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At Teacher, we share useful evidence- and research-based resources to help you improve your skills and practice – whether it be research news or sharing the outstanding work that’s going on in schools. Recently, we’ve shared some stories on teachers seeking professional learning opportunities, teachers being inspired after attending a professional learning event, and what the research says about opportunities for future professional learning. In today’s episode we're going to get you up to speed on some of these stories, and also some more of our highlights from content we’ve recently published in case you might have missed it. And, like all episodes of Teacher Staffroom, we’ll be posing some questions throughout the podcast, so feel free to pause the audio as you go, gather some colleagues, and discuss together how these stories might be relevant to your school context.

Today, we’re speaking with Dr Jason Zagami, senior lecturer in the School of Education and Professional Studies at Griffith University in the Gold Coast, in Queensland. Dr Zagami is the author of a recent paper published by the Australian Computer Society, titled 'Computer education in Australian schools 2020: Enabling the next generation of IT professionals'. Since 2014, the new Digital Technologies subject has slowly commenced across all Australian states and territories. Navigating a new curriculum can be challenging, but it can also provide an exciting chance to improve opportunities for students and teachers, and to focus on school improvement more widely. So, whether you’re interested in student engagement, professional development, recruitment, or clarity on the curriculum, we cover a lot of ground in this podcast. Host: Zoe Kaskamanidis Guest: Dr Jason Zagami Podcast supporter: Family Planning NSW (https://www.fpnsw.org.au/)

At Teacher, we are often asked for more resources and information on behaviour management. In the latest episode in our Behaviour Management series, we spoke with Senior Lecturer and Course Leader for the Master of Applied Behaviour Analysis at Monash University, Dr Erin Leif, and Russell Fox, Lecturer in Behaviour Analysis, also from Monash University. They join us again in this episode, but this time, it’s to answer your questions that you submitted. We asked for these questions in our weekly Teacher bulletin, which is a free subscription you can sign up for at our website, teachermagazine.com. In this episode, we’re going to delve into the link between positive behaviour support and academic learning; how positive behaviour support can be integrated with the principles of trauma-informed practice; and how we can upskill other members of the school community to help us in this area. Let’s jump in. Guests: Dr Erin Leif and Russell Fox Host: Dominique Russell

Equal education involves many things – equal representation, participation, access to resources, and more. There’s a lot to explore around equal education in the Teacher archives, and in this episode of Teacher Staffroom, we’ll be sharing some recent examples with you. In today’s episode we're going to get you up to speed on these stories, and also some more of our highlights from this month. And, like all episodes of Teacher Staffroom, we’ll be posing some questions throughout the podcast, so feel free to pause the audio as you go, gather some colleagues, and discuss together how these stories might be relevant to your school context. Host: Zoe Kaskamanidis Podcast sponsor: MEGAMIX Social (https://www.artscentremelbourne.com.au/learn/schools-teachers/megamix-social)

It’s clear that books and resources have a big impact on student learning, so when schools are under-resourced, it can create extra barriers for students to engage with important content and can make it harder for teachers to teach. This problem is magnified even more when we’re talking about remote schools with limited access to resources, especially resources that connect schools with the important work and knowledge of First Scientists in Australia. We're joined in this episode by Corey Tutt OAM, founder and CEO of Deadly Science – an organisation that provides science resources to remote schools in Australia, to inspire and celebrate the next generation of Indigenous people in STEM. Host: Zoe Kaskamanidis Guest: Corey Tutt OAM Podcast sponsor: MEGAMIX Social (https://www.artscentremelbourne.com.au/learn/schools-teachers/megamix-social)

Each year at Teacher, we carry out a reader survey to give our readers and listeners an opportunity to tell us what kind of content you’d like to see from us. In our most recent survey responses, many of you told us you’d like more content on student absences. In this episode of The Research Files, we’ll be digging into the research on this topic with Kirsten Hancock, Honorary Research Associate from Telethon Kids Institute in Western Australia. So we know that students miss school for a whole range of different reasons, such as illness, suspension, or family holidays. And a missed day of school might just seem like a missed day at school, but research is showing that the effect on student achievement can vary considerably depending on the reason for absence. Today we’ll be taking a look at some of the concepts covered in Kirsten’s research on the reasons behind student absences, including how different types of absences affect student outcomes, and what families and schools can do to tailor their support t

We know that helping students to develop their skills in the general capabilities is essential for preparing them to succeed in a modern society. There are many examples in the Teacher archive of schools giving students the opportunity to be critical and creative thinkers, and in this edition of Teacher Staffroom, we share some recent examples with you. In today’s episode we're going to get you up to speed on some of these examples, and also some more of my highlights. And, like all episodes of Teacher Staffroom, we’ll be posing some questions throughout the podcast, so feel free to pause the audio as you go, gather some colleagues and discuss together how these stories might be relevant to your school context. Host: Dominique Russell

Our guest in this episode is Professor Pauline Taylor-Guy, Director of the ACER Institute and the Centre for School and System Improvement. It’s almost two years to the day since we caught up with Pauline for a podcast special where we talked about how schools had adapted to emergency remote teaching following the first COVID lockdown. As she travels across Australia working with educators and systems, we thought we’d check in with her again to see how things have changed for schools and what the priorities are now for teachers, principals and communities on the ground. Host: Jo Earp Guest: Professor Pauline Taylor-Guy Podcast supporter: Bank First (www.bankfirst.com.au)

How can we support reading aloud in the early years, at school and at home? And how does reading aloud affect our lives in the long term? In this episode of the research files, we're joined by Professor Emerita Rosemary Johnston AM from the University of Technology in Sydney. Today we’ll be unpacking some of the research on the benefits and joys of reading aloud, how it impacts our learning, and how we can continue to support reading aloud at school and at home. Host: Zoe Kaskamanidis Guest: Professor Emerita Rosemary Johnston AM Podcast supporter: QT Academy (https://qtr.edu.au/)

As a school leader, how do you apply research in education to your practice? How does it inform the goals and progress of your school? This month at Teacher, we’ve been digging into the research to bring you updates from Australia and abroad. This month at Teacher we’ve been digging into the research to bring you updates from Australia and abroad. In today’s episode I’m going to get you up to speed on these stories, and also some more of my highlights. And, like all episodes of Teacher Staffroom, we’ll be posing some questions throughout the podcast, so feel free to pause the audio as you go, gather some colleagues and discuss together how these stories might be relevant to your school context. Host: Zoe Kaskamanidis

In today’s episode, we’re speaking with Dr Ilana Finefter-Rosenbluh, a Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Monash University, who has recently published a paper sharing the findings of a study she conducted with her colleagues looking into the impact of student perception surveys on teachers’ practice. Are student perception surveys something you utilise in your school setting? If they are, how effectively are you using the feedback given to you by your students? Do you feel as though you are well-equipped as a teacher to act on this feedback? If your answer is no, and you’re instead left feeling overwhelmed and unsure how to approach acting on this feedback, you’re definitely not alone. This study found that students tend to see no significant change in teacher practice after completing student perception surveys, and that while teachers value the insights given by student perception surveys, they need more support to be able to act on the feedback in a productive way. In our discussion, Ilana will s

What makes leadership impactful in regional, rural and remote schools? And how can schools start to establish a robust framework for creating positive impact in the long term? In this episode of the Research Files, we're joined by Scott Eacott, Professor of Education in the School of Education, and Deputy Director of the Gonski Institute for Education at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. Throughout his career, Scott has researched how education can be best organised to ensure equitable and inclusive education for all. Today, we’ll be unpacking some of the concepts covered in his recent research on leadership in regional, rural and remote schools. Host: Zoe Kaskamanidis Guest: Professor Scott Eacott Podcast sponsor: TruSens (https://www.trusens.com/en-au/)

As a school leader, recruiting new staff has likely always been a complex issue and pressing problem. Add the disruption and lifestyle changes brought on by COVID-19 to the mix, and you’ve got an even more complicated picture. We’ve been taking a look at this issue this month at Teacher. In today’s episode I’m going to get you up to speed on these stories, and also some more of my highlights. And, like all episodes of Teacher Staffroom, I’ll be posing some questions throughout the podcast, so feel free to pause the audio as you go, gather some colleagues and discuss together how these stories might be relevant to your school context. Host: Dominique Russell Podcast sponsor: Bank First

Our guest for this episode of School Improvement is Judith Weir, Principal of Our Lady of Mercy College (OLMC) Heidelberg. We caught up with her at the start of the school year here in Australia, to talk about leadership, strategic planning, how to balance competing priorities, the impact of COVID on student wellbeing and the importance of professional mentoring. Host: Jo Earp Guest: Judith Weir

As a teacher, how can you best manage when a student in your classroom makes an inappropriate comment in the middle of the lesson, catching you off-guard and disrupting other students too? What about when this behaviour happens in the playground? And, what if the comments that they’re making are offensive? In this episode of Behaviour Management, we unpack these questions in-depth with our two guests – Senior Lecturer and Course Leader for the Master of Applied Behaviour Analysis at Monash University, Erin Leif, and Russell Fox, Lecturer in Behaviour Analysis, also from Monash University. We also delve into how school leaders can best support their staff in this area in this episode. Host: Dominique Russell Guests: Dr Erin Leif and Russell Fox

As we’ve seen demonstrated time and time again over the past two years, school communities have been innovative with their technology use to ensure a continuity of learning for students throughout the disruptions to school. In our first episode of Teacher Staffroom for 2022, we're sharing with you some recent pieces of content from us that demonstrate how technology is supporting schools in Australia and beyond. In today’s episode we're going to get you up to speed on all of these stories, and also some more of our highlights. And, like all episodes of Teacher Staffroom, we’ll be posing some questions throughout the podcast, so feel free to pause the audio as you go, gather some colleagues and discuss together how these stories might be relevant to your school context. Host: Dominique Russell

Each year, two educators in Australia are named winners of the Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching – one primary school teacher, and one secondary school teacher. For 2021, the primary school teacher named winner was Megan Hayes from Mudgeeraba Creek State School in Queensland, and Scott Graham from Barker College in Sydney was the recipient for the secondary teacher award. We caught up with both Megan and Scott late last year to find out a little bit more about the work they’re doing in the classroom and in their wider school community. We’re bringing you these conversations in this episode. Host: Dominique Russell Guests: Scott Graham and Megan Hayes

The high school years are an important steppingstone to future study and career opportunities, but it can also be a difficult time for some students. So, how can teachers and leaders support teenagers who are not engaged with their studies or who may be at risk of dropping out of school all together? Our guest on episode 72 of The Research Files is Professor Joseph Ciarrochi from Australian Catholic University’s Institute for Positive Psychology and Education. He’s the lead researcher for projectHOPE – a program that’s notched up success in re-engaging at-risk secondary students with their schooling. Through projectHOPE, students are connected to qualified mentors. Now, the particularly good news is that researchers found that just a 15-minute online mentoring session once a week made a big difference. In this episode we’ll find out more about the research team, how the program works, and the impact on students – including their wellbeing and engagement at school. Host: Jo Earp Guest: Professor Joseph Ciarroc

In Australia, we’re at the start of another school year. That likely means new students and possibly a new learning space to set up. For those students who are moving up from preschool or primary or for those educators who switched jobs in the summer, it could mean getting to grips with completely different surroundings at a new school. In this special episode, we’ve gathered a panel of experienced teachers and leaders, who will be sharing their priorities, strategies and tips for those first few weeks and for a successful year. There’s some great advice on things like classroom displays, professional learning needs, authentic activities, positive behaviour management, keeping on top of your email inbox and there’s lots more – so, let’s jump in. Host: Jo Earp Guests: Rebecca West, Holly Millican, Nicole Wilson, David Webster, Lisa Seewraj, and Alex Wharton.

Happy New Year from the team at Teacher magazine. In this bonus podcast episode, we’re delighted to share with you a sneak preview into what we have in the pipeline for Teacher podcasts in 2022. Host: Dominique Russell