By Peter Gray PH.D. We know how to reduce the school achievement gap, but we do the opposite. Our compulsory public school system is supposed to be “the great equalizer.” By providing the same schooling to everyone, it is supposed to promote equal opportunities for young people regardless of their […]
As a community we need proactive, positive strategies to reduce youth self-harm and suicide. Shutterstock Suicide and self-harm remain taboo topics in schools, despite the fact youth suicide has reached a ten year high. Recent statistics show around eight children and young people die by suicide each week in Australia. Around one […]
Students are more reluctant to seek help from teachers than from friends or parents. from www.shutterstock.com In Australia approximately one student in five is bullied at school every few weeks or more often. Many of these students suffer serious emotional and psychological harm, such as persistent anxiety, depression and suicidal […]
The prescriptivist stranglehold on grammar isn’t just restrictive, it’s often just plain wrong. from www.shutterstock Do you remember being taught you should never start your sentences with “And” or “But”? What if I told you that your teachers were wrong and there are lots of other so-called grammar rules that […]
The more students focus on test scores, the less creative they become. By Peter Gray, Ph.D. Students today are stressed out about grades, more so than ever before. A few months ago I published a post (here) with evidence that this is so for college students. Many students responded to that […]
Credit: Marcos Mesa Sam Wordley |Shutterstock.com The way you view failure may influence how your children view their own abilities, a new study finds. The researchers set out to study what influences children’s view of their intelligence; some kids see their intelligence as fixed, while others think they can become […]
Many claim the Safe Schools program is essential for reducing homophobia and transphobia in school. from www.shutterstock.com After a three-week debacle, the findings of the review into the opt-in Safe Schools Coalition program are out. The review has proposed to limit the anti-bullying program to secondary schools only. Education Minister […]
When children start school, they need to develop reading fluency. from www.shutterstock.com When education commentators turn their attention to the teaching of reading in Australian schools, they often use metaphors of war. They talk about the reading wars as if our classrooms are sites of intense battle. This can lead […]
We need to do more to ensure teaching is an attractive profession. from www.shutterstock.com In recent debates about Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) scores we have lost sight of what matters most: the recruitment of high-quality candidates to ensure a strong teaching profession. Teaching has a recruitment problem much more […]
About 80% of homophobic and transphobic incidents that young people experience take place in schools. from www.shutterstock.com Over the past few weeks, proselytising and campaigning about the role of the Safe Schools Coalition has reached fever pitch. While the program faces continuing malicious attacks from the right, many Australians have […]