They wear Olympic colours and they train around the clock. But these Canberra teens are not your typical elite athletes.

Read the full article from the Chronicle – 26 June – here.

The ability to “speak apprentice” is one of Geoff Clisby’s most effective tools when training the next generation of electricians.

Clisby, who teaches subjects in the Certificate III Electrotechnology course at Chisholm Institute, says his background in the trade helps him get the best from students.

“Sharing experiences with apprentices helps to get their attention and for them to realise that an older bloke like me has faced some of the same issues that they encounter on the job,” Clisby says. “Showing enthusiasm and explaining the relevance to the students helps to encourage their motivation to learn. Once the apprentices recognise that you know your stuff and are working to help them, they become more receptive to the learning experience.”

Read the full article from the Sydney Morning Herald – 19 May 2018 here.

The $5.9 million Centre for Innovation and Learning at Caroline Chisholm School was opened today.

The centre will provide students and teachers at Tuggeranong public schools, and in the wider ACT public schools network, with access to  facilities where they can develop skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.

Read the full article from City News – 11 May 2018 here.

Schools, universities and the ATAR system are driving students away from vital science, maths and technology subjects, according to chief scientist Alan Finkel, who has strongly defended the importance of STEM in a report to the country’s education ministers.

Dr Finkel has urged a review of the university entrance system, the reintroduction of maths as a prerequisite for relevant university courses and the tracking of students’ performance from cradle to grave using a controversial ID system.

Read the full article from the Canberra Times – 21 April 2018 here.

A new teaching method, where explanations of a subject are delivered online at home and the usual homework becomes classwork, could be piloted in NSW high schools within two years.

The inverted model of teaching, best exemplified by the teachings of maths ”super teacher” Eddie Woo, is being trialled among 70 preservice teachers at Macquarie University, with hopes that research funding could be found for a pilot scheme in years 11 and 12, with as many as six private schools.

The flip learning movement has gained ground in the US over the past decade,  swapping a teachers’ classroom role from “sage on stage” to “guide on the side”.

Teachers deliver instructional content via video but the practice, skills and essays, often the hardest to learn, are conducted in class with face-to-face teacher supervision in collaboration with peers.

Read the full article from the Sydney Morning Herald here.

About 40 per cent of existing university degrees will soon be obsolete and traditional undergraduate or postgraduate degrees could disappear within a decade, global accounting firm Ernst and Young says.

Universities will also need to begin the move towards “lifelong learning”, that is delivered largely online, in the next five years to survive, according to the firm’s new research paper on the university of the future and its Oceania education sector leader Catherine Friday.

“A lot of the content of degrees no longer matches the actual work that students will be doing,” Ms Friday said.

Read the full article from the Sydney Morning Herald – 1 May 2018 here.

Waiting until high school to start thinking about future career pathways is a big mistake, according to the brains behind a groundbreaking program that is geared towards primary school students.

The BEcoME program, which is accessible via a web app and in-school workshops, aims to prepare young people for jobs of the future, many of which have not yet been invented.

Shannan Judge, principal of Ermington West Public School, says the philosophy of BEcoME is very much aligned with the school’s vision and culture.

“The BEcoME program instils hope and aspiration for children at a very critical time, when they are developing their self-worth and perspective of where they fit into the world,” Judge says. “At Ermington West PS the BEcoME program tied in perfectly with our Kids Curriculum, a primary school electives program where students enrol in a variety of courses.”

Read the full article from the Sydney Morning Herald – 26 April 2018 here.