Teacher Magazine (ACER‪)‬ Teacher Magazine (ACER)

Today is RUOK? Day, a national day of action here in Australia, dedicated to reminding everyone to check in on their loved ones and ask ‘Are you OK?’ For students, learning how to care for their own wellbeing and to support their peers to talk about how they feel is an important life lesson. In today’s episode, we're joined by Professor Fiona Brooks, a medical sociologist and a professor of child and family health at the University of Technology Sydney. The focus of today’s discussion is the relationship between mental health, wellbeing and student behaviour at school. But, we also explore the state of child and youth mental health in Australia, why it’s important to approach poor student behaviour with empathy and compassion, and why meaningful student-teacher relationships can make a significant difference in any child’s life.
Host: Rebecca Vukovic
Guest: Fiona Brooks
Sponsor: Australian Volunteers

Our guest on today’s episode of School Improvement is Bernadette Hawker, Head of Department Teaching and Learning at Goondiwindi State High School in Queensland. We caught up with Bernie to talk about the school’s award-winning STEAM Program, which has been successful in improving student writing outcomes. You’ll also hear about the strong culture of sharing and collaboration among staff, including through Professional Learning Communities, that’s been key to the program’s continued growth and success.
Host: Jo Earp
Guest: Bernie Hawker

More than half of Australia’s population is under COVID-19 lockdowns, which means many of you are right in the thick of a long period of remote learning, maybe while trying to homeschool your own children at the same time. We’ve been separated from loved ones, we’ve missed important milestones and celebrations, and been restricted from doing some of the things we enjoy most. It’s no wonder our wellbeing has taken a hit. That’s why our fortnightly publication, Wellbeing by Teacher, may be just what you’re looking for. In today’s episode we run through some of the recent wellbeing pieces we’ve published, as well as some other highlights from a busy month here at Teacher.
Host: Rebecca Vukovic
Sponsor: The Hatchery Schools Learning Community

Our guest today is Dr Gary Stager, one of the world’s leading experts and advocates for computer programming, robotics and learning-by-doing in classrooms. He’s also a journalist, teacher educator, consultant, professor, software developer, publisher, school administrator, and presenter at conferences around the world – but we’ll have Gary explain to you a little more about his extensive and impressive work early on in the episode. The reason for our interview today is to talk about his 30-year study into laptop use in schools. In fact, in 1990, Gary led the professional development in the world’s first laptop school. We ask him about the challenges they faced back then in the implementation of the program, how students engaged with the technology in the early days, but also what he’s learned about the way computers are used in schools today.
Guest: Gary Stager
Host: Rebecca Vukovic
Sponsor: The Hatchery Schools Learning Community

In this episode of School Improvement, we’re taking you to a school in rural New South Wales where they’ve seen students in Years 5 to 9 read 12 books a year, and a 40 per cent increase in male students reading beyond their assigned texts.
It’s all because of the reading culture they’ve developed and Head of Middle School and English teacher Alex Wharton has had a key role in this. He’s been named a Commonwealth Bank Teaching Fellow this year for his work, and he joins us in today’s episode to discuss what they’ve implemented at Carinya Christian School to see more students pick up novels to read in their spare time. Alex shares some fantastic insights in this episode, so let’s jump straight in and hear first a little bit about the school context.
Host: Dominique Russell
Guest: Alex Wharton
Sponsor: Australian Volunteers Program

With ACER’s Research Conference 2021 fast approaching, at Teacher magazine, we’ve been catching up with some of the keynote speakers that are on the line-up for the five-day online conference. The theme is: ‘Excellent progress for every student: What will it take?’ and, at the time of publishing this episode, you can still secure your registration. The conference kicks off on the 16th of August.
In today’s episode we're going to get you up to speed on these exciting stories at Teacher, and also some more of my highlights. And, like all episodes of Teacher Staffroom, we’ll be posing some questions throughout the podcast, so feel free to pause the audio as you go, gather some colleagues and discuss together how these stories could be relevant to your school context.