Attracting High Achievers to Australia’s Teaching Workforce

Few high achievers become teachers in Australia. A 2019 study conducted by Grattan Institute paints a bleak picture. (Note: ATAR, which stands for Australian Tertiary Admission Rank, is the undergraduate degree entry score for secondary school students; an ATAR of 80 means your score is better than 80% of the students in your state) In … Continue reading Attracting High Achievers to Australia’s Teaching Workforce →

Utopia School

Schooling has become counter-intuitive. Everyone seems to agree that each student has unique interests, needs, and learning style, yet the ‘system’ puts them into age-defined year levels and classes and prescribe them the same curriculum. In any lesson, the teacher gives the same instruction to dozens of students, but the chances of that instruction being … Continue reading Utopia School →

STEM in Australian Schools: Why and How

The Problem As an engineer by training and formal digital technology consultant in pursuit of a career in education, I was appalled by the lack of STEM education in secondary schools on my recent quest to find a suitable school for my newborn daughter. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. To be fair, … Continue reading STEM in Australian Schools: Why and How →

Australian Educational Equity: Advice for Government Policy and School Practice

Introduction Equity is the stated goal of almost all education systems in the world. Equity in education refers to the extent to which all learning-age children receive equal opportunities for learning. Note that equity is not the same as equality, because equity does not mean all students achieve equal education outcome, but that the differences … Continue reading Australian Educational Equity: Advice for Government Policy and School Practice →

In Defence of Free Speech on University Campus

Introduction By censoring controversial ideas on campus, universities have made themselves the subject of controversy. Historically, universities have been thought to represent the very idea of freedom of speech since it is a prerequisite for academic rigor. Nowadays, this academic integrity is being challenged by both university administors and students. Many universities have practices and … Continue reading In Defence of Free Speech on University Campus →