Victoria has been accused of having one of the country’s worst public school hiring systems, writes Katie Weiss, a freelance journalist and broadcaster.
Teachers
Eggers: Teachers are always the correct answer
You don’t blame the individual soldiers if the war is lost, you blame the generals and the military chiefs. So why do Americans blame teachers for the issues happening in education? asks author Dave Eggers and educator Ninive Clements Calegari.
Blackboard rumble: ACT schools in staffing crisis
If we manage to get a new government in place, lend an ear to the teachers, who really want to be equal partners in this education revolution, suggests Suzanne Kiraly, a Canberra writer.
Daily Proposition: Inspire a new generation of politics wonks
It is a universally accepted truth among the teaching profession that Civics and the Australian system of governance is one of the most mind-crampingly boring subjects imaginable to the average teenager. They need some inspiration, writes Michael Stuchbery.
Throw down your chalk and get ready for a real education revolution
The classroom is turning into the stage for an industrial action showdown, with the AEU banning teacher supervision of the controversial NAPLAN tests. Alienating educators is a risky move by Julia Gillard, writes teacher Fatima Measham.
We need to teach our teachers how to teach
The NAPLAN tests are completely unrealistic and unfair to teachers. How can teachers be expected to guide their students in literacy following the NAPLAN standards, if they themselves haven’t been taught it?
Leigh Sales: My first day of kindergarten
It’s back to school time! Leigh Sales, as “a rather big fly on the wall”, chronicles the first day of school for a new kindergarten teacher. There’s name tags, singing, a visit from the principal and even a princess.
Why NAPLAN’s a bad plan for your kid’s education
Rather than spending time figuring out how to motivate, inspire and engage children across key learning areas, NAPLAN tests are forcing teachers to just teach children how to take tests, writes Allan Sheffield.
What makes a great teacher?
An apt analysis from The Atlantic, given the local flap about ranking schools and educators: what traits set apart the Susan Kennedys and Mr Chips from the Mrs Krabapples and Mr Gs? US researchers say they’ve nailed it down.
Why it’s easier to pick a school in the UK than Oz
Tony Taylor asked his third year education students to assess which school system was the more transparent and helpful: Australia’s or the UK’s. Their answer was unanimous — and lends support to Julia Gillard’s proposals.
Taught by Frank McCourt
To a lucky few, Angela’s Ashes author Frank McCourt was Mr. McCourt, beloved storyteller, creative writing teacher, and master of Room 205 in the old Stuyvesant High School, says student Kenneth R. Weinstein.
History teaching: a problem of supply and demand
Education faculties and schools give limited attention to history teaching — and the hiring practices of educational systems place a low premium on expertise in history, writes Professor Stuart Mcintyre.
Lowbottom High Diaries: Online teacher infiltration
Meanwhile, in a cyber universe far far away (but paradoxically very near you), the kids are compiling their own league table, writes Trevor Diogenes.
Mass staff exodus at Mowbray College: 22 in one year
Of the 200 staff members at Melbourne’s Mowbray College, 22 are thought to have left or be about to leave the school this year.
Lowbottom High Diaries: Parent-teacher interview code revealed
A good part of the stress of parent-teacher interviews resides in the difficulty of tailoring the honest truth to what parents want to hear. Teachers, as a consequence, employ a kind of code, writes Trevor Diogenes.
Lowbottom High Diaries: Good morning sunshine
Getting public transport is a nightmare. Then school starts, writes Trevor Diogenes.
Teacher’s s-xual relationship treated like murder
Does a 28 year old school teacher who has a same s-x relationship with a 14-year-old student deserve the same jail time as the drunken person who kills another while driving? Asks Greg Barns.
Teachers’ rights, a parable
Political correctness in the area of child protection has reached dizzying heights of absurdity in its desire to ensure that students are safe from sexual misconduct by teachers, writes Greg Barns.
Lowbottom High Diaries: Springtime dreaming
As the class attends to some task which produces that rare thing, silence, the ear attunes to the sounds of the body educative, writes Trevor Diogenes.
A teacher’s letter to the PM
Until you start paying teachers decently as they work their way up the pay scale, you will never keep the good people in the job, writes Joycelyn Brewer
Lowbottom High Diaries: the Fu King iWing
As the Federal Minister understands only too well, information technology is the go and by attaching a lower-case “i” to a thing — anything — it acquires instant cred, writes Trevor Diogenes.
Lowbottom High Diaries: How to spot a dud teacher
The news that the Department is considering offering teachers past their use-by date a cash incentive to leave the profession has the common room all a-twitter, writes Trevor.
Lowbottom High Diaries: See how they grow
After two weeks on holiday, it becomes plain that a change has been wrought in our charges in the interim. Trevor Diogenes grows wistful.
Lowbottom High diaries: Teaching Types #2
There are fresh additions to the Lowbottom High staff room. Trevor Diogenes watches their progress.
Lowbottom diaries: An excursion in prose
Graffiti, an excursion, all in prose. From one average school high school teacher to you. By Trevor Diogenes.
