Editorial

IE continues to bring you professional news from across Australia. Throughout the global turbulence of 2020, teachers, support staff, researchers and academics examined, assessed and explored a range of innovative educational pathways. In this first edition of our magazine for 2021 you can read about their findings on a variety of topics.

Julia Gillard, Chair of the Global Partnership for Education and Sally McManus, ACTU Secretary, discuss the extraordinary challenges and opportunities we face in education around the world, together with the future role of unions (click here to read).

Excessive workloads and demands on early career teachers are laid bare in a new Australian study, read how these issues, school resources, student behaviours and support through their union, overwhelmingly affect early career teachers and their professional development (click here to read).

School data coach and consultant, Dr Selena Fisk writes about the way we can control the narrative of the data story in Australian schools, so it enhances practice and supports schools and students to thrive and flourish (click here to read).

See David Vinegrad’s 10-point plan which he offers teachers and support staff to help respond to extreme behaviours, calmness he says, is contagious (click here to read).

The Pat Cronin Foundation has taken a message national about the ‘Be Wise’ educational program – enter the giveaway to receive the foundation’s educational books (click here to read).

Work health and safety issues are on everyone’s mind in 2021, read in this edition about key issues (click here to read).

Branches of the IEU offer environment and sustainability grants to schools and learning centres throughout Australia. In this edition there are reports from members who have made significant inroads utilising outdoor learning programs to educate students about Indigenous cultural programs and our environment (click here to read).

Academics from Tasmania share their insights into working effectively with disengaged students (click here to read), while flexi-schools are experiencing a surge of student numbers showing that a greater understanding is needed about unique teaching challenges (click here to read).

I trust you will benefit from the information on offer in this edition and share it with your colleagues.

Mark Northam
iemagazine@ieu.asn.au