All we seem to hear about these days is failing teachers in failing schools. Those from business, government and the field of economics have all weighed in, criticising teachers, teacher educators and…
Why do we obsess about the competence of teachers?
Teacher image from www.shutterstock.com
Concern about teacher competence has been around for several decades. Recently, there has been a concerted push by state and federal governments to enact policies to improve “teacher quality”. Meeting…
Education minister Peter Garrett along with his state counterparts have agreed upon some pretty big changes to teacher development.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
Finally, perhaps the time has come. The Australian Charter for the Professional Learning of Teachers and School Leaders and the Australian Teacher Performance and Development Framework, both signed off…
The NSW government has made some strong first steps to talk about teaching standards but there’s no policy blueprint yet.
AAP Image/Paul Miller
NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli’s discussion paper on teacher education, Great Teaching, Inspired Learning released earlier this week, could be seen as yet another review for a profession literally…
Shadow education minister Christopher Pyne’s latest statements on teacher training are counterproductive.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
Opposition Education spokesman Christopher Pyne’s comments to the Sydney Institute this week provoked a new debate on teacher training. Most of the educational community would agree, and have for at least…
We need to take a harder look at Australian education and how we compare internationally.
Flickr/marragem
Following the refusal of the federal government to commit to the Gonski Review and the recent announcement in Victoria of further cuts to already disadvantaged schools and students, the issue of equity…
There’s knowing science, then knowing how to teach it.
B Rosen
Last week’s Health of Australian Science report, by the Chief Scientist of Australia Ian Chubb, has again highlighted the issue of declining student engagement in science in primary and secondary schools…
The NAPLAN tests are about getting the best results for students.
Flickr/Elizabeth Albert
A small but vocal group is calling on parents to withdraw their children from the National Assessment Program: Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests. But if this call is successful and enough children are…
We should be focusing on students’ performance not teachers’.
Flickr/cybrarian77
Teacher bonus schemes are yet another example of education reform with the wrong focus. They narrowly look at teachers and their performance, and not the needs of students and their learning. It’s the…
Students learn Korean, one of four principal Asian languages being promoted in Australian schools. The others are Mandarin, Japanese and Indonesian.
EPA/STR
Language experts have applauded Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s pledge to dramatically boost foreign language education, but warn that a financial investment of about $2 billion and a long-term commitment…