Minnis Journals

ET News Digest

Your Weekly Education Newsletter

Australian students feel unprepared for globalised world
Australian students are a pretty anxious lot and if they’re nervous about what’s happening in their school lives they’re just as concerned about what awaits them post school, indicating that there isn’t enough being done to prepare them for a fast-paced globalised workforce. Read more

Word is boys and girls are different
An investigation into the type of words boys and girls use has revealed that much of their vocabulary is being learned out of school through popular media and that boys and girls exhibit different interests expressed by their word choice.
Led by Flinders University education expert Mrs Anne Bayetto, researchers investigated the word choices of 1000 students between the ages of five and seven years old in South Australia and Victoria. The results appear in the Stage 3 Oxford Wordlist. Read more

BHP Foundation Board earmarks $52m for global education
The BHP Foundation has made a US$52 million commitment to support programs that aim to address global education disadvantage from partners the Education Endowment Foundation, Brookings Institution Center for Universal Education and Teach For All.
There are more than half a billion children either not in school, or in school but failing to learn basic skills and the Foundation’s education partners focus on different audiences, from frontline teachers to girls and community leaders.
Read more

Aboriginal students respond to elders
An education project developed by two Murdoch University researchers has shown that Aboriginal children are more motivated to learn when they spend time with Elders in an ‘On Country’ school setting.
Associate Professor Libby Lee-Hammond and Elizabeth Jackson-Barrett worked for 18 months with a remote community school to investigate whether ‘On Country’ learning could improve educational and wellbeing outcomes for Aboriginal children.
Read more

Youth touring program coming to schools all over Queensland
Queensland Music Festival (QMF) has revealed its 2019 Youth Touring program with the Arts Council again bringing award-winning artists and theatre works to Queensland schools, including those in the most remote regions of the state.
QMF Artistic Director Katie Noonan said she was a huge believer in the importance of Arts-in-Education and that it had a huge impact on her journey as a musician. Read more

Victorian is top Aussie Secondary Maths Teacher
Mindset learning has proven a winner for Victorian teacher, Hayley Dureau with the Mount Waverley Secondary College Leading Teacher and Head of Student Voice receiving the 2018 Outstanding Secondary Teacher award for her unconventional approach to empowering student learning.
The prize, including $10,000 to be shared with her school, recognises her leadership in transforming maths engagement in and beyond her school. Read more

Teach consent to children as young as four
Educating children about what is OK and what isn’t and giving them the ability to say no to anything that doesn’t feel right with regards to their bodies should be started young.
Patricia Occelli, relationship experts Interrelate’s CEO says; “Parents should teach children the correct words for genital anatomy from as young as kindergarten so they can develop comfort in using these terms and build confidence in talking about their bodies.” Read more

Parenting in Ireland Queensland style
Ireland has a child behaviour problem, the prevalence rate of behavioural problems sits at 15% for nine-year-olds in Ireland and it has a lot to do with the parenting that these children are receiving.
The rollout of a University of Queensland parenting program, Triple P, in a community in Ireland has significantly reduced the numbers of children with social, emotional and behavioural problems, which fell by between 31 and 38% following the introduction of Triple P programs. Read more