Students will face a stricter disciplinary regime at Melbourne’s Catholic schools in a bid to “reclaim the classroom” from social media, unruly behaviour, inattention and disrespect. Source: The Age.
Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) will today announce its new “Vision for Engagement” that covers its 290 schools and 118,000 students at The Age Schools Summit in the CBD.
The new MACS framework will be based on the principles of explicit instruction – which was adopted by all MACS schools for maths, reading and writing last year – and will aim to make respectful student behaviour a core focus.
The approach will also feature a “strong stance” against the harmful effects of social media.
MACS executive director Edward Simons, who will outline the vision at the summit, says the objective is to create calm, respectful and inclusive classrooms that give children the best chance of a quality education.
Mr Simons said yesterday that explicit teaching in maths, English and reading had shown promising early academic results, and that the approach would be widened to cover most aspects of school life.
“Now, we are intentionally sharpening our focus on student engagement as a key pillar of how we support student growth – through explicit teaching of respectful behaviour, shared expectations and consistent reinforcement,” Mr Simons said.
Expectations of students include “behaving respectfully towards others, attending school every day on time … and listening intently and paying attention”.
Mr Simons said there was a teacher welfare element to the vision.
“We have to ensure workplaces are safe for teachers, and this requires urgent adjustment to improve student behaviour,” he said.
“We want to create an environment that will allow teachers to focus on what they do best, and ensure our students are making the most of their time in the classroom.”
That includes a strong pushback against the influence of screens, Mr Simons said, after overwhelming feedback from MACS teachers, support staff and parents that social media was causing serious harm to children.
FULL STORY
‘Reclaim the classroom’: Catholic school discipline goes back to basics (By Noel Towell, The Age)
