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Here we are at the end of 2021 and it’s time to look back at all of our podcasts from the last 12 months. Join the Teacher team in this episode as we cast our mind back and share our personal favourite episodes from this year. Hosts: Jo Earp and Dominique Russell

In today’s episode, we're delighted to be joined by Rebecca West, Deputy Principal Instructional Leader at Bonnyrigg Public School in Bonnyrigg, about an hour west from Sydney in New South Wales. Rebecca was this year named a Top 10 finalist for the Global Teacher Prize. She was selected from over 8000 nominees from over 100 countries, and has been recognised for her work at her primary school in supporting students with additional needs and refining the school’s professional development program so teachers can work through identified areas more in-depth than ever before. The Global Teacher Prize is an annual prize presented by The Varkey Foundation which recognises one teacher for their outstanding contribution to the profession. The winner takes home US $1 million, and this year that winner was high school English teacher Keishia Thorpe from Maryland in the United States. We’ll be catching up with her in the new year, so be sure to subscribe to our free Teacher bulletin at our website, teachermagazine.com,

As a school leader, what’s your response to negative events or difficult situations? In the upcoming school year, what areas might you choose to work collectively with staff on improving? We’ve unpacked these questions recently at Teacher, so in this episode we’re looking at leadership. Host: Dominique Russell

Professor Amy Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Education at Southern Cross University, joins The Research Files this month to talk about the Childhood Nature Play study. We’ll be chatting about the different types of nature play, and the teaching and learning resources that have been co-designed as a result of the research project. Host: Jo Earp Guest: Amy Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles

In this episode of Teaching Methods we’ll be looking at how PE teachers adapted to online learning during the pandemic. Our guest is Dr Vaughan Cruickshank and we’ll be discussing in this ‘emergency mode’ of teaching and learning, did PE happen at all? If it did, it more Physical Activity than Physical Education? And what lessons can we learn from this experience for the future? Guest: Dr Vaughan Cruickshank Host: Jo Earp

What is excellence in Indigenous education? This is a topic that’s been widely explored on Teacher this month and in today’s episode, we run you through some of the highlights. This includes a podcast on delivering Indigenous content in the curriculum, and a submission that explores how Indigenous peoples, school leaders and educators conceptualise what excellence in Indigenous education is or could be. Host: Rebecca Vukovic

In this episode of School Improvement, we’re taking you to Ireland, where research has recently been conducted looking at engaging students in the school self-evaluation process in a meaningful way. The research is outlined in the paper, Students as co-researchers in a school self-evaluation process, and the lead author, Shivaun O’Brien, joins us in this episode to unpack the impetus for the research and to talk us through some of the findings.

How effectively do you think you’re delivering Indigenous content in the curriculum? Would you say you have enough knowledge and confidence in this area? A program established by the University of New South Wales’ Matraville Education Partnership is looking to address these two areas of teacher practice. The Cultural Residents Project aims to support classroom teachers with improving their knowledge and confidence in teaching Indigenous content by giving them the opportunity to co-teach with a First Nations cultural educator. We're joined in this episode by Aunty Maxine Ryan, who is working across four different primary schools in Sydney’s eastern suburbs as a Cultural Resident, and Dr Rose Amazan, the lead research investigator working on the project. In this episode, Aunty Maxine and Rose share how the project works, and crucially, give some really helpful ideas on how teachers across the country can improve how they deliver Indigenous content in the curriculum, even when they’re not lucky enough to have

You might be aware that our annual reader survey has just wrapped up for another year. It’s an opportunity for you to tell us what content you’d like to hear from us in the future, and this year, many of you told us you’d like more information and support on inclusive education. Inclusive education is something we’ve covered a lot this month at Teacher, so it’s a good opportunity to put that in the spotlight in this episode. In today’s podcast we are going to get you up to speed on these exciting stories at Teacher, 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.

All three members of the editorial team are with you today for a special episode of The Research Files, to share some of the highlights from last month’s ACER Research Conference. The online event featured five days of keynotes, presentations, a research video showreel and a masterclass, all on the theme of ‘Excellent progress for every student: What will it take?’

Today is RUOK? Day, a national day of action here in Australia, dedicated to reminding everyone to check in on their loved ones and ask ‘Are you OK?’ For students, learning how to care for their own wellbeing and to support their peers to talk about how they feel is an important life lesson. In today’s episode, we're joined by Professor Fiona Brooks, a medical sociologist and a professor of child and family health at the University of Technology Sydney. The focus of today’s discussion is the relationship between mental health, wellbeing and student behaviour at school. But, we also explore the state of child and youth mental health in Australia, why it’s important to approach poor student behaviour with empathy and compassion, and why meaningful student-teacher relationships can make a significant difference in any child’s life. Host: Rebecca Vukovic Guest: Fiona Brooks Sponsor: Australian Volunteers

Our guest on today’s episode of School Improvement is Bernadette Hawker, Head of Department Teaching and Learning at Goondiwindi State High School in Queensland. We caught up with Bernie to talk about the school’s award-winning STEAM Program, which has been successful in improving student writing outcomes. You’ll also hear about the strong culture of sharing and collaboration among staff, including through Professional Learning Communities, that’s been key to the program’s continued growth and success. Host: Jo Earp Guest: Bernie Hawker

More than half of Australia’s population is under COVID-19 lockdowns, which means many of you are right in the thick of a long period of remote learning, maybe while trying to homeschool your own children at the same time. We’ve been separated from loved ones, we’ve missed important milestones and celebrations, and been restricted from doing some of the things we enjoy most. It’s no wonder our wellbeing has taken a hit. That’s why our fortnightly publication, Wellbeing by Teacher, may be just what you’re looking for. In today’s episode we run through some of the recent wellbeing pieces we’ve published, as well as some other highlights from a busy month here at Teacher. Host: Rebecca Vukovic Sponsor: The Hatchery Schools Learning Community

Our guest today is Dr Gary Stager, one of the world’s leading experts and advocates for computer programming, robotics and learning-by-doing in classrooms. He’s also a journalist, teacher educator, consultant, professor, software developer, publisher, school administrator, and presenter at conferences around the world – but we’ll have Gary explain to you a little more about his extensive and impressive work early on in the episode. The reason for our interview today is to talk about his 30-year study into laptop use in schools. In fact, in 1990, Gary led the professional development in the world’s first laptop school. We ask him about the challenges they faced back then in the implementation of the program, how students engaged with the technology in the early days, but also what he’s learned about the way computers are used in schools today. Guest: Gary Stager Host: Rebecca Vukovic Sponsor: The Hatchery Schools Learning Community

In this episode of School Improvement, we’re taking you to a school in rural New South Wales where they’ve seen students in Years 5 to 9 read 12 books a year, and a 40 per cent increase in male students reading beyond their assigned texts. It’s all because of the reading culture they’ve developed and Head of Middle School and English teacher Alex Wharton has had a key role in this. He’s been named a Commonwealth Bank Teaching Fellow this year for his work, and he joins us in today’s episode to discuss what they’ve implemented at Carinya Christian School to see more students pick up novels to read in their spare time. Alex shares some fantastic insights in this episode, so let’s jump straight in and hear first a little bit about the school context. Host: Dominique Russell Guest: Alex Wharton Sponsor: Australian Volunteers Program

With ACER’s Research Conference 2021 fast approaching, at Teacher magazine, we’ve been catching up with some of the keynote speakers that are on the line-up for the five-day online conference. The theme is: ‘Excellent progress for every student: What will it take?’ and, at the time of publishing this episode, you can still secure your registration. The conference kicks off on the 16th of August. In today’s episode we're going to get you up to speed on these exciting stories at Teacher, 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 could be relevant to your school context.

Teachers are thought of by many as an important role model in the community. And when it comes to drawing a line between a teacher’s professional and personal life, this can be challenging, particularly when it comes to their private use of social media. This idea has been explored by two researchers from the School of Law at Western Sydney University – Dr Sandy Noakes and Dr Sarah Hook. Their paper, which looks at the status of regulation of teacher behaviour on social media in Australia, found a huge variance in the social media policies that are in place for educators at schools across the country, and that there is room for teachers to be more aware of their rights in this area. The impetus for this research was a decision made by the High Court in Australia in 2019 on the Comcare and Banerji case, which you’ll hear Sarah and Sandy refer to throughout this episode. This case involved an employee of the Australian Human Rights Commission who used a private, anonymous Twitter account to criticise their emp

ACER’s Research Conference is back in 2021, after a COVID-19 pandemic pause last year. The fully online event kicks off in August, and runs from the 16th to the 20th. The 2021 theme is ‘Excellent progress for every student: What will it take?’ and will feature international researchers from a range of disciplines. One of the keynote speakers this year is Rich Lehrer, Professor Emeritus and Research Professor of Education at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. A former high school science teacher, Rich is a member of the National Academy of Education, a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association, and a recipient of the American Psychological Association’s Distinguished Contributions in Applications of Psychology to Education. Ahead of the event next month, we sat down with Rich to discuss his research that explores science and mathematics education for elementary school students in the US. He also gives listeners a taste of what he’ll be sharing at the conference and why he decided

In today’s episode we're shining a spotlight on reading, as it’s been a topic covered quite a lot on Teacher recently. From encouraging students to find a love of reading, to ensuring they have access to a wide variety of texts, to the books children borrowed most frequently from libraries in 2020 – there is so much to squeeze into this Teacher Staffroom episode. We’ll be posing questions throughout, so as always, feel free to pause the audio and consider the questions either by yourself or perhaps with some colleagues. Host: Rebecca Vukovic

A literature review undertaken by Hannah Yared from Monash University has examined racism and racial bias in the Australian primary school context. In total, six studies were examined for this research which uncovered four main themes. The first is a lack of teacher confidence and competency regarding racial issues. This meant that in general, teachers tend not be have the confidence to engage fully with racially diverse students, and to discuss racial issues in a meaningful way. The second theme was white normativity, which is in reference to the fact educators tend to position whiteness as the norm for which everything is compared to. Third was colour-blindness which in this instance refers to the belief that minimising discussions about racial differences or racism is actually better than drawing attention to them, which Hannah’s research found many teachers tend to believe. And the final theme was silencing, which refers to the silencing of discussions about racial issues. Crucially though, Hannah’s re