Professional Educator Volume 5 Number 2 May 2006
Editorial
Inadequate facilities in schools; under-qualified teachers; a teacher shortage in rural government schools. Think that’s a thumbnail sketch of Australian education? Think again: it’s actually about Zambia and, according to the Lusaka Post, the problem, essentially,
is this: ‘Those who run government don’t take their children to government-run schools; they take them to private- or church-run schools. It is not difficult to understand why they don’t attach much importance to the functioning of these schools. It is simply because they have no stake in them,their children don’t go there.’ The Commonwealth’s new review into non-government school funding means a whole raft of funding questions have now reemerged.
These are, in the end, questions to do with adequate facilities and an adequate supply of qualified teachers for all schools, government and non-government, but the question at the heart of the matter is this: do those who run government take their children to government-run schools?
Letters to the Editor
The Flexibility Principle
Mary Bluett, President, Victorian branch of the Australian Education Union.
An increasing number of experienced teachers are opting to be part-time as a way of balancing a demanding, albeit rewarding, career with a modicum of quality personal life.
Restorative Justice
Merv McCormack, Principal, Casimir Catholic College, Marrickville, Sydney.
I write as the principal of one of the schools, Marrickville’s Casimir Catholic College in Sydney, mentioned in Paul Harney’s article on restorative practices (Professional Educator, August 2005: 14-17). From the outset of the project, teachers were enthusiastic about Casimir’s involvement, since the college has a well-developed history of pastoral engagement with students and parents.
Opinion The Benefits of Mentoring
Are you busy this week?
Mentoring offers educators plenty of opportunity to learn from one another, says Moira Dodsworth, and it’s definitely a two-way street.
Features
Managing bullying with technology
New technologies: love them or loathe them, they’re not disappearing anytime soon, and if your students are at risk of becoming the target of virtual bullies, now’s the time to do something about it, says Janet Stone.
Managing students with challenging behaviours
As educators, we’re all dedicated professionals, but chances are we’ll meet a ‘student with challenging behaviours’ who tests our patience and stretches our skills, and today these students seem more plentiful and more challenging. Luckily, says Lyn Harrison, there’s a framework you can use to work with them.
Innovation
New curricular ways with new technologie
All Australian governments and the New Zealand government have supported a substantial initiative – The Le@rning Federation’s online curriculum content project – to develop online curriculum materials for use in school classrooms.
What’s the current state of this project’s development and evaluation? Peter Freebody, Kelly Freebody, David McRae and Sandy Muspratt have the answers.
Working together The effective involvement of parents in the learning process
Most of us accept that strong links between the home and school lead to better learning, yet few schools are able to form, let alone maintain, effective school-home relationships. Tim Jenkinson suggests educators, parents and students could be doing a great deal more together to improve learning experiences in our schools.
Research - Improving student achievement
Can the policies and actions of an education authority really play a part in improving student achievement and raising standards in schools? In a word, says Kelvin Canavan, yes.
What I'm Teaching Now
Respect, recognition, rapport – they’re essential in the classroom, but you don’t have to call them the three R’s, says Paul hamilton, because they boil down to one word: relationship.
National Perspective and In Brief
In the southern hemisphere, April is the strangest month, breeding a school funding debate out of the dead land, mixing memory and frustration, stirring dull policies with autumn platitudes. Steve Holden reports, with apologies to TS Eliot.
Interview
Lifelong Journey
Steve Holden interviews the new Commonwealth Minister for Education, Science and Training, Julie Bishop.
Teaching and Learning
Learning about teaching using video
What’s the current picture on the way educators are using classroom video data to improve teaching and learning? Hilary Hollingsworth has some answers.
Student work Using student achievement for improvements at the individual,class and school level
If you really want to improve the learning of students you need to find out what actually happens in school, as Reg Allen explains.
Issues - The empty schoolhouse
What would it take to make sure students in our rural, remote and isolated communities get the best possible education? Make sure they get the best possible teachers, says Phil Roberts.
Reviews
Doctorates Downunder edited by Carey Denholm and Terry Evan
The Diary
Want to know about professional development opportunities, conferences and just plain useful stuff? the Diary tells you what’s on.
As I see it
School Lunch
Something has happened to the modern-day school lunch, says Danny Katz, and it’s very disturbing.