Teacher Magazine (ACER)

In this new series, we follow Principal Ray Boyd and Associate Principal Rachael Lehr as they navigate the exciting and challenging journey of building a new school community from the ground up. Each month, we touch base for updates and reflections on their progress as their new school, Dayton Primary School, is built in the newly developing suburb of Dayton, located in the eastern metropolitan city of Swan in Perth, Western Australia. Last month, we spoke to Ray about the first 6 months of his journey, and he gave us a great recap of the school’s progress so far. In this episode, we speak with both Rachael and Ray about setting short- and long-term goals, including how they’ve prioritised their goals, responded to unexpected hurdles and managed workload alongside ambition. Host: Zoe Kaskamanidis Guests: Ray Boyd and Rachael Lehr

In this episode, we're joined by Trent Cowley, Principal at Kingston State School, a primary school in the Logan Region of Queensland, about 30 kilometres south of Brisbane. Trent is in his third year as Principal and has recently been named a 2022 Commonwealth Bank Teaching Fellow; being recognised for his contribution to his school community. In this episode, we learn more about what it means to Trent to be a visible leader, how he is working to build staff capacity, and the impact that his collaboration with other principals in the area has had on student outcomes, and the broader community. Host: Dominique Russell Guest: Trent Cowley

Student welfare has come sharply into focus over the past few years as the pandemic poses unprecedented challenges for students and teachers alike. There’s a lot to explore around student welfare in the Teacher archives, and in the lead up to R U OK?Day this month, we’re bringing you some recent examples. In today’s episode we get you up to speed on these stories, and also some of our highlights from this month. 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 might be relevant to your school context. Host: Zoe Kaskamanidis Podcast supporter: Academy for Enterprising Girls (enterprisinggirls.com.au)

As a teacher, if you’ve ever been interested in pursuing research alongside your teaching practice but haven’t known where to start, this episode’s for you. Today, we’re joined by Sarah Durack, a secondary Science and Mathematics teacher based in Sydney. Sarah has just finished her Honours thesis on the topic of school to university transition, which she completed part-time while working a full-time teaching job. As a teacher by day and researcher by night, Sarah tells us that while it wasn’t easy, it was certainly rewarding. In this episode, she shares what it was like to juggle this workload, takes us through some of her research findings, and offers some tips for educators who may be interested in pursuing research themselves. Host: Zoe Kaskamanidis Guest: Sarah Durack Podcast supporter: Bank First (www.bankfirst.com.au)

Schools are special spaces; where the affordances of physical design come together with values, purpose and culture, and where school staff work hard to set students up to lead fulfilling lives. But what do schools look like before the hustle and bustle of students and teachers on the grounds? And what is involved with building up a school community from scratch? In this brand new podcast series, we’ll follow Principal Ray Boyd and Associate Principal Rachael Lehr as they navigate the exciting and challenging journey of building a new school community from the ground up. We’ll be touching base each month for updates and reflections on their progress as their new school, under the planning name of West Swan (Dayton) Primary School, is built in the newly developing suburb of Dayton, located in the eastern metropolitan city of Swan in Perth, Western Australia. In this episode, we catch Ray on the road while he drives around sunny Dayton, getting us up to scratch on what’s happened over the past 7 months, since the journey began. Host: Zoe Kaskamanidis Guest: Ray Boyd

At Teacher, we’ve shared content on the impact of playful learning and game-based learning on student outcomes, and what this might look like in the classroom. But how can we extend these same principles to assessment, and why is important to think about assessment in this way? In this episode, I’m joined by two international guests from the United States: Louisa Rosenheck, Director of Pedagogy at the game-based learning platform, Kahoot!, and YJ Kim, Assistant Professor of Design, Creative, and Informal Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Louisa and YJ are presenting at ACER’s Research Conference this year. The online conference kicks off on the 22nd of August, and at the time of publishing this episode, you still have time to register, so I’ll leave a link to the conference on our website, teachermagazine.com, in case you’re interested in finding out more. In our conversation, you’ll get a taste of their conference presentation, and we’ll also discuss what playful assessment looks like, how educators can embed it in the classroom, and the impact of this type of assessment on student outcomes. Guests: Louisa Rosenheck and YJ Kim Host: Dominique Russell

At Teacher, we share useful evidence- and research-based resources to help you improve your skills and practice – whether it be research news or sharing the outstanding work that’s going on in schools. Recently, we’ve shared some stories on teachers seeking professional learning opportunities, teachers being inspired after attending a professional learning event, and what the research says about opportunities for future professional learning. In today’s episode we're going to get you up to speed on some of these stories, and also some more of our highlights from content we’ve recently published in case you might have missed it. 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 might be relevant to your school context.

Today, we’re speaking with Dr Jason Zagami, senior lecturer in the School of Education and Professional Studies at Griffith University in the Gold Coast, in Queensland. Dr Zagami is the author of a recent paper published by the Australian Computer Society, titled 'Computer education in Australian schools 2020: Enabling the next generation of IT professionals'. Since 2014, the new Digital Technologies subject has slowly commenced across all Australian states and territories. Navigating a new curriculum can be challenging, but it can also provide an exciting chance to improve opportunities for students and teachers, and to focus on school improvement more widely. So, whether you’re interested in student engagement, professional development, recruitment, or clarity on the curriculum, we cover a lot of ground in this podcast. Host: Zoe Kaskamanidis Guest: Dr Jason Zagami Podcast supporter: Family Planning NSW (https://www.fpnsw.org.au/)

At Teacher, we are often asked for more resources and information on behaviour management. In the latest episode in our Behaviour Management series, we spoke with Senior Lecturer and Course Leader for the Master of Applied Behaviour Analysis at Monash University, Dr Erin Leif, and Russell Fox, Lecturer in Behaviour Analysis, also from Monash University. They join us again in this episode, but this time, it’s to answer your questions that you submitted. We asked for these questions in our weekly Teacher bulletin, which is a free subscription you can sign up for at our website, teachermagazine.com. In this episode, we’re going to delve into the link between positive behaviour support and academic learning; how positive behaviour support can be integrated with the principles of trauma-informed practice; and how we can upskill other members of the school community to help us in this area. Let’s jump in. Guests: Dr Erin Leif and Russell Fox Host: Dominique Russell

Equal education involves many things – equal representation, participation, access to resources, and more. There’s a lot to explore around equal education in the Teacher archives, and in this episode of Teacher Staffroom, we’ll be sharing some recent examples with you. In today’s episode we're going to get you up to speed on these stories, and also some more of our highlights from this month. 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 might be relevant to your school context. Host: Zoe Kaskamanidis Podcast sponsor: MEGAMIX Social (https://www.artscentremelbourne.com.au/learn/schools-teachers/megamix-social)