Philosophy in schools. Philosophy is about asking childlike questions - how do we know the world exists? How do we know it hasn't just started existing? Why can't we go back in time? So why not teach philosophy in schools? It doesn't happen much in this country (it doesn't much happen anywhere) but it does go on in Queensland, and…
Tag Archives Schools
School Councils Get More Training. As school communities across the State begin their election processes for 2007, the Minister for Education, the Hon. John Lenders, has released new materials to support all school councils. Thousands of parent, community and teacher volunteers who sit on Victorian government school councils will now have the opportunity to be formally trained, the Minister for…
Teacher inquiry report now available. A unified, national approach to improve teacher education in Australia is the predominant theme of the House of Representatives Education and Vocational Training Committee's report on the inquiry into teacher education. The report, Top of the Class, makes a total of 12 recommendations. It proposes a powerful reform package of practical and achievable measures that…
How and why has teacher quality changed in Australia?. International research suggests that differences in teacher performance can explain a large portion of student achievement. Yet little is known about how the quality of the Australian teaching profession has changed over time. Using consistent data on the academic aptitude of new teachers, the report compares those who have entered the…
Future of schooling online conference begins. The free 2nd ACEL/Microsoft online conference on the future of schooling will be active until midnight Sunday 19 November 2006. Access a wide range of papers by classroom teachers, school leaders and education academics and take part in discussion with education colleagues in Australia and around the world. There is NO COST for participating…
Teachers are not as smart as they were 20 years ago, an Australian study by economists Andrew Leigh and Chris Ryan from the Australian National University concludes, in a finding that will reinforce concerns over declining classroom standards. The study used literacy and numeracy tests as the best proxy available for assessing teachers' academic abilities. Link: Teachers not so clever any…
Victorian Education Minister Lynne Kosky has accused private schools of misusing federal funds to poach elite students from government schools. Link: Private schools accused of misusing federal funds.
Don Edgar writes in The Age about the need to re-think schooling and learning and the role of the wider world, starting with the community. Personally, I don't think there is any other way forward.. [Source: The Age]
More and more parents are willing to make big sacrifices to send their children to private schools. And the schools are coming up with ways to help them pay. David Rood and Chee Chee Leung explain how - and why - they do it. Link: Average income, private school.