Brian's Blog

Formative assessment has emerged as a powerful and transformative tool. It has the capacity to reshape the relationships and dynamics between educators and students, fostering a learning environment that is more tailored, adaptive, and student-centric. The impact of formative assessment in today's modern classroom is profound. It enables me to gain a deeper understanding of each student's unique learning journey, paving the way for a level of personalised instruction that was once inconceivable. In this post, I will share a journey through the multifaceted world of formative assessments, presenting a diverse array of tools that I have used to gauge student progress throughout my career. I will describe some of my personal experiences with these assessments, shedding light on their pivotal role in steering and adapting my pedagogical approaches. I will also attempt to reinforce this with the academic research I have been working through as I form my understanding of how it can b...

As I think about my educational leadership journey so far, I'm transported back to my days as a gymnast. It is perfect timing with the world championship being held in Antwerp Belgium in the past week with Australia’s Women's team coming 9th and qualifying for the Olympics and our Men's team showing a series of strong routines. For me when I was competing, the apparatus I most enjoyed training on was parallel bars and floor, while rings and pommel were much lower on my list of favourites. Like my path through education, gymnastics demanded strength, precision, and unwavering confidence. My career has been a collection of professional accomplishments with the spectre of imposter syndrome and is much like the gymnastic routine I used to perform with moments of self-doubt that lurked. As I pen this post, it is written from the perspective of someone who has not yet made it and battles with the challenge of feeling out of their depth. It is also written acknowledging the challe...

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine, Karen Caswell (2023) wrote a post about glimmers. “ A glimmer is the exact opposite of a trigger—it is some kind of cue, either internal or external that brings one back to a sense of joy or safety. It’s a micro-moment that makes you happier, a little moment of awe, something that makes you feel hope. However, glimmers aren't just tiny moments that bring joy or happiness, they can also spark ease, relaxation, safety, connection or a feeling that the world is okay even for a fleeting moment.”   Throughout this week, I've had the privilege of experiencing moments that have not only illuminated aspects of my own life but have also shone a light on the incredible resilience and resourcefulness of some remarkable children I've had the honour to work with. Over the past seven days, I've been on a journey with campers from the Southern Cross Kids Camp, an organisation I've been connected with for 22 years. This national camping program is...