Short articles

In our most recent annual Teacher reader survey, many of you asked for more content and support in the area of explicit instruction. So, in this article, we delve into a new practice guide from the Australian Educational Research Organisation (AERO) on teaching explicitly.

For students who may not have access to appropriate books at home, libraries can play a key role in providing this access. New analysis of Australian data from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) sheds light on year 4 students’ access to school libraries, revealing 7% attend schools where they’re not allowed to borrow books to take home.

Is your school developing students that have the skills to thrive in work or further study after graduation? We spoke to one school that piloted a microcredential program, offering short courses to help their students build professional skills and habits that they can take into future study or work.

Offensive behaviour against school leaders in Australia is at record levels, and of those who have been subject to physical violence at work in the last 12 months students were the perpetrators in 96% of cases. In this 5-minute read we look at the results of the latest Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey.

‘We know that mathematics anxiety and poor mathematics attitudes negatively impact mathematical learning and achievement-related choices.’ In this article, Dr Shani Sniedze and Dr Sarah Buckley share details of new resources to foster positive mathematics engagement for all students in the classroom and reduce the negative impact of mathematics anxiety.

Culturally responsive teaching (CRT) seeks to improve the experiences and academic achievements of marginalised and minoritised learners. In this edition of Researching education: 5 further readings, you can read research on CRT, including building cultural competence among teachers, how to further develop culturally responsive pedagogies, and more.

‘Girls were more willing than boys to participate in school-based civic activities … but do not plan to be politically active.’ New data show female students are consistently outperforming males in the area of civic knowledge, yet they have lower political ambition. Find out more in today’s article.

In Australia, 12% of girls will have their first period between the ages of 8 and 11 years, but formal education on menstruation is not included in the curriculum until age 10 at the earliest. A new study has interviewed school staff to explore how teachers are supporting younger students experiencing menstruation, and ways to overcome any barriers.

‘Successful learning is built on people recognising your abilities and strengths and helping you to build on them.’ We speak to Sue Lowry, winner of the Telstra ARIA Music Teacher Award, about how she is delivering quality music education to students with special needs, and how they’re smashing expectations.

A report by Evidence for Learning has provided 6 practical recommendations to improve primary science. In this article, Teacher looks at one of the 6 recommendations – developing students’ scientific vocabulary.