I wrote the first version of this in 2024, back when the doom was slightly quieter and nobody had yet stood at a podium to announce that the reading wars were over. Two years on, the catastrophe headlines have multiplied, the NAPLAN numbers have moved in genuinely mixed directions, and the overclaiming now comes from bothContinue reading “Ignore the Naysayers (2026 Update): Why Australia’s Education System is Stronger Than You Think”
Tag Archives: learning
The Wellbeing Industry Has Eaten Difficulty: We promised students comfort and called it care.
Somewhere right now, a Year 9 student is sitting in a beanbag in a softly lit room because quadratic equations made him feel overwhelmed. Someone will record the visit as a wellbeing intervention, the relevant box will be ticked, and everyone involved will have acted with entirely decent intentions. The student was distressed, a teacherContinue reading “The Wellbeing Industry Has Eaten Difficulty: We promised students comfort and called it care.”
Differentiation Is Not the Problem. Pretending It’s Easy Is.
Somewhere right now, a teacher is producing three versions of the same worksheet and calling it inclusive practice. There is the “support” version, where a few of the harder questions have quietly disappeared. There is the “extension” version, where the same questions have been given an extra verb, probably “evaluate”, because nothing says academic stretchContinue reading “Differentiation Is Not the Problem. Pretending It’s Easy Is.”
How Many Standards Does It Take to Train a Teacher?
Education reform has a curious rhythm. A problem appears. A review is commissioned. A framework is introduced. The framework does not quite fix the problem, so a second framework arrives to strengthen it. Eventually, the system begins to resemble a geological formation: layers of policy sediment built up over time, each one deposited with theContinue reading “How Many Standards Does It Take to Train a Teacher? “
You Are Misusing Cognitive Load Theory
Education loves its theories. We love them with a kind of earnest devotion that would be charming if it were not so historically destructive. A theory emerges in the literature, carefully tested in small, controlled studies involving volunteers who sit quietly, complete tidy tasks and never once throw a pencil across the room. Then, almostContinue reading “You Are Misusing Cognitive Load Theory”
Questions That Will Define 2026
There’s a predictable rhythm to education. Every few years we rediscover an idea we abandoned a decade earlier and insist it’s revolutionary. The only constant is the pendulum swing: one decade it’s all soft lighting, beanbags, and “let the children lead”; the next it’s rigid scripts, highly structured lessons, and the kind of certainty usuallyContinue reading “Questions That Will Define 2026”
Teaching: Better Paid, Still Broken
Teaching is a 9–3 job in the same way parenting is just birthday parties and Instagram photos. In a previous post on Becoming a Teacher and the work of a teacher, I wrote about what teachers actually do beyond the hours the public sees. It was anecdotal. It was based on my lived experience and others’, tiredContinue reading “Teaching: Better Paid, Still Broken”
TikTok Kids, Burnt-Out Teachers, and the Illusion of Reinventing School
Every few years, we’re told the classroom has to be reinvented. Gen Z students learn differently. Gen Alpha will need something else entirely. Now Gen Z teachers are arriving, and apparently, they’re a new challenge too. The result is what I call generational whiplash. Gen Z supposedly required “21st century skills” (as if critical thinkingContinue reading “TikTok Kids, Burnt-Out Teachers, and the Illusion of Reinventing School”
Stop Acting Surprised: Teachers Don’t Have Time for Your Research
Last month, AARE released a blog post with a shocking revelation: teachers aren’t reading academic research. Groundbreaking stuff. I haven’t seen such a pointless discovery since someone realised toddlers aren’t into Nietzsche or that cats don’t follow instructions. Apparently, classroom teachers, you know the ones that are overworked, underpaid, and one broken photocopier away from a nervousContinue reading “Stop Acting Surprised: Teachers Don’t Have Time for Your Research”
On grades, hypocrisy, and the delusion that students love learning for its own sake
A new study tells us that over 65% of students either ignore feedback completely or do not improve as a result of feedback – is anyone surprised? Ask any high school teacher how effective feedback is and you’ll get the same answer… somewhere between a tired chuckle and a soul-crushing sigh. Sure, we provide feedback. We mayContinue reading “On grades, hypocrisy, and the delusion that students love learning for its own sake”
Maximising Student Potential 