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How would you describe the culture at your school? There might be many words that come to mind and you might be thinking about your school’s shared goals, beliefs, values and priorities. Recently at Teacher, we’ve shared some stories that look at various elements of school culture – from building a culture of reading from pleasure, to ensuring an environment where staff can ask for help if they need it. In this episode we're going to get you up to speed on these stories, and also some more of my 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. Host: Dominique Russell

Welcome to this special episode of The Research Files – which is becoming a bit of an annual tradition for us as our regular listeners will know – where we take a look back on last month’s Research Conference and share some of our highlights with you. The theme for the 2022 ACER Research Conference was ‘Reimagining assessment’ and, like last year, the sessions and masterclasses were fully online, which meant that outside the renowned experts in the field here in Australia, we were able to hear from leading researchers from the UK, the US and Indonesia. Teacher magazine's Zoe Kaskamanidis and Dominique Russell were there to take it all in across the 4 days of the conference, and we’ve selected some clips to share with you, which I’m sure will prompt some further thinking among yourselves and your colleagues. Hosts: Dominique Russell and Zoe Kaskamanidis Podcast supporter: Bank First (bankfirst.com.au)

In this new series, we follow Principal Ray Boyd and Associate Principal Rachael Lehr as they navigate the exciting and challenging journey of building a new school community from the ground up. Each month, we touch base for updates and reflections on their progress as their new school, Dayton Primary School, is built in the newly developing suburb of Dayton, located in the eastern metropolitan city of Swan in Perth, Western Australia. Last month, we spoke to Ray about the first 6 months of his journey, and he gave us a great recap of the school’s progress so far. In this episode, we speak with both Rachael and Ray about setting short- and long-term goals, including how they’ve prioritised their goals, responded to unexpected hurdles and managed workload alongside ambition. Host: Zoe Kaskamanidis Guests: Ray Boyd and Rachael Lehr

In this episode, we're joined by Trent Cowley, Principal at Kingston State School, a primary school in the Logan Region of Queensland, about 30 kilometres south of Brisbane. Trent is in his third year as Principal and has recently been named a 2022 Commonwealth Bank Teaching Fellow; being recognised for his contribution to his school community. In this episode, we learn more about what it means to Trent to be a visible leader, how he is working to build staff capacity, and the impact that his collaboration with other principals in the area has had on student outcomes, and the broader community. Host: Dominique Russell Guest: Trent Cowley

Student welfare has come sharply into focus over the past few years as the pandemic poses unprecedented challenges for students and teachers alike. There’s a lot to explore around student welfare in the Teacher archives, and in the lead up to R U OK?Day this month, we’re bringing you some recent examples. In today’s episode we get you up to speed on these stories, and also some 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 supporter: Academy for Enterprising Girls (enterprisinggirls.com.au)

As a teacher, if you’ve ever been interested in pursuing research alongside your teaching practice but haven’t known where to start, this episode’s for you. Today, we’re joined by Sarah Durack, a secondary Science and Mathematics teacher based in Sydney. Sarah has just finished her Honours thesis on the topic of school to university transition, which she completed part-time while working a full-time teaching job. As a teacher by day and researcher by night, Sarah tells us that while it wasn’t easy, it was certainly rewarding. In this episode, she shares what it was like to juggle this workload, takes us through some of her research findings, and offers some tips for educators who may be interested in pursuing research themselves. Host: Zoe Kaskamanidis Guest: Sarah Durack Podcast supporter: Bank First (www.bankfirst.com.au)

Schools are special spaces; where the affordances of physical design come together with values, purpose and culture, and where school staff work hard to set students up to lead fulfilling lives. But what do schools look like before the hustle and bustle of students and teachers on the grounds? And what is involved with building up a school community from scratch? In this brand new podcast series, we’ll follow Principal Ray Boyd and Associate Principal Rachael Lehr as they navigate the exciting and challenging journey of building a new school community from the ground up. We’ll be touching base each month for updates and reflections on their progress as their new school, under the planning name of West Swan (Dayton) Primary School, is built in the newly developing suburb of Dayton, located in the eastern metropolitan city of Swan in Perth, Western Australia. In this episode, we catch Ray on the road while he drives around sunny Dayton, getting us up to scratch on what’s happened over the past 7 months, since

At Teacher, we’ve shared content on the impact of playful learning and game-based learning on student outcomes, and what this might look like in the classroom. But how can we extend these same principles to assessment, and why is important to think about assessment in this way? In this episode, I’m joined by two international guests from the United States: Louisa Rosenheck, Director of Pedagogy at the game-based learning platform, Kahoot!, and YJ Kim, Assistant Professor of Design, Creative, and Informal Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Louisa and YJ are presenting at ACER’s Research Conference this year. The online conference kicks off on the 22nd of August, and at the time of publishing this episode, you still have time to register, so I’ll leave a link to the conference on our website, teachermagazine.com, in case you’re interested in finding out more. In our conversation, you’ll get a taste of their conference presentation, and we’ll al

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/)