Education

Young people today are constantly at risk of indoctrination – whether deliberate or inadvertent. This can be by advertisers, politicians, religious extremists or the media – and can make it hard for young people to get a handle on the world around them.

It’s often thought that it is better to start learning a second language at a young age. But research shows that this is not necessarily true. In fact, the best age to start learning a second language can vary significantly, depending on how the language is being learned.

There is a common perception that children are more likely to read if it is on a device such as an iPad or Kindles. But new research shows that this is not necessarily the case.

Education minister Simon Birmingham referred to the April 7 funding meeting in Hobart as a “morning of constructive discussions with the Education Council amongst myself and the state and territory ministers”

Against the backdrop of some fierce criticism, loudly proclaimed concerns, and in the case of one state, a decision not to participate until glitches were ironed out, NAPLAN Online is fraught with challenge.

The latest report by Mitchell Institute at Victoria University finds school leavers are not graduating with the skills they need to become successful adults.

There are 7,099 known languages in the world today. Choosing which of these to teach our children as a second language is an important decision, but one that may be based more on feelings than facts.

St Pius X College is a Catholic boys’ college located in Chatswood, in Sydney’s northern suburbs. A decade ago, the school received the most tragic wake-up call imaginable; they lost a student to suicide.

The latest reports from two major international assessments of student learning – PISA and TIMSS - show that educational disadvantage is a substantial problem in Australia.

With Close the Gap Day behind us, we may allow the mismatch of opportunity and subsequent educational outcomes to peter out of view. For the Indigenous people of these lands, and those who work with to close the gap, the reminders are daily, and they are numerous.