Oxford Australia Blog

Sharing our love of education, language, and books

Month: February 2015

  • What’s new in ACARA’s new Geography F-6 curriculum: World place knowledge

    There are many new approaches in the new Australian Geography curriculum (Version 5.0; May 2013), and I am thrilled to be teaching it all. Here, though, I will talk about the emphasis on place knowledge and particularly world place knowledge. The fact that by the end of the primary years of schooling students are expected…

  • Social media for educators: Joining a Twitter conversation

    Spending time with other teachers provides a great opportunity for the sharing of resources and experiences, the exchange of advice, and offers a way to discover new teaching ideas that can be used with students. However the reality is that many teachers simply don’t have the time for this type of professional development. This is where social media channels, such as Twitter,…

  • The War with the Ottoman Empire

    The Great War looms very large in Australian society and culture, something which the commemoration of the centenary years emphasises but certainly didn’t create. Some of the stories about the Great War are ill-informed, prone to sentimentality and dominated by myths and popular beliefs. Australia’s part in the war with the Ottomans exemplifies these tendencies…

  • Literary inspiration for your Valentine message

    Need inspiration for a romantic phrase to write in the card to your valentine? Or a sweet phrase for a DM Valentine tweet?! Why not let the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations inspire you? Here are some lovestruck quotations to help you express your feelings on that most romantic of days: My heart was not in me but with…

  • Which classic have you always wanted to read?

    To celebrate the launch of a new reading group, the Oxford World’s Classics team asked staff in Oxford offices around the world – which Oxford World’s Classic have you always wanted to read? [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcaf9IbXBiE&w=560&h=315] And it got us talking here in the office; were we prepared to answer that question? Were any of us prepared to admit…

  • What’s in a name? Charles Dickens born on this day

    Charles Dickens was born on 7 February in 1812. Author of more than a dozen novels, many short stories, plays and non-fiction pieces, Dickens is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. He was also active as a social critic and used his novels to highlight injustices and inequities suffered by the poor….

  • Oxford Word of the Month – February: Eggshell blonde

    Eggshell blonde – noun: (also eggshell blond) a man with a bald head. Three Polished Gentlemen. Never before in the history of Sale have so many ‘egg-shell blonds’ graced the business side of a bar than when three perfect specimens dispensed good cheer at a Sale hostelry t’other afternoon. Two, up from Melbourne, were assisting…