life the theme of this three-

John Hattie

“It is a source of great pride and achievement to witness the growing role our National Conference is playing in being the premier conference for educational leaders in Australia and bringing together current and emerging leaders to discuss, share, and develop ideas and skills to ‘set the learning agenda’ moving forward.”

day conference. Their keynote presentations will be complemented by panel discussions, student performances and reflection and exploration forums. “We are honoured to have this array of esteemed keynote speakers from across the globe be part of National Conference 2018,” Ms Murthy said. “These unquestionable leaders in their field with admiration and respect on a global level make this an unmissable three days in educational leadership.” Anthony Mackay, CEO of the Centre for Strategic Education Melbourne and Chair of the Australian Council for Educational Research, will be this year’s conference host. ACEL also recently announced that this year’s conference will feature a new Australian Showcase. This will take place on Day 2 of the premier event and feature Australian keynote speakers discussing and presenting their research and perspectives. ACEL is delighted to present the line-up consisting of influential experts, Scott Eacott, relational theorist Gonski Institute for Education UNSW; Helen Wildy, Dean & Head of the Graduate School of Education, University of WA; Jenny Gore, Laureate Professor, School of Education, University of Newcastle; and Tom Bentley, Executive Director for Policy & Impact at RMIT University. In another first, Day 1 will feature a forum with both the NSW and Victoria Secretaries of Education on stage together for a combined discussion and

Dr Robert Biswas Diener

audience question and answer session. “With this incredible line-up of keynote speakers, the announcement of the Australian Showcase and the array of delegates attending, this is undoubtedly the greatest conference in the history of our organisation and something we could be not be more proud to share with the education profession this October,” Ms Murthy said. Evidence & Experience is ACEL’s premier event in their conference portfolio which this year also

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Anthony Mackay

includes the National Disability Summit in June and The Early Childhood Conference in August. ACEL’s National Conference will be held at Melbourne’s Convention and Exhibition Centre, with 1200 to 1300 educational leaders expected to attend not only from Australia, but also from New Zealand, the United States and Asia. Registrations for the conference are now open at www.acel.org.au

MAKING THE GRADE

Making change effective HAPPY SCHOOL CEO STEVE FRANCIS WILL BE COACHING A WORKSHOP AT EDUTECH 2018 ON LEADING AN EFFECTIVE CHANGE PROCESS. PRIOR TO THE CONFERENCE, HE SPEAKS OF HIS WORK WITH LEADERS IN THE EDUCATION INDUSTRY.

WHAT DOES YOUR WORK WITH LEADERS IN THE EDUCATION INDUSTRY LOOK LIKE? I love working with school leadership teams. They have a massive impact on school effectiveness. One of the challenges that we continue to face in schools is that we promote great teachers to leadership positions and then expect them to be great leaders. It is a different skillset that is required. As well as the skills of a great teacher, leaders are working with adults and that requires a repertoire of skills for working with different personalities and experience levels, plus tremendous self-awareness. In optimising schools, it is vital that they are all on the same page. I find I get more traction when we can set up a program where the whole school leadership team undertakes professional learning Steve Francis, CEO of Happy School, is an expert in the complexities of leading effective schools. Whether principals around Australia want to enhance the skills of their leadership team or want their staff to be genuinely engaged, energised and enthused to create a difference that sets schools apart, they turn to him. Mr Francis understands the challenges and demands of being a principal, having led a number of schools from a one-teacher school through to a large metropolitan school in Queensland and an international school in Hong Kong. He is also the author of four books including First Semester Can Make or Break You, Time Management for Teachers, A Gr8 Life … Live it Now! and his latest, a workbook co-written with Bruce Sullivan titled Attitude is Everything. Over 500 schools across Australia subscribe to his weekly Happy School articles and use them to boost staff morale and reduce teacher stress. Mr Francis also developed the Survey My School and Survey My Class instruments to help school leaders drive school improvement and the Gr8 People range of resources for schools.

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together, rather than having one or two individuals going off and attending some professional development. WHAT TRENDS AND CHALLENGES DO YOU SEE FOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS AND HOW CAN THEY TACKLE THESE PROBLEMS? Student engagement Increasing student engagement and the effectiveness of the teaching program are at the core of the work of school leaders. Formative feedback from students should be utilised to provide a clear focus for teachers to reflect on their teaching – with the aim of increasing student engagement. If what we are doing as teachers is not working from the students’ point of view, then we need to take that on board and modify our practice.

Staff Wellbeing While teaching can be very rewarding, it can also be very demanding. Curriculum initiatives, change fatigue and increased accountability are having an impact on teacher morale. Many teachers feel exhausted, under-valued, frustrated and unappreciated. Staff morale has a huge impact on student achievement, job satisfaction and relationships within schools. High stress levels have a negative impact on everyone. It doesn’t take Einstein to work out that low morale will come at a cost to the school. Low teacher morale can lead to decreased productivity and effectiveness and a detachment from colleagues and students. This has a negative impact on both student achievement and staff wellbeing. I am worried that too many staff expect somebody else (their principal or employer to fix their wellbeing). While school leadership has a massive impact on staff wellbeing, staff also need to take responsibility for selfmanaging key aspects of their own wellbeing. Attracting and retaining great staff Great staff make a huge difference to both the outcomes achieved by a school as well as the school’s culture. Attracting and retaining great staff is paramount. Superstars are dedicated, hardworking,

talented staff who have a great work ethic and a terrific attitude can afford to be fussy. They are highly sought after and in demand. They are a great asset to a school and are in the fortunate position of being able to pick and choose where they would like to work. To attract such staff to apply for positions in their school, it is more important than ever that school leaders position their school to be the employer of choice. Positioning your school as an employer of choice is not easy and it’s certainly not a quick fix. While school leaders in many schools don’t have a lot of flexibility with the pay or conditions they can offer, they can position their school as an employer of choice by ensuring they support a culture within their school that listens to their staff, addresses their concerns, values their staff through professional development and promotion opportunities, and appreciates their staff. HOW DO YOU THINK TECHNOLOGY HAS CHANGED THE ROLE OF EDUCATORS AND LEARNING? Technology has had a huge impact on the attention span and expectations of our students. I believe their attention span has shrunk. When I was trained as a teacher, it was believed that a five-year-old had a five-minute attention span, a 10-year-old, 10 minutes, and a 15-year-old could theoretically pay attention for 15 minutes. I believe the attention span of students today are much shorter. The average time for viewing a YouTube clip is under 90 seconds. If the clip hasn’t captured their attention within 90 seconds then the viewer clicks onto something else. People today spend a lot of time on their screens. There are some exciting uses of technology but it’s not just about the technology. It is the change in

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pedagogical practice to utilise the technology that makes the learning meaningful. ARE YOU PART OF ANY MAJOR EDUCATION PROJECTS AT THE MOMENT? I am working with a number of schools who are using the Survey My Class instrument to provide formative feedback at the end of each term, directly to their teachers, from their students. This feedback helps the teacher focus on how they could be more effective in the classroom by triangulating student achievement data and professional feedback through lesson observations or coaching. While some teachers find the feedback from their students confronting, I’d argue that the students are thinking or feeling that way anyway and the instrument is just bringing awareness to the teacher. I believe that as the professional in the classroom, we have a responsibility to take the feedback on board and reflect upon it. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE EDUTECH? EduTECH people are often early adopters. They are always looking out for exciting opportunities to make their schools more effective. I love the buzz and energy in the rooms at EduTECH. Attitudes are contagious, and I love catching the attitude of the EduTECH delegates.

EduTECH 6 – 8 June. ICC, Sydney Use promo code: EM200 to SAVE $200 off all EduTECH ticket prices Register online: www.edutech.net.au

MAKING THE GRADE

Helping early school leavers KIRA CLARKE, DR ERIC DOMMERS AND DR GEORGE MYCONOS, OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF ST LAURENCE EXPLAIN THAT VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING IS AN IMPORTANT NEXT STEP FOR MANY EARLY SCHOOL LEAVERS, BUT CHANGES ARE NEEDED TO KEEP THEM ENGAGED.

Almost one in five 15 to 19-year-olds in Australia don’t complete secondary schooling. This rate varies across the country, but is higher in socioeconomically depressed areas, in the country than the city, and for boys than girls. So, where do these young early school leavers go? Almost two-thirds enter Vocational Education and Training (VET) to complete their initial education and get the skills they need to access employment. The problem is, over 40 per cent of these young people are dropping out of their VET courses. The reasons so many young people leave VET are varied and complex, but are related to existing levels of disadvantage, and seem to be consistent with the reasons they leave school early. They may

be experiencing personal challenges at home, struggling to engage with the VET environment, or they may find they don’t have all the skills needed to complete the course, and decide it is not for them. As part of our new research into the issue, we used an innovative multidimensional framework to go beyond the “hard data” and actually speak with young people, and the VET teachers and the youth workers supporting them, in several disadvantaged communities. We wanted to understand what was shaping how these early school leavers engaged at three different points in time – prior to enrolment, at enrolment and during their training. What we heard highlights the need to ensure

Kira Clarke is a Lecturer in Education Policy within the Melbourne Graduate School of Education. Since joining the University of Melbourne in early 2004 she has completed a range of government-funded, consultancy and grant-based research of postcompulsory education, Vocational Education and Training (VET) and youth transitions. Dr Eric Dommers is the Senior Manager, Inclusive Education at the Brotherhood of St Laurence. Dr George Myconos is a Research Fellow, Inclusive Education at the Brotherhood of St Laurence.

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the VET system, which is ostensibly oriented towards training adults, is provided with the funding, specialised resources, networking and integrated systems to also attract and retain this group of young people. To look at what we learned, let’s consider the VET experience through the eyes of a composite of young early school leavers. Let’s call her Emily. PRIOR TO ENROLMENT Emily left her rural high school during the first term of Year 11. After leaving school, a broad range of people and institutions shaped her consideration of doing a VET course. Of importance were her parents, older siblings and friends.

In Emily’s case, these social networks played a positive role in encouraging her consideration of VET, but this is not always the case. These immediate social networks can also have a dissuading role if parents or friends have a negative perception or limited understanding of VET. Another source of information about VET for young people like Emily is the information provided through their schools and from the providers themselves. Unfortunately, there was also a strong message that information from schools and providers that shape awareness and understanding of VET is thin and hard to access. Enrolment So, Emily has decided a VET course is for her and she goes to enrol at her local provider. For Emily, leaving school had a lot to do with struggling with the work and lacking confidence in her literacy. This is a common challenge for early school leavers. Difficulty reading, writing and interpreting materials means that the process of enrolling in her VET course is overwhelming for Emily. It reminds her of school and feeling “not smart enough”. Provider and support staff working with young people like Emily also describe enrolment processes as complex and burdensome. Many told us that early school leavers need to be supported through the process of enrolling for the first time. But this is a time-consuming process that currently lacks funding. Retention during training Emily has made it through the enrolment process and started her course. In her first few weeks, she finds there is far more reading and writing than she expected. For early school leavers like Emily, adequate wellbeing support is crucial. Our research found that early school leavers are most likely to sustain engagement in VET programs when language, literacy and numeracy, learning needs and wellbeing supports are integrated within their program, rather than added independently. Now, the availability and standard of such support in the vocational training system is uneven. Addressing the needs of early school leavers If we know the risks and challenges faced by young people, what can be done to make sure they get the most out of VET? Our research underscores how

‘miss out’ as long as funding and resourcing for these strategies remains a low priority among some VET providers. But if we have evidence of what needs to be happening, why should Emily and others like her miss out?

important it is to recognise not only the needs of those students already engaged in VET, but also anticipating and catering for young people who are contemplating VET and approaching a provider for the first time. In particular, guidance about post-school pathways during the early years of high school needs to be strengthened, so young people have consistent and ongoing access to reliable information about education and training options. To ensure that young people who would benefit from VET aren’t being scared away, there needs to be more user friendly and sophisticated processes of orientation, enrolment and induction. We came across some great examples of new innovative processes, but these must be shared across the sector. VET has a great deal to offer early school leavers and is a crucial ingredient in building their educational foundations for life and work. Our research shows that strengthening awareness of VET, simplifying the enrolment processes, and funding coherent and integrated support for wellbeing are all needed. While some of these findings are consistent with previous research and may seem obvious, many young, disadvantaged Australians will continue to

MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR SCHOOL – SPECIALISED TRAINING IN STUDENT WELLBEING As this research demonstrates, strong wellbeing support of students can have a major impact on their ongoing engagement in VET and any other ongoing education programs, and indeed on their future performance. The University of Melbourne’s Master of Education offers a Student Wellbeing specialisation, designed to develop your capacity to create engaging school environments that promote the wellbeing of all students. The specialisation aims to enhance and equip educators with the tools and strategies to contribute to students’ academic and personal success, no matter which path they choose to take during high school and beyond. The specialisation builds your capacity to lead and advocate for student wellbeing as well as developing advanced interpersonal skills relevant to wellbeing issues in education contexts. Designed to provide a holistic and in-depth understanding of the concept of student wellbeing, this specialisation is ideal for practitioners working in various education settings, including those in roles that link to supporting early-school leavers. To learn more about the Master of Education at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, visit www.education.unimelb.edu.au/ masterofeducation

References Clarke, K., Dommers, E., & Myconos, G. Helping Early School Leavers. Pursuit (University of Melbourne’s online research hub). Dommers, E., Myconos, G., Swain, L., Yung, S., & Kira Clarke (2017)., Engaging young early school leavers in vocational training. National Centre for Vocational Education Research

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MAKING THE GRADE

Schools and the law PRINCIPALS AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE IS OFFERING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE LEGAL RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL LEADERS.

It goes without saying that school leadership entails an enormous load of responsibility. But as a principal, have you considered – and do you fully understand – your legal obligations? Every school leadership team needs to be able to identify and prepare for key legal risks that may impact the running of their school. From understanding a school’s duty of care, discrimination against principals, and managing social media, to stress-related claims, employment law, workplace health and safety, and family engagement, every school principal should know how to manage these situations. Principals Australia Institute (PAI) recognises the necessity of relevant, proactive legal advice for school leaders – for the benefit of the leaders themselves, as well as their staff teams and schools. “By offering the Schools and the Law training series, we’re aiming to prepare principals and their teams so that they can deal with such issues, if the situation arises,” says Paul Geyer, Chief Executive Officer of Principals Australia Institute. “In today’s increasingly litigious society, it’s one way we can help school leaders feel

confident and informed.” Schools and the Law is being delivered in partnership with Wallmans Lawyers, a respected law firm comprising nationally recognised leaders with extensive knowledge of key industry sectors. Each event will take the form of a two-hour seminar, themed around a topic of high relevance to school leaders. One of the topics offers for the Schools and the Law in 2018 is “Managing employee contracts and claims” and will cover such issues as preparing and drafting employment contracts; relevant considerations including industrial awards, policies and procedures; part-time and relief staff; performance management; managing staff who are ill or injured, or have extended absence from work; and contract termination. Other themes that will be offered include bullying and discrimination claims against principals; managing staff; preventing and managing stress-related claims; duty of care and management of violent or problematic students; managing difficult or hostile parents; and social media in the school context. Wallmans Lawyers’ presenters for Schools

Paul Geyer, CEO of the Principals Australia Institute, says principals should be prepared for legal issues.

and the Law are Chris Wellington and Michael Kay. Mr Wellington is a Special Counsel, Risk Management and Dispute Resolution specialist. He is a highly experienced litigator with a significant client base in the education sector, providing advice and training to teachers on a range of professional and legal issues, as well as to the University of South Australia. Mr Kay heads Wallmans Lawyers’ specialist workplace relations, employment and safety practice, providing clients with day-to-day advice in relation to all aspects of workplace relations and employment management. He has presented at the Law for Schools Legalwise Seminar, where he discussed employment contracts in the education sector. Both have had their expertise recognised in the prestigious Best Lawyers Australia list, as well as Doyle’s Guide. Schools and the Law seminars are being offered in Sydney, Hobart, Canberra, Melbourne and Adelaide in April and May. You can check the Events Calendar at www.pai.edu.au to find the scheduled date for your location.

For more information or to register for Schools and the Law, please contact Principals Australia Institute on 08 8394 2100, or email contact@pai.edu.au

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Sustainability

Dive into an ocean of knowledge COOL AUSTRALIA, AN EDUCATIONAL NOT-FOR-PROFIT THAT HELPS TEACHERS FIND WAYS TO ENGAGE YOUNG AUSTRALIANS, PROVIDES A LESSON PLAN AND AFFORDABLE ONLINE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TO GROW THEIR PROFESSIONAL SKILLS ANYWHERE, ANYTIME AND AT THEIR OWN PACE.

ABOUT BLUE BY NORTHERN PICTURES Blue, a feature documentary film by Northern Pictures, takes us deep into the Pacific Ocean, into bustling fish markets in Indonesia and remote tropical beaches in the Coral Sea. Blue is a cinematic song for our oceans; beautiful, intimate and grand. No matter where you are in Australia, it will make you want to rise up with the waves. Told through the eyes of seven Ocean Guardians, Blue is an exceptional educational tool that ignites a curiosity and love of learning about our liquid world. ABOUT COOL AUSTRALIA Cool Australia is an education not-for-profit that helps teachers find cool ways to critically

engage, involve and switch on young Australians to learn for life. Last year, Cool Australia helped 76,000 exceptional educators teach 1.7 million young Aussies using free units of work and lesson plans and affordable online professional development to grow their professional skills anywhere, anytime and at their own pace. Cool Australia has collaborated with Northern Pictures to provide a free teacher toolkit (https:// goo.gl/neJqDx) for Blue. Tap into 62 lesson plans and student activities, 120 hours of activities, 160 factsheets and a compelling digital library of digital resources. These curriculum-aligned lessons span many year levels and subject areas, and include never before seen video clips from the film.

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Also included is everything that a teacher might need to involve young people in interesting and meaningful learning. ABOUT THIS LESSON In this Years 9-10 English social action lesson, students will create and deliver a campaign inspired by a campaign featured in Blue. Students will watch a clip that features Madison Stewart, a.k.a. Shark Girl, and analyse how she works to create change around the issue of shark fishing. In a “Think-Pair-Share” activity, students share what they have done in their lives to influence change. In groups, students find out more about campaigns linked to Blue, and choose one to work on to become an Ocean Guardian.

CURRICULUM LINKS English: Years 9 - 10 General capabilities: Literacy, Critical and creative thinking, Ethical understanding Cross-curriculum priority: Sustainability Time required: 60 minutes WHAT YOU’LL NEED: • Student worksheet – download for free at www. coolaustralia.org/activity/Blue-ocean-guardiancampaigns-social-action-year-9-10/ • Device capable of presenting a website to the class • Student computers/devices • Project planning tool • Presentation space with audio/visual capabilities for student presentations TEACHING SEQUENCE Activity length: 30 minutes TEACHING INSTRUCTIONS Step 1. Introduce the lesson by informing students that they will be considering the power of youth voice to influence action on issues of global concern. In this instance, the focus will be ocean conservation, becoming an Ocean Guardian and convincing others to do the same. Explain that students will be working in groups to consider a set of existing campaigns and present a campaign from their personal perspective. Step 2. Open the video “Who is Madison Stewart?” at www.vimeo.com/211443595. Step 3. Explain to students that the clip is from Blue and features a young campaigner, activist and Ocean Guardian, Madison Stewart. While watching the clip, encourage students note the messages they hear from Madison about young people being able to make a difference. Step 4. After watching the video, facilitate a discussion on the key points made by Madison. Prompt students by asking for their thoughts on these key messages: • You have the power to make a difference no matter how old you are. • One person can make a difference. • You can ask questions about the decisions that are being made by others about your future. Step 5. Explain to students that shared stories are a powerful way to connect with people. Invite the class to engage in the ‘Think, Pair, Share’ visible thinking routine: Think about a story from their past when they ‘spoke up’. It could be as simple as asking for something

they really wanted, or letting someone know they were lost, or speaking up when they saw that someone or something was being treated unfairly. If required, write these questions on the whiteboard and invite students to use them to guide their thinking: • Where were you? • What was happening? • Who was involved? • What were you feeling? • What did you do? • What was the result? Pair with a classmate to tell the story. Share Ask for volunteers to share their story with the rest of the class. Step 6. Ask the class to comment on the values they think link to the stories. If students need clarification around what values are, use the school’s values to scaffold student discussion. Explain that the value of ‘courage’ can help a person to take action and speak out against something. Ask if any stories shared by the class displayed courage, then ask for any other values that have driven the person to ‘speak up’. During the discussion, list the values suggested by students on the whiteboard. Step 6. Write the following quote on the whiteboard: “I’m not fully sure I’ll save anything, but the principle is that we fight for it in the meantime.” – Madison Stewart Ask students to consider the values that Madison might have, especially in relation to the work that she does campaigning against shark fishing. Write students’ suggestions under the quote.

actions. Ask students to identify an action for each value on the whiteboard. Suggest that an easy way to think about actions is as “values with legs”, and these can be written as “We will...” statements. Begin by writing an action next to the value of “courage”: “We will ….” (speak up about issues that matter to us). Work as a class to develop an associated “We will…” statement for at least three of the values listed on the whiteboard. Draw students’ attention to the diversity of actions suggested and highlight that the same values can lead to many different actions. Step 8. Ask the class to record the values and associated “We will…” statements. Remind students that their actions around issues is important, regardless of how old they are. WANT MORE? Download free Blue lesson plans for the year level or subject area you teach at www.goo.gl/pZxnN9 Find out more about Blue at www.bluethefilm.org or visit www.coolaustralia.org for more free lessons.

Step 7. Introduce the concept of values-aligned

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BRYAN GOODWIN

ANTHONY MACKAY AM

Australian Council for Educational Leaders: PO Box 876, Strawberry Hills, NSW 2012 1800 680 559 | F 1800 680 561 | national.conference@acel.org.au

ANDY HARGREAVES

ELIZABETH ROSS HUBBELL

MARK SCOTT AO

STEPHEN GNIEL

ROBERT BISWAS-DIENER

AASHA MURTHY

Future Proof Technology Designed for the Future Generation

EPSON’S NEW FINGER-TOUCH INTERACTIVE PROJECTORS MAKES EDUCATING CHILD’S PLAY A new era in collaborative learning, Epson ultra-short-throw interactive projectors take kinaesthetic learning to new heights. Touch- and pen-based interactivity make it easy to draw and collaborate using any wall and familiar, intuitive gestures. With brilliant high deﬁnition resolution, plus advanced network connectivity performance, these projectors make it easy to share larger-than-life lessons and control the projector remotely.

Learn more at epson.com.au /interactive

Now Includes SMART Notebook ® Software