The Times, London. 4 March 2022. The most successful education systems in the world dedicate huge resources to what happens before children even get to school. The evidence is overwhelming. What happens in the first 1000 days of life is critical to outcomes later in life. (Also available at https://apple.news/Ag4T-F4v2RkKGASW95UmWzw)
The Conversation, 28 Feb 2022. The brain processes language in the same way as music. Music education is a powerful complementary learning experience, not a “nice but not essential” part of the curriculum.
Pasi Sahlberg & Adrian Piccoli, The Guardian, 22 Feb 2022. The evidence is overwhelming that money matters in education, especially for disadvantaged students. Socio-economic segregation between schools has increased and the achievement gap between affluent and poorer children has widened.
Dr Paul Gardner, EduResearch Matters, 13 Dec 2021. There is much banging on about ‘evidence’ without really being clear what that means.
Dr Paul Thomas, 19 Jan 2022. This article, written about the situation in the US, is relevant for Australian educators. Note however, that the term ‘systematic’ phonics in the US generally refers to what Australian educators know as ‘synthetic’ phonics. ALL good phonics teaching is systematic, including teaching phonics in meaningful context.
Martina Tassone, The Conversation, 24 Nov 2021. Children go from playing to being tested in the blink of an eye. This abrupt change in young children’s education is problematic and ignores the research.
EduResearch Matters, 1 Nov 2021. Students need opportunities to catch up with relationships before catching up with learning. Art-informed curricular approaches are powerful for recovery after disaster, strengthening social support and building hope.
The Age, 31 Oct 2021. The pandemic and its long periods of remote learning has had a positive impact on the nation’s trust in teachers and appreciation of their work. Victorian children endured the longest time in lockdown yet gained the best NAPLAN scores in the country.
Lobel, McLeod & Jackson, The Age, 1 Sept 2021. Nelson Mandela said you can judge a society by how it treats children. America’s Joe Biden has committed $US450 billion to children in the crucial early years. The future will being to countries that invest in early learning, but Australia is a long way behind.
The Guardian, 9 Oct 2021. Michael Rosen (poet, author, performer, parent, Ph.D. in education) has written to the new Education Secretary in the UK, asking why the last decade of synthetic phonics hasn’t improved reading in England. An important letter for Australian teachers to consider, given the push (largely by non-educators) for synthetic phonics in Australia.
Recent Comments