Welcome to the first edition of IE for 2020, which offers professional articles and papers on diverse topics, along with classroom resources and heart warming accounts of social justice programs.
In the last few months, Australia’s teachers and support staff have been confronted with huge challenges in their communities and workplaces: drought, fire and flood and now the world wide threat of COVID-19. These affect us all as well as the way education is delivered and the ability of students to actively participate.
We know that teachers and support staff play key leadership roles in their communities, nurturing and caring for their students and the wellbeing of colleagues.
In this edition of IE you’ll read about a scientific approach to understanding wellbeing; Zeph Bloch-Jorgensen writes “feeling well is elemental to our ability to teach optimally and intrinsically, and important to mental, emotional and physical wellbeing” (see article).
Our love of books and libraries brings us to a new discussion, where the digital world is vying with physical spaces for libraries in schools. Teacher librarians, working in this real space, are integral in fostering connections. Libraries offer invaluable open spaces for collaborative and individual learning and more - read about the future for school librarians (see article).
In non government schools, the principles of social justice underpin so much of our teaching. St Leos’ Catholic College on Sydney’s North Shore takes students into the city’s alcoves and laneways for a deeper understanding about the lives of our homeless people and what led them to sleeping rough (see article).
We know that we all must be safe at work, but how can we work together to ensure that our workplaces are safe and respectful? In this edition, Tiarne Crowther writes about gender violence training (see article) and the latest resources on respectful relationships have been compiled for your use.
An academic and insightful paper by Kathryn Harvey on student anxiety will help you understand the issues and recognise the signs (see article).
There’s great reading in these pages, I trust you will enjoy and share it with colleagues.
Mark Northam