Expert insights

Can we trust AERO’s independence now?

What do you get when governments pour millions of taxpayer dollars into a charity with the power to shape what happens in Australian classrooms? 
Carly Sawatzki, Emma Rowe
AARE blog
18 July 2025

The complex pressures facing primary and post-primary School Leaders in Ireland

How do administrative burdens combine with emotional and cognitive demands to affect school leader wellbeing in Ireland?
Ben Arnold, Mark Rahimi
BERA blog
4 July 2025

Is successful maths teaching more than method?

Explicit teaching is always part of a high-quality lesson sequence. But defining it as the ultimate pedagogy sidelines the very practices that engage students in mathematical thinking.
Carly Sawatzki, Jill Brown and Laura Tuohilampi
AARE blog
5 June 2025

Professor Jillian Blackmore on The Deprofessionalisation of Teaching: What’s Fuelling the Out-of-Field Phenomenon,

“A discussion of the systemic and political shifts that have weakened public education, casualised the teacher workforce, and deepened inequality in Australian schools.”
Jill Blackmore
Out-of-Field Teaching Toolkit Podcast
27 May 2025

Gaps in student ability ‘greatest challenge’ for teaching reading and literacy

“Teaching reading in ways that account for the diverse needs and potential of all students remains challenging even for our most experienced and confident teachers.”
Maria Nicholas
MCERA
13 May 2025

How can we advance research-informed policy?

Education policy should be informed by rigorous and robust research and draw on the latest research findings to deliver high functioning and inclusive education.
Emma Rowe
AARE blog
30 April 2025

Mid and late-career teachers at high risk of leaving profession

“Understanding why teachers leave their jobs is complex, and it goes beyond the usual emphasis on burnout and stress.”
Ben Arnold and Mark Rahimi
MCERA
19 March 2025

Science and writing: Why AERO’s narrow views are a big mistake

“Our focus should be on strengthening teachers’ contextual decision making, and not on constraining them in ways that will reduce their professionalism, and ultimately their standing.”
Russell Tytler
AARE blog
21 October 2024

Why these quick fixes won't work for teaching today

“It’s time to ask tough questions. Questions about the purpose and direction of education policy in Australia. Questions about the impact on teachers and students.”
Carly Sawatzki
AARE blog
12 August 2024

Priorities and Future Directions for Educational Research

“Educational researchers, peak bodies, professional associations and representatives of national education research agencies met to discuss the challenges and opportunities for Australian education research over the next decade.”
Jill Blackmore
Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia
5 August 2024

How we can challenge oppression from the ground up

“Due to the complexity of the Australian education landscape, teachers are often left to navigate diverse and conflicting educational ideologies about Australian schooling.”
Tom Mahoney
AARE blog
5 August 2024

Explicit teaching mandate – a pushback is now critical

“Excessive focus on explicit methods will have side effects and could lead to students not meeting curriculum expectations.”
Jill Brown
AARE blog
29 April 2024

The teacher shortage plan must do more to recruit and retain First Nations teachers

“First Nations peoples have the oldest teaching and learning techniques and knowledges in the world. This has the potential to benefit all students.”
Glenn Auld
The Conversation
18 November 2022

How to fix education: cut tests, defund private schools

“State governments are ostensibly responsible for public schooling in Australia, however federal governments can do a lot to improve education.”
Jill Blackmore, Amanda Keddie & Katrina MacDonald
AARE blog
20 May 2022

‘Australia doesn’t care about me’: women international students suffering alarming rates of sexual violence

“Australia has long been regarded as a safe society. However, international students’ safety was questioned in 2020 when a survey of 6000 students revealed a quarter had experienced racist abuse during the COVID pandemic.”
Ly Tran
The Conversation
3 April 2025

Student voices and areas of support in need

“It’s a critical time to remind ourselves of the needs of international students and how best to support them, which is at the heart of our work.”
Ly Tran, Diep Nguyen, Danielle Hartridge & Gary Lee
Koala News
26 November 2024

Key questions for reform of the New Colombo Plan

“A boost to the ties that bind Australia and the Indo-Pacific is essential
to humanising public diplomacy and building life-long connections.”
Ly Tran
Lowy Institute
23 August 2024

Why are int’l graduate returnees to China considering themselves “wastes”

“While Chinese students learn and transform through overseas study, they face significant barriers when returning home.”
Ly Tran
The Pie
23 August 2024

International education policy needs a critical re-think

“Although the discourse of international education in Australia has traditionally emphasised its economic value, over the past year it has switched to prioritise political concerns and politically driven motives in government decisions about international education.”
Ly Tran
University World News
5 August 2024

The federal government’s proposed international education policy is flawed, and will likely have unintended consequences

“An analysis of the proposed policy alongside census data shows the premise of this policy is not just contradictory, but difficult to achieve.”
Ly Tran
ABC News
21 May 2024

International education’s goal? To enrich human beings

“Another distinctive shift is in the view of international education’s purposes, from cultural exchange and mutual understanding to politicisation and weaponisation.”
Ly Tran
University World News
2 September 2023

Planned 35 yo age limit on temporary graduate visas is poor policy

“The plan to put a 35 year old age limit on temporary visas for international graduates is a very bad idea that will damage Australia’s research capacity”
Ly Tran & Jill Blackmore
The Australian
20 December 2023

New Colombo Plan Scholarships 2.0: A whole new world

“The international education sector’s headache from ill-fitting visa caps now has a unique Learning Abroad twist: an uplifting initiative tossing mortarboards into the air… a no-caps option!”
Trevor Goddard
The Koala
21 August 2024

Exploring inequities in Australian school funding

“A guiding principle of our school funding model is based on the concept of need – on paper, at least.”
Emma Rowe
MCERA webinar
31 March 2025

Can you afford a private school? Average fees for Year 12 are at least $15,000

“These figures suggest while many schools are far from the headlines of ‘$50,000 fees’, many families are still paying substantial amounts for a private education – particularly if they have more than one child.”
Emma Rowe
The Conversation
20 February 2025

School funding deals

Emma Rowe interviewed by ABC News
24 January 2025

Are public schools really ‘free’? Families can pay hundreds of dollars in voluntary fees

“While public schools are supposed to be ‘free’, parents are regularly asked to pay ‘voluntary’ annual contributions. The price tag can be significant.”
Emma Rowe
The Conversation
23 January 2025

‘Very frustrating’: for public school principals, applying for grants is now a big part of their job

“Competitive grant writing is critically reshaping the principal’s role as a school leader – and not in positive ways.”
Emma Rowe
The Conversation
31 July 2024

Australian families spend far more on private schooling than many other countries. Here’s why that’s a problem

“If you feel like you’re paying a lot for your child’s private school education, that’s because you probably are.”
Emma Rowe
The Conversation
10 July 2024

Managing AI in education

Artificial intelligence (AI) is wrecking havoc on university assessments and exams.

Thomas Corbin
Open Forum
29 September 2025

New research shows digital technology is linked to reduced wellbeing in young kids. So what can parents do?

Our new study looks at the links between digital technology use and young children’s wellbeing, specifically for those aged four to six.
Jacquelyn Harverson, Louise Paatsch, and Sharon Horwood
The Conversation
8 April 2025

Student engagement data: what does it actually mean?

“EdTech companies promise teachers to track their students’ engagement automatically and in real time. But what do these tools actually measure?”
Chris Zomer
AARE blog
26 August 2024

Some online platforms are starting to measure ‘student engagement’ at school. Here’s what you need to know

“Through engagement data, online learning platforms promote the idea engagement is measurable and can be expressed in numbers and graphs.”
Chris Zomer
The Conversation
12 June 2024

Is it cheating to use AI in the classroom?

“The usage of generative AI technologies in learning-based scenarios, such as schools, continues to be a contentious issue.”
Phillip Dawson
MCERA Webinar
8 August 2024

Does the new AI Framework serve schools or edtech?

“The new AI Framework does important work in acknowledging opportunities while also foregrounding the importance of human wellbeing, privacy, security and safety.”
Leon Furze & Lucinda McKnight
AARE blog
5 December 2023

How these teachers made languages stick

Thu Ha Bui, Jack K. Bennett, Michiko Weinmann, Sarah Ohi, Andrew Skourdoumbis
AARE blog
30 June 2025

Are side hustles really a way to escape the rat race, or just passion projects for a privileged few?

David Farugia
The Conversation
1 May 2025

This is why schools should ban the N-word now

“The N-word is hateful. No good comes from a bad word.”
Tebeje Molla
AARE blog
13 February 2025

Promising news: how young men think about Andrew Tate and what he sells

“A very encouraging finding from our study was that many young men are critical of the gendered content they encounter online.”
Amanda Keddie
AARE blog
15 July 2024

New research suggests girls in single-sex schools do slightly better in exams than girls in co-ed environments

“This finding is important because it contradicts other recent large-scale research, which has found no statistically significant academic advantage to single-sex schooling.”
Claire Charles & Lucinda McKnight
The Conversation
23 May 2024

Gender-based violence is a big concern in hospitality – and women bear the brunt of managing it

“We suggest five recommendations targeting employers, policy and resourcing to create change in the industry.”
David Farrugia
The Conversation
25 August 2023