Minnis Journals

For Education Leaders

Ecopedagogy: Teaching sustainability practices in school

The education of young children needs to be educative, positive and reassuring, so that these children develop a glass half-full, reassuring outlook on life because the alternative is that an overly critical view is less conducive to promoting children’s positive mental health. Within this context, ecopedagogy is a developing area of interest in environmental education, and it gives teachers useful insights into teaching and learning in a modern, environmentally sensitive context. Read more

Mathematics minus Numeracy: A first step toward decluttering

The process has begun – finally! We hope that the work to review the mathematics (and digital technologies) curriculum over the next 12 months does indeed result in clarity about what is to be taught. The seemingly poor performance by our students in mathematics should not be blamed on them or their teachers. The jargon and lists of poorly connected ideas in the current mathematics curriculum does indeed make it challenging to comprehend. Read more

As Melbourne students head back to class, how can we use this as an opportunity to improve learning outcomes?

Victorian students have officially returned to school after months of learning from home. While much of the discussion has rightly focused on the safety, mental health and wellbeing of students as they face this transition, another conversation is quietly emerging.
With the majority of Australian students now back in the physical classroom, we’re at a crossroads.
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Valued teachers make for better students

Unloved, under-appreciated, overworked the teacher’s lot can be a fraught one, but if you want the best for students it’s better to show teacher a bit of appreciation.
Generally, the community supports teachers, but does it value them? Not so much. And it’s important they feel wanted, if teachers feel valued in society and are satisfied with their jobs they have positive attitudes about their work and ability to influence student achievement. Read more

Cooler schools even with rising temperatures

School might be cool, but with summers becoming hotter it can be quite the opposite; however, by following some design principles much of the heat can be taken out of campus buildings.
Avoiding artificial grass in unshaded spaces, shading black asphalt, allowing natural air flows and using shade materials with highly reflective upper surfaces are fundamental to making schools more comfortable places to be.
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Hop around for exam success

Instead of trying to learn the whole syllabus in a successive, topic by topic way, students should try a bit of jumping around.
There is science behind memory and people facing exams should make use of it; the brain works best when given bite sized chunks of different material rather than slabs of similar stuff; sleep is important too so burning the midnight oil might be doing more harm than good.
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Stolen Generations survivor Archie Roach’s teaching resources

Archie Roach, AM and 2020 Victorian of the Year, has gathered Stolen Generations Elders from around the country to develop resources for educators: The Archie Roach Stolen Generations Educational Resources, freely available on ABC Education.
Inspired by Archie’s songs, Stolen Generations survivors talk about the intergenerational impacts of forced removal, experienced to this day.
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