One of my favourite rituals during the holidays is finding a café somehere, settling in with a strong coffee, and immersing myself in reading or writing. There is something about the ambient hum of a café—a blend of activity and calm—that helps me focus in ways a structured office never quite does. In such moments, I often find myself at my most productive, distilling ideas, crafting arguments, or mapping out new directions for research.

But the holidays are not just about solitary pursuits. They also provide an invaluable opportunity to connect with like-minded colleagues. Over breakfasts, lunches or coffee catch-ups, we exchange ideas, share the progress of ongoing projects, and explore potential collaborations. These conversations are invigorating, often sparking new avenues of inquiry or refining existing questions. Educational research, I have found, flourishes best when it is shared, critiqued, and reimagined through dialogue.

The rhythm of the school term, while productive and vibrant, often pushes reflective practice to the margins. There’s simply not enough time in the day to pause and ask, “Why are we doing this?” or “What impact is this having?” Holidays offer a remedy. They provide the space to revisit these fundamental questions and the luxury to delve deeply into topics that matter most to educators and students alike.

For me, the love of research is rooted in this interplay between reflection and action, between solitude and collaboration. It’s about discovering how to better support learning, how to nurture teaching practices, and how to create environments where students and teachers alike can thrive. Research becomes not an abstract activity but a lived, relational one, where the end goal is not just knowledge but transformation—of classrooms, schools, and ultimately, lives.

So, as Barker settles into the holiday period, I find myself embracing this quieter season with enthusiasm. Whether it’s reading a new journal article, revisiting a project that’s been simmering on the back burner, or exploring a fresh idea sparked by a colleague’s insight, the holidays remind me why I fell in love with research in the first place. It’s the chance to slow down, to think deeply, and to reconnect with the work that has the potential to make a real difference.

Holidays may be a time of rest, but for those of us who thrive on curiosity and collaboration, they are also a time of renewal. And that, I think, is something worth savouring.

The Barker Institute proudly supports an important new podcast in the educational landscape - "The Great Cause" - with Phillip Heath AM.

Head of Barker College, Phillip Heath AM, shares deep thinking on key issues in education through hosting regular conversations with various experts, parents, teachers, alumni, and even students. The most recent instalment (at the time of writing) fits well within the remit of the Parent Institute as an interview with Lisa Maltman, a regular Barker Institute contributor, who supports people to use effective sleep habits to thrive at school and at home. Other episodes have explored bullying, student leadership, education and AI, and fundamentally – what makes a good school?

I encourage you to join me in subscribing and benefiting from listening into these valuable conversations.

Subscribe at Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

As I write this, I am putting the finishing touches on this year’s article. I’m looking forward to seeing it finally in print! There have been many coffees consumed as the drafts have been written, restarted, re-written, proofread (by my colleague Dr Matthew Hill), discussed, further reviewed with helpful insights and ideas (by Matthew!), updated, re-written and so. But it is worth it. The stories the cohort has shared with the team are always illuminating. It is a highlight, to be sure, of the Barker Institute year to sit down with these students and just listen to what they have to say.

To listen and to reflect.

And this is where the impact of The Barker Journey study starts. That the project has impact on what happens in the classroom and on how students learn is not in doubt and is exciting in and of itself. But such impact is not reached without listening to what the students are saying, and reflecting on what they share. And this year has been no different to previous years. In 2022 and 2023, the Barker Journey cohort went through significant changes – leaving primary school and entering secondary school. And they had much to say. This year they spoke about the values they prioritise, shared the importance of co-curricular activities to their own learning, and started to talk about the place of AI in their schooling experience.

These are three broad areas you can expect to see discussed in this year’s Barker Journey article. But to take one a little more specifically, and to do so without stealing my own thunder: students use AI but want to know how to use it ethically and authentically, in such a way that won’t impact their academic integrity: they want to use it, but not to cheat themselves out of the learning journey. An interesting throwback to discussions that took place in the interviews about what values were considered the most important, the idea of using AI ethically pointed to a need for specific instruction on a tool that the students currently hold as having an increased impact on the way they learn and on the way in which they experience education generally. They see how AI is impacting the world around them – they don’t need schools to tell them this. They know it. Their challenge is how do they best navigate that impact. They indicated that they want to use AI effectively, and in a manner that aligns with their values. Their challenge is how do they best do this. Our challenge as teachers, as educational leaders, is to work out how best to help them do that.

The Barker Journey article for 2024 will be available for download, along with the rest of what is shaping up to be an interesting edition of our annual journal Learning in Practice. We will let you know when it is ready, rest assured. For now, I hope this post has whetted your appetite. And as always, feel free to be in touch if you want to chat further.

It’s through dissemination of academic work that progress can be made, and as such, Barker proudly publishes the student work in our very own academic Journal hosted by the Barker Institute, Scientific Research in Schools. It is traditional for the students to receive their very own copy of the journal, featuring their original 3,000 word academic article, as they finish their HSC exam to celebrate the final step of their apprentice journey.

Approximately 200 were in attendance including staff and students from local and distant schools. Teachers brought students the Blue Mountains, the Central Coast and the Southern Highlands so they could experience Science learning at Barker. Parents of Barker students also enjoyed the opportunity to view the Barker students’ posters on display as part of the showcase.

The first lecture was presented by Dr Tien Huynh, an Associate Professor in Biotechnology at RMIT. The lecture explored the relationship between indigenous cultural knowledge and modern science. Dr Huynh focussed on applications of various mushrooms for industrial, health, and environmental purposes. Students were able to hold samples of leather made from fungi (“fleather”), and mushroom-based fireproof insulation.

The second lecture was on a challenging aspect of the subject Syllabus, the Philosophy of Science. Dr Matthew Hill, Director of the Barker Institute led the audience through key philosophical concepts of empiricism, induction and deduction, falsifiability and the scientific method.

The evening was an excellent demonstration of academic enrichment aligned with the HSC syllabus, celebrating both what Barker can offer and the benefits of collaborating with and welcoming in the wider community. Our new cohort of students are already hard at work developing their research proposals, and we look forward to seeing our guests again in 2025.

Highlight 1: Research Invested Schools Network National Conference

We began the term by hosting Professor Matt Bower from Macquarie University at the Barker staff conference. His insightful presentation on the power of generative AI in education highlighted how human-AI interaction can enhance learning outcomes. Professor Bower returned to Barker shortly after to facilitate discussions at the Research Invested Schools network conference, co-hosted by Barker, Scots College, and Pymble Ladies’ College. At that particular conference session, hosted by the Barker Institute, Bower encouraged research leads from over 60 schools across Australia and New Zealand to explore school-based research projects that would work alongside emerging research interests at universities.

Highlight 2: Supporting the learning of the Barker community

We love to learn and supporting others in their learning. It’s why, in part, we exist. Cyber safety, female athlete health, and how families can have conversations for respectful relationships were several of the wellbeing-related topics presented by guest experts and speakers. Jasmine Seymour a Dharug woman belonging to the Burubiranggal people, and linguist and educator spoke about reviving Dharug Dhalang as a living language.

Highlight 3: The Barker Journey – would you believe they are in Year 8 now?

A definite highlight of the term was reconnecting, in August, with the Barker Journey cohort for our annual interviews for our ongoing 10-year longitudinal study. It was such a pleasure to meet each of the 30 students once again, and to hear their stories of being a part of Year 8. The perspectives they share continue to inform our understanding of learning, teaching and schooling in the 21st century.

Highlight 4: Character and Enterprise Education

Another highlight was the formal launch of Barker’s Character and Enterprise Education program. It’s been a privilege to support this initiative, built on the vision of Head of School Mr Phillip Heath AM, from the very beginning. The model, Wise Heads, Loving Hearts, Useful Hands, developed by Peter Gibson, Dean of Character Education, is foundational to Barker’s approach to transformative education.

And all of this is just but a fraction of what has been happening this term. Term 4 is going to be a very short term compared to usual, but the schedule is already forming up to be a busy one. And this is exciting. The Barker Institute continues to support what Barker does and makes it actively a part of discussions about education here in Australia and further afield.

There will be some tweaking to the approach. I have no doubt about this. Perhaps the length of presentations could be “sharper”? Perhaps there could be a focus on one aspect of ‘doing’ research rather than adhering to a style of presentation akin to a more conventional research seminar format? Whatever we do in the future, yesterday was our first swing at doing something like this, and it was an important first step. There is a vibrant research-in-learning community here and giving it the opportunity to come together in an informal setting, give it voice to share what it is doing helps to establish an affirming environment in which research work can take place.

This was particularly the case for the first presenter, our Deputy Head of Junior School, Ms Yvonne Howard. She used the ResearchMeet as an opportunity to “practice” present on her proposed PhD work on therapy dogs in schools to be conducted with a Sydney-based university. Our second presenter was the Barker Institute’s first Visiting Research Fellow, Associate Professor Amber Yayin Wang from the National Taichung University of Education. She spoke about the purpose of her visit to Barker and about current research work in inquiry-based learning in a transdisciplinary model. I presented on research into refugee education. Specifically, I presented on the research-informed whole school approach to refugee education, a model that emerged from work I have been engaged in since 2022.

The Barker Institute is looking forward to seeing where the idea of running ResearchMeets will go. There will be another one next term. For sure. And you will be warmly invited to come along. Most definitely. You can be assured that it will be informal, take about an hour of your time, and that you will be a part of a school-based educational research community wanting to work together to support learning.

And all that with tea.

At the beginning of Term 3 2024, Barker staff engaged in professional development sessions centred on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within educational contexts. The sessions explored how effective use of technology can improve teacher efficiencies and enhance learning outcomes and academic achievements in the classroom. Dr Matt Bower (Professor at Macquarie University) spoke to staff about leveraging the power of Generative AI in Education. It was highlighted that human interaction with AI yielded the greatest improvement and highest quality outcomes, compared to AI in isolation or without the use of technology. We also contemplated the profound impact that AI will have in the teaching and learning space, as well as how these technologies will impact our students in the future.

With a greater understanding of how AI could impact future careers and tasks, teaching staff then participated in a workshop run by the Barker Digital Learning team. In this workshop, the Digital Learning team focused on how it is the responsibility of all staff to model and teach our students how to ethically, responsibly and accurately use technology to enhance their knowledge of content and improve their learning outcomes. Using Leon Fruze's Artificial Intelligence Assessment Scale (pictured below), we discussed the common dialogue that teachers need to use in their classrooms to model to students how technology and AI can be used during learning tasks. Using the common dialogue and explicitly addressing how students can incorporate AI into each learning activity, from no AI use to full AI integration, student's would gain valuable insight into how to use AI appropriately for research and completion of tasks.

Staff then gathered in small cross-faculty groups to discuss different methods and scenarios in which AI could be integrated into their teaching to improve student learning, versus scenarios where no technology would be most beneficial. This time with colleagues outside of their usual staffroom allowed our teachers to share invaluable knowledge and learn from each other.

On Tuesday 4th June, around 300 people from the Barker community gathered in the senior school commons to solve maths challenges and puzzles, over dinner. This celebration of mathematics event highlighted the research into confidence in mathematics at Barker that started in 2022. There was a great buzz, with the space packed to capacity!

A wide age range of students was in attendance from the Junior School and Secondary School. Some of our most enthusiastic participants were aged 4 or 5; solving tangram after tangram! Activities were supplied by "Inquisitive Minds", and Barker staff provided the muscle - marking problems and serving meals.

At 6:45, everyone moved to Leslie Hall and Freddo Frogs were awarded to those who had solved maths puzzles with dinner, i.e. everyone.

The audience tried out some "Mathemagic" led by Graham Hanlon (Head of Mathematics), in his maths wizard's robe. Parents and students then heard from Maths teacher Amy Young about what she has learned through her research around Girls in Mathematics. They were taken on a deep dive into confidence and how it is linked to performance in maths. The focus was to give advice on how to build confidence in yourself, in your child, in your peers, or in your students. Edwin Tomlins, Junior School Mathematics Specialist Teacher, and Graham Hanlon then shared more about how we are doing this at Barker.

The maths faculty looks forward to similar events in the future.

URSTRONG

Attached is an article published in The Barker T4 2023. This will provide a summary of the information for 2024.

Over recent years, the Junior School has developed a partnership with URSTRONG. The common language of friendships and the wealth of teaching and learning resources, provide Junior School teachers with a scope and sequences of target material to support the children as they build connections, explore skills and engage in learning to prepare them to make and maintain healthy relationships.

UR Strong Article -The Barker #141

The Marayarr students have established a YouTube channel to share their classroom learning.

This first video gives the audience an introduction to the favourite things the Marayyar students like to do, such as basketball, football and maths. Life in the community is displayed with the students showing their cooking skills - perhaps cooking those fish that they netted in the turquoise waters of East Arnhem Land. (also in the video).

Connection is everything. The students introduce themselves, with their Yolŋu and English names and explain how their connections to each other are so important, including their link to their totem animals.

Follow the channel to stay updated with insights from these students on their learning journey.

This week in the Junior School, we commenced a pilot program with interested staff.

The Confident Parent Course was developed by Dr Jenny Brown based on a family systems approach, where focusing on managing yourself can affect change in the family and support your child’s mental health and wellbeing.

The course invites you to consider the positive outcomes for children when the parent is the project.

• In shifting the focus back to yourself without blame, through reflection and parenting by principles, this creates developmental space for children, which can improve their mental health and wellbeing.
• This course is based upon family systems approach, where when one part of the family system shifts, this can impact the whole environment.
• This course will not give you tactics or tips for how to parent, rather some great principles you can use to reflect on your parenting, including what’s in your control, where is your energy directed, and redirecting your worry.
• There are no quick fixes here. The last part of this series is about playing the long-term game in your parenting.
• Often when we start adjusting ourselves, changing our reactions, setting our parenting “I” position, children can push back against this.
• Sticking it out will help play the long game of building resilience in your children, building your confidence in your role as a parent, and contribute to a calmer, less worried family life.

The course is relevant for all age groups, and will run over 4 weeks:

1. Where is my energy directed?
2. Is worry driving my connection?
3. How do I hold clear limits?
4. Am I thinking big picture?

We are so blessed by our parent community at Barker. We are hopeful that this course will be part of a toolkit of resources available to you as you seek to grow your wonderful young men and women. Keep an eye out for the Barker Institute events in Term 3.

How to talk to your kids about Gendered Violence

Your children and young people may be seeing news headlines about the shocking numbers of men harming women and they may have questions or want to talk about violence against women and children.

You may be wondering how you can help your child develop the attitudes and skills they need to have healthy and respectful relationships throughout their lives.

There are many things parents and carers can do to help the children and young people in their lives develop healthy ideas about gender and relationships. Please read a great article and 7 ways to model it here.

The session focused on the use of Copilot. Copilot is the preferred AI at Barker in 2024 tool due to the ability to protect personal and company data when using a large language model. Different ways to use and prompt Copilot were discussed, with a focus on encouraging staff to try it themselves. Live demonstrations were also run including looking at school-specific Bing search, re-writing content for different reading levels to allow greater differentiation, creating questions to gage student comprehension or spark debate in the classroom, updating statistics from older texts, and reformatting documents for editing - all completed using Copilot.

The second aspect of the session was looking at the use of AI within Microsoft Stream and Teams. The screen capture tool in Stream was demonstrated, highlighting the ability to include annotations, read from a transcript during the recording, create written summaries of the content, and embed a Microsoft Form into specific parts of the video. Also investigated was the use of Learning Accelerators and the reading coach in the Assignments Module in Microsoft Teams. This included how AI could be used within Teams assignments to automatically generate comprehension questions and create marking rubrics. More information about Microsoft Stream and Teams can be found in the links below.

Introducing Copilot in Microsoft Stream - Microsoft Community Hub

Learning Accelerators: Tools for Students | Microsoft Education

Overall, the session was designed to encourage staff to try different aspects of AI and find ways that it could work for them to improve their workflow. There was a combination of options for beginners to interact with AI for the first time, through to more complex and specific scenarios for its use. There has been a lot of positive feedback from the session, and we are excited to hear about how teachers start to use these tools to improve their teaching and learning outcomes, and increase their efficiency for administrative tasks.

This blog is the third in a series.

Click here to read the first blog "Defining Character".

Click here to read the second blog "Character Education".

Character education is more than the provision of an a well-intentioned, resourced, researched opportunities and programs targeting values, it involves a journey of becoming, where students learn to make wise moral decisions, think critically, live in harmony with others and be successful in challenges of life. It is a long-term, intentional focus on the development of students allows them to flourish in their lives and contribute to the common good. Hence this approach spans the entire school environment influencing school culture, processes and language. It is the “planned, comprehensive and systematic approach of all educational activities that develops positive personal virtues (moral, civic, performance, intellectual). It aims to intentionally, explicitly and implicitly develop students with the capacity and capability to flourish in their life and make a worthwhile contribution to a changing world” (After: [MH1] Edmonson et al., 2009; The Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtue, 2020).

Vital Consideration for the delivery of Character Education

Character education has an intentional & explicit focus on character and virtue. It involves specific planning of curriculum focusing on the development of knowledge and understanding of the meaning and importance of specific virtues. A shared language of virtues that permeates through all aspects of school life is essential (Arthur, Fullard & O’Leary, 2022; The Jubilee Centre for Character & Virtue, 2022).

Character education is only effective when delivered in the context of a school community living out its mission and vision. A school should investigate what character means to them, and how it connects with the foundational aspects of the school and its community. It should be influenced by the needs of the students and the forecasted needs of the future. This must be modelled by school leaders and teachers. They must have a clear picture of human potential, recognise good learning, identify the deep process of growing and maturing and provide students with the opportunities to become complete human beings (see: The Jubilee Centre for Character & Virtue, 2022; Ryan & Lickona, 1992 ; Berkowitz & Bier, 2005; Berkowitz, 2011; Arthur, Fullard & O’Leary, 2022; Benninga, Berkowitz, Kuehn, & Smith, 2003; Lamb at al., 2021; Pietsch, 2018).

Character education must involve meaningful holistic opportunities for growth (Lamb at al., 2021). Such activities allow for the explorations of interests and passions as well as develop citizenship, friendship and growth as team players. There should be time for student reflection to fully benefit from the experience and clear connections and ‘through lines’ with the academic curriculum (Hilby, 2000; The Jubilee Centre for Character & Virtues, 2022).

Character education is most effective when families and wider community are connected and involved. This is among the greatest influences on a student’s character development (Berkowitz & Bier, 2005). Furthermore, student involvement within the wider community and service-learning programs provides opportunities to discover intrinsic motivation to develop moral values (Lickona, Schaps & Lewis, 2003).

Pedagogical Strategies for Character Education

Research points to the following pedagogical strategies as being effective in character education through academic, pastoral and co-curricular programs.

1. Peer interactive strategies where students learn in small groups (Arthur, Fullard & O’Leary, 2022; Berkowitz & Bier, 2005; Berkowitz, 2011; Lamb at al., 2021)
2. Teaching social and emotional competence (Berkowitz & Bier, 2005; Berkowitz, 2011; Lamb at al., 2021)
3. Student empowerment developing personal capacity and involving students in program design and output (Berkowitz, 2011; Berkowitz & Bier, 2005; The Jubilee Centre for Character & Virtue, 2022).
4. Teaching about character that is intentional, explicit and comprehensive is of throughout core curriculum, and seizing on the teachable moments within curriculum delivery (Berkowitz, 2011; Berkowitz & Bier, 2005; The Jubilee Centre for Character & Virtue, 2022; Lamb at al., 2021).
5. Growth mindset and strength-based approach to learning where positive and trusting relationships are cultivated with nurturing relationships between staff and students (UK Department of Education, 2017; Berkowitz, 2011).
6. High expectations and rigour in learning. Appropriate challenge, risk-taking opportunities and hard, meaningful work (Arthur, Fullard & O’Leary, 2022; Berkowitz, 2011; The Jubilee Centre for Character & Virtue, 2022; Lamb at al., 2021).
7. Student reflection on personal experience of why and how one acted in a various particular circumstances (Lamb at al., 2021; The Jubilee Centre for Character & Virtue, 2022).

Key Readings

There are four key articles that outline how character education can be most effective. Detailed learning can be undertaken by reading these articles.

1. The Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues (2022). The Jubilee Centre Framework for Character Education in Schools. The University of Birmingham, Birmingham.
2. What works in values education (2011). International Journal of Educational Research Berkowitz, M.W
3. What works in Character Education: A research-driven guide for educators (2005). Character Education Partnership. Berkowitz, M. W., & Bier, M.C.
4. How is Virtue Cultivated? Seven Strategies for Postgraduate Character Development (2021). Journal of Character Education. Lamb, M., Brant, J., & Brook, E.

An extended essay on this topic can be downloaded here.

Reference List

Arthur, J., Fullard, M., and O’Leary, C. (2022) Teaching Character Education: What Works Research Report, Birmingham: University of Birmingham, Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues.

Benninga, J.S., Berkowitz, M.W., Kuehn, P. & Smith, K. (2003). The relationship of character education implementation and academic achievement in elementary schools. Journal of Research in Character Education, 1 (1), 19-32.

Berkowitz, M, W. (2011). What works in values education. International Journal of Educational Research, (50), 153-158

Berkowitz, M. W.,& Bier, M.C. (2005) What works in Character Education: A research-driven guide for educators. Washington, DC: Character Education Partnership

Edmonson, S. Tatman, S. R., Slate, J. R. (2009) Character Education: A Critical Analysis. Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation, Volume 4, Number 1

Hilby, S. (2000). Kurt Hahn and the Aims of Education. Thomas James Illustration Copyright

Lamb, M., Brant, J., & Brook, E. (2021) How is Virtue Cultivated? Seven Strategies for Postgraduate Character Development. Journal of Character Education 17, (1), 2-50

Lickona, T., Schaps, E., & Lewis, C. (2003). CEP’s eleven principles of effective character education. Washington, DC: Character Education Partnership.

Pietsch, J. (2018). Character Reborn: A philosophy of Christian Education. Acorn Press, Sydney.

The Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues, (2022). The Jubilee Centre Framework for Character Education in Schools. The University of Birmingham, Birmingham.

UK Department of Education (2017). Developing Character Skills in Schools, Department for Education, http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/developing-character-skills-in-schools

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The 2023 calendar commenced on Monday 20/2 with the launch of Lift@Barker, a year long program to elevate our community being run with students and staff each week. Lift@Barker is also an invitation for parents and the community to join in positive practices that are demonstrated to improve your life and mood. Term 1 events also included an event called Discover Barker with a panel discussion featuring Mr Matt Macoustra (Deputy Head Student Experience), Dr Julie Wilson-Reynolds (Deputy Head Academic Care), Mr Cam Anderson (Head of Sport), and Barker parents from across the School, to share their insights and experiences of the school. The first research-focused event for 2023 was a celebration of the rich experience of the Barker Junior School Journey.

Study Habits Seminar for Year 7 Students and Families

Term 2 commenced with over 600 people from Year 7 (students and their families) coming together to explore and implement good study habits to be developed throughout secondary school. Good habits are essential to academic flourishing (and all aspects of wellbeing) and events such as these offer scaffolded support for Barker students as they seek to meet their own high expectations at School.

"Raising Respect" with researcher and educational expert Dr Marshall Ballantine-Jones

During Wellbeing Week (Week 2) various speakers presented to Year 7-12 students, and also in that week, Dr Marshall Ballantine-Jones shared a parent-specific version of his presentation entitled "Raising Respect". Dr Ballantine-Jones will continue to work with the School in 2023.

Three Barker Institute events engaging with and educating parent and community during Gifted Awareness Week and Reconciliation Week

During Term 2 Weeks 5-6, three Barker Institute events were hosted in the school (using a range of the wonderful facilities on offer including the BCMA theatre, Music Recital Hall, and Kurrajong Piazza).

Former School Captain, and two-time debating world champion, Bo Seo returned to be interviewed by Director of Academic Writing and Oratory, Andrew Hood. Bo has been touring the world promoting his book Good Arguments. Student debaters (including the Junior School firsts) keenly attended, along with parents, teachers and fans from the community. Bo praised his Barker education, which was supplemented by his degree from Harvard University and recommended the humanities for essential knowledge and skills to participate in our changing world.

As part of Reconciliation Week, Barker hosted parents and staff from the school and various other schools who are part of the Waratah project tolisten to and ask questions of two survivors of the stolen generation. Two former members of the Kinchella Boys Home (only 50 of the 600 housed there are still alive) shared their account of being taken from their families, the abuse in the home, and the long-term effects on their families and communities.

Following Gifted and Talented Awareness Week,a celebration of the diverse faces of gifteness was held at an evenign event for some very curious and capable parents and students. While Bo Seo was one example of an exceptionally gifted Barker student, many parents are hoping that Barker will meet the needs of their gifted children. Susanna Matters, a new addition to the Barker Staff in 2023 as Gifted and Talented Coordinator (PreK-8) presented an academic overview of gifted education, followed by a panel of eight senior Barker staff members who shared how their particular domain (Music, Maths/Science, Robotics, Aspire, Sport, Individual Learning Centre, English) supported gifted students. It was an excellent conversation and only the start of what we will continue to communicate in this space. What was clear on the night was that Barker’s goal was to develop transformational giftedness in students (that which can be used to bless others) rather than transactional giftedness (that which can be used to improve one’s own situation).

Click here to access our full list of events.

Don’t miss out, secure your seats today, and connect to Barker Institute via Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin for more events and research content.

The overview of gifted education theory was bookended by two wonderful musical performances from Barker Students and all present were grateful for their generous sharing of their talents.

The second half of the evening involved an extended panel demonstrating the diverse faces of giftedness at the school and the provisions put in place to cater to the needs of figted students at Barker. The panel, hosted by Director of Teaching and Learning, Greg Longney, included representatives from English, Barker’s Individual Learning Centre, Music and Strings programs, Robotics, Junior School Aspire program, Mathematics, Heads of House, Science, and the elite athletes program at the school.

The Barker Institute wishes to recognise and thank various staff who invested in the evening’s conversation, and more importantly, inspire Barker students to pursue excellence every moment, every day.

Recently the Sydney Morning Herald published an opinion piece: Students must learn how to get things wrong. The article did the rounds on Barker's email, sending a flutter amongst our humanities departments. I could hear a celebratory cry of "Yes!".

Yes! It is true. We wish our students to fail.

We wish them to argue one case only to see the potential of another. We hope they recognise that we do not live in a binary world of right and wrong but in a nuanced and diverse world. We hope our students will fail with grace and curiosity, eager to learn that there is another way. We hope our students live in a world that is not characterised by a fear of failure but characterised by the liberation of opportunity.

According to the article, "literature and other humanities subjects are important because they teach us how not to be right". In a world of shifting knowledge and expertise, the value of the humanities is more important than ever. While the idea of a universal human experience might sound like a cliché, embedded in that cliché is a universal truth: human failure and struggle are inevitable and one we must learn.

The humanities offer a lens through which our students can explore the intricate tapestry of human struggle. By immersing themselves in artistic masterpieces and philosophical inquiries, our students gain profound insights into the diverse and often conflicting perspectives that shape our world. These explorations challenge preconceived notions and foster critical thinking, preparing our students to confront the complexities of a rapidly changing world.

Literature, specifically, teaches us the value of embracing uncertainty and discomfort. Novels like Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four invite readers to recognise their fragility, challenging individuals to be on their guard, to defend the "human heritage" in the face of a collective, insipid, ruthless and dehumanising force (did someone say AI?). Immersing students in narratives of challenge and discomfort, we cultivate in them hope and resilience, fostering curiosity, adaptability and fearlessness.

As the article states: "being good at English involves relinquishing neat summaries and correct answers". The value of the humanities lies in students' ability to explore the problems and complexities of humanity. I encourage our students to let go of the need to master formulaic and memorised essays. I challenge our students to be brave, be creative, be experimental, ask challenging questions and be curious. Let go of fixed mindsets, rebel, subvert, embrace uncertainty, and prioritise being interesting over being safe. These qualities are essential for building a future generation prepared to confront the uncertainties of an ever-shifting landscape of knowledge and expertise.

If there is hope it lies in the humanities.

In a packed-out Music Recital Hall, a highly receptive audience of parents and students enjoyed Bo’s sharing of his experiences and the wisdom he has gained from debating, coaching and a professional career in journalism. In particular, the evening was a celebration of the Humanities and the power of words and rhetoric to not only sharpen our understanding of an issue but also, counter-intuitively, to build bridges between people and weaken the polarisation of modern society.

The conclusion to Bo’s book actually puts its purpose very clearly:

To change the world, debate has first to change the lives of debaters. In this book, I have told the story of how it changed mine. Debate gave me a voice when I had none. It taught me how to argue for my interests, respond to opponents, use words, lose with grace, and pick my battles. As far as transformations of the world go, this is minuscule but, for me, it was everything. [308]

Across the course of the conversation, Bo explored how debate can give voice to students and open up new worlds through an engagement with the issues involved. Debate certainly took Bo from a shy Korean-Australian migrant child to the National Schools championships, to a Harvard education and then to winning the World University championships in only his second year at University. Along the way, he took us through some of the mental techniques he discovered in constructing arguments, finding clear ways to break down issues into key components. For example, at a core level, he suggested that all debates come down to questions of fact, value or action: is it true?; is it right?; and what should we then do? He also explored a mental checklist for engaging in a productive argument: is it a real issue? Is it an important issue? Can it be made specific? Are the two sides aligned? (RISA)

A key point made was that at the core of the humanities is human discourse – there are no absolute right or wrongs but better and worse ways to promote dialogue and build consensus between people. Bo provided a very good sense, both in his conversation and in his book, on how to use argument to do exactly that – by respecting the other side through careful listening, teasing out key ideas with careful consideration, knowing when to argue and when to leave it alone, and how to deal with bullying and ad hominem arguments.

Finally, those of us who have read Bo’s book were highly impressed by his limpid style and engaging personal narrative. On being asked about this, Bo argued that in both debating and writing, it’s crucial the writer does the hard work to make sure that the reader is absolutely clear what the idea is. This pre-work, in setting up a topic through the elimination of distracting elements, is a key part of what makes good writing and strong communication.

Bo’s highly fluent and captivating presentation gave students a strong sense of how to use the tools of thought and debate to influence the world while building connections with others.

The content was confronting, however, the evening was an invaluable opportunity to speak to two of the few remaining survivors of a terrible time in history. The survivors were able to tell of the time they were taken from their families, their relationship with the other boys in the home, and what life has looked like since. Our Head of History, Julia Kerr, rightly highlighted the importance of hearing from the Uncles directly, as first hand sources. The Uncles from Kinchela were so impressed with the genuine care, insightful questions and respectful approach of our students. We thank them for their willingness to share how the trauma has affected them and their families in the decades after leaving the Kinchella Boys Home. We long with them for increasing opportunities for reconciliation.

For more information - visit the website of the Kinchella Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation.

National Reconciliation Week was recognised at Barker through a number of activities and lessons across all year groups. It begins with Sorry Day on the 26th of May, then the anniversary of the delivery of the Bringing Them Home Report on the 27th of May, concluding on the 3rd of June, the anniversary of the Mabo Decision of 1992. This year’s theme was “Be a VOICE for Generations”. In the Junior School, their Yarning Circle participated in awareness activities on Sorry Day, Friday 26th of May, they participated in colouring in competition and classroom activities throughout the week.

Following these activities, including the visit from the Kinchella Boys Home survivors described above, during our Connect Group lessons, all secondary school students learnt about the meaning of Reconciliation and this year’s theme. On Thursday, Footprint and Yarn UP collaborated on a lunch time event which focused on encouraging students and staff to use their voice to encourage Reconciliation. Symbolically held under the beautiful Booroo-meraang Welumbulla tree, the students also graffitied (temporarily of course) the road to remind us of the power of our own voices.

ChatGPT.

It isn’t changing the classroom.

It changed the classroom.

Past tense.

The urgency that has frequently accompanied this realisation has often been directed on discussions concerned about what students will be doing with it, particularly in relation to assessments. And fair enough too. How do we accurately determine a student’s understanding if the means to assess that understanding has been essentially outsourced to something like ChatGPT? I’ve been pondering the use of ChatGPT in the classroom, the type of tool that it can be for the teacher and student. These are just some of my own initial thoughts as both a teacher and a researcher.

In my own discipline of History, it would appear that many teachers have welcomed ChatGPT as a much-needed catalyst for assessment. It has compelled conversations about how a student’s historical thinking might be tested, enabling conditions for the development of a fresher approach to engaging students in key questions about studying the past. But these conversations are still in their infancy. If anything, they show that as teachers and students increase familiarity with ChatGPT there will be more certainty about how to integrate ChatGPT into the classroom.

My own interactions with ChatGPT in the classroom have so far proved positive. It has been the source of solid discussions with students about what constitutes quality in historical thinking and writing. Recently, I selected a sample answer provided to me by a student to put up on the screen to add depth to the conversation about the topic the class was tackling. It was evident that the student had used ChatGPT to write this answer! Rather than rejecting the sample answer as invalid, I turned the situation to his and to the class’ advantage. The learning moment that followed lasted 40-minutes as the pros and cons of the submitted answer were scrutinised. What worked well? What needed improving? The writing had a clear structure, but it lacked historical sources. The answer had good examples, but it needed a deeper level of detail. Students were able to suggest solutions to these deficiencies, as well as take the opportunity to explain why they thought the positives were good takeaways to remember and use later.

As a researcher, my mind drifts towards the students and their perspective. Much of the reaction to ChatGPT in the classroom has been, it would appear to me, centred on teacher-reactions and teacher-concerns. Teacher-centric, perhaps, would be a better way of putting it. However, what of the student in all of this? Are they not a key stakeholder in the (monumental) change to learning that ChatGPT brought about? How are students going to do History (in my case) in light of the ongoing changes to learning, teaching and schooling that AIs like ChatGPT wil continue to bring? I would think so. To that end, the researcher in me wants to know how students see ChatGPT, how it figures in their thinking and the degree to which they see it the same way as their teachers. Assuming there are different perspectives that are identified by such questions, how do we reconcile them so the use of AI in education can be effective and productive?

ChatGPT has changed the classroom. There is no doubt about that. As a teacher, I can see that this change can be embraced. As a researcher, I can see there are many questions to pose and to consider as policies about ChatGPT’s use (and for that matter the use of AI in schools) emerge. As a teacher, I see ChatGPT enabling more powerful conversations in the classroom to be had as well as historical thinking and writing to develop. As a researcher, ChatGPT has opened another avenue to understand the changes in learning, teaching and schooling being experienced by the present generation of student.

A key benefit to in-school research can be the authentic incorporation of student voice in the stories that are told. As education continues to evolve, many are noticing how student voice as evidence has assumed a greater role in informing practice. Several articles in this edition of Learning in Practice directly address the place of student voice in educational research. The Barker Journey follows a group of Barker students as they make their way through schooling in the 21st century, granting us the privilege of understanding learning, teaching and schooling from the perspective of the learner. Another example is Lucy Pitkin’s article on student reflections on the Garma Festival which provide an informative insight into student responses to learning about and celebrating Yolŋu culture through cultural immersion. In listening to student voice in the context of responses to Garma, Pitkin reveals a student-informed approach to Reconciliation.

There is a great deal to celebrate in this, the sixth edition of Learning in Practice, the journal of the Barker Institute. We are proud of this year’s publication and hope that you will find it both useful and informative.

You can read the 2022 Journal here.

The 2023 calendar commenced on Monday 20/2 with the launch of Lift@Barker, a year long program to elevate our community being run with students and staff each week on campus. Lift@Barker is not just for Barker, but an invitation for parents and the community to join in positive practices that are demonstrated to improve your life and mood.

On 2 March new parents are invited to attend an event called Discover Barker with a panel discussion featuring Mr Matt Macoustra (Deputy Head Student Experience), Dr Julie Wilson-Reynolds (Deputy Head Academic Care), Mr Cam Anderson (Head of Sport), and Barker parents from across the School, to share their insights and experiences of the school.

On 20 March will be a celebration of the rich experience of the Barker Junior School Journey. Over the last four years the Barker Institute has been conducting a large-scale longitudinal research project collecting the student perspective of life and learning at Barker. These students were the first coeducational Year 3 cohort at the school (in 2019) and have now graduated Year 6. The analysis will be presented allowing for a better understanding of this cohort of students (now in Year 7 at Barker) but also a lesson on the role of education in the third decade of the 21st century.

Year 7 families are invited to a special event on Wednesday 26 April, the very first day back of Term 2. The grade will come together to learn about, discuss, and begin to implement good study habits to be developed and used over their time at barker.

During the first week of May students in the Secondary School at Barker will be attending sessions with external expert Dr Marshall Ballantine-Jones on the impact of various online behaviors common to teens. On Tuesday 2 May, Barker parents and those beyond the school will have an opportunity to hear from Dr Ballantine-Jones on the topic of Raising Respect and Teen online behaviours.

I look forward to announcing future events in areas such as gifted and talented education, reconciliation and indigenous education, supporting teens who love online gaming, and various research forums sharing work currently being undertaken in the school.

Click here to access our full list of events.

Don’t miss out, secure your seats today, and connect to Barker Institute via Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin for more events and other research content.

The website features news, events and publications centered around the five key research domains as set out by the 2021-2022 Research Agenda. It allows for searchable and easy access to current and future Barker thinking in these areas. Learning is at the centre of Barker College and The Barker Institute and it is hoped that anyone who visits the website may be able to learn something to impact their lives or their teaching.

Of particular interest to some will be our events. The Barker Institute hosts 15-20 events each year for parents, teachers, students and the wider community. All are invited to join this community of learning whether the expert presenter is on Barker staff or an invited guest. RSVP early to secure your seats.

Another exciting page is where we hold our published work. Dissemination is a vital step in the research process and the Barker Institute has now published 6 editions of the journal Learning in Practice which features staff academic writing. Whether it is a staff member completing a PhD, someone conducting research as part of their role at the school, or simply an area of interest or professional growth, there are many valuable contributions of interest to the wider education community. A growing repository of student research can also be found on this page.

To get in contact with any of the researchers and thinkers featured on this website, you can make an inquiry online. We’d love to hear from you.

We are excited to note the aspirational approach that our parents have for their children’s learning at Barker. Our Academic Staff share these high expectations and take great care to extend and challenge their students. Our recent HSC results are testimony to the ways in which the Barker experience builds capacity in learning, with students, at all levels of ability, raising their results well beyond expectations.

One of the most important ways that we can support the Academic Care of our students is to give them time to reflect on their goals, organise their study, plan homework and use resources to build skills for learning. Our parents (particularly in Middle School) have given us feedback that they would like to see more homework. Our Heads of Departments will be addressing this within their faculties and reinforcing it with our students.

Sometimes lapses in homework flow from a lack of direction or organisation. Another way to reinforce the importance of homework is to help our Middle School students manage their own learning responsibilities. Our Connect teachers this year in Years 7 and 8 will focus on building learner agency in a set time each week in a program called “Responsible Approaches to Learning” – or “ReALTime”. They will provide time for students to get organised, work on study notes, complete approaches to learning, respond to feedback, plan their homework times, and access online study skill resources. One on one conversations with students can also be had in this time. Our Study Hall program, established in 2022, will also continue this year, and is a reminder of the importance of consolidating learning at home.

What can parents do if they come across the “I have no homework” mantra? Which, as we know, often causes conflict at the dinner table. We encourage parents to engage in discussion about the topics that their son or daughter is learning and challenge them to read more widely or deeply on the task. Our English classes will all have a set text or a wide reading book to read and deliberate practice in a maths skill to review. Study notes, further research or creating mind maps are also ideas for students to take their learning further. Homework will always work best when students are proactive in their learning and make the consolidation of what they are working on in class a top priority. By teachers and parents working together on learning beyond the classroom we will set our students up for great success.

ChatGPT

It is impossible to miss the current media conversation about the advent of ChatGPT and the rise of artificial intelligence. The renowned news and commentary outlet DW (ChatGPT is changing education, AI experts say — but how? – DW – 01/24/2023) recently declared that “ChatGPT is changing education, AI experts say – but how?”

You will have read last week about ChatGPT and how Barker, along with educators around the world, are looking closely at how it may affect education. We are taking a deliberate approach to this very important question.

ChaptGPT has many potential benefits. Teachers can use it to quickly produce and then share sub-par responses that students work to improve. Using the technology in a critical way will help students to be thoughtful users. If the tool is part of a collaborative process between the teacher and the student, then it has much potential for learning. It could also help students directly. For example, Lukas Stock writes for Deutsche Welle about university scientists with little coding experience who used ChatGPT to help them write code quickly to analyse their experiments. The alternative was spending hours learning to code from scratch, which would only have slowed their work. One can imagine students in advanced Science classes using it in a similar way. Maths students once used slide rules and cosine tables to solve problems; now they use calculators.

But there are also pitfalls. Just like with calculators, if students use ChatGPT to produce work that they need to do themselves to learn, then they risk never learning the important knowledge and skills that school provides. They risk becoming reliant on the technology and lose out on the deeper understanding that leads to creativity. However, cheating has always existed, and there have always been concerns with new technologies such as Wikipedia or the even older CD-ROM encyclopedias. Schools found ways to adapt, and the challenge we face is how to respond to ChatGPT. It is important to remember that ChatGPT is not an original thinker, but our teachers and our students are. We must remember this as we assess and embrace new technologies.

The way forward lies in much of what we already do: challenge our students to think critically and assess them on that rather than rote recall of information. Form relationships with students and know them well. Encourage and inspire them with the challenge of learning. ChatGPT is a tool, and while tools can certainly improve performance quickly, especially in the short term, a tool is ultimately limited by the knowledge and skill of the person using it.

A New Year. New Possibilities.

As we commence a new year, let me offer some thoughts to help our students for the new possibilities ahead.

Lay the past to rest.

The year ahead is an exciting new chapter in your life, and the page is blank now. Anything is possible.

Be filled with optimism for the year ahead.

Expect to be amazing. Set your mind on the things that build up. Identify your many strengths and play to them. Focus on your gifts with a thankful heart.

Read, read, read; Write, write, write.

Get back into reading and writing – quickly. Grab your English novels and read ahead. Make notes and prepare for learning. There is not a moment to lose.

Change something.

It’s a new academic year so change something. Even if it is only small – change something. It makes our minds understand that this is a time for new things.

Plan for success.

Good preparation is one of the best antidotes for stress and anxiety. Set up a daily routine or schedule. Make it easy to keep and plan enough times for rest and recreation.

Get ready for new things.

A new academic year brings change. Adopt positive “self-talk” and be confident that you are ready to meet any change that comes your way.

Set goals.

The blank page of 2023 awaits you. Set SMART goals and make them your guiding star. Don’t make your goals too big. Great journeys are completed by simple steps in manageable stages.

Our prayer is for all our families and our students, that this may be your best year ever.

Earlier in the week, I had the great pleasure of speaking with Year 10 students about what lies ahead for them as they commence their Senior School journey. I talked particualrly about study habits, encouraging them to keep refining the things that are working for them. I challenged them to try new things in order to hone their habits and to become more efficient. I proposed that good study habits usually take a little more effort than most students are prepared to invest. For example, not many students take the time to make a weekly planner. However, those that do find that it helps them to stay organised, allows them to schedule all the things that they want to do as well as the things that they need to do, and, overall, encourages them to be efficient with their time. Similarly, most people don't want to avoid distractions when studying, it just doesn't seem that important. Yet, those that do, find themselves more productive. I look forward to following up with Year 10 later in the year to find out how they are progressing.

One of the things that may come to influence study habits is developing technology. Through the paring of chatbot technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI), ChatGPT by OpenAI has caused a lot of noise, and much debate, since its release in November of 2022. As staff and students return to schools, the media has run a number of pieces predicting the consequences for education.

If you're not familiar with the term, ChatGPT is an AI-driven natural language processing tool that can converse with people, respond to questions, write essays and complete well-defined tasks. It functions like an online chatbot where a user types a question or prompt, and ChatGPT AI presents a response. The user can refine the output by further questioning the AI to achieve the desired outcome. It is this feature that makes ChatGPT stand out from previous iterations of AI-enabled Chatbots.

In schools, we must be aware of the implications that emerging tools like ChatGPT and other responsive AI models could have on the teaching, learning and academic outcomes of students. Barker College is monitoring these developments with great interest to ensure positive educational outcomes for our community.

To give you an idea of what we're talking about, what follows is the response that ChatGPT gave (in about 10 seconds) to the question of the likely implications of ChatGPT on education.

Best wishes for the year ahead (this is me again, not the bot).

Learning from experts and making connections

Monday included sessions on the future of STEM education and a keynote from Professor George Siemens of The University of Adelaide exploring the changing landscape of schools and universities and balancing the abundance of data with complexity research approaches.

On Tuesday I joined a lunch with fellow school-based research leads who are part of the Research Invested Schools Network following a presentation on an ongoing research project mapping the growth of Research Invested Schools in Australia. That afternoon included a symposium to understand how to address a perceived teacher shortage Australia-wide.

Wednesday sessions included networking with academics working in consent education, indigenous education and refugee education. These are three areas directly related to the Barker Institute Research Agenda. More to come in this space!

Presenting four years of research

The highlight on Thursday was the chance to present our own research to the academic community. After four years of data collection and analysis we were ready to present on the Junior School Barker Journey, demonstrating how research can present the expectations and reality of educating Generation Alpha in the third decade of the 21st Century. The interactive session was well attended, and audience members asked to learn more about various aspects of the project. Many are considering implementing a similar project at their school and have asked to be included in correspondence regarding ongoing updates for the research. A similar presentation will be made to the Barker Community at a Barker Institute event in Term 2 2023, and the publication of this work is included in the 2022 Barker Institute Journal, Learning in Practice, now available at online.

The Barker Institute is grateful for the support of Barker College to attend the AARE National Conference. It was well worth the investment for the benefit of Barker and beyond.

Key links:

2022 Barker Institute Journal

The Barker Junior School Journey: Report on Year 3-6 from 2019-2022

The Barker Journey – Year 6, 2022: Community and Belonging

This is addressed in Chapter 1 with the first thing that goes wrong in schools. The authors suggest that too much advice is given from bodies external to the teaching profession. This advice can often be implemented without the necessary work of translating these ideas into the school and classroom context. They call on the teaching community to take it upon themselves to document the profession and to demonstrate this translation by building a library of material, or a body of knowledge regarding what works and what needs to change (p23). Despite the differences amongst teachers, a way of consistently documenting, presenting and disseminating their work is needed. (p36).

The Barker Institute is deliberately taking positive steps to achieve this through its role as a research centre, learning hub and publication house, seeking to collate staff thinking and disseminate it in meaningful formats suitable for use in and beyond Barker College.

But enough about what we get right, what might be going wrong? Horvath and Bott explore nine further obstacles to highly effective learning in schools. Topics include:

A regular theme in the book is the implicit (and sometimes explicit) messaging related to the purpose of education and how this plays out daily in the classroom. Teachers are trained to share learning intentions in the classroom such that students know the purpose of each lesson, but not necessarily the deeper questions such as “why do I need to be here” and “why do I need to learn this?”

The conventional approach to the purpose of schooling, perhaps advocated for by government and industry, is to produce the next generation of economic consumers where “you are what you do for a living” and “your worth is measured according to the goods you possess” (p113) and it seems that grading, motivation strategies, timetabling, homework and even computer use at some schools can reinforce this outdated intention.

At Barker we construct our own narrative of the purpose of education, that of developing humanity and society through providing Christian education that is characterised by a global hope. This is achieved through an extensive curricular and co-curricular program, and activities inspired by the IB Primary Years Program in the Junior School and Roundsquare initiatives designed to expand students’ global appreciation. It was encouraging to read of Horvath and Bott’s suggested alternatives for the narrative of schooling including the next generation of “planetary stewards”, “giant climbers” and “toolmakers”.  The challenge is for us to bring all of our activities in line with our purpose, such that we may be using every practice to be inspiring every learner, every experience, every day.

Reference List:

Horvath, JC & Bott, D, 2020, 10 things schools get wrong: and how we can get them right, John Catt Educational Ltd, Melton, Woodbridge.

Organization, IB, n.d., ‘Primary Years Programme (PYP)’, International Baccalaureate®, viewed 7 June 2022, https://www.ibo.org/programmes/primary-years-programme/.

‘Round Square’, n.d., Round Square, viewed 7 June 2022, https://www.roundsquare.org/.

Read the full article HERE

You can read the story so far in three articles telling the Barker Journey from aYear 3,Year 4, andYear 5 perspective(the Year 5 story was highly impacted by Covid, with the interviews being conducted entirely online). 

The focus of this study is the class of 2028 (or Year 6 class of 2022) which now has over 160 students each with a valuable story to tell. These students completed a survey during Week 2 of this term. A wealth of data regarding student ambitions, expectations, memories and values is ready for ongoing analysis. During Week 3, the Barker Institute staff conducted individual semi-structured interviews with the 29 students that form the core group who give additional voice to their stories each year of their Barker Journey. Copious notes and approximately six and a half hours of audio and video recordings now exist to be transcribed, coded and analysed.

Keep watching the Barker Institute website over the next few weeks to see our preliminary findings about Year 6 and how they have bounced back from a substantially Covid-adjusted year in 2021. Later this year we have been accepted to present our findings at the Australian Association for Research in Education conference in Adelaide. We will also be sharing more with the Year 6 community as they celebrate the end of their Junior School journey, and will produce two academic articles that encapsulate these students’ story.

For now, the only teaser is the image in this article: a word cloud indicating the most common words used by the Year 6 students to describe Barker. The positive impact on these students is clear to all.

The Barker Institute wishes to thank the wonderful students for generously sharing their stories. We also wish to acknowledge the Year 6 coordinator, Mr Timothy Moyes, and the Year 6 teachers for their support and facilitation, along with Head of Junior School, Mr Martin Lubrano, and Head of Barker College, Mr Phillip Heath, AM.

So what memories will stick with the students as they come towards an end to their time in the Barker Junior School? The available 152 students completed a survey in Week 2 of Term 3 which included the question “In one sentence, please describe one thing that you will remember most from your Barker Junior school experience”.

The responses were coded according to the following categories:

• Sentiment: Positive, Neutral, Negative
• Specifics:   Friends, Academics, Teachers, Camps, Music, Sport, Exhibition, Facilities, Orientation
  
• Broader Kinds: Success, Events, Relationships, Facilities

Through this process three findings can already be reported:

1.    Barker students see the positives

91% shared a positive sentiment as their one memory that will stick with them. 4% shared negative memories, leaving 5% neutral or ambiguous. These students’ remembering self will enjoy fond memories of Years 3-6.

2.    They value people over places 

43% of students shared a memory where it was the relationships that were key. Most spoke of friends (“I will definitely remember my friends and the best times I have had with them e.g., going on camp with them or the first time I met them.”, “I remember my year 5 camp and how I made 3 amazing friends that I didn’t have before.”), but many also teachers (“My year 5 teacher and my year 3 teacher”). This contrasts the 1% of students who mentioned the facilities. In Year 3, these same students shared much more about the amazing facilities of Barker, marveling at the Rosewood Centre, playgrounds and fields, and the pool. Many of the key moments and events occurred in and because of these facilities (see point 3) but it is not the places, but the people who come together in these places that they will remember.

3.   Key Moments / Events feature strongly for the remembering self 

Most students, 68%, chose to share a specific event that stuck with them, which included either friendships (“The day I started barker and I met all my best friends.”, “I remember the time that I blocked my best friends layup in basketball while we were playing at lunch”) moments of success in the classroom, in leadership, or on the sporting field ( “Something I will remember is receiving my house captain badge earlier this year.”, “When is scored a three pointer in basketball”, “I got picked for AFL CIS”), or co-curricular activities including music, sport, or especially camps (“Year 5 camp”, “Year 2 camp because it was my first camp”, “The masterpiece concert”). There was wide variety in these responses revealing the immense value in every inspiring activity, as we would never know in advance which interaction or event will stick most firmly in the student’s mind.

One final interesting observation is that across most categories (sentiment, specifics, and broader kinds) there is very little distinction in responses of male and female students. The two exceptions include a slightly higher percentage of female students including a relational element in their most salient memory, and a slightly higher percentage of male students reporting a particular success.

I wish to highlight two insights from the implications section of the paper.

1. Principal as role model: “The principal models what it means to be a successful adult in the third decade of the 21st century.” As with all leaders, teachers, and even senior students at Barker, the Principal demonstrates character, values and attributes to be followed.
2. Alignment of values: In a section on implications for aspiring leaders the authors write “aspiring leaders need to align themselves with the morals and values of the organisations they wish to lead to the extent that they can consistently model the associated behaviors and inspire others to adopt them as well.” This is not a superficial façade that a school leader takes on, rather “The match between leader and school needs to be authentic”.

We at Barker are grateful for so many good role models in the school who authentically demonstrate their values aligned with, what the authors describe as, the “beliefs cherished by the organisation”.  We are grateful for our Head of School modelling his values, and other faithful school Principals and Heads throughout Australia supporting teachers through these times of change, and developing young people of the future.

The FULL PAPER is available online (open access).

Before students returned for the term, Lisa Maltman was a keynote presenter at the 2022 Barker Staff conference.  Student groups have participated in workshops and discussions around the importance of sleep and implementation of healthy sleep habits. On Monday August 8 the invite was extended to the whole Barker community to learn about sleep for better health, resilience, and performance at our Barker Institute public event.

Over 100 parents, attended the event and were encouraged to reflect on their own sleep as well as that of their children in school. The mood was positive, that improvement could be made in sleep habits. This was thanks to the expert, personal, and relevant advice from Lisa Maltman. You can find out more about Lisa through her company’s website: https://thesleepconnection.com.au/

Thank you to the Health and Wellbeing team in the School, our guest speaker, and all who attended as together we are striving to support our Barker community to be excellent in every possible way.

While only four years into the ten-year project, 2022 marks the end of the Junior School component of the Barker Journey study.

On two consecutive Mondays in Term 4, the Barker classroom opened to other schools and the general public. The Barker Institute wishes to particularly thank students who travelled long distances to join the lectures and the teachers who provided transport. It was an excellent series for community learning - wrestling with epistemology; 'how we know what we know'.

We invite you to view resources from the presentations via the links below.

Please see Lecture 1 PowerPoint HERE.

Lecture 1: Storytelling in Science Extension: Learning and teaching Science Extension through great stories in the history of science

17 October 2022 – Dr Alison Gates

A narrative account of some marvelous scientific discoveries, this lecture explores the history of science through the lens of scientific narratives. For new senior students, we hope to inspire you, to peak your curiosity and to whet your palate for what lies ahead in Science Extension.

Please see Lecture 2 PowerPoint HERE. 

Lecture 2: Philosophy of Science: Epistemology, Empiricism and Experimentation

24 October 2022 - Dr Matthew Hill

What does it mean to know something scientifically? Do all scientists follow the same scientific method? Come along to our second lecture to learn how Philosophers talk about the field of science. Relevant syllabus terms from Module 1 of the course such as epistemology, empiricism, induction, deduction, falsification and parsimony will be demystified, explained and contextualised.

Understanding the impact of mobility on students moving from one country to another prompted a question about what it would take for mobile or transient students to thrive once they reached Barker, and, conversely, what should a school like Barker be doing to ensure that such students are well served. I recommended several books but at the top of my list were the following two key texts: Douglas Ota’s Safe Passage and David Pollock, Ruth van Reken, and Michael Pollock’s Third Culture Kids: The Experience of Growing Up Among Worlds. There are, of course, many others that readers may think are more worthy than these two; at least, let me share what make these texts important.

OTA, Douglas W. (2014)Safe Passage: how mobility affects people & what international schools should do about it. Great Britain: Summertime Publishing.

This book is a “must-have” for any educator wishing to increase their understanding of how mobility and transition impact students or structure education design around a transitory student population. Written by an experienced international school counsellor, it is a carefully structured and well-researched, outlining a framework required to build and maintain a programme to help “expat children” during transition periods – whether they are movers or stayers. And this is its value. It focuses on how schools can support students during the transitional phases of joining and leaving a school environment. The book is divided into three sections: (1) the challenges of moving across cultures (2) a possible blueprint for building a mobility transition program for use within schools; and (3) how to maintain such a program over the long term.

POLLOCK, David C., VAN REKEN, Ruth E., and POLLOCK, Michael V. (2017)Third Culture Kids: The Experience of Growing Up Among Worlds. 3rdedition. Nicholas Brealey Publishing.

This is a fundamental text and has remained the authoritative text on Third Culture Kids (TCKs) for nearly two decades. Now in its third edition, Third Culture Kids is a standard reading for anyone involved in international or intercultural education. The authors explore the experiences of TCKs and the book gives real-life anecdotes to help examine the nature of the TCK experience, and its effects on maturing and developing a sense of identity. It has a comprehensive, yet accessible, approach to understanding and working with children who have spent their formative years growing up outside of what might be referred to as their ‘passport country’. If educational leaders are looking to design an educational model that supports TCKs, and helps them thrive, then this text must be on their bookshelf as they will find it instrumental in making sure any design is in a position to accommodate their unique educational needs and considerations.

While these two texts may appear to be more relevant to an international school, the issues they explore are relevant to any school, particularly schools with a global focus in the 21st century. Indeed, this is what makes these texts so valuable: they are relevant as a whole or in part to school leader and teacher alike.

Dr Tucker summarised years of research (and decades of experience) presenting his PhD findings on Educating for Humanity & The Holistic Principle.

The evening began with Dr Tucker asking the audience three questions: What is the child? What is this world under pressure? And what is the fundamental aim of education?

He then presented a systematic review of international, national, and school statements of the purpose and intent of their education demonstrating how all policy statements are attempting to capture the whole-person, transforming young people into fully formed human beings. The challenge was put that very few of these sufficiently describe the comprehensiveness of such a holistic, integrated education.

A brief featured images of Barker students’ major works in Art and Design and Technology, accompanied by music recorded by Barker students.

The second part of the talk proposed a framework for educating humanity featuring holistic learning (integrating the intellectual, physical, social, emotional, aesthetic, ethical and spiritual) and holistic education (involving the whole child, whole educator, whole teaching, whole school community, holistic curriculum and even the whole cosmos).

The PowerPoint presentation from the evening can be accessed HERE.

The session’s talking points included:

1. Understanding habit development
2. Location, location, location
3. Scheduling for success
4. The why and how of using a diary
5. Types of study
6. Maximising memory
7. Momentum: Show up and start

Resources for Barker families include:

1. Selected Slides from the presentation
2. Barker College Year 7 Formal Assessment Manual
3. Soft Copy Homework Planner (for download)
4. Barker Institute Journal Article – Understanding our Successful Learners
5. Barker Institute Journal Article –2017 HSC Results: How to pass on their success to their successors
6. Information and links regarding FamilyZone at Barker which allows parents to support their children’s device use through boundaries and automated restrictions.

Last April, Dr Horvath spent the day at Barker working with staff and students.  In “A tour of the teenage brain”, the focus of our 2021 event, he drew on his research in neuroscience to offer explanations for the brilliant, but sometimes peculiar, actions of teenagers as a product of their brain activity.

In 2022 Dr Horvath again spent a day with staff as part of the School’s Professional Learning program, renewing and building on last year’s training, before presenting to our Community Forum on the eve of Term 2.

Four themes consistent with his talk of 2021 included:

1. The brain is constantly changing, (especially in young people) which allows learning to take place rapidly. However, it can often be tricky to replace old or undesirable neural connections with new, desirable ones. (For further reading see “The Brain that Changes Itself”, Norman Doidge)
2. The brain cannot multitask, it can only pay attention to one thing at a time. What is often termed ‘multitasking’ is really ‘task-switching’ and ineffective for learning, study, or work. Therefore, using technology around and while learning needs careful consideration due to the way it inhibits single-focus attentiveness (For further reading see Chapter 7 of “10 Things schools get wrong”)
3. Teachers and parents are the experts when it comes to teaching and parenting. There are ideas from neuroscience that are very helpful, but it is important for the teachers and parents to draw on and apply their own expertise. (For further reading see Chapter 1 of “10 Things schools get wrong”)
4. The last two COVID-19 impacted years have been stressful. By prolonging stress on the brain, it reduces its capacity to form memories, so it’s not surprising that most people can struggle to remember specifics from 2020 or 2021.

It was also an exciting community moment when our newDeputy Head: Academic Care, Dr Julie Wilson Reynolds met many parents of Barker students and was already answering questions about our academic program and how Barker aims to continue to put research such as from Dr Horvath into practice.

Reference List:

Doidge, N. 2016, The Brain’s Way of Healing: Remarkable

Discoveries and Recoveries from the Frontiers of Neuroplasticity. Updated and Expanded edition, Penguin Books.

Horvath, J.C. & Bott, D. 2020, 10 Things Schools Get Wrong: And How We Can Get Them Right. John Catt Educational Ltd.

Dr Hunter asked parents what barriers their children encountered with writing. Responses such as “low confidence in writing”, “where to begin” and “how to structure a narrative” were recalled. To demonstrate the techniques from the workshops he had held with their children, Ian asked participants to write about any topic for five minutes. Heads down, parents were writing!

Parents read their piece to another person and discussed. Ian then gave a concise and informative list of 5 types of sentences that increase writing fluency. Parents rewrote their piece, this time using the explained sentence types; the simple, the very short, the W-start, the adverb at the front, and the Em-dash sentence. Parents’ writing was transformed.

Sharing the before and after exemplars of student writing from Barker this week, Dr Hunter showed parents how just these few sentence rules improved writing. Through practice with the Writers’ Toolbox, Barker students can improve writing to create interesting and impactful work. This software is available to all year 7 and 8 students and uses A.I. to analyse writing and give instant feedback.  

Parent comments include “It was an entertaining forum. Importantly, very helpful tips were communicated and will benefit the students as much as their parents.”

If you would like more details about Writer’s Toolbox, head to https://www.wtbox.com/about

Barker Institute wishes to thank Greg Longney, Director of Teaching and Learning at Barker who invited Dr Hunter to present to students as part of Rhetoric Week.

In his article ‘Have you fallen for the myth of ‘I can’t draw’? Do it anyway – and reap the rewards’, Lecturer in Animation at Swinburne University of Technology Darren Fisher describes how this ‘I can’t do it’ feeling is common amongst his students. He also extols the many health benefits of drawing, as when practiced on a regular basis it can improve mood and promote general creativity.

Fisher promotes the drawing style ‘Automatic Drawing’ developed by the Surrealists, as one way to get started. In this style, the student draws with no clear end goal. The hand can go anywhere on the page to create drawings without conscious control. Another method in learning to draw is deliberate practice. Fisher claims that letting go also of the biases against learning by copying is an essential stepping stone in learning to draw. Copying to learn is often frowned upon in some schools of thought, however Fisher’s article goes on to describe how young students in Japan of Manga style art are encouraged to do just this. These children build their skill through exposure and practice.

Anytime someone is learning a new skill, be it a swim stroke or a new language, it can be a struggle, but this is not a bad thing. Productive struggle (Livy et al., 2018) is where students engage in effortful practice to build their skills and move them beyond passive learning. Barker students are encouraged to work through productive struggle where a new skill is confusing and uncomfortable to them. Learning activities are differentiated such that students are appropriately challenged to develop their skills.

When speaking to Barker Middle School students, teaching staff and to the School Community at a Barker Institute Forum in 2021, Dr Jared Cooney Horvath, Educational Neuroscientist, claimed that we have the option to decide whether to try and learn. When you encounter confusion, the choice to flip on a switch in the prefrontal cortex, (the controller and coding area of the brain), to work through what he coined the ‘crunch sensation’, is the best choice anyone can make when learning something new. The more this happens, the more the decoder will predict patterns in situations to make sense of something; in other words, learn.

Why not cultivate a new skill, such as drawing and use your ‘crunch sensation’ for the better, to learn.

References:

The Conversation, Fisher D, 2021 Have you fallen for the myth of ‘I can’t draw’? Do it anyway – and reap the rewards, weblog post, viewed 5 February 2022 https://theconversation.com/have-you-fallen-for-the-myth-of-i-cant-draw-do-it-anyway-and-reap-the-rewards-172623

Livy et al., 2018, Challenging tasks lead to productive struggle. https://search.informit.org/doi/epdf/10.3316/informit.484804037202568

TEDxYouth@ReddamHouse.,2018, Your Brain, Your Life, Jared Cooney Horvath,  viewed 5 February 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NilvW_ACG9M

The value of The Geography of Thought is in the fact that it makes very clear how completely diametric the worldviews of the East and West are. The West's perspective is described as Aristotelian and the East's is described as Confucian, a reference to the philosophers who have had the most impact on those broad geographical regions of the world. Nisbett's starting point is explained on the very first page where he states:

The contrast described above, and other differences between the two perspectives, is central to Nisbett's discussion. In Chapter 1, the philosophy, science and societies of Ancient Greece and China are covered, providing a historical foundation for Nisbett's argument. The following chapter focuses on the implications of these foundations to Western and Eastern world perspectives. Chapter 3 contends with the notion of "the self" and how West and East construct the individual and community. Starting with six generalisations that are considered to be the Western conceptualisation of "the self", Nisbett explores how the Eastern view differs. The notion of one's social existence and what that means for how people literally see the world is covered in the following chapter. How the idea of cause and effect, language and logic have impacted Western and Eastern perspectives and interpretations form the basis of chapters 5, 6 and 7 respectively. Chapter 8 answers the "so what?" question: how and why do the number of differences between Westerners and Easterners found in almost every study undertaken by Nisbett actually matter?

Ultimately, Nisbett's own perspective on the matter, presented in the Epilogue, is "situational". Describing Nisbett's perspective as "situational" is to say that Nisbett attempts to present a middle ground.

Aspiring to a more "situational" perspective gives Nisbett a starting point to conclude with his hopes for both the socio-intellectual frameworks that he has spent the better part of 230 pages describing. Nisbett hopes that the best of both cultures will prevail as each moves towards the other and, in the process, have a transformative relationship. Western and Eastern social and cognitive aspects can contribute to a blended mode of thinking that will have a positive impact on the world at large.

This is why this text is so important to education, national or international. As the world becomes increasingly interlinked, it is crucial that teachers can show students how to navigate the newer, 'smaller' environment and to do so responsibly, ethically and positively. Rather than a challenge to be overcome, integration of social and cognitive contributions from East and West can bear fruit in meaningful learning and thinking both in and beyond the any curriculum. This text is an excellent starting point for teachers to build up their capacity to grow intercultural competencies within their students and to have an impact on the world beyond their school's front gates.

References

R Nisbett 2004 The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently...and Why. Free Press: New York, London, Toronto, Sydney,

Young people, especially those at schools like Barker, can be trained to see that any difficulty can be overcome through effort, practice and willpower. While these attributes are certainly necessary for developing resilience and for learning; there are constraints of physical limits like the need for sleep and rest that cannot be ignored, even sickness and disability that cannot always be overcome. Judd calls us to consider how these curtailers of choice or obstructors of control, are actually inherent to our humanity (Williams, 2018) and therefore understanding the limits, and “going with the grain” of these limits leads to deeper and richer human flourishing and thriving (McPherson, 2022).

While my physical disability has brought me a lot of grief and pain it has also taught me a lot about living in, and paying attentive and respectful attention to, a body that is fundamentally limited.

Judd proposes a juxtaposition of philosophical attitudes, expressive individualism and embedded relationality. The former requires seeking choice and control over life circumstances and the latter is where the autonomous self is not at the centre. From the position of embedded relationality, life is not about ensuring unencumbered choice but rather life is to be accepted and appreciated as a gift. To her, recognising that her identity (both mind and body) is a gift given rather than self-made means that “Who I am is not defined by what I can do or achieve, it’s anchored in who I’m loved by” (including both love from other humans, but also divine love “which is constant and abundant and eternal and secure”).

We don’t dictate the terms of our life by fiat; we respond to what we’ve been given.

Last September, as part of Barker’s celebration of R U OK? Day, the Barker Institute hosted an interview with academic, educator, and author Dr Kerry Howells (Hill, 2021). She spoke about her new book Untangling You; How can I be grateful when I feel so resentful? Her research findings from 25 years of experience and study presented a view consistent with Judd’s, arguing that an “attitude of gratitude” is necessary for thriving in our interconnected, uncontrollable, relational world.

Judd concluded her lecture by reflecting on the consequences of our embeddedness in relationships with each other. She explains that our boundaries and limits are positive opportunities for interdependence, meaning flourishing is not reached by expressive individualism, rather “wholeness can only come to us through others”. The communities available to young people in schools present opportunities for vulnerability and interdependence, for character development and gratitude. It is a blessing that we can be back together for the start of the 2022 year because as Judd reminds us “you cannot cultivate character in isolation”.

The full lecture can be accessed on YouTube, contact the Barker Institute for details.

References:

Hill, M., 2021. Untangling You & Gratitude - Dr Kerry Howells. Bark. Inst. URL https://www.barkerinstitute.com.au/our-news-resources/2021/untangling-you-gratitude-dr-kerry-howells (accessed 2.14.22).

Judd, S.K., 2022. The Dignity of Our Limits.

McPherson, D., 2022. The Virtues of Limits. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Williams, R., 2018. Being Human: Bodies, Minds, Persons. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Please see Lecture 1PowerPoint HERE.

Lecture 1: Storytelling in Science Extension: Learning and teaching Science Extension through great stories in the history of science

13 October 2021 - Dr. Alison Gates

A narrative account of some marvelous scientific discoveries, this lecture explores the history of science through the lens of scientific narratives. For new senior students, we hope to inspire you, to peak your curiosity and to whet your palate for what lies ahead in Science Extension.

Please see Lecture 2PowerPoint HERE. 

Lecture 2: Philosophy of Science: Epistemology, Empiricism and Experimentation

20 October 2021 - Dr. Matthew Hill 

What does it mean to know something scientifically? Do all scientists follow the same scientific method? Come along to our second lecture to learn about how Philosophers talk about the field of science. Relevant syllabus terms from Module 1 of the course such as epistemology, empiricism, induction, deduction, falsification and parsimony will be demystified, explained and contextualised. 

Please see Lecture 3Powerpoint HERE.

Workshop & Panel: Beginning the Scientific Research Project

27 October 2021 - Dr. Alison Gates, Dr. Matthew Hill & Dr. Terena Holdaway-Clarke

How do you rise to the challenge of doing a novel research project, culminating in a genuine scientific report, while still at high school?  This workshop builds on Lectures 1 and 2 by exploring the design of a suitable research project touching on issues like choosing a research question, conducting a literature search, problematising the situation, building relationships with supervisors and experts, and managing expectations. 

The commentary shares valuable insight from these teachers who have been at the forefront of online learning implementation. It is however the insight about what is important in teaching and learning, that shines through.

A recording of this presentation is available to the Barker community https://bit.ly/RUOKDay-KerryHowells-BarkerInstitute.

The book Untangling You; How can I be grateful when I feel so resentful?  can be ordered on Dr Howell’s website, https://kerryhowells.com/. Don’t forget to use the discount code for those in the Barker community available at the end of the video.

Following the presentation Dr Matthew Hill, Barker Institute Director, presented questions from the audience in discussion with the two special guests.

Resources for parents and teachers:

1. www.positivechoices.org.au
2. Teen Substance Use – PowerPoint slides with speakers’ contact details

Event recording for parent viewing
(You need to be logged in with a Barker account to view this recording)

The online world continues to grow and extend into all areas of our lives including that of our students. As they inevitably spend considerable time on the internet (not least during COVID-19 restrictions) it is important for parents and carers to be up to date with information on how to best support children online such that they may participate safely, learn distraction free, and learn effectively.

Mr Paul Harman, Digital Learning Leader PreK-12, discussed the strategic use of technology for learning in the Junior School.

Yasmin London from Barker’s partner organisation YSafe presented regarding online safety for children including describing the common Apps children are using and settings and features that parents may not be aware of.

Finally, Jon Chivers from FamilyZone, an important technology solution for Barker student devices, shared how FamilyZone can be used by parents as a tool to monitor and support distraction free learning and play on their child’s devices.

This event was scheduled as a face-to-face event on campus, but transitioned to a webinar. Special thanks to Mr Martin Lubrano, Head of Junior School who hosted and moderated the event.

A video of the event is available HERE
(you must be logged into Microsoft with a Barker account to access the recording)

1. A sense of normality

In a world where a pandemic leaves many things out of our control, school can be a safe place and provide a sense of normal. Therefore, keeping things, within reason and where possible, familiar, gives reassurance to students and their families.

2. Routine and Structure

Humans are creatures of habit. Schools operate through timetables and routines. For students to succeed in an online environment, clear structures and daily routines need to be established and clearly communicated. This becomes even more important for students who struggle with organisation.

3. Connection

Relationships are key in student learning. The minute by minute interactions with teachers, peers and other staff is what makes a school, not just a place of learning, but a community. Regular live online interactions are essential in keeping people within schools connected and the impact of this on wellbeing cannot be underestimated.

4. Learning online

There is an undeniable time challenge in teaching online. Whether synchronous or asynchronous there is an added complexity in teaching knowledge, skills, and depth of understanding without the subtle feedback a teacher can receive from the verbal and non-verbal interactions in a face-to-face classroom setting. Checking for the understanding of each student in a whole class live forum, small groups in a breakout room or from learning activities such as written submissions or quizzes takes a lot longer. For teachers, designing tasks, providing effective communication, and giving feedback to online tasks provides, at times, an insurmountable workload. It is also commonplace yet well-intentioned, for teachers to overestimate the work that students can do in the time allocated. This puts substantial pressure on students. Therefore, workloads need to be managed by considering what is essential, adapting what is taught, how it is taught and what the students are to do. Quality over quantity, efficient and effective.

5. Movement

There is a balance required between the importance of continuing learning, keeping connections through online platforms and the need to move. Research from the Australian Government Department of Health, the Heart Foundation and other individual research papers have highlighted the risks of being sedentary. Sitting for too long increases risk of chronic health problems and has a negative correlation with Mental Health. Claims have been made that sitting is the new smoking due to the similar effects it has on the heart. Therefore, opportunity to move beyond the screen needs to be part of the daily routines established as well as included in learning activities wherever possible.

Barker Online Learning Phase 1 – Structure for Online Learning 2021

• The school timetable remains - The day and week is structured by the regular school timetable.
• Live Meetings - Teachers begin each lesson with a live meeting in Microsoft Teams. They then teach / explain work via this mode for a maximum of 30 minutes of the 60 minute scheduled lesson.
• Time to complete tasks -The remaining 30 minutes of the lesson is allocated for students to complete learning tasks.
• Streamlined communication:
  • All work to be submitted is communicated through the homework section in Canvas to streamline a student work task list for all subjects that is in one place for students and parents to locate.
  • All class and individual communication with students take place in Microsoft teams.
• Dress code: Students wear school or PE uniform and staff wear professional attire.
• Extended lunch break: The 30 minute timeslot between 12:00pm – 12:30pm was allocated to allow for a 90 minute lunch break.

Professional Learning Structures

• Pre-online learning - The professional learning day on July 12th was designed to support the transition to online learning.
• Initial and ongoing professional learning support - The existing Canvas Professional Learning course stores resources that support teachers in the delivery of online learning. This includes short instructional videos on the essential digital learning tools used to deliver online learning as well as written information / cheat sheets and links to further, more advanced resources.
• Immediate daily support - An Online Learning Channel has been established in Microsoft Teams for all staff. Here, staff post questions which are answered within minutes by the digital learning team, the curriculum team or by other teachers. This has been enormously successfully in the support of online teaching, creating greater confidence in teachers as well as enabling leaders to adapt quickly or address any wider school issues.

Possible considerations for an extended period of online learning

• Compulsory blackout periods from technology.
• A break from online learning to refresh eg: early finish or late start.
• Whole school initiatives to connect more widely. Eg House Competitions, Barker Olympics.
• Re-establishing the 30 minute time slot for more holistic year group connections.
• Managing workload for students and staff. eg streamlining communication in blocks, reducing amount of work set.
• More sharing of effective online learning strategies.

Evaluation

The routine of a timetable, live synchronous interactions with classes, the balance between 30 minutes of personal lesson delivery and 30 minutes to complete learning tasks, has in the first instance seemly achieved the principles in which the decisions were made. There has been a general feel of positivity surrounding this manner of online learning from students, staff, and parents. It for these reasons, the structures have been retained for Phase 2 of online learning, a period of 2 weeks until July 30thFriday. Whilst we are in the honeymoon period of online learning, we will be watching carefully and be ready to adapt quickly when and where needed.

Barker Global hosted Wayne Cornish, Operations Manager of Muru Mittgar to speak to Firestick Farming and how this sustainable land conservation method can be incorporated into land management. Some of these practices have been recently being reintroduced to areas in the Blue Mountains. Wayne explained that when firestick burning is conducted, the land is burned in an outwards direction from a central location so that the animals that inhabitant the land can escape. Of course only when conditions are suitable for these burns are they carried out. Wayne hopes to share this knowledge with all connected with his family and country.

Wayne fielded questions from the audience ranging from Indigenous connection to the land and if native fauna and flora can be reintroduced from low stress firestick farming

The message was that if all inhabitants of Australia have some connection to the environment and look and learn from it, that many places will heal, animals and fauna will regenerate and species that we did not know were native to an area will return.

Wayne Cornish is the operations Manager at Muru Mittigar, which is a Drahug organisation dedicated to making a significant, measurable and lasting difference in advancing the Dharug and Aboriginal culture. 

Barker College wish to thank Wayne Cornish for his time and for sharing his knowledge with our community.

Neil Tucker (former Head of Barker College) discussed his personal educational philosophy, his research journey, and well supported opinions on holistic education drawing from literature, government policy, and school language.

Tim Scott (History teacher and researcher) presented on his 2020 Barker Institute Journal Article My Two Blankets: Considering the importance of using home languages in today’s classroom in support of student learning and wellbeing in preparation for the upcoming National Boys Education Conference.

Matt Hill (Science teacher and Director of the Barker Institute) delivered his talk for the same upcoming conference on Does the scientific method ever fail? A lesson in failure through supervising projects with null results.

Participants enjoyed the opportunity to reflect on three very different areas of education however it was clear that there were links between ideas in all three. Just as a research group functioning in a university context, it was an excellent opportunity for the two Barker staff to get feedback prior to their upcoming inter-school conference.

After a Journal club in Term 3 (16th of August), there will be another Research Forum in Term 4, Week 6 where three more presentations will be shared.

The session, hosted by James Denton (Head of Middle School) and Jon Rheinberger (Dean of Year 7), covered six talking points, each of which included time for parents and students to discuss how the information impacted them along with their decisions, planning and actions. The purpose was to bring parents and students together, that they may be on the same page and pursue study success as a team, using the best available information as a guide.

Talking points included:

• Location, location, location
• Scheduling for success (a blank Homework Planner Dr Hill used can be download below)
• The why and how of using a diary (with particular discussion of POP time at the end of each school day)
• Different types of study
• Maximising memory (and how learning continues in your sleep!)
• Momentum: Show up and start!

As part of the staff professional learning day, Dr Horvath (Educational Researcher, prominent author and speaker) presented sessions on The Foundations of Learning and The Learning Trajectory to Barker’s entire teaching staff. Staff were inspired, encouraged and challenged to meet the needs of every student, and to prepare them with the one essential skill that will never become redundant – the ability to learn.

Over 400 students attended a second session with Dr Horvath (despite still being on school holiday) which supported them to understand how their brain was changing, growing and responding to learning opportunities at school and at home studying. There was a particular emphasis on the need for focussed attention to learning, along with the clear warning about the myth of multitasking. Students were encouraged to do short, focussed, sessions of learning and were reminded short bursts of regular practice is far more effective than cramming for an exam.

In the evening, the Barker Institute was delighted to host the first in-person event since COVID-19 restrictions began in 2020. It was a delight to welcome over 200 parents to the Leslie Hall to listen to Dr  Cooney Horvath give a Tour of The Teenage Brain. A main message was that all brains are plastic (changing) and this is certainly true of the teenage brain. Teenagers are constantly learning, and sometimes that results in conflict and challenges at home. Rather than focusing on specific tips, Dr Horvath emphasised that parents know their kids and their individual needs best, but that understanding what was going on in their brain might help as they support them through these transitional years. He emphasised the importance of sleep, a caring and supportive home environment with increasing levels of choices as teens matured, and the need for autonomy post school for the transition from a teenage brain to an adult brain to take place.  Similar points are made in the ARTICLE  “Are Teenagers Crazy”.  Three selected videos from Jared are included below.

Selected Videos of Jared Cooney Horvath

• TEDx Talk – “Your Brain, Your Life”
• How Much Sleep Do Teenagers Really Need ... and Why? (Sleep Science)

Recording available with this link:   http://bit.ly/ProgressiveReportingRecording2021

In consultation with the Barker Institute and Therapy Dogs Australia, Junior School staff will continue to research the impact of Peachy on campus. We look forward to sharing these results with you at a future event.  

Please find a recording of this webinar from Wednesday 30 November here:http://bit.ly/IntroducingPeachy.

The Barker institute would like to thank Dr Alison Gates for her generous contribution to an appreciative audience from Barker and beyond.

Click for notes from Lecture One - 'Great Moments in Science'  - HERE

Public Lecture 1 - Great moments in Science 2020 - Dr A Gates - Download Pdf HERE

Click for notes from Lecture Two - 'Philosophy of Science: Epistemology and scientific reasoning'  - HERE

Public Lecture 2 - Philosophy of Science 2020 - Dr M Hill - Download Pdf HERE

If you are a Science Extension teacher and have written a trial paper, we would love to exchange the paper we wrote for yours. If you would like to swap, please send the trial paper you have written to Matthew Hill (mhill@barker.nsw.edu.au).

Barker students and staff are not only teachers and learners, but creators who produce research thinking and writing, often supported through The Barker Institute. A recent opportunity to develop Barker's contribution to the academic community has been in connection with the new Science Extension course, a 1-unit course offered to Year 12 students studying any other science subject.

Science Extension: Students as researchers

First taught in 2019, Science Extension combines coursework (covering research methodology, inferential statistics, and the history and philosophy of science) with an individual research project. The latter is designed to be a genuine contribution to scientific knowledge, something that is typically reserved for honours or post-graduate students having already completed years of university. Barker students are producing outstanding research across various fields of science including projects such as synthesis of anti­malarial drugs, the potential of various plants to filter water, and computer modelling and 3D printing of propellers of various efficiencies.

We have been developing laboratory spaces and resources to facilitate student projects, enhancing our capacity to offer projects in organic chemistry and microbiology. This has facilitated a collaboration with Associate Professor Alice Motion from the School of Chemistry at the University of Sydney who leads the Breaking Good Project, a citizen science project which involves high school students in real chemistry research projects exploring the world's most important medicines. As part of this project, Kai Wong (20) has successfully synthesized a novel analogue of the anti­malarial drug, Daraprim which is being tested for its effectiveness as an anti-malarial agent.

Presenting student research at an international conference

Arabella Crowley (20) had a poster presentation accepted to the Australasian Science Education Research Association (ASERA) conference, held virtually in Wollongong in June. Arabella's research into emotions of students in the high-school Physics laboratory received positive feedback from various members of the science education academic community. We warmly commend Arabella for her outstanding achievement.

Arabella's poster can be viewed at https://bit.ly/31XmbNo

Head of School, Phillip Heath AM, received praise from counterparts during an EdSmart webinar which drew together school leaders to discuss how their approaches to educational leadership during a crisis.

In this webinar five outstanding school heads/principals, featuring Mr Heath, shared honestly about the challenges of 2020. There were many common themes involving strategic decision making in the context of a deep care and concern for students, families, staff, and the wider community.

You can watch a recording of the webinar on the EdSmart website, https://blog.edsmart.com/principals-webinar

The session, hosted by James Denton (Head of Middle School) and Kath Driver (Dean of Year 7), covered six talking points, each of which included time for parents and students to discuss how the information impacted them along with their decisions, planning and actions. The purpose was to bring parents and students together, that they may be on the same page and pursue study success as a team, using the best available information as a guide.

Talking points included:

• Location, location, location
• Scheduling for success (a blank Homework Planner Dr Hill used is available for download below)
• The why and how of using a diary
• Different types of study
• Maximising memory (and how learning continues in your sleep!)
• Momentum: Show up and start!

They enjoyed a light breakfast while listening to Mr Anthony Wicht (brother of Barker Language teacher Ms Madeline Wicht) share from his experience at MIT, representing Australia at the UN’s space committee and leading the development of Australia’s most recent space policy. Students (and teachers) learned that Australia has a key role to play in activities in space for applications both on earth and beyond. We look forward to hosting Anthony again next year at a Barker Institute Community Forum where the invitation will be open for all to attend.

Questions from the audience revealed that parents and carers were excited to learn more about the methodology of teaching writing along with tips and tricks that the students could take away and apply to their written work.

It was clear from the evening that writing, as a part of Rhetoric (one of Barker’s four pillars of Thriving), is a generalised capability that does apply across subjects and disciplines. Along with this, the skill of writing is nuanced to particular disciplines and communication purposes. Therefore there is no one-size-fits-all technique for writing, but a combination of methods that form a student’s arsenal for writing with confidence.

The presenters provided a variety of strategies for students to improve their own writing, for improving writing through teacher feedback, and for improving writing through collaborative settings in the classroom or online. Students are encouraged to continue to seek feedback on their writing in any of their subjects from their classroom teachers.

Please find RESOURCES below from the four short presentations of the Focus on Learning Forum - WATS.

CLICK HERE for a selection of the WATS presentation.

The afternoon session explored the connections with executive functioning through to language acquisition, while the evening saw parents engaged in the facts about the 'full body' workout that playing music provides for children from the time they are born, continuing throughout their lives.

Dr Collins discussed a wide range of research as she responded to questions from the floor. She discussed how playing music related to enjoyment and well being, while the underlying message illuminated the fact that the 'music brain' is central to all of the other functions we do in our lives and pivotal in the development of our memory.

The interest and comments from both the teachers and parents affirmed the importance of using music as a means to develop life-long learning and independence amongst students in all classrooms. Dr Collins suggested that all babies should be handed a musical instrument as they departed hospital after birth, an interesting idea to conceptualise!

The Barker Institute is indebted to Dr Anita Collins for her contribution to our community. We thank her for her insightful comments and breadth of understanding, which allowed all participants to grasp a clear and meaningful understanding of the connections between Neuroscience and Music.

Dr Collins' TED talk