AbstractsMultiple intelligences in the classroom
Volume 8
Number 6, 2005;
Pages 14–16
Three articles examine the impact of Howard Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI) on teaching, learning and assessment over the last two decades. An overview article describes the variety of intelligences identified in the theory, and the way that they have been applied to education through 'reaching', or tailoring education to the type of intelligence displayed by different students. Critics claim that MI theory lacks empirical evidence, that the distinct intelligences are not quantifiable, that it may be impossible to isolate the separate intelligences, and that the 'intelligences' are selected arbitrarily and exclude comparable intellectual qualities such as humour or memory. The article includes a table of lesson ideas for each of the eight intelligences in seven subject areas. Jennifer Nolen identifies potential career paths and specific teaching strategies for each intelligence. Linguistic intelligence may be 'reached' through explanation; musical intelligence supports learning through the expression of feeling; mathematical–logical intelligence enables abstraction and the recognition of patterns; and spatial intelligence, enabling visualisation of objects in space, may be supported through pictures and photographs. Body–kinaesthetic intelligence may be fostered by incorporating movement, even fidgeting, into the classroom. Interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences, or how the child understands their social and internal self, may be fostered through observation and experience, and naturalist intelligence through exposure to outdoor activities and natural objects. All children have potential to develop all intelligences and should be encouraged to make use of their strengths, an idea also supported by Michael Meyerhoff, who argues that standard curriculum unduly favours linguistic and mathematical–logical intelligences, and that schools have not yet implemented MI strategies widely or effectively. KLA Subject HeadingsThought and thinkingTeaching and learning Multiple intelligences Learning ability Intellect Getting into the swing: Investigating pendulums by integrating science, mathematics and ICT
Volume 51
Number 4, Summer 2005;
Pages 16–19
The authors ran a project for various Year 5–8 students in which the students investigated the variables influencing the time of a pendulum swing. The project was undertaken with various classes and across a number of years. The participants struggled to combine previously-learnt skills in mathematics, computing and science. Activities which involve cross-curriculum skills and real-world applications would promote more effective learning in these subjects. The various classes undertaking the investigation had difficulty using a protractor to measure the pendulum swing and deciding which axis to graph each variable on. Many students also neglected to consider the accuracy of their computer-generated graphs, which suggests a 'if the computer does it … it must be right' approach. In the investigation, students observe a pendulum and are guided to identify the variables of mass of the weight, shape of the weight, angle of elevation and length of the pendulum. They design fair tests to measure each variable's influence as a whole class and then test one variable in pairs. They consider how to obtain accurate results, discussing the need for a set number of repeated trials using stopwatches. Data from the whole class is then combined on an Excel spreadsheet. Students calculate averages from the data and construct line graphs using Excel. The article includes tables used to record data and also provides a background on time-measuring devices and pendulum motion. Key Learning AreasScienceMathematics Subject HeadingsMathematics teachingMathematics Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Science Science teaching Teach your children wellDecember 2005;
Pages 22–24
The Maths in Indigenous Contexts program involves the local Indigenous community in developing curriculum and pedagogy at Gilgandra High School in western New South Wales. Established in 2002, the program challenges previous behaviour-focused approaches. It has increased the engagement, self-confidence and attendance of Indigenous students. Both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students have also gained a deeper understanding of Aboriginal culture, history and current issues through the program. Teachers report learning new, effective teaching approaches and improving their own understanding of Indigenous society. Activities address specific weaknesses, such as mapping, estimating, measuring and fractions, shown by all students in a basic skills test. Activities include mapping local land changes, with an elder providing advice on past land conditions and formations in the region. Students also visit Indigenous elders who share personal stories of the hardship and happiness they have experienced in the mapped area. Teachers, Aboriginal Education Aides, a Board of Studies representative, critical friends and Indigenous elders collectively design the maths lessons for Years 5 to 8. Rather than outcomes-based assessment, teachers use classroom observation and interviews and review journal entries. The project's success has prompted elders' involvement in other subjects such as English and SOSE and has seen the Aboriginal Studies curriculum reshaped around a local focus. In the long term, the project hopes to improve retention rates in Years 11 and 12 and develop firm ties between the school and students' families and the community. Key Learning AreasMathematicsSubject HeadingsIndigenous peoplesCurriculum planning Mathematics teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Aboriginal students Aboriginal peoples Young Somalis in Australia: an educational approach to challenges and recommended solutionsNovember 2005;
Pages 3–5
Schools should implement strategies to promote English language learning and social inclusion for Somali refugee students, who have a lower general skill level and poorer English than other immigrants and refugees to Australia. Many refugees have little experience of school. They often have knowledge gaps, find the new environment daunting and have difficulty building friendships with other students. Schools can adopt an inclusive approach, by offering welcome programs; providing education for refugee parents; greeting refugees in their first language; displaying multilingual posters in entrance areas; and providing meeting opportunities for different groups of students and their families. To avoid negative perceptions of or low expectations for Somali students, teachers should be educated in Somali culture and language and the impact of being a refugee. Schools should celebrate the important events of all cultural groups in its community. Teaching the languages, history, arts and values of different cultures will help combat racism. Somali students who continue to learn their first language at home can transfer literacy skills to English, taking on the new language more readily. Parents should be encouraged to speak Somali at home to help this process and maintain cultural identity and positive parent–child relationships. Teachers should be educated about the rich oral nature of Somali culture and the tendency for a direct speaking style, which some may find challenging. KLA Subject HeadingsEnglish language teachingLiteracy English as an additional language Refugees Social adjustment Somalia Social justice Socially disadvantaged Neil Smail's media management packDecember 2005;
Pages 43–44
There are some basic measures which schools and teachers can adopt should they become publicly involved in a contentious issue. These measures will help reduce ongoing media attention and allow schools to focus on resolving the issue at hand. School leaders should not avoid the media, but instead provide information in a controlled manner. One media spokesperson should be selected as the sole contact point representing the school, and should be available to read statements first-hand when the media calls. The spokesperson should maintain a polite, helpful approach. They can promote rapport by 'giving permission' for further contact at the end of conversations with the media, and by returning calls when promised. Statements should be provided in writing, and kept to a maximum of two or three sentences wherever possible. Messages that are repeated over time should be regularly reworded. They should be issued to the Press Gallery in Parliament House if accessible, or a local media source such as the ABC. The author is a consultant with the PR firm that assisted the family of David Wood, during the time that he was taken hostage. KLA Subject HeadingsSchool principalsPrivacy The overdominance of computersDecember 2005;
Pages 20–23
Current primary students are anticipated to spend 30 per cent less time in face-to-face encounters than the previous generation. Schools need to compensate for, rather than intensify, this hi-tech lifestyle, which replaces rich experiences of physical things with abstract and symbolic contact. ICT should be introduced to school students when they have had time to develop moral judgement, self-discipline, a capacity for empathy and an awareness of ICT's ability to affect and harm other people, locally or remotely. Schools should develop students' 'distinctly human capacities' that emerge, for example, through deep community involvement. Researchers examining results from the international PISA study, which evaluated the academic performance of selected 15-year-old students, have produced findings that link high levels of access to computers at home and at school with lower test scores after controlling for other influences. The researchers concluded that the computers distracted students from study; however, the result may reflect deeper problems. For example reduced time in human interaction has been found to hinder reading development. Rather than producing 'human cogs for the hi-tech machinery of commerce', schools should produce people who can lead responsible and fulfilling lives and are able to apply technological knowledge and critical skills to issues such as global warming and modern weaponry. The USA's Alliance for Childhood has developed a series of guidelines for setting up a healthy learning environment for children. Children require close loving relationships and social interactions with adults; outdoor activity; time for unstructured play; use of the arts as a separate subject and within other subject areas; and hands-on learning activities. Children need to be allowed time to develop their mental and emotional capacities at their own rates, and late developers should not be rushed by using 'technological fixes' such as medication. Children's developmental 'problems' may simply reflect the sedentary and abstract environment of many classrooms. (To access the full text of the article online, follow the links in the December 2005 issue.) KLA Subject HeadingsPrimary educationStudents Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Computer-based training Computers in society Citizenship Civics education Children Child development Navigating the maze of hypertextDecember 2005;
Pages 76–79
Teenagers are widely seen as more competent than adults in Internet use, but a recent series of studies in the USA found that adults were more competent in terms of online reading, comprehension and research skills. Students' use of the Internet in classrooms often takes the form of undirected research and reading time. This situation is prone to occur when teachers react against the Internet as a 'chaotic force', or when computer teachers focus on imparting technical skills rather than guiding students through content material on the web. Students may suffer information overload, follow irrelevant links that have strong visual stimuli or be disoriented when links take them abruptly to different bodies of text, or 'lexias', that have sharply different structure and content. Teachers need to develop students' online literacy skills to deal with these issues. A range of strategies may be applied. Teachers may use a networked presentation to take students through a website, asking them to predict the nature of material they will find from a given link; ask them to summarise text on a given Web page; ask them to identify bias and articulate the differences between various lexias. Teachers can also model research strategies for students. When using online material in class it is important that teachers reserve adequate time for the selection of high-quality websites that support a particular reading objective. Teachers also need strategies tailored to individual students’ stage of reading development, and need to scaffold students' reading development. Teachers also need ways to assess students' research and comprehension strategies. For example, teachers can check whether students systematically investigate all the links on a home page and whether they backtrack through a site when they struggle to understand its material. Some technologies allow teachers to track students' search histories. Students can also be asked to provide a short essay or oral presentation explaining their search strategies. KLA Subject HeadingsSecondary educationReading Multimedia systems Middle schooling Literacy Information literacy Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Computer-based training Assessment Adolescents Teaching and learning Websites Network security for schools
Volume 8, October 2005;
Pages 89–91
Schools need to consider security management and privacy issues when developing a network for storing student records and managing Internet use. Schools should maintain a set of routine security policies and procedures. These procedures should include processes for reporting and responding to security incidents. Policies and precedures should be reviewed regularly. The Privacy Commissioner has produced at set of information technology guidelines covering ICT and the Internet that may be of assistance to schools. Personal information may only be collected and disclosed for lawful and clear purposes. Schools must ensure that records are accurate and kept up to date. The school should provide suitable levels of access to information to parents and students. Information must be kept secure and access restricted. Schools must also decide on externally- or self-managed services, based on the various costs, flexibility and contractual obligations involved. KLA Subject HeadingsInternetInformation management Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Emerging technologies in the performing arts
Volume 9, November 2005;
Pages 41–42
A range of new digital technologies can be used to assist teachers in the performing arts. Many of these technologies integrate easily with each other. Students can develop their knowledge and skills in various programs during a single-school activity. For example, voice or music records in the free audio-editing program Audacity can be edited in Apple' s music production program Garageband. Teachers can use Audacity to create CD records of students' oral language development. Cross-curricular integration is encouraged by many of the new technologies available. For example, students use a number of different programs in clay animation and develop skills in scriptwriting, visual arts and music. New pathways to learning are presented by Midipads and Kidipads, developed by the author, which have been particularly successful for disabled students. By standing on interactive pads, these students can control lighting and create sound. Online learning is possible through programs such as Centra Symposium, which also offers assessment, application sharing and collaborative learning tools. Through videoconferencing, country schools facing recruitment difficulties may be able to access subject teachers in other locations. South Australia's Technology School of the Future is researching the use of videoconferencing software to teach dance and instrumental music, and has trialled the use of this technology over the State's Educonnect network infrastructure. Key Learning AreasThe ArtsSubject HeadingsDistance educationRural education South Australia Elearning Computer-based training Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Performing arts Forget genderDecember 2005;
Pages 32–33
A range of research reports in different countries challenge the widespread belief that school students perform better academically, or feel more comfortable, when they have a teacher of their own gender. In 2000, E Lahelma in Finland found that students judged teachers in terms of fairness, friendliness, sensitivity and classroom management rather than gender. An extensive 1995 study by Ehrenberg, Goldhaber and Brewer in the USA found that matching students and teachers by gender or ethnic group did not impact significantly on their academic performance. A follow-up study by TS Dee in 2005 confirmed these findings, although it also found that teachers tended to see students of the opposite gender to themselves as more disruptive in class. The current article reports on the UK-based PIPS Project, which interpreted data from 413 classes for 11-year-olds in Year 6 with 300 classes taught by women and 113 by men. The study was conducted four months into the school year. It found no relationship between gender of the teacher and educational attainment of students of either sex. There was, however, a 'statistically very significant' finding that both boys and girls had more positive attitudes towards school when taught by a woman. The article is based on a paper delivered to the 2005 conference of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI). KLA Subject HeadingsEducational evaluationPrimary education Male teachers Girls' education Female teachers Boys' education Student motivation and engagement
Number 2, October 2005
The Schooling Issues Digest examines a wide range of research reports on ways to deepen students' interest and involvement in learning activities. Motivation refers to 'energy and direction and reasons for behaviour', while engagement refers to the connection between a person and an actual activity. Students tend to be more engaged when they are given tasks that are not entirely predictable and which challenge them to explore the work with reasonable confidence of success. Tasks should be customised to match the capacities of individual students. Some ICT applications can assist this customisation. Tasks should be significant and connected to realistic situations. The context of student learning is another key influence on engagement. Within the classroom, teachers need to explain ideas clearly and patiently and show that they enjoy teaching. Teachers should provide active experiences linked to life outside school that encourage sustained thinking and exploration adjusted for individual students. An example of this approach is 'authentic pedagogy', used as the basis for Education Queensland's Productive Pedagogies approach. The classroom climate should be supportive and safe. Engagement is also enhanced when a student's peer group values learning and study. Girls are more likely than boys to have peer support for learning. Teachers can also encourage student engagement by encouraging a climate of mutual respect among students and by inviting students' input into curriculum, classroom tasks and assessment methods. This approach has been found to improve student engagement among students in Years 5–9, particularly among boys. Teachers should promote mastery-driven goals, in which deep learning is valued for its own sake, rather than 'performance or ego-enhancement goals' such as looking smart or out-performing others, which do not promote deep-seated motivation or engagement with learning. Students' classroom experiences can be influenced by school leadership and other whole-school factors such as teacher professional learning programs, the school culture, parental involvement, curriculum, assessment and timetabling. KLA Subject HeadingsTeaching and learningTeacher-student relationships Students Schools School culture School and community Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Educational planning Curriculum planning Classroom management Boys' education Behaviour management Motivation Shadowing HelenDecember 2005;
Pages 36–42
The author has researched factors that influence the results of Year 12 students in government, Catholic and independent schools. Her research identified qualities in individual teachers that contribute significantly to strong student performance. The article profiles the approach of one such teacher, Helen Wilson, at Frankston High School. Desks are positioned in a U-shape in Helen’s class, allowing her and all students to see and speak with each other. Students are well-behaved, putting hands up to answer questions. Helen uses expression and redirection to keep students on task, and clearly states and reiterates her directions when challenged. She shows respect and consideration for her students by accepting their corrections of her pronunciation, sharing humorous moments and noticing returned absentees, and explaining concepts or criteria missed. Students openly communicate their difficulties, to which Helen responds with scaffolded tasks, everyday examples and positive affirmation. Discussion dominates lessons. She directs students with strategic questions, rephrasing student input as required. She attends to high achievers and struggling students by asking them specific questions, such as defining words or providing additional examples they could incorporate in their work. She demonstrates a solid knowledge of subject content. Dedicated to her students' learning, Helen also confidently communicates with colleagues to resolve issues. KLA Subject HeadingsClassroom managementTeacher-student relationships Professional development Governance: When push comes to shoveDecember 2005;
Pages 14–16
In related articles, three leaders in school education suggest ways to foster strong relationships between a school principal, the school council and the chair of the council. Tim Hawkes argues that mistakes made by a principal tend to receive much more publicity and reaction than his or her achievements, so councils should take care to keep errors in proportion. Councils need to provide emotional support to the principal, particularly when he or she is new. The council chair should acknowledge the principal at school gatherings, avoid over-zealous criticism, and protect the principal's reputation in private and public discussion, particularly in regard to new or controversial policies. Principals should respond to criticism, keep the council informed of decisions, follow due process, act in ways consistent with the school’s culture and goals, and recognise the limits of their powers and privileges. The work of the council chair involves great responsibility without remuneration, and should be clearly acknowledged. David Loader calls for the clear definitions of the roles of the chair and the principal, with all school issues directed in the first instance to the principal, and with their not being dealt with by the chair as an individual. There should be appropriate appraisal mechanisms for both chair and principal, supported by data. Council members are now being held more accountable in law for events in the school, but they should avoid micro-management of school issues and involvement in specific management or curriculum issues. Audrey Jackson argues for the need to select the appropriate principal for a specific school’s vision, particularly when the vision is being changed, which requires organisational and diplomatic skills. Governance methods need to reflect trends such as the growing politicisation of schooling and the growth in school budgets. Councils need to select members able to address specific areas of need within a school. Factions should be avoided as they do not reflect overall school needs. Councils should include a balance between parents of current students and external members. The chair needs to have a close working relationship with the principal without excluding other council members. There is ‘plenty of opportunity’ for either a chair or principal to bully the other. Externally-run workshops may be used to bring out and deal with bullying behaviour. KLA Subject HeadingsSchool principalsSchool councils School culture Leadership In the common good: The need for a new approach to funding Australian schools
Volume 49
Number 3, 2005;
Pages 264–277
Research from the Longitudinal Survey of Australian Youth (LSAY) has found that students from professional or managerial families perform significantly better academically than students from blue-collar families. The research has found that this performance gap diminished from the 1980s to the mid-1990s when government intervention programs focused on counteracting social disadvantage through whole-school change, but has risen again since 1998 when the Australian Government turned to individualistic intervention strategies and an emphasis on teaching foundational skills. The period since 1998 has also seen a substantial transfer of resources from the government to the private school sector. Government funding of private schools would offer choice to parents if it were used to lower private school fees; however, fees have remained high, especially in non-Catholic private schools, and access to non-government schools is also limited by religious or other admissions criteria. New private schools receive government funding even when existing government schools in their area offer enrolments. Such support imposes not only direct costs on taxpayers but probably also significant indirect costs, due to the loss of economies of scale in the nearby government schools, if their enrolments shrink, and the diminished range of subjects that the shrinking schools can offer students. It is sometimes argued that private schooling saves the public money since private school parents cover some tuition costs. However, according to a review conducted in the Australian Capital Territory in 1983, such savings are likely to be outweighed by direct and indirect costs to taxpayers in areas met by existing government-school capacity. The average cost of educating a child in a government school is rising due to the growing proportion of high-need students enrolled at them. Governments should adopt two policy reforms to address these problems. They should require a study of the impact of a new school on existing public schools before it can be set up. They should also align school funding to the costs involved in serving their specific student populations so that, for example, students who are poorer or have English-speaking or other learning difficulties attract higher funding for the school than students with fewer needs. KLA Subject HeadingsSecondary educationState schools Private schools Catholic schools Schools finance Educational planning Educational evaluation Education policy Education finance A collaborative approach to knowledge building to strengthen policy and practice in education: The New Zealand Iterative Best Evidence Synthesis ProgramNew Zealand's Iterative Best Evidence Synthesis (BES) program is designed to collect and disseminate research literature that focuses on how to improve social and academic outcomes for diverse learners. It aims to provide access to a cumulative body of research and to strengthen professional networks of educators and the research that they undertake. Influential theories of teaching and learning need to be abandoned if rigorous research finds that they are ineffective. For example, research has found that the popular approach of tailoring teaching to student learning styles is ineffective in regards to Maori and Pasifika children in junior mathematics classes. Educators applying this approach tended to classify these students as 'kinetic learners' and encouraged them to work with their hands, while other students focused on the metacognitive learning which has been linked, by a strong evidence base, to high achievement levels. The BES program has sought to gather relevant research currently scattered across a range of journals, subject-based sources, and the 'paradigm silos' separating different disciplines such as psychology and sociology. The program draws on international research, carefully allowing for many contextual factors such as culture and the legal system. The BES also makes available valuable post-graduate research, often conducted by teachers, which has hitherto been hard to access. The program gives weight to longitudinal studies, to findings that have been confirmed through a range of different research methodologies, and to research that applies methods that are well suited to the study of its particular subject matter. The BES has also sought to synthesise evidence from a range of different research approaches to offset the limitations of any particular method, such as randomised, controlled experimental trials, Bayesian statistics, and longitudinal studies and microgenetic studies that focus on diverse learners simultaneously. Sustained progress in education research will require a wide sense of ownership and involvement within the education community. The paper includes three examples of valuable research studies in New Zealand that may not have come to the attention of educators without the BES program. A range of challenges faces educators and researchers in New Zealand. They need to recognise and promote the importance of research and development in improving educational outcomes, acknowledge the contribution that teachers make to research projects, apply research evidence to improving teacher education, and direct research to questions that actually improve educational practice. KLA Subject HeadingsNew ZealandMäori Education Educational evaluation Educational planning Education research Education policy |