Minnis Journals

ET News Digest

Your Weekly Education Newsletter

Gonski says school leaders need a pathway
Out of the many ideas presented in the Gonski report 2.0, one is the provision of clear career pathway into leadership and principal roles in schools which will help to attract and retain the best people.
The Through Growth to Achievement report looks overseas for inspiration and the high achieving Singaporean system has featured in its thinking. Read more

We need to share STEAM data and knowledge
The edict to go forth and STEAM has been delivered but it could be much more effective with increased data and interchange of results and ideas.
The Optimising STEM Industry-School Partnerships: Inspiring Australia’s Next Generation Report says that while there are hundreds of STEAM initiatives being implemented across schools in Australia there is no information being gathered and disseminated as to whether these initiatives are achieving good outcomes and whether they should be scaled up.
Read more

Endurance athletes and kids evenly matched
If you have ever felt tired after running around after children it’s with good reason, you are no competition whatsoever; young children can run around all day without getting tired because their muscles resist fatigue in the same way as elite endurance athletes'.
Researchers found that young boys’ muscles were very resistant to fatigue during maximal cycling exercise at a level comparable to the endurance athletes. They also recovered quickly from high intensity exercise. Read more

Year 10 results critical indicator of future success
Often seen as the last year before things get serious, it's looking like Year 10 is a critical time for gauging students’ future success.
The more failing grades students have during Year 10, the more likely they are to experience social-emotional learning problems, academic difficulties and behavioral problems in senior school.
The University of Illinois studied more than 320 students, exploring the relationship of social-emotional learning needs with Years 9 and 10 students' academic performance and behavior. Read more

Leadership actions matter: It begins with you!
Recent years have brought a crescendo of support for today’s schools to facilitate the development of new skillsets and mindsets that will enable students to thrive amidst the changes and challenges of the 21st Century. The most forward-thinking schools will continually assess the opportunities that emerging technologies bring to the process of teaching and learning.
While some schools embrace and lead the adoption of future focussed pedagogies and improved learning through technology, others struggle to achieve any real traction in their schools. Read more

Careers STEM from school choices
There’s no point telling students that they should get into STEAM careers and then provide no guidance as to subject choice and pathways. Too often secondary schools are leaving that job to universities.
AMSI Director, Professor Geoff Prince gave his response to the Optimising STEM Industry-School Partnerships report saying; “It is not enough to tell students they need an engineering degree to be an engineer and then leave subject choice recommendation to universities. Industry partnerships... should make these choices real for students,” he said. Read more

Tertiary participation at risk of decline
Falling participation levels in tertiary education could put Australia’s future productivity at risk, as post-school qualifications will be essential for most new jobs the latest paper by Mitchell Institute at Victoria University warns.
Professor of Tertiary Education Policy, Peter Noonan explained that more Australians must obtain vocational education and training (VET) or university qualifications to support the future workforce and offset the impact of our aging population.
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