Volume 2 Issue 2

What can Australian and New Zealand school

students and teachers learn from a relationship

with a small orphanage in rural Cambodia?

Would it be inspiring and fascinating or tragic

and depressing? Would students be interested

and engaged or would it make extra work for

busy educators already overwhelmed with the

realities of classroom management, curriculum

and extra-curricular activities? These are

questions I recently asked staff in fi ve schools

and the answers were surprising. Unanimously,

without hesitation, they indicated that their

schools had already adopted an orphanage,

were considering doing so or would welcome

the opportunity!

This article looks at the nature of schools from a services marketing perspective and uses this perspective to understand what happens in schools.

Catch cries such as ‘high quality care’ and

‘warm, caring environment’ seem to be standard

descriptors of early childhood learning

environments regardless of the centre’s

philosophy. No longer can one claim that these

descriptors are unique to a centre staffed by

Christians. Christian care providers need to look

deeper into their practices to determine what

makes their centre unique.

This research study investigated the induction experiences and perceptions of a group of novice principals in a national, Christian, independent school system. Semi-structured interviews were used to generate discussion, elicit experiences and present recommendations about providing support for novice principals. The study found that eight of the nine principals experienced difficulties with role clarification, administration issues, financial management, time management and the isolation in the principal’s position. Initial shock in the role, policy development, lack of leadership training, staff relationships and information overload were also serious issues for the group. From both the literature and the interviewees’ perceptions and comments, recommendations for systemic improvements are made regarding the needs of newly appointed principals.

Would you like to see an improvement in

your students’ motivation to learn, level of

responsibility and knowledge of where food

comes from, regardless of academic ability?

Do your students have the opportunity to

learn hands-on business and marketing skills

during their schooling years? Do they have the

opportunity to do all of this in one subject?

Considerable debate has taken place in the last two years over whether or not Intelligent Design (ID) should be taught to high school students. This paper examines some of the basic features of ID as set out by its major proponents. It also outlines the arguments of detractors who would argue that ID is not science, but religion or creationism in disguise. These suggest that ID is a type of ‘god of the gaps’ argument which then languishes when mechanisms accounting for the appearance of complex objects or systems having the hallmarks of design are elucidated by further scientific research. It is also noted that while the complexity, functionality and apparent purpose of biological systems may have the appearance of being designed, other explanations exist. Further, it is noted that design theory is unable to speculate on the mechanism(s) leading to their formation. It is also observed that the design discussion has some general concepts which go beyond the specific ID framework and with which many more Christians in science resonate. Internationally, ID has not featured in school science curricula and attempts to integrate it into Australian school curricula should be very carefully evaluated with respect to the experiences of the global educational and scientific community.

The world is changing. Many students now fi ll

their world with mobile phones, text messaging,

MP3 players and computers that they use for

social networking. They have really become the

iPod generation. Due to the ubiquitous nature

of iPods, and other mp3 players, digital music

is everywhere and podcasting has become a

mainstream activity of the web 2.0 age.

Movies based on historical events can be of value to the teacher of History and English. Unlike documentaries however, they are not used as much as they might be in the History classroom, because as essentially fictional texts, they pose problems of interpretation for the historian. Given a correct understanding of how history and cinema interact, and how the cinema differs as a historical source from conventional records, the History teacher can make the most of movies as texts that reveal not so much what happened in history, but rather the importance of the event to later generations. Senior English teachers, who face the challenge of teaching the nature of representation in various texts, could also find a better understanding of history and cinema useful. Movies are sources that allow the student to explore issues of bias, representation and interpretation, and they have the added potential advantage of being texts that are intrinsically interesting to students.

I have always enjoyed trying to do two things

at once. Watching TV while ironing, talking on

the phone while driving (hands free of course),

and eating breakfast while reading are three

recommended combinations. It feels great to be

able to combine two tasks that compliment each

other. In fact, at times, you would be considered

a little strange if you were to do one task

without the other. Ironing, by itself, is mundane,

using your mobile in a stationary position

is contradictory, and I am yet to see anyone

reading the Weet-bix packet at a time other

than during breakfast. Some things are meant

to be done together. As we are discovering

at Avondale College, ‘learning to teach’ and

‘service learning’ is another such pairing.

Storytelling has always been part of the fabric of life.

Myths and fables, heroic deeds, values and morals,

have all been passed from one generation to the

next in narrative form as stories, poems, dances

and songs.