Editorial

Post-sporting career, former Socceroo Craig Foster dedicates most of his time to advocating for human rights. In this edition’s In Focus profile (read article), Foster reflects on the importance of education to his advocacy, the value of unions and the power of shared humanity.

These sentiments form the basis of many of this edition’s stories. We speak to Warumungu Luritja woman and senior lecturer Dr Tracy Woodroffe to discuss the power of education in the Northern Territory and how the sector can improve career pathways for First Nations teachers (read article).

A recent study posits the positive outcomes that parent engagement can have on student wellbeing (read article). Project co-lead Dr Linda Willis explores how mutual respect is foundational to effective parent engagement.

We look at principal workloads and the value of a shared leadership model for IEU principal members Michael Chalkley, Gareth Kydd and Peter Fahey (read article).

In the centre of this edition (read article), find a fact sheet from AITSL clarifying what is – and is not – required for compliance with the annual goal-setting process in the Australian Teacher Performance and Development Framework.

Over the past year, unions have led the way to secure laws and provisions to narrow the gender pay gap (read article) and address workplace violence and harassment (read article).

In education, the rise of AI has called for discussion around the responsibilities governments and schools have in setting the tone in the fight against deepfakes (read article) and pornography in the classroom (read article).

Childcare deserts across Australia keep rural teachers out of the classroom (read article). IEU members Sam and Liz hope that greater awareness and shared humanity will bring more understanding.

We hope this IE edition can be an opportunity for reflection and a valuable reference point for your professional practice.

Terry Burke
Secretary Queensland and Northern Territory Branch