Talking Teaching

In a world abundant with content, how can we harness literary education as a form of social change? How can we re-invigorate schools to be spaces to engage with uncomfortable truths and delicate subject matter in a respectful way? In this episode, Faculty of Education Deputy Dean and co-founder of the Literary Education Lab, Professor Larissa Mclean Davies, and English teacher and PhD candidate, Allayne Horton, help us uncover the vibrant world of literary education and explore how schools and teachers can effectively engage with texts to mould future perspectives.

In this episode, we are joined by two experts, to discuss the Nation School Reform Agreement, currently up for renegotiation. This joint agreement between the Commonwealth, states and territories is designed to lift student outcomes in Australian schools and plays a pivotal role in school funding and addressing equity in education. Prof. Pasi Sahlberg and A/Prof. Glenn Savage, both influential in Australian educational policy, help us explore the future of the Agreement, its implications for teachers, and what we can hope for when deliberation concludes in December 2024.

In this episode, we learn how to bolster both climate and sustainability literacy, and support climate action in the classroom. Listeners will discover how we can empower students to not only understand the science but also engage in meaningful conversations about our changing planet. We explore how teachers can create safe spaces for students to process their feelings about climate change and how schools are implementing sustainable practices, fostering a sense of agency and hope. We speak with three academics from the Faculty of Education: Professor Marcia McKenzie, the Associate Dean (Sustainability) and Director of the MECCE Project, as well as Associate Professor Kate Coleman and Dr. Sarah Healy, the co-directors of the Speculative Wanderings in Space and Place (SWISP) Lab. Additionally, Jenny Williams, Principal of Firbank Grammar, shares insights from a school perspective.

In this episode, we delve into the future of education in Australia, exploring ideas to reimagine the purpose of schools by shifting the focus from academic achievement to whole-child development, paving the way for healthier, more equitable futures for all students. With insights from experts A/Prof, Jon Quach from the Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne and Prof. Sharon Goldfeld from Centre for Community Child Health at the Royal Children’s Hospital, along with educators Erin Brass from St. Ambrose Parish School and Karlie Price from St. Peters Primary School, we'll discuss the importance of equally prioritising health and wellbeing with academic achievement within Australian schools.

In this episode, we delve into the stories of three remarkable Indigenous women significantly impacting the educational landscape across Australia. From overcoming challenges to integrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and knowledges into curriculums, our guests share their wisdom and expertise, providing valuable lessons for anyone passionate about education. Listeners gain insights into their experiences, achievements, and the transformative work they are doing in their communities, highlighting the importance of Indigenous voices in shaping educational policies, practices, and outcomes. For more information visit https://go.unimelb.edu.au/p4ys

Artificial Intelligence or AI has well and truly arrived. As ChatGPT and DALL-E become mainstream, warnings in the media about this new technology are growing, including its impact on education and assessment. But AI also offers exciting opportunities to enhance learning, think creatively, alleviate workloads and embrace inclusivity. In this episode we de-mystify the question; is AI in the classroom a friend or a foe?   Helping us explore this evolving conundrum and share the inspiring possibilities of new tech and tips on how teachers can start exploring AI in their classrooms is prolific educator and researcher and Foundation Distinguished Professor in the School of Education at the University of Kansas and a professor in Educational Leadership at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education , Professor Yong Zhao, as well as expert in self-regulation and classroom-based assessment and Director of the Assessment and Evaluation Research Centre, Professor Therese Hopfenbeck, and expert in technology in the classroom and Director of Curriculum at the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, Lauren Sayer.

Discover the complex issues around school attendance that can adversely affect students, teachers and parents. The media have referred to it as school ‘refusal’ but student attendance is an old problem in the new post COVID lockdown era. Hear out host, Dr Sophie Specjal speak with clinical psychologist, Associate Professor Glenn Melvin who shares research and expertise with student anxieties. Discover practical insights from Katie Archibald and Rebecca Plunkett discuss how they are working with at risk students in improving their school attendance at the Travancore school. Explore the big picture of school attendance measurement and its national issues from Associate Professor Lisa McKay Brown who shares research, expertise and support for the complexity of school attendance. 

In this episode of Talking Teaching, Professor Jim Watterston, Dean of the Melbourne Graduate School of Education (MGSE), delves into the details of Australia's teacher crisis. How does the situation differ in rural and urban areas? Is teacher education a problem? Why can't we fast-track people from other jobs into teaching? Why are teachers leaving the profession at a crisis level? What are some solutions for the teaching profession?

Australian schools are recognising the growing importance of fostering inclusive spaces for neurodiverse students. Teachers play a vital role in creating belonging for these students. But how can we support teachers, to support neurodivergent students in the classroom? We speak to experts Jess Rowlings and Dr Matt Harrison, co-directors of Next Level Collaboration and passionate researchers in neurodiversity, about how teachers can support the learning of their neurodivergent students. We explore what neurodiversity is, how it presents in young people and practical strategies teachers can use in their classrooms.

In this episode of Talking Teaching, Professor Jim Watterston, Dean of the Melbourne Graduate School of Education (MGSE), explores the Mental Health in Primary Schools project (MHiPS) with Professor Frank Oberklaid OAM and Dr Georgia Dawson. The Murdoch Children's Research Institute's Centre for Community Child Health, as well as partners from the MGSE and the Victorian Department of Education are supporting this new project, which aims to address mental health problems in children before they enter adolescence. Providing support, education, and social and emotional learning skills in primary school may reduce the prevalence of mental health problems in high school and beyond.

A new research project, New Metrics for Success, works with schools across Australia to develop new ways of assessing school students. These new ways assess the general capabilities and skills of students including communication, collaboration, and critical and creative thinking. By assessing these capabilities we broaden our understanding of students' abilities and expand the opportunities for students to achieve their work and study ambitions. Professor Jim Watterston, Dean of the Melbourne School of Education, discusses the development of these new assessment tools with Professor Sandra Milligan, Director of the Assessment Research Centre at the University of Melbourne. He also speaks to the Principal of the Hunter Sports High School in NSW, whose school is participating in the New Metrics research project, about what these new assessments look like on the ground in a school.

In this episode of Talking Teaching, Professor Jim Watterston, Dean of the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, and Professor Johanna Wyn discuss the differences and commonalities between the generations revealed by the longitudinal study Life Patterns. This study, which began in the early 1990s, has tracked and documented the transitions of young people across education, work, wellbeing, relationships and family life. Now, with a new Australian Research Council grant, a cohort of Gen Z will join the study.

In this episode of Talking Teaching, Professor Jim Watterston, Dean of the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, and Professor Yong Zhao discuss the education system post-COVID-19 and question whether the role of education should be more than simply preparing students for the workforce. Yong Zhao is Professor of Educational Leadership at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education and Foundation Distinguished Professor at the University of Kansas School of Education.

In this episode of Talking Teaching, the University of Melbourne's Larissa McLean Davies - an Associate Professor in Languages and Literacy Education - hosts a panel discussion on the importance of reading in our lives, and how to make the teaching of English more inclusive, particularly in terms of decolonising the curriculum.

Laureate Professor John Hattie reflects on the effect of COVID-19 on the education system examining what we should keep from what he calls the 'great experiment'. Speaking to Talking Teaching on the eve of his retirement from the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, John stresses the need to focus on the existing expertise we have in education and the need to upscale success.

On this episode of Talking Teaching Kamilaroi woman, Dr Melitta Hogarth, the Assistant Dean, Indigenous at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, discusses the challenges facing the education sector in building an inclusive school culture and environment for Indigenous students in Australia. To achieve this, she says, we need to flip the narrative and address the significant gap in non-Indigenous Australians' understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, cultures , knowledges and people. We also speak to Josh Cubillo, A Larrakia man educated in the Darwin area who is now pursuing his dream of improving the knowledge of non-Indigenous teachers and their understanding of the concept of country.

In a traumatic year of bushfires and a global pandemic young people in Australia have faced increasing uncertainty and anxiety. How do schools support their students through these times and how can they help them deal with the trauma to ensure that they thrive? On this episode of Talking Teaching Professor Helen Cahill, a leading innovator in school-based wellbeing interventions, discusses the ways that social and emotional learning programs in schools can assist young people to deal with traumatic situations and mitigate the effects of trauma, before they happen, if already implemented in schools.

Teachers, students, parents and entire school communities have been through a tumultuous time having been forced to switch schooling from the classroom to remote learning and back again in the space of a few months. So, what's worked, what didn't and what are schools going to take with them into the future? On this episode of Talking Teaching: two leaders of two very different schools share their insights. Plus we speak with Professor Janet Clinton, who was commissioned by the Australian Government to report on 'Supporting vulnerable children in the face of a pandemic', about the potential effect COVID-19 may have on vulnerable students.

A global pandemic and devastating bushfires - these major events are going to affect people's lives and wellbeing for a long time. Their ramifications are forcing people to deal with uncertainty, stress and loss. On this episode of Talking Teaching: Professor Lindsay Oades, Director of the Centre for Positive Psychology at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, tells us how we can find resilience in a pandemic - and we meet the Principal of Clifton Creek Primary School, Sue Paul, who's rebuilding her school and community after it was destroyed by bushfire.

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.