Minnis Journals

ET News Digest

Your Weekly Education Newsletter

Australian kids losing sense of belonging
If you want kids to come to school their sense of belonging is key, inclusiveness is the basis of most educational theorists’ ideas about improving school performance.
Australia apparently is still not great at promoting a sense of belonging in schools, according to the latest PISA research we’re in the bottom half of the countries surveyed. Read more

Teachers encouraged to consider becoming a foster carer to help tackle shortage
The number of children in need of care doesn’t bear thinking about but here are the figures anyway; more than 46,000 children across Australia are in need of care and protection
Given their background working with children, teaching professionals are being encouraged to consider becoming a foster carer to tackle a mass shortage.
Read more

Bringing it all together: Literacy, ICTs and the 21st Century Skills
Literacy, 21st Century Skills, ICTs and a Common Pedagogical Framework seem to be flavours of the month in many schools, including mine. What’s not so evident is how schools blend these disparate strategies into one framework. Too often our lived experience is that the PD delivered for each of these strategies is delivered separately, in a piece-meal approach, and in ways that can contradict each other. Read More

Insights Report forecasts skills priorities
The future of work looks unclear but with coordination between education and industry the type of training that employers want will be clarified. The Insights Report combines intelligence from the AISC’s network of 64 Industry Reference Committees with broader labour market and training data.
AISC has recently launched a new online resource to help ensure vocational education and training qualifications and skills are evidence based and meeting the needs of industry. Read More

Arts career takes passion and toughness
Three of Australia’s most familiar faces from TV and the stage gave a packed audience of budding actors, dancers and directors assembled at the Wakakirri Performing Arts Careers Day their advice for establishing a career in show business and it was pretty real; the route is going to be hard most likely, hard but not impossible. Read more

The Economist launches film and essay competitions
The Economist is seeking young entrants for film and essay competitions as part of its Open Future initiative.
Open Future is an editorial initiative to remake the case for the newspaper’s founding principles of individual freedom and free trade.
A selection of entries will be published in The Economist’s Open Futures site and winners will be invited to participate in the Open Future Festival on September 15th held simultaneously in New York, London and Hong Kong. Read more

ARIA Music Teacher of the Year Award opens
The Song Room and ARIA have announced that nominations for the second ARIA Music Teacher of the Year Award are now open and will close on 30 June.
Last year, Renée McCarthy from Woodcroft College in South Australia had the experience of a lifetime, becoming the first ever ARIA Music Teacher of the Year.
She was one of four finalist music teachers who were visited by ARIA Artist Ambassadors Jessica Mauboy, Josh Pyke, Lior and Missy Higgins and were in the running to win an ARIA. Read more

Canon Oceania 2018 Grants Program – $30,000 available
Canon Oceania has announced that its 2018 Grants Program is now open for nominations.
The program is part of Canon Oceania’s commitment to Kyosei – a founding principle of the company that means to live and work for the common good. Winners will be selected based on the positive impact their project will have on their environment or community, as well as the importance of technology for the project’s success. Read more