If we view tertiary education as a commodity rather than an enlightening pursuit, practices such as essay buying will become more common.
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Analysis and Comment
The current loophole for religious schools does not reflect what the majority of Australia thinks about education, religion and LGBTIQ+ people.
Robots in the classroom are highly engaging and motivating for students, and can have a cascading effect on learning across an entire school.
Public opinion polls and a survey of Australian youth show there's little support for allowing schools to hire or fire teachers based on their sexual orientation.
Teaching children how to break down words into their meaning and origin can help them be better spellers.
Universities should very rarely prevent controversial speakers from spreading their message.
Block subjects at university are receiving a lot of attention, but research says they may not be as effective for learning.
Girls are encouraged more often to read, despite performing better in reading assessments nationally and internationally. Here's how parents and educators can help connect boys with books.
The reason isn't your astrological sign, but rather the role your birth date plays in deciding when you enter school. Children who are older than their peers in school tend to do better.
VET’s role in employable skill development is critical. But we also need to strongly support the role VET plays in getting disadvantaged groups into education and work.
We know from research children benefit from two years of preschool, rather than one. Universal access to preschool would also return benefits to the economy, and help parents with childcare costs.
Teacher preparation has been identified as a key factor in the quality of education. To improve the quality of the VET sector, we need to ensure teachers and trainers are qualified to teach.
Many young Australians and their parents don't consider VET as a potential post-school pathway, even if it might be more suitable for them than university.
We already have all the research reports, reviews and inquiries we need to make reform to the VET sector happen. What we need is proactive leadership and action.
VET needs a new set of priorities and operating principles that are fit for the future.
Children can experience stress during their parents' separation or divorce. Here's how teachers can support them through this tough time.
Increased funding to Catholic schools won't necessarily make them more accessible for low-income families.
New analysis shows wealthy parents at advantaged Catholic primary schools could actually afford the increase to school fees under the needs-based model.
Australian tertiary education policy and funding debates are better served by domestic data.
The new physics syllabus for year 11 and 12 students in NSW contains no mention of specific women who have contributed to the field, nor their work.
Sex, sexuality, respectful relationships, and gender all need to be discussed in schools as a measure to combat discrimination against LGBTQ people, rising rates of STIs and violence against women.
Teaching media literacy to students can curb the impact of false news, but teachers need more support from their schools and community to do this.
Some universities accept students into their teaching degree programs with an ATAR as low as 35. Do we need to raise the bar, or are other factors more important than a high ATAR for teachers?
If Labor is to once again uncap university funding, vocational education reform is a vital.
Stress and anxiety levels among academics are on the rise, and some of the blame lies with ideologies that expect scholars to be leaders.
Research and News
While many military veterans do well on campus, not everyone feels welcome or their views matter. Here's what universities can do better.
University students don't always mix outside their own area of study or cultural cliques. But that can change with a little encouragement, and food helps.
Although fewer Australian teens planned on going to university or TAFE than 15 years ago, figures were still higher than the OECD average.
An alternative to costly teacher professional development courses is already improving teaching in our classrooms.
Editor's pick
We know from research children benefit from two years of preschool, rather than one. Universal access to preschool would also return benefits to the economy, and help parents with childcare costs.
New research has found one in five dads has experienced symptoms of depression and/or anxiety after having children.
Future of VET
Teacher preparation has been identified as a key factor in the quality of education. To improve the quality of the VET sector, we need to ensure teachers and trainers are qualified to teach.
We already have all the research reports, reviews and inquiries we need to make reform to the VET sector happen. What we need is proactive leadership and action.
Future of NAPLAN
While we may need to rethink how we use NAPLAN, it is an important and useful tool for researchers and policy makers.
To assess problem-solving, creative and critical thinking skills on NAPLAN would fit with broader movements in education internationally, but there are some questions to address first.
Ideas for higher education reform
The benefits of university are clear and measurable, but we can do more with constructive reform.
When it comes to increasing Indigenous Australians' participation in higher education, we could take a leaf from our neighbour's book.
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Research and Expert Database
Editors’ Picks
Parenting
Nagging or bribing a child to practise their musical instrument only makes the activity feel like a chore. Here's how to support your child and bring back harmony to the whole family.
Teaching
A developmental psychologist explains how she uses Harry Potter books to make child development more relatable to first-year college students, many of whom grew up on the wildly popular books.
Parenting
Rigid gender roles and stereotypes are key drivers of violence against women. So let's challenge these by starting young.
Early education
Family day care workers have much in common with home-based workers in the garment industry. But the latter are classed as employees, resulting in better representation and protected work conditions.
Students
The beginning of a new school term is often met with resistance from kids who would prefer to stay on school holidays. But for some parents, getting their kids to go to school is an ongoing battle.
Inequality
Needs-based funding is necessary, but it can only do so much. It's much more effective if we don't have schools with high concentrations of poverty and disadvantage.
Budget
Education policy experts run through the major changes for education in Budget 2018 for schools, VET and higher education.
Students
Australian students, on average, reported a poorer sense of belonging at school than the OECD average. But issues with sense of belonging aren't distributed evenly across the population.
Teachers
There's been a drop in the number of people enrolling in teacher preparation courses. This is due to problems such as pay, professional autonomy, and a national obsession with standardised testing.
TAFE
30 skill priority areas will be free from the beginning of 2019 in Victoria. Students will feel the most benefit, while private providers say the policy is not equitable.
Gonski 2.0
The role of general capabilities in a subject-based curriculum has been a recurring theme in Australian curriculum history.
History Wars
Australia has been having the same disagreement about what and how history should be taught. We need to move on and listen to the evidence so our children have the best history education possible.
Explainer
There are benefits and drawbacks to both formative and summative assessment. Both are important parts of a rigorous assessment program.
Education policy
Funding debates dominated most education policy talks in 2017, but discussions look to be extending past the dollar value in 2018 with a number of high profile reports due for release.
Studying
It can be hard to get into a study groove, but removing distractions, getting enough sleep, self-testing, spacing out your study and creating memory aids can help students succeed.
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