Australia Association for Research in Education
Hello (nuclear) submarine! What education needs to do now
On September16 2021, a virtual, but nonetheless lethal, nuclear bombshell launched from Australia and bloomed into the skies of Normandy, killing instantly the diesel-electric Attack-class submarine that Naval Group of France was designing for Australia. The Prime Ministers of Australia and the UK, with the President of the USA, had announced the birth of the …
The chance to tell the truth about heroes
The study of history in schools has, Despite efforts by historians and history teachers to shift the methodology to include the stories of people long marginalised, it has always been broadly accepted by policymakers and politicians that the study of history is about ‘great people’ for young children to learn about to aspire to be great adults. …
How this oppressive test is killing the magic of childhood
NAPLAN is taking the fun out of early childhood learning. Early childhood learning encompasses education for children from …
What we want to say right now to Sahlberg and Goldfeld
Schools are places for all kinds of success, including academic achievement. In their recent article, “If not now, …
Proactive and preventative: Why this new fix could save reading (and more)
When our research on supporting reading, writing, and mathematics for older – struggling – students was published last week, most of the responses missed the heart of the matter. In Australia, we have always used “categories of disadvantage” to identify students who may need additional support at school and provide funding for that support. Yet …
Confusion on PIRLS reporting – some outlets make major mistakes
The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) results were released last Tuesday, generating the usual flurry of …
A new sheriff is coming to the wild ChatGPT west
You know something big is happening when the CEO of Open AI, the creators of ChatGPT, starts advocating for “regulatory guardrails”. Sam Altman testified to the US Senate Judiciary Committee this week that the potential risks for misuse are significant, echoing other recent calls by former Google pioneer, the so-called “godfather of AI”, Geoffrey Hinton. …
If not now, then when is the right time to re-envisage what schools could be?
The cold fact is that despite continuous reforms and growing investments over the past two decades, educational performance – and especially equitable performance – of Australia’s schools isn’t improving. Indeed, in many ways it is getting worse. Consider these statistics. Since 2000 Australia’s PISA scores have dropped 33 – 24 points in maths, reading, and …
This budget wreaks havoc on education – with one miraculous exception
There were zero mentions of universities, schools or teachers in the 30-minute federal budget speech made by Treasurer Jim Chalmers Tuesday night. …
Will strange omissions from Chicago appear in Naarm this year?
We were so lucky to be sent to Chicago. So lucky. Each year AARE is invited to send …