Volume 3 Issue 2
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Publication Developing Literacy Skills with Graphic Organisers(Avondale Academic Press, 2009-01-01) Strickland, MargaretAs 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.
Publication Kokoda Track(Avondale Academic Press, 2009-01-01) Pearce, JillPublication When the Whole World Was Talking: World Forum on Early Care and Education, 2009(Avondale Academic Press, 2009-01-01) Judge, KayePublication A Sodium Loaded Trap? What Should Schools Tell Students About Cheese?(Avondale Academic Press, 2009-01-01) Pearce, RobynThis 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.
Publication The Brain That Changes Itself(Avondale Academic Press, 2009-01-01) Thompson, KristinPublication Increasing Life Effectiveness(Avondale Academic Press, 2009-01-01) Robinson, Tony; Low, David; Beamish, PeterThe 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.
Publication Highly Effective Teachers(Avondale Academic Press, 2009-01-01) Faull, AdeleThe 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).
Publication Chaplaincy in Christian Schools: Towards a Policy Platform for Productive Partnerships(Avondale Academic Press, 2009-01-01) Rieger, WilfPastoral 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?
Publication EH&S Issues(Avondale Academic Press, 2009-01-01)Publication Readers Theatre, Bible, and Fluency(Avondale Academic Press, 2009-01-01) Cleland, JoAnn; Campbell, MelvinReaders 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.
Publication Computer Technology in the Geography Classroom: Quality Teaching and Learning(Avondale Academic Press, 2009-01-01) Christian, Beverly J.; Page, TianiComputer 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.
Publication Cooking Up a Marketing Plan(Avondale Academic Press, 2009-01-01) Zeuchener, KarenHow 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.
Publication There Arose a Generation That Did Not Remember: The Challenge of Maintaining Distinctively Christian Institutional Cultures in an Era of Change(Avondale Academic Press, 2009-01-01) Iselin, DarrenThe 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.
Publication Editorial(Avondale Academic Press, 2009-01-01) Hibbard, Lana