Season 2
Episode #9 // Teaching Indigenous history in schools and the rundown on NAPLAN
In this final edition of Talking Teaching for this year Maxine McKew talks to David de Carvalho about the national NAPLAN picture and what it is really telling us. The ACARA chief regrets that NAPLAN is too often seen as the sole measure of student achievement and that national testing needs to be augmented by more granular assessment.
And we hear from Professor Marcia Langton about the University of Melbourne’s new schools’ resource material for the teaching of indigenous history. Professor Langton explains how a new generation of students is curious for truth telling about a culture that we know is 65,000 years old.
Episode #8 // The need for policy changes in the VET sector
The Prime Minister says that TAFE is as good as university and wants to encourage young Australians to consider taking up a trade. But how fit for purpose is the sector? After a troubled recent history of dodgy providers and high upfront fees, enrolments are plummeting. Can this be reversed? In this edition of Talking Teaching Professor John Polesel and Professor Peter Noonan consider the policy changes needed to alter the perception that VET is a second class option.
Episode #7 // Australian schooling and teaching 21st century skills
Emeritus Professor Barry McGaw has spent a lifetime advocating for greater equity in Australia schooling. In this interview with Kerry Elliott he considers recent funding policy failures and regrets the way Australian schooling has become so segmented and stratified. The founding chair of ACARA, Barry McGaw also makes some important distinctions about the teaching of 21st century skills, emphasising the continuing importance of disciplinary knowledge. A compelling interview with one of Australia’s top educators.
Episode #6 // Positive Psychology: Learning the skills and capabilities for wellbeing
The sixth International Congress for Positive Psychology was held recently in Melbourne with the University of Melbourne as the main partner. Hundreds of experts from across the globe described their approach to maximising wellbeing, particularly among young people. Talking Teaching was there and interviewed David Kolpak from St Peter’s College in Adelaide where wellbeing programmes are a standard part of the curriculum. In this episode you’ll also hear where the science of Positive Psychology is taking us with Professor Lindsay Oades, Director of the Centre for Positive Psychology at MGSE.
Episode #5 // Talking Teaching considers the growing national momentum for pre-school for three year old children
In this episode Maxine McKew talks with experts Trish Eadie and Deb Brennan about the multiple benefits of quality early learning programmes for young children. In particular they consider the growing national momentum for pre-school for three year old children, a policy already embraced by Victoria. The discussion also analyses the success and continuing challenges highlighted in the recent national review of ECE, Lifting our Game.
We also visit Gowrie Clare Court in Yarraville Melbourne to hear what early learning teachers say.
Episode #4 // What the rest of the world is noticing about our most effective teachers
What is it the rest of the world is noticing about Australia’s teachers? Ranked as one of the world’s top ten teachers, Rooty Hill humanities teacher Yasodai Selvakumaran talks to Talking Teaching about international interest in the way we engage students in complex problem solving.
And principal turned bureaucrat Bruce Armstrong argues that teachers and policy makers need to be less suspicious of each other. He also says we need a sense of national urgency around attracting and retaining highly capable professionals in teaching.
Episode #3 // Teaching children reading
In this episode of Talking Teaching Kerry Elliott talks to David Hornsby about the contentious issue of how we teach reading to young students. Why can’t we agree on the fundamentals and insist on comprehensive English language training for teachers? Listen to David Hornsby's common sense approach.
David Hornsby has a fifty year background as an educator. He has been a teacher, and a university lecturer at La Trobe, RMIT and University of Melbourne. He is one of our most popular presenters to our University of Melbourne’s Network of Schools (UMNOS).
Episode #2 // A challenging look at teaching teachers
In this episode of Talking Teaching writer and university lecturer Tegan Bennett Daylight discusses what she sees as declining standards and poor quality reading skills in some students attending universities. She identifies the dilemma of how to instil a love of reading in children from teachers who are struggling themselves. A provocative must- listen interview hosted by Maxine McKew.
Episode #1 // How educators can boost children's interest in reading
Talking Teaching’s first episode for 2019 features interviews with Larissa McLean Davies and Penny Jones. From different perspectives they both talk about how educators can boost student interest in reading.
Larissa McLean Davies is Assoc Dean Teaching and Learning at The Faculty of Education. She is on a mission to boost the teaching of a diverse range of quality Australian texts in our schools. She talks to Maxine McKew about a range of programmes she is developing which will help English teachers develop appropriate resourcing for the teaching of Australian literature.
As well Talking Teaching looks at the above average reading success of a small Victorian regional school, Cobram Secondary. Lead teacher Penny Jones describes the life changing strategies that have seen secondary students rediscover the joy of reading. Cobram Secondary is a member of the Faculty of Education’s Network of Schools.
The views expressed in this podcast series are those of presenters and guests and are not necessarily endorsed by the University of Melbourne.