News & Events

University of Melbourne experts in positive psychology are exploring how best to apply the science of wellbeing for school students in key learning environments

On Tuesday 4 June the Melbourne Graduate School of Education celebrated the success of our graduate students, and the many achievements of our alumni and staff at the 2019 Awards Evening.

A child’s destiny is influenced by socio-economic status and location, but quality early learning can help even the odds, says a University of Melbourne expert.

Policy reform and investment in early childhood education are vital for children's life-long learning, well-being and health says University of Melbourne expert

School leaders’ roles have evolved from being primarily focused on management, to being directly concerned with improving student learning.Anyone who works in a school knows it’s tough being part of the leadership team.

How do teachers assess the general capabilities in the Australian Curriculum, and what does that mean for how they teach?General capabilities, soft skills, 21st century skills; the notion of including ‘skills for life’ in the Australian curriculum is not a new one. But it is, perhaps, more embedded than ever.

Glenn Savage, an Honorary fellow at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, said in an ideal world teachers wouldn't need to offer rewards and prizes, but the classroom reality was a different story.

The Coalition’s approach to schooling policy since the 2016 election has primarily focused on its Quality Schools agenda.

Loneliness can cause serious problems for primary and secondary school kids; some key steps can help your child connect, say University of Melbourne experts.

How well are we preparing the typical primary school kid for life when they graduate in 2032?

If there was a simple recipe for improving schools, governments, principals and teachers would be diligently following every step.

Early career teachers are more likely to stay on if they practise what they teach in their own time.

During a recent tip to Asia, Professor John Hattie said he observed a class being taught by a robot, with kids telling him they preferred the android to a human.

The tourism body partnered with a leading psychologist of positivity and professor at Melbourne University, Lea Waters, to develop a series of values for happiness, by which the Bulanaires have been selected.

Everyone wants to be happy, but this goal can seem elusive. Take Lea Waters, who found that the effects of a troubled upbringing got in the way and was desperate to claw her way back to good mental health through treatment. By the time she graduated as a psychologist, those issues were under better control.

One of education's most influential academics has warned teachers not to underestimate the ability of robots to take over at least some aspects of their job, saying he recently observed a robot teaching a class and that the pupils preferred it to their teachers.

John Hattie, Director of the Melbourne Educational Research Institute at the University of Melbourne, has been ranked as the sixth-best university educator in the world by Global Top Gurus.

In 1970, just one in four university students were women. By 1987 the figure was 58 per cent, a figure that has remained more or less stable for the past 30 years.

As technology increasingly shapes our world, human interactions and intercultural understanding will equip us to thrive says a University of Melbourne expert.

Predictions about the impact of artificial intelligence and ­advanced automation on society and the economy alternate ­between the euphoric and the cataclysmic. But there are few areas where the impact of robotics will be more profound than healthcare, medicine and surgery.

Australian history teachers want to cover the history of massacres against Indigenous people during the colonial era but are squeezed for time in an already overcrowded curriculum, educators say.

Nearly 13 per cent of Australian students and more than half of all Indigenous students are missing at least one year of schooling by the time they reach year 10, despite the nation achieving 100 per cent school enrolment rates.

Confusion is a common aspect of our lives but it can be useful and perhaps even necessary, particularly when we are trying to learn something.

The National Excellence in School Leadership’s (NESLI) Staff Wellbeing Toolkit is having a significant and positive impact on school staff around Australia, according to a new report measuring the efficacy of the support program.

Professor John Polesel, Director of the International Centre for Classroom research and professor at the University of Melbourne’s School of Education, says that he believes if the program were to come to Australia, it would be equally beneficial for our students.

Chi Baik, an ­associate professor at the University of Melbourne’s Centre for the Study of Higher Education, told The Australian the study’s major message was that students’ course experiences had a significant ­impact on their wellbeing.

Honorary senior fellow at Melbourne University's LH Martin Institute, Mark Warburton said matching tax records and student data did not address the big issue of university funding and performance.

In a first for New Zealand, Samuel Marsden Collegiate School has become a Visible Wellbeing TM school, partnering with leading international Positive Psychology expert, Professor Lea Waters, to expand their support of student wellbeing.

Most of us have memories of our days at school—usually some good and some not so good. But the chances are the good memories arose when we felt cared for and valued by our peers and the adults who helped us learn.

Martin Riordan, head of education firm Lighthouse Learning International and senior fellow at the University of Melbourne's LH Martin Institute for Tertiary Education and Training, said a funding squeeze had made vocational education and training the "poor cousin" of the education system.

A report from the University of Melbourne's Youth Research Centre found racial discrimination, particularly at school, was still a reality for many young Australians.

While this practice has been lauded as a helpful way for educators to address the learning needs of children who are progressing at different academic levels at once, some argue it puts too much of an administrative strain on teachers, who must spend more time preparing lessons.

One in five young people experience anxiety and depression linked to their school life; University of Melbourne research is using technology to boost wellbeing.

Australia is becoming increasingly dependent on foreign PhD students to carry out university research as local students shy away from doing research degrees.

Failing to read to your children and do things to improve their vocabulary throughout childhood and early adolescence could lead to a higher chance of developing hyperactivity-inattention, a new study by Australian researchers have found.

Dr Jane Page received recognition in the awards, which were announced 26 January 2019. The Order of Australia is the principal means of recognising outstanding members of the community at a national level. Anyone can nominate a member of the community for recognition through the Order and nominations are encouraged from all members of the Australian public.  

While just about everyone agrees that critical thinking should be learned in school, the actual teaching of better reasoning is not easy.

University of Melbourne research finds young multicultural Australians are close to their families, but they have to balance different cultural expectations.

Most of us have memories of our days at school; usually some good and some not so good.

Researchers have found that children need downtime, and reducing the number of scheduled activities is an important aspect for parents to understand.

Australian universities are outsourcing their research productivity to international recruits, with a new analysis concluding that almost four out of ve additional doctoral students recruited over the past decade have been imported from overseas.

For most students attending school is not a major problem. From the earliest days of childcare, children adjust to consistent attendance.

Terry Bowles, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Melbourne, said paying for chores may offer children a sense of independence “but it may not be ideal for helping people identify how they can contribute generously to the group they are working with”.

Split or "composite" classes, when children of different ages are placed in the same class with one teacher, have long been a feature of primary schools in WA, but just how prevalent they are remains a mystery.

Teachers must be given better training to manage classroom discipline, Education Minister Dan Tehan has said, amid concerns graduates are increasingly unable to control disruptive and abusive students.

Did you know that about 10 to 20 per cent of children and adolescents experience mental disorders worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO)? The average age of the onset of mental illness is said to be 14 years.

According to Jon Quach, an early bedtime is anything before 8:30pm. Sometimes that’s not feasible, but if you can make it happen, you should.

The federal Education Minister, Dan Tehan, has dismissed Labor's threat to universities that their education faculties must toughen teaching degree admission standards, saying it will lead to a "teacher shortage".

Research Fellow Paula de Barba says for students to successfully complete an online course, they need to work on their motivation and time management skills.

Research by education guru Professor John Hattie, of the University of Melbourne, has found the quality of a teacher is the most important determinant of student outcomes - after the student themselves.

University of Melbourne researchers have outlined the four key steps to school connectedness; an important factor in students' learning and development.

University of Melbourne researchers have used Bluetooth technology to track how visitors at Melbourne Museum interact with the exhibits.

University of Melbourne research shows it's hard for both local and international students to make friends on campus without intervention from teaching staff.

Dr Peggy Kern, of the University of Melbourne, believes that managing digital habits should be approached in a similar way to dieting.

Niklas Labba, Academic Director of the Centre for Sámi Studies at the University of Tromsø – Artic University of Norway, explored the importance of First Nations voice and constitutional recognition during his 2018 Narrm Oration at the University of Melbourne last night.

A new joint survey from Dr Peggy Kern, The Wellbeing Lab and the Australia HR Institute reports people working in the consulting industry are the most likely to consider themselves "consistently thriving" in the workplace.

The Wellbeing Lab Workplace Survey, conducted in partnership with Dr Peggy Kern from the University of Melbourne and supported by the Australian HR Institute, recently asked a representative sample of just over 1,000 Australian workers how their wellbeing was faring.