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Edtech and COVID-19

Almost as insidious as the disease itself, multinational corporations, international coalitions and education technology businesses have seized the opportunity of the COVID-19 disruption to extend their tentacles into public education systems.

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Black lives and what really matters

“We shouldn’t be importing the things that are happening overseas to Australia.” Such was Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s response to a question about a Black Lives Matter protest march in Sydney on 2 June.

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R-E-S-P-E-C-T

These are indeed unprecedented times. Your days and weeks have blurred into one, as you’ve turned yourselves inside out and delivered over and above the call of duty. Your dedication and commitment to the cause of public education has been truly remarkable.

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Our 2020 vision: A spotlight on the profession

The start to the school year brought with it tremendous challenges that we would all hope to never be experienced again. For many of our members, their students and families there was no summer vacation.

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Public education: the bedrock of a democracy

It was Canadian philosopher John Ralston Saul who argued that any society that educates more than 10 per cent of its children in private schools can no longer call itself a democracy. Australia is well above that figure. Saul is right.

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Political and natural disasters: both bad for communities

There are very few national institutions with the reach of TAFE.

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The pathology of NAPLAN

Let’s be clear: no child fails NAPLAN, but NAPLAN fails all children.

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Facta Non Verba

The Latin motto at my school, Punchbowl Boys’ High School, was Facta Non Verba — deeds, not words. As young boys, we were told that people should be judged on their actions, not just their words.

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Election setback strengthens resolve to keep fighting

Visitors to the Federation building in Mary Street, Surry Hills, will see black and white historical photographs scrolling on a screen in the front foyer.

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A simple moral choice: some children or all children?

As a nation, we can decide to give our teachers in public schools the resources they need for the task at hand or we continue to advantage those private schools that are over-funded.

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Radical push to destroy senior curriculum

Over the summer break, The Sydney Morning Herald exposed an attempt by the powerful and well-connected private school lobby to deregulate the HSC as an exit credential, and to allow for a plethora of commercial tests imported from overseas to replace it.

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Federation: a proud history, a confident future

As we end our 100th anniversary year, we can look back proud of our union’s achievements over the decades.

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Australia: silver medallists when it comes to creating disadvantage

The recent media commentary about private schools and discrimination may have opened up an important debate that, as a nation, is long overdue. And it will need to be much broader than the personal rights of LGBTIQ students and teachers, important though they are.

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NSW public school system: only the best will do

​​Federation has been at the forefront of demanding that governments at federal and state level ensure that rigorous academics standards are applied at the point of entry into initial teacher education.

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Teaching without teachers: A new business plan

I am concerned that teachers are in danger of losing control of who teaches, what is taught and how we teach, as “edu-businesses” move to directly influence politicians, advisers and policy makers.

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Chaplains in schools: probably illegal, certainly immoral

In the recent federal Budget, an additional $247 million has been allocated to the schools chaplaincy program. This brings the total amount of funding for the scheme, since its introduction in 2006 by the Howard Government, to about $1 billion.

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Proficient and committed

I am writing this in a hotel room in Canberra having spent the day wandering the corridors of Parliament House, accompanied by parents and teachers, dropping in on politicians to argue for a fairer funding model for public schools. It’s a quiet room and as the sun sets, I’m reflecting on the past 40 years.

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The Tide is Turning

This year is the 10th anniversary of the introduction of the National Assessment Program — Literacy and Numeracy, known simply as NAPLAN. And it’s time to be frank.

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Hasten slowly and stay in charge

Many years ago, as a young teacher in the late 1970s, I read an article about Japan and mathematics teaching in relation to what was then new technology — the overhead projector. It may have been apocryphal, but I still found the story to be thought provoking. The article told of a local school district in Japan that had decided to replace, with unforeseen consequences, all the blackboards with overhead projectors complete with scrolling plastic film on which teachers were to write.

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