The summer break for educational institutions has either finished or is close to finishing as this page is updated. One school system has already started, while the remainder will begin in the next few days. The tertiary sector is also gearing up to commence the 2012 year, with new undergraduates being offered places as we speak. TAFEs and other providers are also ready to commence.

To all those who are entering any level of education for the first time, our best wishes both for your success with, and your enjoyment of, the educational process you will be starting. To those who are returning, may you enjoy continuing success.

As well as the summer break we have enjoyed a number of public holidays, the last of which was Australia Day. This celebration of being Australian is much more than simply a public holiday. It is the occasion to recognise great achievers including the various Australians of the Year, among whom were Geoffrey Rush, Laurie Baymarrwangga, Marita Cheng and Lynne Sawyers, as well as a host of others, including those from the education sector, who received other Australian recognition. It is a time to reflect on what has occurred over both distant and recent past and look to the future. Some aspects of the day include Reflections on Australia Day - reflections on both the origins and current meaning from academics at the University of Sydney; linking with particular events at a personal level as with Christiana Paterson in A year at Mullewa [ABC Rural]; even a push to have Aussies kids to learn about Australia Day under [the] national curriculum.

While educational news and changes tend to assume a less dominant position during this period, there have still been a number of announcements, discussions initiated and even implementations taking place, both at a national and state/territory level. Among these are some of the following.

As indicated over a period of time in the news headlines there is a move to embed Indigenous content in all university curricula. There have been a number of responses and comments about these in the last month or so. An additional response on the Embedding of Indigenous Content has now come from the National Tertiary Education Union. It covers the present position, involvement of Indigenous people, etc., and strongly supports the push to achieve this end.

In the Indigenous area, there is also evidence that Caring for country creates new land of opportunity [ANU News], with ‘projects [that] combine Indigenous and non-Indigenous scientific knowledge and methods, highlighting the seldom-documented voices and input of Indigenous peoples into conservation work. Indigenous Australians have a wealth of knowledge accumulated over thousands of years that can fill substantial gaps in non-Indigenous understanding and knowledge of species, ecosystems and sustainable ways of managing country’.

In a completely different vein, there have been a number of new appointments over this period. One of these has been the New Dean of the Conservatorium of Music who will commence in April. It follows a stormy period at the Conservatorium and the University of Sydney. In a related article in The Australian, it indicates his background [both academic and musical while indicating he ‘says students must aspire to be the complete musician’. We wish him well.

Good educators are good leaders at whatever level. It is therefore interesting to hear the ideas expressed in The 2011 John Bonython Lecture [ABC Radio National] by Frank Furedi, Professor of Sociology, University of Kent, UK, who ‘believes it requires a capacity and a willingness to make judgment calls. Yet, [says] society is surprisingly intolerant about allowing individuals to exercise initiative and judgment’. You can listen to the lecture online or downdload the audio from this site.

Home Schooling is a relatively popular process around the world. People take up home schooling for a whole range of reasons too great to go into here. In many countries it has proven strong indeed [for example the US] while surprisingly in other countries it is completely banned by government. There are many who use home schooling in Australia as shown in Background Briefing : Home Schooling [ABC Radio National]. It indicates ‘More than 50 000 school aged children will be staying at home this year - not because they’re sick, but because they’re being educated at home by their parents. While home schooling is legal, parents are required to register. But thousands are educating their children in secret, and could face prosecution’. As stated, home schooling is legal but you do have to register - in the best interests of all involved, especially the child. Why not find out what has been said ?

We may have the internet, social media and more but books still remain an integral part of education. In Commercial push for national press network challenged, an article in The Australian, we find that ‘a fight has broken out over the future of scholarly publishing as the new generation of university e-presses challenges a push by the commercial presses to create a national university press network built on their established expertise’. Further information should be available from the Book Industry Strategy Group site.

In a tongue-in-cheek approach, comes a piece from a teacher who wants to move between states. Yes the piece is sub-titled the Heckler but is there a grain or more of truth ? Experience would suggest there may well be [and not just in Australian situations, but worldwide]. In the Sydney Morning Herald piece New scheme teaches me a costly lesson we follow the trials and tribulations of a teacher wanting to go from Victoria to NSW to work. You make up your own mind whether you believe none/some/all of what is written, or just have a chuckle as you read.

Finally, there are a number of other items you may be find interesting. These include :

• Michael Kelly : A ‘normal’ teen with Hawking and a Nobel in his sights. This article in The Australian provides information about ‘Gold Coast teenager Michael Kelly. He was 12 when he began undergraduate study at Griffith University. Now 17, he graduated with honours in science last month and in the next few weeks will settle on a topic for the PhD he plans to start in March’.
• Teach For Australia, a group which encourages university graduates to teach in disadvantaged schools for two years, has announced that it will be placing people in Northern Territory schools for the first time in 2012, in addition to the other states already having placements. You can find out more about this and the whole process through this site.
• Accord opens French Doors, is a story in The Australian that covers the inaugural ‘Australia Day education conference [hosted by Kevin Rudd] together with his French counterpart, Alain Juppe, in Paris last Thursday’.
• While not directly educational, it could have an educational impact. Youth unemployment : 18 500 teen jobs wiped out in December [ABC Radio National], states in part that ‘Unemployment among 15- to 19-year-olds has rocketed to 17.3 per cent’. You can listen to the whole broadcast or download the audio from here.
• With the importance of the subject matter at this time of the year and the recent creation of this site to replace another, we have retained the existing Highlighted Education Site until the next update.

Updated

• The Calendar and Conferences pages continue to expand. We continue working to finalise as many dates for 2012 as possible. The Conference & Events pages were also updated and pages have been modified to fit the new year.
• We have finished checking all core pages and now begun on the remaining pages, some of which have already been updated.
• Links have been added and other modifications made as indicated above.

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