Set up in 2001, then amplified in 2018, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages of the Council of Europe, highlighted five important skills in mastering a language : oral production, oral comprehension, written production, written comprehension and interaction that we often tend to forget. In reality, for the same level of language, individuals do not have a […] … learn more→
Blog Archives
Language learning: an innovative method from Argentina
‘I’d just like to get on with my job’ – the barriers facing science teachers in Australia
The current teacher shortage in Australia has been building for years. The pipeline of new teachers entering the profession is inadequate, and attrition rates are high, particularly in science and mathematics. Shortages have led to more teachers teaching subjects “out of field”. Recent estimates show 29% of science classes are taught by someone who is not trained as a science teacher. […] … learn more→
We can predict final school marks in year 11 – it’s time to replace stressful exams with more meaningful education
Year 12 students around Australia are preparing to sit their final exams. For many young people this is one of the most stressful parts of school, with their future supposedly coming down to one number. This is an outdated way of finishing school and working out what students do in the next phase of their lives. […] … learn more→
Should students continue to be graded?
The evaluation of students by notation has been the subject of numerous criticisms, in particular from the didactician of mathematics André Antibi, who denounced, in a resounding way, a “macabre constant” . The formula refers to the social pressure that would push teachers, for the assessments to be considered credible, to put a certain percentage of bad marks regardless of […] … learn more→
Traditional or competency-based teaching? The difficult transition of educational model
Times change, students too, and the educational model finds it difficult to keep up with the rapid pace of these changes. The transition from a traditional model of knowledge accumulation to a skills model and, now, to a results model, demands a vision of the future. It is necessary to make efficient use of the efforts […] … learn more→
‘Thinking about my future is really scary’ – school leavers are not getting the careers support they need
Australia’s class of 2022 is on the home stretch. Next month, more than 200,000 year 12 students will be sitting their final exams. In amongst this, they are making big decisions about their lives beyond school. But research shows they are not getting the support they need as they finish school and move into the work or […] … learn more→
These high school ‘classics’ have been taught for generations – could they be on their way out?
If you went to high school in the United States anytime since the 1960s, you were likely assigned some of the following books: Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” “Julius Caesar” and “Macbeth”; John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men”; F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby”; Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”; and William Golding’s “The Lord of […] … learn more→
The Productivity Commission says Australian schools ‘fall short’ on quality and equity. What happens now?
The Productivity Commission has just released a review of school standards in Australia. It finds we “persistently fall short” when it comes to providing a high quality and equitable education for all students. Coming in at 253 pages, there is a lot to read. And a lot we already know. But this report comes at a crucial […] … learn more→
Teachers: would paying overtime make the job more attractive?
With the decline in the number of candidates for teaching competitions, to which is added a high resignation rate in the first years of their career, National Education found itself faced with a large number of unfilled posts , kindergarten to high school, and had to organize the recruitment of contract workers to meet the needs of the start of the […] … learn more→
Schools are increasingly multilingual: are teachers prepared?
Demographic changes resulting from the increase in immigrant students have had an impact on the growth of linguistic diversity. Today, it is an essential feature of the education system. This trend, in the Spanish context, has brought the need to increasingly offer Spanish as a second language: a real challenge for many educational centers. The creation of the […] … learn more→