Australian Curriculum teaching and learning

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https://www.educationmattersmag.com.au/the-australian-mathematics-curriculum-where-did-we-go-wrong-where-can-we-go-right/ Mon, 10 Aug 2020 04:39:48 +0000 https://www.educationmattersmag.com.au/?p=10461 Written by James Burnett This past month, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) began its review of the …

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]]> Written by James Burnett

This past month, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) began its review of the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics to “refine, realign and declutter” the content. This was most likely due to Australia’s poor showing on recent international tests in mathematics. The original standards were written with the intention of addressing the “inch deep and mile wide” curricula that each state had at that time. It’s aim was to provide greater focus to key content in the years where it mattered most, while also freeing up teachers’ time to address that refocus by removing the less essential content. Unfortunately, they missed the mark. Although ACARA affirms that the current standards are “consistent with some of the best curricula internationally,” we are still using valuable teaching hours in the early grades to address less relevant topics, such as probability. Incidentally, our economic peers in Singapore, Finland, and the USA all omitted probability from the early years of their primary curricula long ago.

I recently took the time to review Singapore’s primary mathematics syllabus, as it is the first of four curricula that ACARA has benchmarked the Australian mathematics curriculum against (see the link to the review on the ACARA homepage). I also chose Singapore from the list as it is an English-speaking country that consistently ranks Number 1 or 2 on the TIMMS or PISA international tests. As such, I believe there is no better curriculum to benchmark against.

With considerable research (Siegler, 2012, 2015, 2016) showing that success in high school mathematics is closely correlated with student’s confidence with common fractions, I started with a high-level review of how the Singapore curriculum addresses this content compared to ACARA. The next step will be to analyse the details.

Notably, the Australian standards in mathematics have exactly 12 briefly worded standards across Foundation to Year 6 that are specifically written to address common fractions. In contrast, Singapore provides 28 highly detailed standards, specific to common fractions. Furthermore, it is not just the number of standards that give common fractions the focus it deserves. The Singapore Ministry of Education uses no fewer than 880 words to elaborate on their standards for teachers, serving to remove the uncertainties of what to teach. By comparison, ACARA uses only 360 words.

I have a Masters in Mathematics Education. I founded Origo Education, which has become Australia’s biggest mathematics education company, and in doing so, I have lived and breathed primary mathematics for almost 30 years. In that time, I have contributed to over 300 resources for teachers and students, including several mathematics programs that align with different curricula from around the world. Therefore, I feel uniquely positioned to assert that, if I need more details to know how to address particular standards, then teachers will also. And Australia’s current mathematics standards are the vaguest I have seen.

In short, our current primary standards on common fractions are scant and lack the real “meat” that truly assists teachers in knowing what they must do. I can only hope that ACARA truly declutters and realigns the content to give a greater focus on common fractions in the primary years (F-6). Essentially, more needs to be done, and it needs to be done much earlier than it is currently.

I will be hosting five free 30-minute webinars each week on developing the concepts and skills of common fractions starting on the 12th of August at 3:30 pm.

To register your attendance, visit www.origoeducation.com.au/fractions-pl

About the Author
James Burnett is an educator, author, publisher and father of three. He has been in mathematics education for more than 25 years, and is passionate about helping primary school children enjoy and better understand maths through the work he does as the Founder and Executive Chairperson of Origo Education. His team created ORIGO at Home to help during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as weekly, digital content plans for home use. The weekly plans contain activities for each day, along with digitally accessible or downloadable resources, designed for delivery by a caregiver, tutor or remote teacher. These resources complement the mathematical concepts and skills students are learning at their year level. It also created ORIGO One videos to support tutors in creating light bulb moments for their students.

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https://www.educationmattersmag.com.au/mathematics-success-at-the-secondary-level/ Sun, 01 Mar 2020 04:56:07 +0000 https://www.educationmattersmag.com.au/?p=9405 Professor Kim Beswick from the University of New South Wales discusses her research into Mathematics success and engagement at the …

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]]> Professor Kim Beswick from the University of New South Wales discusses her research into Mathematics success and engagement at the secondary level, highlighting the importance of teaching low attainers to act like high attainers, and learn in the same ways that successful learners learn.

I recently had the pleasure of working on a grant application with a colleague with whom I had not worked before. He has been successful in these endeavours in the past, so I expected to learn things – and I did. The chance to observe his processes and thinking will help me to write better applications in the future. The experience prompted me to reflect on Mathematics classrooms and how we might provide similar learning opportunities for students.

Mathematics classes in secondary schools are typically streamed by ability at least by Year 9. Although there is still a wide range of attainment in these supposedly homogenised groups, lower attainers have no opportunity to learn from the best Mathematics students. It is worth considering whether low attainers, and indeed any students, might do better if they were taught to do what the best students have figured out how to do.

When I asked a group of 18 secondary Mathematics teachers to describe their most and least capable students, the most commonly mentioned characteristics of the skills and knowledge of poor students were their lack of basic computational skills, poor understanding, lack of prior knowledge and difficulty grasping new concepts. Conversely, the best students were described as fluent with multiplication tables, understanding concepts, having broad background knowledge, being able to pick up new methods and explanation quickly and able to grasp concepts intuitively.

None of that is surprising but the non-cognitive characteristics they mentioned suggest ways teachers might intervene. Poor Mathematics students were described as disliking Mathematics and being unwilling to attempt difficult work, whereas their capable peers had positive attitudes towards Mathematics and even a love for the subject. The weakest students miss lessons, are inattentive, disruptive, unwilling to seek help and have poor concentration. The best students attempt the hardest problems, approach problems methodically, take initiative to figure things out, set goals, make lots of effort, and learn from mistakes.

We cannot simply tell students to feel differently about Mathematics, to be more confident or motivated, or to have a growth mindset. It is understandable that students who have not been successful would not like the subject and might find ways to avoid experiencing failure again. Teachers in this study seemed to recognise this. When asked how they would help these students make progress they said that these students needed to develop confidence and motivation and that they would assign them work that was easy enough for success to be likely, provide lots of hands-on practical tasks and tasks that were relevant to them. Successful students would be provided with challenging, open-ended and problem-solving tasks, and encouraged to work hard and extend their knowledge.

At one level this is logical and certainly well-meaning but how will low attainers ever learn to attempt difficult tasks, or to persevere if they are not offered challenging tasks that come with a risk of failure? Is succeeding at work you know is below the standard expected of most students really likely to build confidence and motivation? Might it not simply reinforce that you are not capable of learning Mathematics? If that is the case, why would you try? Teachers’ good intentions tend to play out as low attainers being given a mathematically impoverished diet of repetitive low-level tasks aimed at strengthening basic number work with the intention, at best, of laying the groundwork for higher level tasks sometime in the future. This progression almost never happens. Rather, the usual outcome is more avoidance and disruption (or passive tuning out), increasing dislike for the subject and continued under-achievement. So, what might we do instead?

However students are grouped, they must know, not simply be told, that their teacher truly believes they can learn Mathematics. This means expecting them to learn the mandated content of the Australian Curriculum (or state-based version thereof) and teaching them how to do that. If students know that success at ‘proper’ Mathematics is possible and that failure is safe, they will work hard and enjoy the satisfaction of hard-earned success. For example, if capable students approach problems methodically, how can other students be taught to do that? What does it look like? What exactly is it that capable students do? What might students do when they don’t know what to do? What do successful students do in these circumstances? How can students learn from getting things wrong? These kinds of questions develop students’ metacognition.

Students who are currently low attainers have gaps in their knowledge, often of quite basic things like number facts and almost always have problems with major concepts like proportional reasoning. It is important to remember that learning primary school content as a 14 or 15-year-old is different from learning it as a primary school student.

Filling the gaps does not have to take a lot of time and, most importantly, does not need to prevent learning year level curriculum.

If teachers start from an assumption that all students can learn the year level curriculum and convey this belief to students through their actions – i.e. teaching that curriculum to all of them and framing difficulties as shared problems that need to be tackled and solved together – almost all students will rise to the opportunity (once they believe the teacher thinks they can learn). Students need to also be taught how to learn better by challenging them to think about how successful students learn and how they can do those things as well. Students need to know that solving problems they encounter in their learning requires them to do their best. They also need to know that their teacher sees student difficulties not as evidence of inability but as opportunities to reflect on their teaching and to find new ways to represent and explain concepts, and to understand student thinking in order to address misunderstandings that result from gaps in prior learning.

In my experience, the most relevant concern of teenagers is to fit in with their peers and to avoid looking foolish in the eyes of those peers. The opportunity to succeed at the same Mathematics that their peers are learning is highly motivating and means that filling gaps in prior knowledge in the context of learning year level appropriate Mathematics is much easier and more likely to be effective than trying to address the gaps in advance.

No matter how successful they already are, everyone can learn by considering how others learn and think, and learning to reflect on their own learning processes. Teaching low attainers to learn in ways that successful students learn, and believing they can, can help high expectations lead to high attainment.

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https://www.educationmattersmag.com.au/facts-and-fishes-new-animal-protection-education-resources/ Tue, 18 Feb 2020 05:01:28 +0000 https://www.educationmattersmag.com.au/?p=9838 Voiceless has released its latest classroom resource suite ‘Facts and Fishes’, providing scientifically backed information on fish sentience and addressing …

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]]> Voiceless has released its latest classroom resource suite ‘Facts and Fishes’, providing scientifically backed information on fish sentience and addressing many of the misconceptions surrounding fish capabilities and intelligence.

This is the seventh educational program for high school students that has been released by Voiceless, an animal protection institute and national think tank devoted to Animal Protection Education (APE).

Designed for Year 7 Science, Facts and Fishes is suite of resources that allow students to dive into the wonders of the animal kingdom beneath the sea over 6-8 weeks. Through informative, accurate and scientific resources, students explore the watery world of fishes.

Students are encouraged to bring their inquiry and critical thinking skills to the fore as they investigate the intelligence, memory, capabilities, sentience and culture of fishes.

The suite of professionally developed resources aims to introduce students to a wide range of issues and concepts by encouraging research, critical thinking, discussion and debate.

Facts and Fishes also addresses the cross-curricular priority of Sustainability, with an emphasis on the concept that all life forms, including human life, are connected through ecosystems on which they depend for their wellbeing and survival.

Through these Science classroom resources, students learn:

• The many capabilities of fishes
• The science behind the sentience of fishes
• To think critically about animal protection issues
• The importance of sustainability

The Facts and Fishes resources include a scientifically backed Fact Sheet, lessons for teachers, student worksheets, podcasts featuring experts in the field and an animated video.

“Voiceless decided to create an educational resource suite for Year 7 Science on this topic, as we think it is crucial that students understand that fishes are thinking, feeling creatures. We are trying to bust the many misleading myths surrounding these fascinating animals,” said Hanna Lucas, Education Program Coordinator at Voiceless.

To access the full suite of Facts and Fishes resources, please click here or to access the podcast, click here.

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https://www.educationmattersmag.com.au/astrobiology-helps-students-understand-the-nature-of-science/ Thu, 30 Jan 2020 02:50:58 +0000 https://www.educationmattersmag.com.au/?p=9778 As part of a new UNSW Sydney study, secondary students were introduced to the study of astrobiology to demonstrate “how …

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]]> As part of a new UNSW Sydney study, secondary students were introduced to the study of astrobiology to demonstrate “how science is done outside of a classroom”, with results showing it helped to instil a more accurate view of the nature of science: one that included the use of creativity and imagination.

Astrobiology is the study of life’s origins, distribution, and future in the universe. Based around the Mission to Mars program at the Victorian Space Science Education Centre, the study surveyed 483 students from Years 7-10 between May and September 2018.

Of the students, 143 responded to the presurvey, and of these 76 responded to the postsurvey. Analysis of their written responses revealed “cognitive conflict” – a sign that newly gained information is in tension with current knowledge. In this case, their understanding of the nature of science was being radically challenged.

Post-test trends highlighted an increase in student acknowledgement of how acts of interpretation, creativity and imagination operate in science.

The authors – PhD Candidate Isabelle Kingsley, Dr Carol Oliver, and Dr Eve Slavich – believe “this trend points to a shift in students’ views toward a more informed understanding that scientists’ interpretations are influenced by their background, experience, and creativity, suggesting a greater awareness of the subjective, tentative and creative nature of science.”

Both this study and previous ones attempted the same thing using quantitative data analysis but were unable to identify a shift in student understandings. The true results were “hidden in the figures”, only to be revealed when students wrote about their experiences.

“These results suggest that students were actively re-evaluating their existing ideas of the nature of science,” the researchers write, “but that those ideas had not been fully integrated into their knowledge structures. This may be evidence that students were engaged in the process of assimilation and accommodation – that is, adapting or altering their existing knowledge structures to integrate new information gained from the astrobiology experience.”

It might be reasonable to ask why we need to address students’ knowledge of the nature of science, given that the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (2018) designates it as part of the school curriculum and STEM is being strongly promoted.

According to the researchers, while students do learn about the nature of science, they “still consistently demonstrate inadequate conceptions”.

“Certain critical elements … are overlooked, in particular the role of creativity and imagination in scientific practice.”

Other explanations include the content-focused, rote learning approach adopted in schools, leading students to misconstrue the true nature of scientific work and science generally.

“Lectures, worksheets, and laboratory experiments that use a recipe-like method – the scientific method – result in students viewing science as rigid, linear, absolute, and uncreative.

“How students view the nature of science is considered fundamental to shaping their frame of reference for making sense of scientific knowledge, practice, and implications,” they said. “Science educator Harold Saunders was right to call it the most important purpose of science teaching”.

The researchers warn that their sample size limits the conclusions that should be drawn from their work. Nonetheless, they conclude that “astrobiology programs can effect some change in students’ views of the nature of science and may be useful in helping students to take their first steps toward comprehending how science is done.”

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https://www.educationmattersmag.com.au/stem-education-learning-from-primary-teachers/ Tue, 14 Jan 2020 02:02:30 +0000 https://www.educationmattersmag.com.au/?p=9271 STEM expert Dr Kathy Smith, from Monash University, discusses the challenges of STEM education and how we can learn from …

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]]> STEM expert Dr Kathy Smith, from Monash University, discusses the challenges of STEM education and how we can learn from the work currently being done by primary teachers.

What is STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education? It is difficult for teachers to provide a succinct and clear response to this question because they know they are dealing with more than a simple acronym. In their eyes, STEM education embodies professional responsibilities to students and families, professional accountability to both curriculum and assessment regimes, and concerns about their personal ability to support every student in all STEM areas. Through the eyes of teachers, STEM education involves much more than economic rhetoric of future jobs and national competitiveness in global markets. Teachers face a different professional reality.

The descriptions of STEM education that teachers share with me in response to this question are insightful. They cite the importance of developing critical thinkers to solve real world problems and the need to develop learning approaches which enable students to: understand the ethical/moral/historical implications of authentic world problems; design solutions through innovation and experimentation; find different ways of thinking; use a hands-on approach working within multifaceted teams that value collaboration; and evaluate a solution and the impact of a chosen approach. Teachers know what matters in STEM education. The next big challenge is: how do they make this happen in their school and with their class?

While it is still early days, primary schools have started to lead the way, showing that STEM education can be successfully embedded within whole school practice. For many schools this happens in small steps as staff work to develop careful and considered approaches. Noticing what these teachers are paying attention to as they do this may provide some valuable insights about how to effectively develop STEM education at all levels.

Aspirational dispositions
It appears valuable for staff to work together to determine the key attributes that are most important for learners. Staff at St Joseph’s Primary School in Hawthorn, Victoria, have developed a list of aspirational dispositions and while this is not intended to be seen as definitive, it is a statement about what they agree is important for their students at this point in time. These aspirations include students being flexible and responsive to circumstance, creative and critical thinkers, effective and articulate communicators, and informed and active citizens, etc. STEM education would clearly add value to the development of the dispositions identified by the staff at St Joseph’s. In this context, STEM education adds value to the school’s learning agenda.

Teaching approach
Reaching a consensus about preferred teaching approaches is also important as these decisions guide teacher planning. Many primary schools already use schoolwide approaches to learning and teaching, e.g. integrated inquiry. The International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Program, characterised by an inquiry led, transdisciplinary framework, is an example of such an approach. This approach provides opportunity for primary teachers to challenge students to think for themselves and take responsibility for their learning. In IB schools, teachers are expected to use this approach to explore local and global issues and opportunities in real-life contexts. These types of learning experiences complement many of the underlying intentions which teachers described for STEM education. The transdisciplinary approach also has the potential to explore the nature of the knowledge which defines each STEM discipline while examining how each brings a unique lens to problem solving. Following a consistent planning approach across a school ensures that STEM education is embedded within existing teaching and learning.

Finding STEM opportunities in existing units
Supporting teachers to find STEM learning opportunities within existing teaching units allows teachers to work with familiar topics in different ways. ‘Sustainability’ and ‘Change’ are inquiry topics commonly embedded within the planning cycles of many primary schools. A teacher who encouraged a group of Year 6 boys to address an existing waste problem within the school by working to design an interactive rubbish bin for students in the junior levels, opened the opportunity for these students to showcase their work at a sector-wide event. Through a partnership with a local community conservation group, another teacher enabled students to develop a water pollution filter for use in a local waterway. Finding opportunities within existing units is a great place to start.

Seeking outside expertise
Primary teachers also readily identify a need to enhance the skills and knowledge they bring to STEM education. As generalist teachers, many actively seek the involvement of expertise from the wider community. Some schools acknowledge the expertise of parents by inviting them to participate in class activities and contribute to ongoing projects.

Parents are invited as guest speakers; and engineers, health workers, electricians, builders, chefs, etc. are all sourced from the local school community. Other primary schools are reaching out to establish mutually beneficial partnerships with local community organisations and approaching local businesses to support the supply of STEM materials when budgets are limited.

STEM education is exciting but also challenging. While teachers know what matters for their students’ learning, it is sometimes difficult to find ways to effectively develop school-based STEM education. There may be much to learn from the simple steps that primary schools are taking to develop careful and considered approaches.

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https://www.educationmattersmag.com.au/encourage-stem-to-fight-climate-change/ Thu, 24 Oct 2019 01:19:52 +0000 https://www.educationmattersmag.com.au/?p=9502 Participation in STEM subjects can help arm students with the skills needed to tackle climate change issues now and in …

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]]> Participation in STEM subjects can help arm students with the skills needed to tackle climate change issues now and in the future, according to Jane Lowney, Head of Engineering and Infrastructure at recruitment firm Robert Walters.

With thousands of Australian students recently joining their peers from over 82 countries in pressuring world leaders to address climate change, attention must now turn to how we can better support their passionate pleas into future careers.

The commitment demonstrated by students across the globe is testament to the importance that our next generations are placing on reversing the global carbon footprint. However, the question remains; What is the best way to leverage this passion in order to access a career that will enable them to better protect the environment?

I believe that to unlock the passion we must position Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) participation as one of a number of solutions to the climate change debate.

It is not surprising that STEM is one of the key elements in unlocking the potential to help solve climate change related issues. However, pupil enrolments in STEM subjects has continued to fall across all education levels.

According to the most recent National Scientific Statement, participation in STEM subjects in Australian schools is at the lowest level in 20 years. This is directly converting to declining participation in STEM related careers, with the proportion of Australia’s population aged 20 to 64 with post-school qualifications in STEM dwindling compared to a decade ago.

And the decline in interest in STEM fields is surprising given the significant funds ($64 million in government funding for school STEM initiatives) that has been provided to promote them.

The general consensus among policymakers is that STEM jobs will become more and more important as technology plays an ever-increasing role in the economy, and what I am witnessing is the huge demand by employers for STEM skills, even for roles where STEM qualifications are not a prerequisite.

In turn this may partially explain why Australian businesses are now reporting skill shortages well above the average level seen since the turn of the millennium.

Australians, in a broader sense, may not actually be learning the skills that are required now and in the future, which includes the skills required to combat climate change.

For policymakers, employers, parents and their children these facts, figures, forecasts and trends should be as equally alarming as our energy usage and carbon emissions.

At the compulsory school level students are already exploring climate change as an issue the world needs to address. We need to encourage them further by connecting the dots between climate change, STEM and the subsequent career opportunities that are available to them that will make a difference.

For those students closer to university there has never been a wider range of STEM opportunities available to them. Responsibility must also be placed on a student’s sphere of influence (parents, family members, mentors, teachers and career councillors) to further encourage them into STEM careers.

The challenge is how we collectively engage young people into STEM while fuelling the flame and their passion for the environment. The solution is to appeal to the hearts and minds of our next generation’s commitment to the environment and subsequently into STEM related careers.

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https://www.educationmattersmag.com.au/girls-and-stem-overcoming-challenges/ Tue, 15 Oct 2019 01:26:48 +0000 https://www.educationmattersmag.com.au/?p=9333 Associate Professor in Science Education at Deakin University, Linda Hobbs, discusses the underrepresentation of girls in STEM, highlighting some of …

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]]> Associate Professor in Science Education at Deakin University, Linda Hobbs, discusses the underrepresentation of girls in STEM, highlighting some of the most prevalent challenges and what we can do to help overcome them.

Some time ago I spoke to a teacher who brought his Year 9 and 10 elective flight class from his rural school to my university for some engineering activities. There was one girl in a class of 16. On querying this poor female representation in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subject, the teacher said that girls sign up in droves to a girls-only woodwork class. So, what does this say about how we can encourage girls to follow STEM careers?

STEM is and will be increasingly important to the lives and work of today’s young people.However, STEM subjects at school remain less attractive than other options, and pathways into tertiary STEM degrees are resulting in fewer graduates heading into STEM careers. While teachers have a desire to positively influence their students, there are factors within and outside of school that influence girls’ orientation towards STEM and whether they choose to participate or not.

But if participation is about choice, then what are the barriers to choice? The world of STEM is not like that girls’ woodwork class. It is more like that flight class, where there might be equal choice for girls and boys to participate, but girls just choose not to. But is there equal choice? What role does unconscious bias play? In a study of Year 10 girls’ perceptions of engineers in 2003 (Darby, Hall, Dowling and Kentish, ‘Perceptions of engineering from female secondary college students in regional Victoria’), I found that the barriers to participation in STEM are the same today: That is, when there is a lack of knowledge, and attractive and attainable role models, girls tend to rely on society’s expectations and images of STEM-related careers as traditionally male. This results in a lack of interest in the perceived image. They therefore choose not to participate.

I asked my 11-year-old daughter why she thought girls did not want to do that flight class, but would sign up to a girls’ woodwork class. Her experience at 11 is that boys can make girls feel uncomfortable. Also that boys can be overly critical of the girls when it is a typical ‘boy’ thing to do.

So what does this say about how to create an environment and society where unconscious bias is removed from the career choices of girls and women? The girls’ woodwork class is one step. But removing males from traditional male roles just leaves women, which is not the aim either. Getting to 50:50 is therefore a significant challenge.

The 2017 report ‘Girls’ Future – Our Future: The Invergowrie Foundation STEM Report’ provides important commentary not just on the issues influencing women in STEM; but also how as enablers we can influence the culture within which young girls and women can be raised. The critical role of schools and teachers is fore fronted, as is the importance of these enablers working with industry, businesses and those responsible for creating, imagining, representing and doing. The challenge is to create successful learning experiences where girls can be exposed to a spectrum of real possibilities for their futures.
Opening up choice for young people, especially girls, means owning up to the challenges and looking for solutions. Here are some:

Challenge 1: There is a disproportionate representation of females in STEM, limiting diversity in the workplace.

Solution: Continue to enable girls to make balanced and informed choices about their futures. Embracing the language of diversity in the workplace and classroom enables more creative solutions and better conditions for both males and females.

Challenge 2: Outdated and misinformed career advice can lead girls astray, limiting their future career choices and participation in a STEM-rich society.

Solution: De-mystify ‘STEM jobs’ for students, teachers and parents through an education campaign in order to focus advisors, young people and their families on possible jobs of the future and the associated subject choices in high school. Increase visibility of the STEM sector so that young people are aware of new and possible futures.

Challenge 3: The wrong teachers may be teaching STEM subjects in secondary schools, limiting exposure to inspiring STEM-experienced teachers. While Australian teachers are highly qualified, there are no restrictions on which subjects they will be required to teach. A shortage of teachers with a background in STEM means we have relatively high levels of out-of-field teaching in Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics.

Solution: Attract more Mathematics and Science teachers, and address systemic pressures (shortage of teachers, unequal distribution of teachers) that result in the need for out-of-field teaching. More resources and due consideration needs to be given to supporting existing teachers to re-specialise.

Challenge 4: Teachers face challenges in creating and implementing contemporary STEM curriculum, leading to a tendency to maintain the status quo of traditional siloed approaches to teaching Mathematics, Science and Technology.

Solution: Support teacher and school change through targeted professional learning and time for curriculum renewal. Little evidence is currently available of the longitudinal effects of one-off events nor the effects of the accumulation of experiences. Indications from ‘Girls’ Future – Our Future’, however, suggest that immersion in multiple events may have the greatest impact on identity development. Therefore, a regional approach to STEM renewal with regular STEM immersion activities and events stands to have the greatest impact on normalising STEM as a valued, achievable and socially acceptable/supported career option for young people.

Challenge 5: Unattractive STEM curriculum for girls, leading to poor engagement at school.

Solution: Consider pedagogies that are inclusive of all learning styles in Science and Mathematics subjects so as not to reinforce gender stereotypes. A move towards more inclusive pedagogies is likely to cater for the range of interests in the classroom, including girls and boys. It is important to not make assumptions about what girls want. Girls’ interests, learning styles and preferred ways of working are diverse: There’s not one thing called a girl, there are a billion, all with different likes and personalities, and so on.

Challenge 6: Unattractive storyline of STEM careers, leading to poor STEM identity development.

Solution: Produce stories about STEM in life and as career pathways to assist with creating positive STEM identities for girls. When STEM role models are lacking in a girl’s life, effort needs to be made beyond simple profiling of individual ‘superstars’ of STEM. Programs that bring girls together with people from industry and STEM professions potentially have greater impact.

In conclusion, STEM will be a critical part of the future of our young people. Attending to these key challenges will be critical to ensure that young people have the benefits of full participation in this future workforce. The first step is to be aware of biases that can exclude choice from girls, the next step is to be proactive in enabling and opening up choice.

Education Services Australia has now developed the Girls in STEM Toolkit or GiST, which is designed to encourage girls to study and pursue careers in STEM. To read more about this innovative new suite of resources, please click here.

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https://www.educationmattersmag.com.au/new-positive-education-resources-student-wellbeing/ Wed, 02 Oct 2019 02:00:52 +0000 https://www.educationmattersmag.com.au/?p=9409 The Institute of Positive Education at Geelong Grammar School has launched its new Positive Education Enhanced Curriculum (PEEC). Centred on …

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]]> The Institute of Positive Education at Geelong Grammar School has launched its new Positive Education Enhanced Curriculum (PEEC). Centred on student wellbeing, it has been designed together with developmental psychologists in the field of positive psychology.

A research-based explicit curriculum, the Positive Education Enhanced Curriculum was developed to assist teachers to lead dedicated Positive Education classes, where students can learn the evidence-based wellbeing skills that contribute to living a healthy and fulfilling life.

Aimed at students from Early Learning to Year 12, the Positive Education Enhanced Curriculum offers over 280 developmentally appropriate lesson plans.

The Institute of Positive Education at Geelong Grammar School explains that Positive Education is where the science of wellbeing meets best practice teaching and learning. Through teaching dedicated Positive Education classes, Geelong Grammar School has shown that wellbeing is a vital focus that benefits all students and is just as important as academic learning.

The institute points to research that teaching life skills consistently will increase wellbeing and academic achievement in different social, economic and cultural contexts. The Positive Education Enhanced Curriculum aims to enrich teachers’ foundational understanding of Positive Education so that students can flourish.

The Institute’s purpose is to “place wellbeing at the heart of education.” Its Director, Justin Robinson, believes that it is a shared responsibility to teach these skills and knowledge to young people.

“This is a valuable resource for any school that is interested in increasing the wellbeing of their students,” he said.

“It seems more important than ever to intentionally teach our young people and prioritise wellbeing to ensure each child has the opportunity to explore, understand and practice these skills.”

The Positive Education Enhanced Curriculum provides teachers with engaging information on key wellbeing domains and easy-to-read research summaries that underpin the curriculum.

It also provides teachers with a Developmental Scope and Sequence Framework, glossary of teaching resources, suggested reading lists and printable worksheets/scaffolds.

The curriculum is also mapped to a number of existing frameworks including Social and Emotional Learning outcomes, the International Baccalaureate, the Australian Curriculum and the Early Years Framework.

It is designed to allow teachers to have autonomy and flexibility to best meet their students’ needs. Lessons have been written to be an all-inclusive resource for educators at all levels.

The Positive Education Enhanced Curriculum is already being used by over 100 schools across 21 countries worldwide since its pre-sale period.

It was piloted at Geelong Grammar School and Bacchus Marsh Primary School in Victoria and international partner schools in Hong Kong and Dubai.

“Schools and governments around the world are increasingly recognising the social, emotional, and academic benefits of placing wellbeing science at the heart of education,” said David Bott, Associate Director of the Institute.

“Our recent work supporting schools in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas, and in our direct support of the UAE government in the Middle East has shown that, whilst our cultures and histories are different, wellbeing is a universal human language. PEEC provides a practical, proven, ready-to-go resource, grounded in science and written by a team with decades of practice wisdom.”

For more information on how to purchase the Positive Education Enhanced Curriculum or to receive a sample, contact institutecurriculum@ggs.vic.edu.au or click here.

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https://www.educationmattersmag.com.au/phonemic-awareness-key-to-learning-to-read-and-write/ Mon, 23 Sep 2019 06:55:22 +0000 https://www.educationmattersmag.com.au/?p=9208 Phonics authority and co-author of Sound Waves, Barbara Murray, explains why teachers need to develop in their students an awareness …

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]]> Phonics authority and co-author of Sound Waves, Barbara Murray, explains why teachers need to develop in their students an awareness of the 43 sounds (phonemes) used in Australian spoken English.

The Australian National Curriculum strongly recommends that all Australian primary schools include phonemic awareness and synthetic phonics in their literacy program.

In spite of this, recently published research reported that new teachers, fresh out of university, have never learned these skills themselves, let alone been instructed on how to teach them to their students in the classroom.

Phonemic Awareness, combined with Synthetic Phonics, is currently scientifically proven to be an extremely effective way for children to read and write proficiently.

There are only so many words our brains can commit to memory. Imagine learning to read and write unfamiliar characters, such as those used to represent Russian or Chinese in written form. If we understand the structure of the language and the recurring patterns, we have a much better chance of success.

Phonemic Awareness means ‘being aware’ of all 43 sounds (phonemes), that we use every day and knowing how to identify them in the words that make up Australian spoken English.

This is the first, vital step in learning to read and write. It is an oral step. Once students can identify the beginning, medial and final sounds in simple two and three sound words orally, they are ready for Synthetic Phonics.

Synthetic Phonics teaches students how to break (segment) words into the individual sounds. It then teaches students how to use the alphabet letters to represent those sounds in written form when reading and writing.

To help teachers in the classroom, I have developed a set of four books that provide a ‘sound story’ for each of the 43 sounds (phonemes). The creative stories are accompanied by delightful, engaging illustrations that will entice children to observe, imagine, predict, draw conclusions and create a possible storyline as part of an open discussion, before the story is read to them.

The four books in the set are:
Book 1: An Introduction to Consonant Sounds, Part 1. The Bolton Boys’ Balloon Adventure and other stories.
Book 2: An Introduction to Consonant Sounds, Part 2. Robbie Robot to the Rescue and other stories.
Book 3: An Introduction to Vowel Sounds, Part 1. Anna Ant’s Antics and other stories.
Book 4: An Introduction to Vowel Sounds, Part 2. Bertie Bird and the Earthworm and other stories.

With every set of books purchased, schools receive a colourful box for easy storage and can request a free digital version of the book (e.g. PDF) for teachers to show in class on a digital whiteboard.

Buyer’s Guide
Barbara Murray

In speaking about NAPLAN, Education Minister Dan Tehan recently discussed why he believes there should be a stronger focus on phonics. Click here to listen to the interview or to read Barbara Murray’s recent article about this, please click here.

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https://www.educationmattersmag.com.au/students-learn-to-be-road-smart/ Sat, 17 Aug 2019 06:30:59 +0000 http://www.educationmattersmag.com.au/?p=8410 Provided free of charge, Road Smart is a road safety education and training program delivered to Year 10 students (or …

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]]> Provided free of charge, Road Smart is a road safety education and training program delivered to Year 10 students (or equivalent) by trained facilitators, right across Victoria.

Designed to build on the existing road knowledge and skills of students, Road Smart aims to establish the foundations for safe driving in young drivers.
“Our students really appreciate this program and we are looking forward to the driving component now,” says Year 10 Coordinator, Belgrave.

Funded by the Victorian Government and delivered by VicRoads Community Programs, Road Smart is an initiative that supports and enhances Victoria’s Graduated Licensing System.

The Graduated Licensing System is Victoria’s new approach for anyone aged under 21 who is learning to drive. It requires at least 120 hours of learner driving practice with a supervising driver, followed by a year on red P-plates and three years on green P-plates before a driver is fully licensed. Drivers must have a zero-alcohol limit and mobile phone use is banned. On red P-plates, there is an additional restriction that only one peer passenger may travel with the driver.

Since the introduction of the Graduated Licensing System, Victoria’s road casualties for younger drivers have been significantly reduced.
“All of your facilitators were absolutely wonderful. The day went really well and the kids definitely got something out of it. Can you please thank them (for the 100th time, I’m sure) for such a fantastic day. And I look forward to planning it again next year,” says Year 10 Coordinator, Langwarrin.

Road Smart is a comprehensive program for pre and learner drivers. It entails:
• An interactive classroom session delivered by a trained facilitator;
• Online eLearning modules for learner drivers and their supervising drivers;
• A free in-car driving lesson with a professional driving instructor; and
• A teacher’s resource toolkit that is linked to the Victorian Curriculum.

“Thank you for providing this service for our students. The feedback has been very positive,” says Head Teacher Year 10, Vermont South.

VicRoads Community Programs are funded under the Road User Vehicle Access group by the Transport Accident Commission (TAC).

The Road Smart program is designed to provide students with a broader understanding of road trauma and its causes; the importance of a staged approach when learning to drive, and their own responsibility for promoting road safety.

By taking the program into schools, Road Smart can directly reach young pre-learner and learner drivers and teach them the importance of practising safe driving.
“Thanks for sending three brilliant presenters once again. My students were well behaved because your guys were engaging and the material relevant,” says Year 10 Coordinator, Belgrave.

Road Smart replaces the Keys Please program that was successfully delivered to Victorian Year 10 students for around 18 years. Road Smart is an improved, more targeted program. It is delivered to smaller groups and introduces eLearning and an on-road opportunity that Keys Please did not provide.

“A sincere thanks to all involved in supporting students – the program provided our students with a wonderful introduction to the world of driving. The students were initially very apprehensive but quickly relaxed into learning. The theory was extremely engaging and very appropriate and the practical was an amazing opportunity for them. I was fortunate enough to witness the faces of students returning from the driving lesson and I am happy to report the smiles were broad and the chatter, sheer delight,” says Year 10 Coordinator, Canterbury.

To become a Road Smart school, please email to register your interest.

Buyer’s Guide
VicRoads Community Programs – Road Smart
Email: roadsmart@roads.vic.gov.au

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