Volume 3 Issue 2

As teachers we are constantly looking for

ways to improve student learning. In Australia,

educational theory and practice have

predominantly moved from the behaviourist

school of thought to the cognitive school of

thought. From this position, a constructivist

theory of learning has developed. Within this

model, students are actively involved in the

learning process. Practices in education have

also been informed by information scientists

who understand that information is important

and is processed and adapted by learners in

relation to what they already know.

This study evaluates the sodium and calcium content of convenience cheese products available for use in school lunches and the classification of such products using traffic light approaches designed to guide food selection for healthy eating. Thirty-eight convenience cheese products from NSW supermarkets were studied. Nutrition information panels provided sodium content for all products and calcium content for 35 products. It was found that a 40g serve of convenience cheese products can contribute a substantial proportion of children’s calcium Estimated Average Requirements (EARs). However, the accompanying sodium levels create difficulty for keeping daily sodium intake within the Adequate Intake (AI) range for school children of all ages, particularly, younger children (4–8 year olds). Due to the sodium content, many of the cheese products, especially processed cheeses, need to be classified as ‘red’ foods—to be avoided or only eaten occasionally. The categorisation of the convenience cheese products as ‘green’, every day foods, to provide calcium conflicts with messages to choose foods low in sodium when promoting healthy eating.

The iPod, more than any other device, is indicative of the times in which we live. It provides entertainment and information at the click of a wheel, whenever, and wherever we want it. The iPod is tool of choice for many of the current generation of youth who fill their days with electronic devices, computer games, Youtube, Myspace, Facebook and talking to friends on MSN. These youth have been referred to as the iGeneration, or Google Generation; whatever you choose to call them, they are the young people in our schools.

Life is not simple for many of these students. They

are growing up in a world vastly different to that

of their parents. Today’s world features “cultural

pluralism, increased anxiety about personal and

environmental risks, precarious employment,

rampant consumerism, the information deluge,

greater individualisation and increased instability in

families” (Hughes, 2007).

Within this quickly changing world, there is a

need for students to develop the capacity to cope

with their ever-changing environment. They need

to be resilient. Outdoor education activities have

been proposed as one way of increasing a person’s

resilience through increasing ‘Life Effectiveness’

skills. These skills equip students to handle the

demands of life and impact a person’s capacity to

adapt, survive, and thrive (Neill, 2008). They will

enhance a person’s resilience and their sense of

wellbeing.

The question “What makes an effective teacher?” is an ongoing concern for those involved in education and teaching. This article argues the importance of taking into account both pedagogic and dispositional characteristics when examining what it might mean to be a highly effective teacher. In doing so, two theoretical frameworks are described; namely, the New South Wales Quality Teaching Model (QTM) (NSW, DET, 2003) and the Dispositional Cluster Model (DCM) (Faull, 2008).

Pastoral care or student wellbeing, as it is

often referred to, now straddles educational

institutions from early childhood centres to

university graduate schools.2 Whether in the

public, independent or Christian school sector,

it appears no longer optional; it is more than de

rigueur, it is integral to the life of effective and

caring learning communities in Australia. In the

UK, Ron Best has for some years advocated an

interesting and widely accepted pastoral care

structure that attempts to meet four identifiable

types of needs encountered in schools.3 In his

proposed “pastoral tasks”, students’ needs are

being addressed through casework, where the

curriculum provides students with knowledge

and skills for becoming more resilient, where

a strong sense of community rather than

punishment focuses on developing responsible

behaviour, and where a whole-school approach

results in achieving planned outcomes. How

might chaplaincy fit into such a structure?

Readers Theatre has been a dramatic genre for many years. Only recently, however, has it been seriously applied to educational endeavors and, even then, seldom to the teaching of Biblical themes and related values. In view of the mandate to integrate literacy into every area of the school curriculum, this article explores how expression, fluency, and intonation of oral reading may be improved using Readers Theatre in faith formation classes.

Computer technology is influencing every area of our lives. Funding from the Federal Government and the need to connect with and engage Generation Y students in learning puts pressure on teachers to find valid and effective ways of using computers in the classroom. This article shares one Geography teacher’s experiences of using computer technology to enhance quality teaching.

How can our school use its current facilities

and learning resources to attract prospective

clients without the need for large outlay costs?

As a marketing director, I was trying to create a

marketing opportunity that would be successful,

practical, achievable and affordable.

The preservation and perpetuation of core institutional vision, values, ethos and identity to succeeding generations are critical imperatives that confront all Christian educational organisations. Christian institutions have historically been prone to the dis-integration of their respective cultural distinctiveness through processes of rationalisation and secularisation, and many do not remain distinctively Christian in vision, ethos or identity beyond the second and third generations. This paper will provide a review of the literature relating to the preservation of core ideology within Christian educational institutions and will identify a range of forces that promote and inhibit the preservation of distinctively Christian identities within an ever-increasingly complex and market driven socio-cultural milieu.