TEACH Journal

The latest in a series of books about how teachers reveal Jesus to students can help safeguard Christian education in a changing society, says its editors.

Starting with a brief history of the development

of the Encounter Bible curriculum and summary

of the evaluative research methodology,

this paper draws on teacher, student and

administrator interview data in its account

of teachers’ attempts to teach Encounter

Bible. The writers refer to selected points

of interest from their evaluation as they

discuss teacher perceptions of the Encounter

resource, assessment practice, the theory

behind planning, the teaching and learning

process, spirituality in schools and classrooms,

and professional development. They also

review student perceptions of teaching, and

administrator involvement in supporting

teachers. In surveying teacher achievements

and challenges, the paper addresses a limited

number of key issues that could ultimately be

of critical reflective importance for Christian

schools.

Avondale College of Higher Education has been offering tertiary courses for over 120 years. In the past two decades, this institution has extended its programs to include distance courses for students who opt to study online or are not able to attend on-campus courses at Avondale’s Lake Macquarie and Sydney campuses. While all of the institutions courses are evaluated on a regular basis, no formal evaluation had ever been undertaken of the distance education program as a whole. During 2017, a mixed methods research project was conducted to gather evaluative data from recent and current distance students using questionnaires and focus groups. The results of the study provide insight into the extent to which the distance education program at the College provides a space in which learning relationships can develop in online communities. Also, suggestions for future improvement and further research recommendations are provided. Findings of this study may be of interest to educators and administrators who incorporate online components in their curricula.

This article describes collaborative autoethnographic reflections on the meaning of our decade-long journey as a school community towards reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This has resulted in a heartening cultural change driven by the school’s strong, faith-based commitment to reconciliation and the desire to make an incredibly complex issue accessible for children and young people.

A powerful change took place when we invited Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples into our community to tell their story and true growth occurred when our students moved from the position of spectators to participators. Reconciliation events are now a permanent part of our school calendar. The many cultures that make up our community, but especially Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritages, are celebrated in authentic ways. Our students have led the process and began to develop pride in their identity, finding their voice among peers

Teachers who work with young adolescents know that motivating and maintaining their interest in classroom-based learning is a major challenge.

This study seeks to address this issue and is an examination of the use of a motivational scaffold to assist a cohort of Year Nine students to take greater responsibility for their learning through direct and authentic learning experiences outside the classroom.

This article presents a new framework for the

governance of Christian Schools—a Community

Governance Framework that centres on the key

roles and relationships contained within that

community. Relationships are central to the

Community Governance Framework, as it is our

belief that quality healthy relationships are critical to

growing healthy Christian organisations.

Whilst there are many similarities and familiar

elements between the Community Governance

Framework and other models, the unique difference

is that the Community Governance Framework

seeks to put all the pieces of the governance puzzle

together in one place to show, in effect, what a

healthy Christian school actually looks like. The

framework has been developed through practical

experience as consultants working with the Boards

of hundreds of Christian Schools and Not for Profit

organisations.

Internationally chaplaincy as a whole,

and school based chaplaincy in particular, is

morphing into new forms within emerging national

uncertainties, and cultural diversity. Drawing on

their work in Ireland, King and Norman (2009)

believe that the role of school chaplains everywhere

needs to be carefully realigned and rethought.

This paper seeks in part to address this

situation, unpacking the initial ‘emic-journey’ of

a three year multi-case study research agenda

that seeks to holistically investigate how key

stakeholders in three faith based schools

understand the role and practice of school

chaplains. In this instance, the stakeholders

included administrators, chaplains and students.

The multi-case study approach and the stratified

sets of respondents were deemed to be the best

‘goodness of fit’ as Parekh’s (2000) axiom clearly

states an understanding that one group’s place

within an organisation needs to be considered not

in isolation, but as intersecting forces that act as a

“locus of identity.”

This study—A Decade of Encounter—research commissioned by Adventist Schools Australia, offers valuable data worthy of reflection as we enter a new decade of Encounter’s implementation within Australia. The time and effort invested in the collection of these voices from the field is valued and appreciated. Recent engagement with the researchers has brought rich discussion and a commitment to make the Adventist Encounter curriculum even stronger as we embark on a revision of the curriculum in 2020. This dialogue will continue as time goes on.

I never, ever, thought I’d be that teacher—the

one you hear screaming at the kids in their class

from half a mile away—until I became one.

I’m not a shouter. At least I wasn’t a shouter

until, after over 20 years teaching in high

schools, I began working as a specialist art

teacher in a primary school.

How did I move from good behavioural

management strategies and a working pedagogy

in the high school art room to bored, noncompliant

behaviour in the primary school? How

did I find my way back from hating art classes as

much as the kids did to an environment where

we all are engaged, look forward to and love

what we do?

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.

My name is Tamara Bernoth - I am one of our Deputy Principals at Prescott Primary Northern in South Australia. Although heartbroken, it is my absolute honour and privilege to share on behalf of our Prescott family, some memories, and insights of Sharney, Miss Truscott, as a teacher, colleague and friend.

An Avondale lecturer’s third and final book in a series telling the story of a boy and the challenge of adolescence launched recently.

Has learning about text types lost some of its

lustre for your students; particularly boys?

Does Studies of Society, HSIE, or History need

a fillip to energise students’ learning in your

classroom? Could your Bible/Scripture/Studies

of Religion program do with more vibrancy and

relevance? And what about a little detective

work, some historical research, a mapping

assignment or a variation on some of these?

Perhaps the reading of a boy’s diary may

become a spring-board for any one of a number

of interesting learning activities.

The purpose of this study was to examine the acceptability to students, parents and teachers of a school-based intervention that incentivised students using prizes to be more physically active (the B-Active program). Three hundred and eighty-five children (54% boys, 46% girls) in Years 3 – 6 from five schools participated in the study. Six parents and three teachers were also interviewed about their perception of the B-Active program. Overall, the students enjoyed the B-Active program but the level of acceptability was lower for the parents and teachers. This study indicates that to increase acceptability, parents need to be well informed and engaged and teachers need to be well supported so as to not add to their administrative responsibilities.