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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

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