ACER’s Research Conference is back in 2021, after a COVID-19 pandemic pause last year. The fully online event kicks off in August, and runs from the 16th to the 20th. The 2021 theme is ‘Excellent progress for every student: What will it take?’ and will feature international researchers from a range of disciplines. One of the keynote speakers this year is Rich Lehrer, Professor Emeritus and Research Professor of Education at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. A former high school science teacher, Rich is a member of the National Academy of Education, a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association, and a recipient of the American Psychological Association’s Distinguished Contributions in Applications of Psychology to Education. Ahead of the event next month, we sat down with Rich to discuss his research that explores science and mathematics education for elementary school students in the US. He also gives listeners a taste of what he’ll be sharing at the conference and why he decided to name his keynote address ‘Accountable Assessment’. Host: Rebecca Vukovic Guest: Rich Lehrer Sponsor: Australian Volunteers

In today’s episode we're shining a spotlight on reading, as it’s been a topic covered quite a lot on Teacher recently. From encouraging students to find a love of reading, to ensuring they have access to a wide variety of texts, to the books children borrowed most frequently from libraries in 2020 – there is so much to squeeze into this Teacher Staffroom episode. We’ll be posing questions throughout, so as always, feel free to pause the audio and consider the questions either by yourself or perhaps with some colleagues. Host: Rebecca Vukovic

A literature review undertaken by Hannah Yared from Monash University has examined racism and racial bias in the Australian primary school context. In total, six studies were examined for this research which uncovered four main themes. The first is a lack of teacher confidence and competency regarding racial issues. This meant that in general, teachers tend not be have the confidence to engage fully with racially diverse students, and to discuss racial issues in a meaningful way. The second theme was white normativity, which is in reference to the fact educators tend to position whiteness as the norm for which everything is compared to. Third was colour-blindness which in this instance refers to the belief that minimising discussions about racial differences or racism is actually better than drawing attention to them, which Hannah’s research found many teachers tend to believe. And the final theme was silencing, which refers to the silencing of discussions about racial issues. Crucially though, Hannah’s research uncovered some important points on how school communities can best tackle this issue; the role of school leaders in supporting teachers address their behaviour; and how teachers themselves can address their own biases. Host: Dominique Russell Guest: Hannah Yared

In this Teaching Methods episode, we speak to education consultant Michael Minas about a study he conducted to measure primary school students’ attitudes towards completing challenging problem solving tasks in maths. Michael shares details of the lesson structure he utilised, and why students responded to it so positively. Host: Dominique Russell Guest: Michael Minas

Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Teacher Staffroom, where we catch you up on the latest evidence, insight, and action. In this episode, we’re looking into leadership. Many educators are engaging in leadership practice as part of their day-to-day work, no matter what position they hold in a school. So, whether you're a principal, a leading teacher or an aspiring leader, there's something for you in this episode. Like each edition of Teacher Staffroom, we'll take you through these topics, along with other noteworthy stories. I'll also be posing some questions throughout this 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. Host: Dominique Russell

In this episode in our School Improvement series, we're joined by Vanessa Rauland, Portia Odell and Karen Murcia, who have recently published an examination of a two-year pilot study which encouraged schools to actively try to reduce their carbon emissions. Their study, and resulting report titled Schools: An Untapped Opportunity for a Carbon Neutral Future assessed which actions proved to be most effective, considering both the cost involved and the outcome achieved. The study came about after Vanessa Rauland and her colleagues conducted the two-year pilot program, the Low Carbon School’s Pilot Program, between 2015 and 2017. Fifteen schools were involved in this, and then PhD candidate Portia Odell, decided to investigate further as part of her PhD research. Thirteen of the original 15 schools jumped on board for this further examination, and it’s the examination of these schools which we’ll discuss today. Alongside Vanessa and Portia, we’re joined by Karen who was the supervisor for this research of Portia’s. As we’ll discuss in the episode, their report reveals that 60 per cent of the actions employed by schools involved no cost at all. Some of these actions included things like using less paper, improving recycling habits, obtaining quotes for solar panels and many other initiatives. The schools worked as a network throughout the pilot, meaning they could access each other’s energy consumption data, which proved to be particularly useful. All of this work led to the development of ClimateClever, Vanessa Rauland’s organisation, and specifically their app, which helps schools, businesses and homes reduce their carbon emissions. Host: Dominique Russell Guests: Vanessa Rauland, Portia Odell, Karen Murcia Sponsor: Quality Teaching Academy

Casual relief teachers, or CRTs, are an integral part of the teacher workforce, but many often report feeling a lack of support and exclusion at schools they’re working in. We know this ourselves at Teacher magazine, with many of you getting in touch to share these same challenges you’ve faced as a CRT. Minami Uchida from Macquarie University has analysed the experiences of casual relief teachers working in primary schools in Australia. Her study involved surveying 104 teachers who were at various points in their career as casual teachers, and interviewing executive staff for their perspectives. Common challenges faced by casual teachers emerged, as well as useful supports that can be provided by executive school staff to mitigate these concerns. Host: Dominique Russell Guest: Minami Uchida Sponsor: Bank First

The term ‘evidence-based practice’ is widely used in education. Schools are presented with strategies, programs and approaches that claim to be ‘research-based’ or ‘evidence-based’. But what is evidence-based practice? And, how do schools determine which of these programs and methods have solid foundations in research? These questions have been explored in several articles and podcasts on Teacher this month. Throughout this episode, I’ll be taking a deeper dive to explore some of the key messages to come from these pieces. I’ll also highlight some of the contributions we’ve published, as well as some of my favourites pieces to be featured on Teacher this month. I’d be keen to hear if these were some of yours as well, as well as any general feedback you may have, so please leave a comment on the transcript of this podcast on the Teacher magazine website, or rate and review us in your favourite podcast app. Host: Rebecca Vukovic

As a primary school teacher, how confident would you say you are at teaching music? Do you feel adequately prepared to teach music, or incorporate music into your lessons? What areas of music do you feel you need the most support in? A pilot professional development program on music teaching in primary schools has been assessed in a new report. The program involved five separate sessions on different areas in music, like composition, singing and instruments. The confidence of the teachers involved in the program were assessed before the program commenced, and after they’d completed all the sessions. The main contributor to their increase in confidence was the simple activities they were able to pick up, which we’ll share in this episode. We're joined in this episode by the report’s authors, Benjamin Thorn and Inga Brasche. Benjamin is a composer and a casual lecturer in Creative Arts education at the University of New England, and Inga Brasche is a former university lecturer and currently teaches at Presbyterian Ladies' College in Armidale, New South Wales, the same region where this study took place. Let’s jump in to hear more about their research. Host: Dominique Russell Guests: Benjamin Thorn and Inga Brasche

You’ll be well aware that here at Teacher we are all about promoting quality teaching and leading and assisting school improvement at a grassroots level. We aim to support educators by sharing stories using evidence-based approaches which you can trust and adapt for use in your own school settings. We also ask you how you use Teacher content in your practice in our annual reader survey, and so many of you always tell us about how stories we’ve shared have motivated school change, or inspired discussion with colleagues. But on a broader scale, how are teachers and school leaders accessing and using research and evidence? What challenges do they face when doing so? And, what enables quality use of research and evidence? The research team for the Monash Q Project is looking at all of these questions in a report they have just released. The report shares data from a survey they conducted of teachers and school leaders on how they’re using research and evidence in their work. The Monash Q Project is a much larger project than this one report – it’s a five year partnership between Monash University and the Paul Ramsey Foundation with the broader aim of improving the use of research evidence in schools. Host: Dominique Russell Guests: Jo Gleeson, Lucas Walsh Sponsor: Bank First