Halls once bursting with children are now empty as parents send their children elsewhere for their weekend learning. Language schools have stood their ground for decades in Australia but must now close due to a shortage of students, creating a barrier than extends beyond the confines of tradition and family life. “How do you say […]
Education
Indigenous and proud of it
By embracing and exposing their heritage, indigenous entrepreneurs are progressively reaching new heights in the business sector despite a lack of funding from the Australian government. In a climate of increasing and widespread acceptance of their past, indigenous Australian entrepreneurs are prospering without sacrificing their cultural traditions. For entrepreneur Josie Alec, gaining knowledge […]
Cultural anxieties: Children want to learn their mother language, while parents continue to prioritise English
How a Sydney community school is reviving a language that is being shunned in its own motherland, and in the homes of the students themselves. By: Mansib Ahmad Can a language really be preserved by learning it for just three hours a week? You may say “yes, of course it can”. But what if […]
Dressed Up! The Freedom of Youth
To access video, please follow this link: https://vimeo.com/269360511 When prompted, please use the following password: MDIA20035019449 The recent wave of criticism aimed at education boards around the world is hitting home, with uniform policies coming under fire for being strict and obsolete. In a world where individualism is increasingly endorsed, the restrictive choice of […]
Autism and technology: paving a brighter future by Camilla Theakstone
Autism is an increasingly prevalent mental condition that is characterised by deficits in social interaction, forming relationships with other people and using language and abstract concepts. It is traditionally diagnosed in early childhood as that is the time that symptoms start to appear. The condition is also on the rise in Australia. […]
The ‘Underbelly’ of the Au Pair Life
The ‘Underbelly’ of the Au Pair Life By Emily Cook Imagine a job where you can travel the world, be introduced to new cultures, meet new families, and get paid for doing so. Sounds like the dream, right? Photograph supplied by Sorcha Kuhlman, an Australian au pair Being an au pair seems like […]
Let’s talk about STIs: The conversation at high school, that needs to happen more
Claire Keenan. Today, it’s no longer just the ‘birds and the bees’, it’s about the need for teachers to break the stigma around sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and letting their students in on a secret: STIs are common. The strict model schools follow to teach their students about STIs has become outdated and non-efficient, […]
There’s 7.6 billion people in the world, and they’re all racist.
By: Natalie Di Paola In 2007-2010, Indians were attacked while living here, straining the relations between Australia and India and deterring International Students. Ten years later, are Indian students still afraid to come to Australia? “I did hear about it [the racial attacks], but I wasn’t afraid. I think racism is everywhere and I have […]
Finsta: The new era of cyberbullying
While many Australian schools are trying to combat cyberbullying through firewalls, a new online playground for bullies has emerged from the restrictions, fake Instagram accounts. By Kate Quinn – Z5114887 After the shock suicide of 14-year-old Northern Territories girl Dolly Everett, schools across Australia have started to implement stricter social media rules during the school […]
Expelled: Banning phones in schools may affect the future of STEM subjects
With cyberbullying tightening its grip on students, schools are under more pressure to prevent harm. Banning mobile phones and social media is one popular method that may be slowing student involvement in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects. By April Maung A silent classroom may seem like a blessing, but when students are wordlessly […]
Technology Breaking New Grounds for ASD
From diagnosis to development and treatment, new technology is making waves in understanding autism With the increasing prevalence of autism across the globe, technological devices like Virtual Reality and tablets are playing an incredibly important role in the diagnosis and development of kids with autism. Adam Guastella, from the Brain and Mind Centre in Sydney, […]
Social Media & Schools: Are NSW High Schools Effectively Resolving Cyber-bullying?
As the world of social media continues to develop and more teens turn to such communicative platforms for entertainment purposes, more and more incidents of cyber-bullying surface. Thus begins the problem-solving debates. Is the simple banning of social media devices in schools enough, or should more intricate strategies be put in place to tackle the […]
Racist Australia?
By Josh Needs I think racism is everywhere and I have one of those goals in my life where I want to live where they haven’t seen people like me. So that’s one of the goals for my life and I’m sure when they see someone like me there will be some sort of rejection […]
Plain pasta and expired Coca-Cola: International homestay students living in squalor.
Plain pasta and expired Coca-Cola: International homestay students living in squalor. International students in Sydney pay upwards of $1000 a month to live in small, cramp rooms while host families make profit. Local students are speaking out against these injustices. Written by Evan Williams: 12.05.2018 Grace lives in a small room in Bexley, approximately four […]
Saving a language from extinction
60 years ago, the Bengali Language Movement reached a bloody end with the independence of a new nation, Bangladesh – along with the recognition of its ancient language, Bangla. But in this globalized era, the Bangla language is increasingly becoming forgotten by its own people. One Sydney school is doing its best to keep the language […]
The Life of Princess and Prince -SUBEDIT
From listening to Mozart in the womb to producing little polyglots – these Hong Kong parents will go to any length to mould the perfect prince or princess. Overbearing parents controlling their “prince” and “princess” behaviour in the city seems to be stamped in Hong Kong’s DNA. Tiger parents have adopted the phrase, “win at […]
Cultural anxieties: Children want to learn their mother language, while parents continue to prioritise English
How a Sydney community school is reviving a language that is being shunned in its own motherland, and in the homes of the students themselves. By: Mansib Ahmad Sub-edited by: Serah Lee Can a language really be preserved by learning it for just three hours a week? You may say “yes, of course […]
Chinese University Students’ Struggle with Racial Discrimination
Chinese University Students’ Struggle with Racial Discrimination By Cindy Yu Jessie Liu, a Chinese International student, is walking on campus to her next economics class. As she stops to check where her class is, she suddenly feels a gush of water being poured onto her head. Surprised, she searches around to see where it […]
“Humans are hard-wired to think that men are more important.”
Vice-President of the Australian Society of Legal Philosophy, UNSW Scientia Professor Prue Vines, talks about women’s inequality, pulling power levers and changing the world (oh, and how she used taekwondo to save her life). By Reena Mukherjee and Nazla Sajed In a tiny office tucked away on the second floor of the UNSW […]
Production Project 1 by Camilla Theakstone and Maya Skidmore
COLLABORATIVE PROFILE PIECE – publication: SBS Online Left: Local fruits reminiscent of her home in Iran. Right: Mehravar “Mazee” Marzbani surrounded by her traditional furniture from her home in Iran. Why refugees turn to crime: a migrant’s story Mehravar “Nazee” Marzbani is a psychologist and national social planner from Iran, who holds a passion for […]
Nepalese international students in Australia: an emerging trope
By Serah Lee It’s something we’ve all heard before. Culturally and linguistically diverse students travelling abroad to continents like Australia and America to pursue an overseas education and broaden their vocational horizons is a common trope we’ve all encountered at some point. To this day, most of our foreign applicants in Australia come from […]
Bangla: The Language On The Brink Of Extinction.
by Paromita Haque Bangla is the only language that people have died for, but now it is dying itself. But one Sydney Language school is making sure that doesn’t happen. On a sleepy Sunday morning, nestled in the suburbs of Western Sydney, a local public school comes alive with the chants of children learning Bangla. […]
Helicopter Parents “Land” in Hong Kong
By Chan Wing Tung A three-year-old kid sits in a car seat with his dad holding the steering wheel as the child’s mother proudly films this scenario on the streets of Hong Kong. Another “helicopter mother” threatens to jump from a Kowloon building after her daughter’s application to a Hong Kong university is rejected. A […]
Opening Doors
by Isobel Knight Stephen Sondheim’s 1981 Broadway flop “Merrily We Roll Along”, the story of three kids trying to make it in theatre, has had a millennial cultural renaissance. Appearing memorably in the Oscar-nominated “Ladybird” and in a new Sondheim documentary this year, it has also drawn a full house to Marrickville’s Depot Theatre on […]
The Threatening Victim
By Cindy Yu Chinese international students express frustration of having to take up the double role of the victim from racial discrimination and the threat to Australian Universities. Since the middle of last year, Chinese international students have been the target of racial discrimination in schools and universities. Insulting incidents such as racist flyers towards […]