In This Issue
EDITORIAL and INSIDE INSIGHT
CRYPTIC CROSSWORD – Some cross crossword readers of the print edition will have noticed that the cryptic crossword for November was extremely cryptic, because the wrong blank grid was inadvertently published. We apologise for making your November crossword more fiendishly difficult than it needed to be. You can find the correct blank grid here
CRYPTIC CROSSWORD – Solution
OPINION –
Stop playing games and get on with reform
Gifted and talented
FEATURE – It's time: A national curriculum for the 21st Century?
Australia has an opportunity to lead the world with the quality of its national curriculum, if the new National Curriculum Board is allowed to do its job properly, says Alan Reid.
THE PROFESSION –
Leadership: Is there a looming shortage?
Many school leaders will retire in the next few years, and their potential successors report little attraction in the leadership role. Phillip McKenzie considers whether we really face a looming shortage.
Online learning for school leaders
Susanne Owen explains how school leaders and aspirant school leaders can get professional learning support that’s collaborative, experiential and practical – and all online.
CLASSROOM CONFIDENTIAL – Not another article on climate change...but would you like $50,000 to spend on solar panels?
‘Everyone complains about the weather but no-one is doing anything about it!’ Mark Twain’s words were never truer than at present. Climate change, and what we should all be doing about it, is exercising everybody’s mind, says Seamus O’Grady.
RESEARCH – Reality check: Effective school-based drug education
Clarissa Hughes reports on research that shows how understanding students’ perceptions of reality can help to reduce risky drinking.
TRANSITION –
Help wanted
Teenage unemployment is unacceptably high, and the education system must help young people complete Year 12 and make smooth transitions to further study or work, says education expert Professor Richard Sweet. Rebecca Leech reports.
Take your partners
Social partnerships in the vocational education and training sector enable collaborative networks and innovative solutions, but they need appropriate support, according to research by Stephen Billett, Terri Seddon, Allie Clemans, Carolyn Ovens, Kathleen Ferguson and Kathleen Fennessy.
NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE and IN BRIEF
ISSUES – Cyberbullying in schools
When it comes to cyberbullying, the challenge for schools is to keep on top of what is happening, do the research, develop the strategies to minimise the risks and implement them, says David Ford.
REVIEW
The Trouble with Theory: The educational costs of postmodernism
THE DIARY
AS I SEE IT... Thank you, Greg Smith
With World Teachers’ Day coming up on 31 October, Danny Katz says thank you.
