Australia Association for Research in Education
Q:Which major party will fully fund public schools? A:None. Here’s what’s happening
You would be forgiven for thinking that policy related to schooling is not a major issue in Australia. In the lead up to the federal election, scant attention has been paid to it during the three leaders’ debates. One of the reasons could be because the education policies of the major parties have largely converged …
Taken for a ride? How the education vehicle breaks down for First Nations people
The ‘education is the key’ mantra is often used as a metaphor in remote First Nations communities to …
Power of emotions and gender in education and in the work of educational researchers
Emotions and gender identity play powerful roles in education. Every day, every child and every educator in every classroom …
Effective teaching methods that work for Indigenous students: latest research
What does effective teaching of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students look like? Thousands of research studies have been dedicated to finding answers to this question. But much of what we think we know, or hear, about Indigenous education remains mired in myths and legends. Governments have been surprisingly frank about the failure of their …
Put professional judgement of teachers first or we’ll never get the systemic education improvements we all want. Let’s talk about it
In this blog I’d like to bring together three different lines of educational analysis to show how our contemporary discussions of policy are really not going to lead to any significant change or educationally defensible reforms. I realise that is a very big call, but I’m pretty confident in saying it, and I hope to …
Five qualities of teachers who form close relationships with disruptive students
It is now well known to teachers and researchers alike that student-teacher relationships are powerfully predictive of social, …
The problem with using scientific evidence in education (why teachers should stop trying to be more like doctors)
For teachers to be like doctors, and base practice on more “scientific” research, might seem like a good idea. But medical doctors are already questioning the narrow reliance in medicine on randomised controlled trials that Australia seems intent on implementing in education. In randomised controlled trials of new drugs, researchers get two groups of comparable …
What’s good ‘evidence-based’ practice for classrooms? We asked the teachers, here’s what they said
Calls for Australian schools and teachers to engage in ‘evidence-based practice’ have become increasingly loud over the past decade. Like ‘quality’, it’s hard to argue against evidence or the use of evidence in education, but also like ‘quality’, the devil’s in the detail: much depends on what we mean by ‘evidence’, what counts as ‘evidence’, …
Are we designing and building the right schools for future Australia? (We could be getting it so wrong)
The next few decades require some radical thinking about how to build a new generation of Australia’s schools. …