Nearly every budding entrepreneur inevitably asks Google what to do when starting their business – and the answers show that a huge part of developing your business is to focus on branding, with a capital B.

But what is it that you’re branding? Are you a real estate developer with ongoing projects in 18 different cities? Do you sell one really specific product, like homemade quilts or rubber ducks wearing tuxedos?

In other words, how do you know which type of branding is right for your business? The same way there are different types of logos to use for a business, there are various branding strategies a business can use to best make their mark on the corporate world.

In order to help you make the kinds of decisions necessary to create a marketable brand, we’ve broken down the main types of branding out there.

1. Corporate Branding 

One of the more reputation-focused types of branding, corporate branding is about making a cultivated name for an entire corporation. The public will associate the organization’s name with a promise – that they stand behind the services they offer, and that they have a verifiable, positive performance record.

Good corporate branding has long-term effects, as these companies can rely on name brand-recognition; customers tend to automatically trust new products when they are associated with a brand they already recognize.

2. Personal Branding

This usually refers to branding for the individual person, as opposed to branding a whole business. Personal branding is particularly important for celebrities, politicians or even digital marketers who want to maintain a positive public image (usually because it benefits them in their career to be endorsed).

Social media is a powerful tool when building a personal brand, because you have the ability to reach wide audiences while “speaking” from a personal platform. Entrepreneurs Tony Robbins and Neil Patel are both examples of personal branding done right; each of them invests heavily in his online presence and has established himself as an expert in his respective field.

3. Product Branding

Ever notice how ‘Kleenex’ has become a word synonymous with ‘tissues’? That’s because the product has reached the pinnacle of product branding success – the type of branding that gets consumers to choose one product over another based on the brand alone. You’ll often see logos or colors on specific items that jump out at you; this is because you’ve learned to associate the two together as a result of effective product branding.  

4. Geographical Branding

If you work in the tourism industry, this type of branding is for you. Geographical branding focuses on the unique traits of a specific area or region as the selling point of a particular place and why you should visit.

You’ll often see countries claiming a type of food as their own or hyping up the unique history of the region. (Think Egyptian pyramids or Greek Moussaka.) Also, areas of the world that are trying to change their reputation can try their hand at geographical branding; the city of Amsterdam, for example, did a great job of this with their “I Amsterdam” rebrand, turning the focus away from their Red Light District and onto the cultural diversity of the city instead.    

5. Online branding 

Also referred to as “‘internet branding,” this type of branding refers to how you position your company (or yourself) online. This could refer to building a website, establishing a social media presence, publishing a blog – anything that happens on the web under your name.

6. Offline Branding

As the name suggests, this refers to branding that happens off the web. From doling out business cards to staging sit-down lunches with desired clients or leads, offline branding requires a mix of good design and outgoing spokespeople to represent your brand.

7. Co-branding

This is the moment where branding meets partnerships. Co-branding is when 2+ company brands are connected by the same product. For example, Uber and Spotify partnered on the “soundtrack for your ride” campaign, providing users of both apps with a better ride-sharing experience by allowing them to be the DJs of their trips.

8. Service Branding

This type of branding puts a strong emphasis on the customer, and on providing your clients with impeccable services. While every brand should do their best not to alienate their customers, service branding takes this one step further; it focuses specifically on adding perceived value to customer service, and uses this as their selling point. 

People who interact with service brands look forward to the “extras” they get, whether it’s an airline giving out hot chocolate chip cookies on international flights, or a local coffee art store handing out “how-to DIY” packets with every purchase.      

9. Ingredient Branding
When you highlight the achievements of one specific ingredient within a product, or one specific branch within a business – those become the lure of the brand rather than the product or business as a whole.    

Think Westin’s Heavenly Bed, where emphasizing the quality of the bed is what convinced people to choose Starwood hotels (later Westin and Sheraton) for their vacation accommodations.

10. Activist Branding

If there’s a cause you believe in with all your heart, you may be able to channel it into your brand strategy. Specifically, activist branding, or “conscious branding” is a way to make a positive social impact through your brand, so that your brand ultimately becomes synonymous with the cause. Companies like Gillette have used this type of branding as of late (although whether or not it worked in the razor company’s favor is too soon to tell).  

 

 

11. “No-brand” Branding

Also known as “minimalist branding,” this approach assumes that a product alone is enough to capture consumer attention without needing to rely on any bells or whistles.

In line with this philosophy, Brandless, a company that seeks to make quality food affordable, emphasizes their lack of brand as a way to show customers that they don’t have to pay a penny more than necessary for “branded” food. Instead, consumers have direct access to healthy, affordable food – of which the quality speaks for itself.

 


Albert Einstein was a German-born physicist who developed the general theory of relativity. He is considered one of the most influential physicists of the 20th century.

Albert Einstein Facts

Albert Einstein (March 14, 1879 to April 18, 1955) was a German mathematician and physicist who developed the special and general theories of relativity. In 1921, he won the Nobel Prize for physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect. In the following decade, he immigrated to the U.S. after being targeted by the Nazis. 

His work also had a major impact on the development of atomic energy. In his later years, Einstein focused on unified field theory. With his passion for inquiry, Einstein is generally considered the most influential physicist of the 20th century.

Albert Einstein: Inventions and Discoveries

As a physicist, Einstein had many discoveries, but he is perhaps best known for his theory of relativity and the equation E=MC2, which foreshadowed the development of atomic power and the atomic bomb.

Theory of Relativity

Einstein first proposed a special theory of relativity in 1905 in his paper, “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies,” taking physics in an electrifying new direction. By November 1915, Einstein completed the general theory of relativity. Einstein considered this theory the culmination of his life research. 

He was convinced of the merits of general relativity because it allowed for a more accurate prediction of planetary orbits around the sun, which fell short in Isaac Newton’s theory, and for a more expansive, nuanced explanation of how gravitational forces worked. Einstein's assertions were affirmed via observations and measurements by British astronomers Sir Frank Dyson and Sir Arthur Eddington during the 1919 solar eclipse, and thus a global science icon was born. 

Einstein’s E=MC2

Einstein’s 1905 paper on the matter/energy relationship proposed the equation E=MC2: energy of a body (E) is equal to the mass (M) of that body times the speed of light squared (C2). This equation suggested that tiny particles of matter could be converted into huge amounts of energy, a discovery that heralded atomic power. 

Famed quantum theorist Max Planck backed up the assertions of Einstein, who thus became a star of the lecture circuit and academia, taking on various positions before becoming director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics from 1913 to 1933.

Family

Albert Einstein grew up in a secular Jewish family. His father, Hermann Einstein, was a salesman and engineer who, with his brother, founded Elektrotechnische Fabrik J. Einstein & Cie, a Munich-based company that manufactured electrical equipment. Albert’s mother, the former Pauline Koch, ran the family household. Einstein had one sister, Maja, born two years after him.

Albert Einstein: Wives and Children

Albert Einstein married Milena Maric on Jan. 6, 1903. While attending school in Zurich, Einstein met Maric, a Serbian physics student. Einstein continued to grow closer to Maric, but his parents were strongly against the relationship due to her ethnic background. 

Nonetheless, Einstein continued to see her, with the two developing a correspondence via letters in which he expressed many of his scientific ideas. Einstein’s father passed away in 1902, and the couple married thereafter. 

Hans Albert Einstein

That same year the couple had a daughter, Lieserl, who might have been later raised by Maric's relatives or given up for adoption. Her ultimate fate and whereabouts remain a mystery. The couple had two sons, Hans Albert Einstein (who became a well-known hydraulic engineer) and Eduard "Tete" Einstein (who was diagnosed with schizophrenia as a young man). 

The marriage would not be a happy one, with the two divorcing in 1919 and Maric having an emotional breakdown in connection to the split. Einstein, as part of a settlement, agreed to give Maric any funds he might receive from possibly winning the Nobel Prize in the future. 

During his marriage to Maric, Einstein had also begun an affair some time earlier with a cousin, Elsa Löwenthal. The couple wed in 1919, the same year of Einstein’s divorce. He would continue to see other women throughout his second marriage, which ended with Löwenthal's death in 1936.

When and Where Was Albert Einstein Born?

Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 in Ulm, Württemberg, Germany. 

When Did Albert Einstein Die?

Albert Einstein died on April 18, 1955, at age 76 at the University Medical Center at Princeton. The previous day, while working on a speech to honor Israel's seventh anniversary, Einstein suffered an abdominal aortic aneurysm. He was taken to the hospital for treatment but refused surgery, believing that he had lived his life and was content to accept his fate. "I want to go when I want," he stated at the time. "It is tasteless to prolong life artificially. I have done my share, it is time to go. I will do it elegantly." 

Einstein’s Brain

During Albert Einstein’s autopsy, Thomas Stoltz Harvey removed his brain, reportedly without the permission of his family, for preservation and future study by doctors of neuroscience. However, during his life Einstein participated in brain studies, and at least one biography says he hoped researchers would study his brain after he died. Einstein's brain is now located at the Princeton University Medical Center, and his remains were cremated and his ashes scattered in an undisclosed location, following his wishes. 

In 1999, Canadian scientists who were studying Einstein’s brain found that his inferior parietal lobe, the area that processes spatial relationships, 3D-visualization and mathematical thought, was 15 percent wider than in people with normal intelligence. According to The New York Times, the researchers believe it may help explain why Einstein was so intelligent.

Young Albert Einstein

Einstein attended elementary school at the Luitpold Gymnasium in Munich. However, he felt alienated there and struggled with the institution's rigid pedagogical style. He also had what were considered speech challenges, though he developed a passion for classical music and playing the violin that would stay with him into his later years. Most significantly, Einstein's youth was marked by deep inquisitiveness and inquiry. 

Towards the end of the 1880s, Max Talmud, a Polish medical student who sometimes dined with the Einstein family, became an informal tutor to young Albert. Talmud had introduced his pupil to a children’s science text that inspired Einstein to dream about the nature of light. Thus, during his teens, Einstein penned what would be seen as his first major paper, "The Investigation of the State of Aether in Magnetic Fields."

Hermann Einstein relocated the family to Milan, Italy, in the mid-1890s after his business lost out on a major contract. Albert was left at a relative's boarding house in Munich to complete his schooling at the Luitpold Gymnasium. Faced with military duty when he turned of age, Albert allegedly withdrew from classes, using a doctor’s note to excuse himself and claim nervous exhaustion. With their son rejoining them in Italy, his parents understood Einstein's perspective but were concerned about his future prospects as a school dropout and draft dodger.

Education

Einstein was eventually able to gain admission into the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich, specifically due to his superb mathematics and physics scores on the entrance exam. He was still required to complete his pre-university education first, and thus attended a high school in Aarau, Switzerland helmed by Jost Winteler. Einstein lived with the schoolmaster's family and fell in love with Winteler's daughter, Marie. Einstein later renounced his German citizenship and became a Swiss citizen at the dawn of the new century.

After graduating, Einstein faced major challenges in terms of finding academic positions, having alienated some professors over not attending class more regularly in lieu of studying independently. Einstein eventually found steady work in 1902 after receiving a referral for a clerk position in a Swiss patent office. While working at the patent office, Einstein had the time to further explore ideas that had taken hold during his studies at Polytechnic and thus cemented his theorems on what would be known as the principle of relativity.

In 1905—seen by many as a "miracle year" for the theorist—Einstein had four papers published in the Annalen der Physik, one of the best known physics journals of the era. Two focused on photoelectric effect and Brownian motion. The two others, which outlined E=MC2 and the special theory of relativity, were defining for Einstein’s career and the course of the study of physics.

Nobel Prize for Physics

In 1921, Einstein won the Nobel Prize for Physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect, since his ideas on relativity were still considered questionable. He wasn't actually given the award until the following year due to a bureaucratic ruling, and during his acceptance speech he still opted to speak about relativity.

In the development of his general theory, Einstein had held onto the belief that the universe was a fixed, static entity, aka a "cosmological constant," though his later theories directly contradicted this idea and asserted that the universe could be in a state of flux. Astronomer Edwin Hubble deduced that we indeed inhabit an expanding universe, with the two scientists meeting at the Mount Wilson Observatory near Los Angeles in 1930.

Becoming a U.S. Citizen

In 1933, Einstein took on a position at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, New Jersey. At the time the Nazis, led by Adolf Hitler, were gaining prominence with violent propaganda and vitriol in an impoverished post-WWI Germany. The party influenced other scientists to label Einstein's work "Jewish physics." Jewish citizens were barred from university work and other official jobs, and Einstein himself was targeted to be killed. Meanwhile, other European scientists also left regions threatened by Germany and immigrated to the U.S., with concern over Nazi strategies to create an atomic weapon. After moving, Einstein never went back to his native land. It was at Princeton that Einstein would spend the rest of his life working on a unified field theory—an all-embracing paradigm meant to unify the varied laws of physics. 

Not long after he began his career at Princeton, Einstein expressed an appreciation for American "meritocracy" and the opportunities people had for free thought, a stark contrast to his own experiences coming of age. In 1935, Einstein was granted permanent residency in his adopted country and became an American citizen a few years later. During World War II, he worked on Navy-based weapons systems and made big monetary donations to the military by auctioning off manuscripts worth millions. 

Einstein and the Atomic Bomb

In 1939, Einstein and fellow physicist Leo Szilard wrote to President Franklin D. Roosevelt to alert him of the possibility of a Nazi bomb and to galvanize the United States to create its own nuclear weapons. The U.S. would eventually initiate the Manhattan Project, though Einstein would not take direct part in its implementation due to his pacifist and socialist affiliations. Einstein was also the recipient of much scrutiny and major distrust from FBI director J. Edgar Hoover.

After learning of the 1945 bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, Einstein became a major player in efforts to curtail usage of the a-bomb. The following year he and Szilard founded the Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists, and in 1947, via an essay for The Atlantic Monthly, Einstein espoused working with the United Nations to maintain nuclear weapons as a deterrent to conflict. 

Member of the NAACP

In the late 1940s, Einstein became a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), seeing the parallels between the treatment of Jews in Germany and African Americans in the United States. He corresponded with scholar/activist W.E.B. Du Bois as well as performing artist Paul Robeson and campaigned for civil rights, calling racism a "disease" in a 1946 Lincoln University speech. 

Time Travel and Quantum Theory

After World War II, Einstein continued to work on his unified field theory and key aspects of the theory of general relativity, such as wormholes, the possibility of time travel, the existence of black holes and the creation of the universe. However, he became increasingly isolated from the rest of the physics community, whose eyes were set on quantum theory. In the last decade of his life, Einstein, who had always seen himself as a loner, withdrew even further from any sort of spotlight, preferring to stay close to Princeton and immerse himself in processing ideas with colleagues.

Legacy

Since Einstein’s death, a veritable mountain of books have been written on the iconic thinker's life, including Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson and Einstein: A Biography by Jürgen Neffe, both from 2007. Einstein's own words are presented in the collection The World As I See It.

In 2018, readers were allowed a glimpse into some of the unfiltered private thoughts of the renowned academic with the publication of The Travel Diaries of Albert Einstein: The Far East, Palestine, and Spain, 1922-1923. The diaries contained unflattering analyses of the people he came across, including the Chinese and Sri Lankans, a surprise coming from a man known for vehemently denouncing racism in his later years.

Around that time, a team of scientists confirmed one aspect of Einstein's general theory of relativity, that the light from a star passing close to a black hole would be stretched to longer wavelengths by the overwhelming gravitational field. Tracking star S2, their measurements showed that the star's orbital velocity increased to more than 25 million kph as it neared the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy, its appearance shifting from blue to red as its wavelengths stretched to escape the gravitational pull.


QUICK FACTS

NAME
Albert Einstein

OCCUPATION
PhysicistScientist
BIRTH DATE
March 141879
DEATH DATE
April 181955
DID YOU KNOW?
Einstein was asked to be the president of Israel, but he declined: After Chaim Weizmann, Israel's first president, died in 1952, the country's prime minister offered the job to Einstein.
DID YOU KNOW?
Einstein died after refusing surgery, saying, "I want to go when I want. It is tasteless to prolong life artificially. I have done my share, it is time to go. I will do it elegantly."
DID YOU KNOW?
Einstein was a member of the NAACP, drawing correlations between blacks in America and Jews in Germany. He believed racism was a disease.
EDUCATION
Eidgenössische Polytechnische Schule (Swiss Federal Polytechnic School)Luitpold Gymnasium
PLACE OF BIRTH
Ulm, WürttembergGermany
PLACE OF DEATH
PrincetonNew Jersey

What Is Integrated Curriculum?

Innovative educators concerned with improving student achievement are seeking ways to create rigorous, relevant, and engaging curriculum. They are asking questions such as these:

  • Can making wind and rain machines improve the reading comprehension and writing scores of elementary students on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test?
  • Do students really learn math by learning to clog dance?
  • When students spend after-school time participating in a microsociety that reflects the roles of real life, will their test scores in math and reading improve?


In Florida, Okhee Lee, an education professor at the University of Miami, engages elementary students in making little wind and rain machines. Students focus on the “big ideas” such as evaporation, condensation, and thermal energy. The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) does not test science; however, Lee's students have shown more than 100 percent gains in comprehension and writing on the FCAT. Their success in language is particularly impressive because many of the students come from different ethnic backgrounds, and many of them speak English as their second language. Lee claims that when she teaches science concepts she also teaches students to think and write in the structured, coherent ways required on standardized tests (Barry, 2001).

In public schools in Asheville and Buncombe, North Carolina, students learn math skills through clog dancing and explore the solar system through modern dance. In these schools, teachers deliver the core curriculum through the arts. This approach is based on the research report Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning (Fiske, 1999). This report offers clear evidence that sustained involvement in particular art forms—music and theater—is highly correlated with success in mathematics and reading. Furthermore, at-risk students do particularly well both academically and personally in these types of programs (Blake, 2001).

Students participate in a microsociety in an after-school program at Amistad Academy in New Haven, Connecticut. This program prepares middle school students from a poor minority population for colleges, careers, and citizenship. They attend traditional classes during the regular school day, and after school for a few hours a week, they belong to a microscociety—holding jobs, paying taxes, running businesses, making laws, and punishing lawbreakers. The purpose of the program is to make school more relevant and fun while building transferable life skills. The school raised its average test scores two and a half levels in math and one and a half levels in reading. In 1998, a study of 15 microsociety schools in six states found that at two-thirds of the schools, students posted gains on standardized reading and math tests that were as much as 21 percent greater than those of their peers (Wilgoren, 2001).

In these three examples, student achievement is a primary focus. Teachers maintain accountability while designing learning experiences that are relevant to student interests. Interestingly, two of the schools serve populations of diverse students. In each case, teachers have developed intriguing curriculum that pushes beyond the boundaries of traditional disciplines to produce positive results. Comprehension, for example, is comprehension, whether taught in a language class or a science class. When students are engaged in learning, whether they are taking part in the arts or role playing in a microsociety, they do well in seemingly unconnected academic arenas. These are only a few of the countless examples of students involved in interdisciplinary studies at all grade levels. The examples highlight the potential of integrated curriculum to act as a bridge to increased student achievement and engaging, relevant curriculum.

Defining Integrated Curriculum

What exactly is integrated curriculum? In its simplest conception, it is about making connections. What kind of connections? Across disciplines? To real life? Are the connections skill-based or knowledge-based?

Defining integrated curriculum has been a topic of discussion since the turn of the 20th century. Over the last hundred years, theorists offered three basic categories for interdisciplinary work; they defined the categories similarly, although the categories often had different names. Integration seemed to be a matter of degree and method. For example, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) offered the following definitions in 1935:

Correlation may be as slight as casual attention to related materials in other subject areas . . . a bit more intense when teachers plan it to make the materials of one subject interpret the problems or topics of another.

Fusion designates the combination of two subjects, usually under the same instructor or instructors.

Integration: the unification of all subjects and experiences.


We joined this conversation in the early '90s. At the time, we were unaware of the long history of educators with similar concerns. In our separate locations, we defined three approaches to integration—multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary. Our definitions of these categories emerged from our personal experiences in the field. We noticed that people seemed to approach integrating curriculum from three fundamentally different starting points. In looking back, we see that our definitions closely aligned with the definitions proposed by other educators over the decades. The three categories offer a starting point for understanding different approaches to integration.

Multidisciplinary Integration

Multidisciplinary approaches focus primarily on the disciplines. Teachers who use this approach organize standards from the disciplines around a theme. Figure 1.1 shows the relationship of different subjects to each other and to a common theme. There are many different ways to create multidisciplinary curriculum, and they tend to differ in the level of intensity of the integration effort. The following descriptions outline different approaches to the multidisciplinary perspective.


Figure 1.1. The Multidisciplinary Approach


Intradisciplinary Approach. When teachers integrate the subdisciplines within a subject area, they are using an intradisciplinary approach. Integrating reading, writing, and oral communication in language arts is a common example. Teachers often integrate history, geography, economics, and government in an intradisciplinary social studies program. Integrated science integrates the perspectives of subdisciplines such as biology, chemistry, physics, and earth/space science. This type of intradisciplinary program is offered for middle school by the University of Alabama's Center for Communication and Educational Technology. Through this integration, teachers expect students to understand the connections between the different subdisciplines and their relationship to the real world. The program reports a positive impact on achievement for students who participate. (See http://www.ccet.ua.edu for more information.)

Fusion. In this multidisciplinary approach, teachers fuse skills, knowledge, or even attitudes into the regular school curriculum. In some schools, for example, students learn respect for the environment in every subject area. At Mount Rainier Elementary in Washington State, teachers incorporate the theme of peace into every thread of the school's curriculum (Thomas-Lester, 2001). Students begin each week promising to be peaceful, respectful, and responsible. They follow a list of responsibilities and learn about peace in their classes. In reading, for example, students analyze positive characteristics of people in stories; in social studies, they learn the importance of cultures working together. The school records the number of days without a fight as “peace days”; teachers write the accumulated number of peace days on the blackboard in every classroom. Teachers wear peace signs, and students greet each other with the peace sign.

Fusion can involve basic skills. Many schools emphasize positive work habits in each subject area. Educators can fuse technology across the curriculum with computer skills integrated into every subject area. Literacy across the curriculum is another example of fusion. The November 2002 issue of Educational Leadership featured the theme of “Reading and Writing in the Content Areas” and focused on how to fuse literacy into the curriculum.

To prepare students for the compulsory 10th grade literacy test, 9th grade teachers at North Park Secondary School in the Peel District School Board in Ontario developed subject-specific tasks for literacy skills. For example, students practiced skills related to developing supported opinions on disposal of hazardous waste in science, immigration policies in geography, correct approaches to problem solving in math, the influence of peer pressure in family studies, and part-time employment and its impact on teens in business studies. Teaching literacy skills across the curriculum facilitated a low-risk environment for the eventual testing in the next year (Patten, 2001).

Service Learning. Service learning that involves community projects that occur during class time falls under the category of multidisciplinary integration. At Spring Valley School in Columbia, South Carolina, more than 1,200 Spanish-language students engaged in service learning projects. In one project, they distributed 20 tons of food, clothing, medicine, and household products to needy new arrivals in the area with the fastest-growing Hispanic population (Glenn, 2001). At Topa Topa Elementary School at Ojai, California, 5th and 6th grade students created pamphlets on the pros and cons of pesticides to explain how crop pickers can protect themselves against the substances. Students passed out the brochure, written in Spanish and English, to workers and consumers throughout the Ojai Valley. Through the project, students fulfilled state-required standards for language arts, science, and social studies (Ragland, 2002).

Glenn (2001) found that more than 80 percent of the schools that integrate service learning into the classroom report an improvement in grade point averages of participating students. For example, when teachers integrated service learning into the curriculum in a Springfield, Massachusetts, high school, the dropout rate dropped from 12 percent to 1 percent, the number of students going to college increased by 22 percent, and those achieving a grade point average of 3.0 or higher increased from 12 percent to 40 percent. According to Glenn, such programs foster a lifelong commitment to civic participation, sharpen “people skills,” and prepare students for the work force.

Learning Centers/Parallel Disciplines. A popular way to integrate the curriculum is to address a topic or theme through the lenses of several different subject areas. In an elementary classroom, students often experience this approach at learning centers. For example, for a theme such as “patterns,” each learning center has an activity that allows the students to explore patterns from the perspective of one discipline—math, language, science, or social studies. As students move through the learning centers to complete the activities, they learn about the concept of patterns through the lenses of various disciplines.

In the higher grades, students usually study a topic or theme in different classrooms. This may take the form of parallel disciplines; teachers sequence their content to match the content in other classrooms. Students often experience American literature and American history as parallel disciplines. They study a particular period of history and read literature from that period. For example, students read The Red Badge of Courage in English while studying the Civil War in history. Students usually must make the connections themselves.

Theme-Based Units. Some educators go beyond sequencing content and plan collaboratively for a multidisciplinary unit. Educators define this more intensive way of working with a theme as “theme-based.” Often three or more subject areas are involved in the study, and the unit ends with an integrated culminating activity. Units of several weeks' duration may emerge from this process, and the whole school may be involved.

A theme-based unit involving the whole school may be independent of the regular school schedule. At Fitch Street School in the District School Board of Niagara in Ontario, Ellie Phillips and four of her colleagues collaborated on a two-week, cross-grade curriculum unit on the Olympic Games. Curriculum planning required eight half-hour sessions. Teachers grouped students into five multiage classes representing grades 4, 5, 6, and 7. The multiage groups met for one hour daily for nine days. In these groups, students devised a performance task that they presented on the final day of the unit. The teachers observed numerous benefits, such as the following:

  • Students exhibited excellent on-task behavior.
  • Students worked collaboratively.
  • Multiage teams formed within the multiage classes.
  • Students were engrossed both as presenters and as the audience for the half-day performance task presentations.
  • Students used a wide range of presentation products, such as video, debate, sculpture, and so on.
  • Students demonstrated depth of understanding of topics as a result of their sustained interest around various questions (e.g., Are the Olympics relevant today? Does the Olympic creed stand the test of time?).
  • Fewer recess problems occurred during this two-week period.
  • Teachers enjoyed the process and the results.


Other thematic programs may involve teachers across the same grade. Charles Jervis, Jerry Sauter, and Steve Bull of Auburn High School in Riner, Virginia, have collaborated for many years to teach thematic units in grade 11. They have done this without the luxury of common planning time. One topic they have developed is Exploring a Local Ecosystem from Multiple Perspectives. Students explore the Pandapas Pond from the different disciplinary lenses of science (earth sciences, biology, chemistry, and physics), English (genre readings, analyses, and communication skills), and math (data analysis tools and techniques). The teachers carefully connect the activities to the standards in each discipline. Over time, they have developed a long list of possible culminating activities. They update their Web site continually and use it as a teaching tool with students. The site offers many interesting options for those interested in this type of multidisciplinary approach (see http://www.mcps.org/pandapas/).

Interdisciplinary Integration

In this approach to integration, teachers organize the curriculum around common learnings across disciplines. They chunk together the common learnings embedded in the disciplines to emphasize interdisciplinary skills and concepts. The disciplines are identifiable, but they assume less importance than in the multidisciplinary approach. Figure 1.2 illustrates the interdisciplinary approach.


Figure 1.2. The Interdisciplinary Approach


The children in Florida making wind and rain machines while learning language skills are experiencing interdisciplinary curriculum. They are learning the interdisciplinary skill of communication (thinking and writing in a structured and coherent way). The teacher also focuses on “big ideas” in the concepts of evaporation, condensation, and thermal energy. These concepts transfer to other lessons beyond wind and rain machines; thus, the lesson develops a higher level of thinking than if students simply focused on the wind and rain machines.

Is the example of students learning math and core curriculum through clogging and the arts an interdisciplinary one? Yes, if students are learning skills and concepts beyond the immediate lesson. In Learning Through the Arts, for example, students learn math and science concepts and skills while singing, sculpting, painting, and dancing. Artists from the community collaborate with teachers to create integrated lessons that focus on standards. A three-year study of more than 6,000 elementary students participating in this program showed an 11-point increase in math scores among students in 170 schools across Canada. Literacy scores remained the same; however, students reported being happier going to school, and researchers found that students were more engaged in their lessons (Upitis & Smithirin, 2002). The final report and a vivid description of the program are available at http://www.ltta.ca.

At Mott Hall Academy in New York City, students work on interdisciplinary projects that integrate laptop computers. Mott Hall is a math, science, and technology academy for students in grades 4 through 8 who are primarily Hispanic. Every student and teacher has a laptop computer. Teachers integrate computer use into the curriculum, rather than adapting curriculum to the use of computers. In Sandra Skea's 5th grade class, for example, students constructed handmade kites from material such as paper, straws, aluminum foil, skewers, and string. To engage students' imagination, Skea began by reading a story about kites. Students studied such diverse topics as electromagnetism and the use of kite flying in celebrations. They developed a deep understanding of principles of ratio and proportion as they designed and refined their kites—first on the computer and then by hand. Students also wrote poetry and prose about kites. Skea used the projects as evidence that students not only met, but also exceeded, the standards. She used rubrics to show students how the projects related to grade-level standards and provided the criteria for evaluation. Beyond the academic content, these students learned generic skills related to working together, research, writing, and design and construction (Furger, 2001).

Transdisciplinary Integration

In the transdisciplinary approach to integration, teachers organize curriculum around student questions and concerns (see Figure 1.3). Students develop life skills as they apply interdisciplinary and disciplinary skills in a real-life context. Two routes lead to transdisciplinary integration: project-based learning and negotiating the curriculum.


Figure 1.3. Transdisciplinary Approach


Project-Based Learning. In project-based learning, students tackle a local problem. Some schools call this problem-based learning or place-based learning. According to Chard (1998), planning project-based curriculum involves three steps:

  1. Teachers and students select a topic of study based on student interests, curriculum standards, and local resources.
  2. The teacher finds out what the students already know and helps them generate questions to explore. The teacher also provides resources for students and opportunities to work in the field.
  3. Students share their work with others in a culminating activity. Students display the results of their exploration and review and evaluate the project.


Studies of project-based programs show that students go far beyond the minimum effort, make connections among different subject areas to answer open-ended questions, retain what they have learned, apply learning to real-life problems, have fewer discipline problems, and have lower absenteeism (Curtis, 2002). Newsome Park Elementary School in Virginia, described in Chapter 9, successfully embraces the project method.

At Grand River Collegiate Institute in the Waterloo Region District School Board in Ontario, 11th grade students took on the problem of improving the city image (Drake, 2000). This project did not originate in any subject area; students completed project work in a separate time slot scheduled into the school day. After extensive research, students wrote proposals to renew or enhance the city's image and presented the proposals to a group of external evaluators. Student assessment considered teamwork, critical thinking skills, problem solving, and time management. Interestingly, more than one proposal received serious consideration by the city council.

Negotiating the Curriculum. In this version of the transdisciplinary approach, student questions form the basis for curriculum. Mark Springer of Radnor, Pennsylvania, negotiated an integrated curriculum with students (Brown, 2002). Springer led the nationally known Watershed program for 11 years. His current curricular program is Soundings. In Soundings, 8th grade students develop their own curriculum, teaching methods, and assessments around areas of interest to them. Themes that students have developed include Violence in Our Culture, Medical Issues Affecting Our Lives, and Surviving Alien Environments.

The Soundings program is based on the work of James Beane (1990/1993, 1997), who advocates theme studies revolving around personal growth and social issues. On standardized tests, Soundings students perform about the same as students who have not participated in the program. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the program, and high school teachers report that Soundings graduates appear to discuss topics at a more sophisticated level than students who have not been in the program. (See Chapter 10 for a discussion of the Alpha program, which is also based on James Beane's work.)

How the Three Approaches Connect with Each Other

When Susan led a provincial team in developing an integrated curriculum, she noticed how her team suddenly shifted into deeper and deeper levels of connection (Drake, 1991). The boundaries of the disciplines seemed to dissolve abruptly. During the early '90s, Ontario mandated integrated curriculum for kindergarten through grade 9. Susan interviewed others who were developing integrated curriculum and reported similar experiences of dissolving the boundaries (Drake, 1993). As soon as they made one set of connections, another set appeared. In Rebecca's context, she found the same dissolving of the boundaries (Burns, 1995).

Describing her experiences to a colleague, Susan discovered there were academic terms for this phenomenon: multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary. The essential difference between the three approaches was the perceived degree of separation that existed between subject areas. Given our experiences at the time, both of us believed that the three approaches fit on an evolutionary continuum. Other theorists have also offered continuums (Fogarty, 1991; Jacobs, 1989).

Standards-based approaches further blur the boundaries of these categories. Multidisciplinary integration might remain somewhat distinct because the procedures of the disciplines are dominant. Current thinking, however, suggests that even intradisciplinary projects should include math and literature/media to be rich and vibrant (Erickson, 1998). Interdisciplinary approaches offer an excellent fit for standards when educators approach them through a backward design process. Although teachers might organize transdisciplinary curriculum around a real-world context, the reality of covering the standards and grading in distinct subject areas quickly brings them back to the disciplines.

Is there an evolutionary continuum? We suspect that obvious differences will continue to exist in the extent to which educators choose to integrate and for how long. We believe that educators will continue to experience deepening connections as they become more experienced in this area. In an era of standards and accountability, no one approach seems preferable. Indeed, they seem more and more alike as teachers integrate standards-based planning with effective teaching and learning practices. The multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary perspectives offer different maps to begin the design process. Teachers can use any of the approaches at any level of education, in a single classroom or in a team approach.

Figure 1.4 shows the relationships among the three different approaches. Some differences in intent are apparent. We found, however, that the educators who actually implement integrated approaches are the same educators who are interested in the most effective ways to teach. They are the ones who constantly ask, “How can I engage all of my students in this learning?” They also are the ones who use the most effective planning strategies, such as a backward design process, and are concerned with authentic assessment practices. Therefore, despite some differences in the degree and the intent of integration, the three approaches share many similarities. The centrality of standards and the need for accountability bring the three approaches closer together in practice.


Figure 1.4. Comparing and Contrasting the Three Approaches to Integration


Multidisciplinary

Interdisciplinary

Transdisciplinary

Organizing Center

Standards of the disciplines organized around a theme

Interdisciplinary skills and concepts embedded in disciplinary standards


  • Real-life context
  • Student questions


Conception of Knowledge


  • Knowledge best learned through the structure of the disciplines
  • A right answer
  • One truth



  • Disciplines connected by common concepts and skills
  • Knowledge considered to be socially constructed
  • Many right answers



  • All knowledge interconnected and interdependent
  • Many right answers
  • Knowledge considered to be indeterminate and ambiguous


Role of Disciplines


  • Procedures of discipline considered most important
  • Distinct skills and concepts of discipline taught


Interdisciplinary skills and concepts stressed

Disciplines identified if desired, but real-life context emphasized

Role of Teacher


  • Facilitator
  • Specialist



  • Facilitator
  • Specialist/generalist



  • Coplanner
  • Colearner
  • Generalist/specialist


Starting Place

Disciplinary standards and-procedures


  • Interdisciplinary bridge
  • KNOW/DO/BE



  • Student questions and concerns
  • Real-world context


Degree of Integration

Moderate

Medium/intense

Paradigm shift

Assessment

Discipline-based

Interdisciplinary skills/concepts stressed

Interdisciplinary skills/concepts stressed

KNOW?

Concepts and essential understandings across disciplines

Concepts and essential understandings across disciplines

Concepts and essential understandings across disciplines

DO?


  • Disciplinary skills as the focal point
  • Interdisciplinary skills also included



  • Interdisciplinary skills as the focal point
  • Disciplinary skills also included


Interdisciplinary skills and disciplinary skills applied in a real-life context

BE?


  • Democratic values
  • Character education
  • Habits of mind
  • Life skills (e.g., teamwork, self-responsibility)


Planning Process


  • Backward design
  • Standards-based
  • Alignment of instruction, standards, and assessment


Instruction


  • Constructivist approach
  • Inquiry
  • Experiential learning
  • Personal relevance
  • Student choice
  • Differentiated instruction


Assessment


  • Balance of traditional and authentic assessments
  • Culminating activity that integrates disciplines taught


Kind Regards

Riley Johnson 

College Executive Chairman

Within each state & territory and national curriculums, there are multiple subject [learning] areas. The most important are considered Key/Core Subject Areas. These are common in all jurisdictions, with some additional subject/learning areas also common, depending on individual state or territory emphases.

While areas may be common, titles may vary between states & territories. This is more common with areas other than English [Language], Mathematics and Science. It is even more common with sub-areas, especially in secondary years.

This page provides information regarding core areas, titles by state/territory/national curriculum, and links to listings and syllabuses for subject areas.

Other Information

There are 8 nationally agreed learning areas. They are English, Mathematics, Science, the Social Sciences, The Arts, Health & Physical Education, Languages and Technology, though as shown below these may be listed by varying titles.

At present, there are perspectives which cross all learning areas. Examples include Indigenous and Multicultural Perspectives. Consideration is now being given to making them separate learning areas rather than integrating them in all learning areas.

Consideration is also being given to “reducing the overcrowding in the curriculum, promoting a parent-friendly version of the curriculum” [The Australian]. Both these factors stem from the Quality Schools Package.

In Primary schooling, you learn about Science rather than Chemistry, Physics or Biology. You cover the Social Sciences rather than History, Geography, Economics, Commerce or Business Studies. Many topics in Primary schools are done as Integrated Units involving more than one key area. For example, a unit on culture in a particular country could include aspects taken from all key areas.

Subject areas become more individual in Secondary schools. Courses often begin as integrated areas but evolve into individual subject components as students progress. They are also supplemented by new studies such as Career and Vocational areas. ACARA is now being asked to “drop the development of national curriculum in subjects beyond the initial five [English, Maths, Science, History and Geography] that have been written, and sitting untouched for two years”. In essence, the national curriculum will only apply up to Year 10.

From Year 9 of Secondary school there is an option of Vocational Education [VET] courses. In some states there are also endorsed courses available at selected schools.

In each Key/Core Subject Area are sub-topics depending on school level :

English - Reading, Writing, Listening & Speaking, Viewing, Literature

Mathematics - Number, Measurement, Chance & Data, Space, Algebra, Calculus, …

Science - Earth & Space, Energy, Living Things, Investigating, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, …

Social Sciences - History, Geography, Commerce, Cultures, Indigenous Studies, Civics, Environmental Studies, …

The Arts - Dance, Drama, Media, Music, Visual Arts

Health & Physical Education - Health, Drug Education, Physical Education, Sport

Languages - Core languages are Chinese, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese

Technology - Information Technology, Design & Technology, Home Economics, Agriculture, Textiles, …

Links to all subject areas are provided for each state and territory in the following sections through links to framework/syllabus listings.


National

Learning Areas F-10 are titled - English, Mathematics, Science, Humanities and Social Sciences, The Arts, Technologies, Health & Physical Education and Languages. Optional area Work Studies. Fifteen senior secondary subjects across English, Mathematics, Science, History and Geography have been endorsed by the council of federal, state and territory education ministers as the agreed and common base for the development of state and territory senior secondary courses. For implementation in each state/territory, see included details below.

States & Territories

Australian Capital Territory

Learning Areas are titled - English, Mathematics, Science, Humanities and Social Sciences, The Arts, Languages, Health & Physical Education and Technologies. Additional areas include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia, Sustainability. Work Studies is an optional subject area.

  • ACT Curriculum Requirements Policy 
    ‘This policy sets out the responsibilities for the implementation of the ACT Curriculum in school plans and teaching and learning programs in ACT public schools’.
  • Updated ! Everyone Everyday Program
    ‘Everyone Everyday aims to create a cultural shift in community attitudes towards disability and difference’.
  • Curriculum Programs 
    ‘Individual schools and colleges develop curriculum materials to support teaching and learning approaches that best meet the needs of the school and local community.’
  • Senior Secondary Courses
    Provides access to downloadable information about each in .docx format [Word].

New South Wales

Learning Areas to Year 6 are titled - English, Mathematics, Science [including Science and Technology K-6], Health & Physical Education, Human Society & Its Environment, Creative Arts, Technologies [Including all existing TAS subject areas], Languages and VET courses through one of two options.

Learning Areas for Years 7-10 are the same except Science & Technology is separated into two entities [see above]. These are maintained till Year 12, though some areas are broken into individual subjects, with the addition of separate Life Skills Courses, VET Curriculum Frameworks and VET Content Endorsed Courses.

  • Curriculum [NESA]
    For further information select either Kindergarten-Year 10 or Year 11-Year 12 from the menu. This will provide access to specific stages and Learning Areas. Here you will find Content and Outcomes, Syllabuses, senior courses, more.
  • New ! NSW Curriculum and Syllabuses
    ‘The NSW Education Standards Authority ([ESA] is responsible for developing Kindergarten to Year 12 syllabuses for NSW schools. Each KLA includes syllabuses for K–10 and Years 11 and 12 that are inclusive of the learning needs of all students’.
  • Years 7-10 Syllabuses
    Alphabetical listing of all areas with syllabuses and a range of other support material including Life Skills Statements. Included in all syllabus K-10 listing.
  • HSC Syllabuses
    Alphabetical listing of all core area subjects, Endorsed Courses, VETVET Content Endorsed Courses and Life Skills.

Northern Territory

Key Learning Areas are titled - English, Mathematics, Science, Health & Physical Education, Humanities and Social Sciences [HASS], The Arts, Technologies and Languages. An additional area is Indigenous Languages & Culture.

  • NT School Curriculum
    Introduction, Primary years curriculum, Middle years curriculum, Senior years curriculum. Links to related materials and sites.
  • NT Certificate of Education and Training
    Information on Obtaining an NTCET, Credits and grades, Subjects studied, Vocational and community learning, Admission to university and the link to SACE South Australia, on which it is based.

Queensland

Major Key Learning Areas to Year 9 are titled - English, Mathematics, Science, Studies of Society and Environment, Health & Physical Education, Languages other than English, Technologies [Digital, Design], The Arts.

In Senior Years [11 and 12] they are titled - English, Mathematics, Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences, Business & Economics, Arts, Health & Physical Education, Languages, Career Development and ICT & Design.

  • Updated ! C2C - Curriculum into the Classroom
    Books, Media and Resources. ‘The C2C supports the implementation of the Australian Curriculum in Queensland schools. The lists that you will find below are the books and media which are available’.
  • Implementing the Australian Curriculum in Queensland
    ‘Aligning learning; Implementation strategy; Advice and Guidelines; Whole school planning; Professional Development’.
  • Queensland Curriculum [QCAA]
    ‘In 2013, Queensland schools will continue to plan, teach, assess and report on the Australian Curriculum for English, Mathematics and Science, and commence implementing P-10 History. The Queensland curriculum will be maintained for all other learning areas’.
  • Year 10 Guidelines [Qld Studies Authority]
    ‘The Year 10 Guidelines provide information and advice for planning and delivery of challenging and engaging courses in a range of school settings and for different groups of students. Downloads available in PDF or Word formats.’
  • Years 11-12
    Includes subject list plus key area information and syllabuses.

South Australia

Key Learning Areas for Reception to Year 10 are titled - English, Mathematics, Science, Humanities and Social Sciences, The Arts, Technologies, Health & Physical Education and Languages. There is also Work Studies [Years 9-10].

Details of the subjects for Stages 1 and 2 for Senior years are found through the SACE link below.

  • Australian Curriculum General Capabilities
    Department for Education. ‘The 7 capabilities are developed through all the learning areas from Reception to Year 10’.
  • Updated ! Curriculum in South Australian schools 
    Covers Reception to Year 10, Years 10 to 12, Vocational Pathways in schools, Industry pathway programs, Alternative Schooling, Specialised courses and programs, more.
  • Curriculum taught in South Australia 
    Department for Education. Covers all levels of schooling. Links to related information.
  • Learning Areas
    Detailed information from the SACSA Framework. Each key area is broken into Early, Primary, Middle and Senior Years. You can also access cross-curriculum perspectives and Enterprise and Vocational Education information.
  • Leading Learning
    ‘A resource for schools to support working with the Australian Curriculum, to design engaging and intellectually stretching learning experiences for all students’.
  • SACE - Other Recognised Learning
    ‘The SACE Board recognises and grants SACE credits for appropriate qualifications, subjects, courses, or learning experiences gained by local, interstate, or overseas students’.
  • SACESubjects
    Senior Secondary. ‘Access draft subject outlines, subject summaries and information relevant to the subject by following the links.’
  • Curriculum and Teaching 
    Covers Curriculum in the Early Years, Primary and Secondary Curriculum, Numeracy and Literacy, other cross-curriculum components.

Tasmania

Learning Areas are titled - English, Mathematics, Science, Humanities & Social Sciences [includes History, Geography, Civics and Citizenship, Economics and Business], Health & Physical Education, Technologies, The Arts, Languages, My Education [Career and Life Planning] and there is also access to Vocational Education and Training [VET] qualifications.

Victoria

Learning areas include English, Mathematics, Science, The Humanities [includes Civics and Citizenship, Economics and Business, Geography, History], The Arts [includes Dance, Drama, Media Arts, Music, Visual Arts, Visual Communication Design], Health & Physical Education, Languages and Technologies [Design and Technologies and Digital Technologies]. Additional Priorities include - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia and Sustainability. There are also Capabilities [including Critical and Creative Thinking and Ethical, Intercultural, and Personal and Social capabilities]. ‘The Victorian Curriculum F–10 incorporates the Australian Curriculum and reflects Victorian priorities and standards’.

  • Previous Curricula 
    ‘In January 2017 Ausvels was replaced by the Victorian Curriculum F-10 as the mandated curriculum for Victorian government and Catholic schools [see link below]. Archived copies of the AusVELS curriculum are held by the National Library of Australia and are available at :http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/129125/20121206-0015/ausvels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/index.html’.
  • VCE Studies
    Alphabetical listing of all courses. Clicking on each leads to a PDF download of areas of study, or a Word format Study Summary plus other information. Use the VET link [main menu] for further information in this area.
  • Victorian Curriculum : Foundation-10 
    ‘The Victorian Curriculum F-10 sets out what every student should learn during their first eleven years of schooling. It incorporates the Australian Curriculum and reflects Victorian priorities and standards’.

Western Australia

Learning Areas include - English, Mathematics, Science, Humanities and Social Sciences [including History, Geography, Civics and Citizenship and Economics and Business], The Arts, Languages, Health & Physical Education, Languages, Technologies, VET Industry Specific and Endorsed Programs. Additional Priorities include - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia and Sustainability.

For information regarding the Western Australian Curriculum visit this site.

  • K-10 Outline
    P-10 Curriculum; Judging Standards - ‘a tool to support teachers when reporting against the Achievement Standards’ and more; ‘The Curriculum and Assessment Outline is also available in printable PDF format’.
  • WACE Courses
    Courses listed in curriculum areas. These include : WACE Courses [Click on selected courses for access to details and downloads]; Endorsed Programs [‘Endorsed programs offer Year 10, 11 and 12 students the opportunity to use workplace learning, university studies, community organisation and personal development programs to meet the completion requirement of the WACE’]; Interstate Languages and VET Industry Specific WACE Courses.


Your Sincerely

Benjamin Carter 

Associate Principal, College Development

By 2023 or 2045 we should have new executive member to join College Board and work collaboratively with us and support our student with their 6 years of schooling. Annual Business Plan will be published in the near future. We also should have new Year 7's new comers. It is not only just Infrastructure the College Board plan, we also offers variety of new opportunities in the laters dates.


Please see our new future goals for 2023 and 2045! below

- Work Collaboratively with others

-  Always to shows respect 

- Respect to staff

- Achieve our self respect goals to others

- Never giving up 


Please note: The list above are only our new aim and new College Motto for 2023 and 2045


Kind regards

Network Secondary College Staff


Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6–7)

Why is anxiety about the future a form of pride?

God’s answer would sound something like this (paraphrasing Isaiah 51:12):

I — the Lord, your Maker — I am he who comforts you, who promises to take care of you; and those who threaten you are mere men who die. So, your fear must mean that you do not trust me — and even though you are not sure that your own resources will take care of you, yet you opt for fragile self-reliance, rather than faith in my future grace. So, all your trembling — weak as it is — reveals pride.

The remedy? Turn from self-reliance to God-reliance, and put your faith in the all-sufficient power of the promise of his future grace.

You can see that anxiety is a form of pride in 1 Peter 5:6–7. Notice the grammatical connection between the verses. “Humble yourselves . . . under the mighty hand of God . . . [now, verse 7] casting all your anxieties on him.” Verse 7 is not a new sentence. It’s a subordinate clause. It starts with a participle: “Humble yourselves . . . [by] casting all your anxieties on him.”

This means that casting your anxieties on God is a way of humbling yourself under God’s mighty hand. It’s like saying, “Eat politely . . . chewing with your mouth shut.” Or, “Drive carefully . . . keeping your eyes on the road.” Or, “Be generous . . . inviting someone over on Thanksgiving.” Or, “Humble yourselves . . . casting your fears on God.”

One way to humble ourselves is to cast all our anxieties on God. Which means that one hindrance to casting your anxieties on God is pride. Which means that undue worry is a form of pride. No matter how weak it looks or feels.

Now, why is casting our anxieties on the Lord the opposite of pride? Because pride does not like to admit that it has any anxieties. Or that we can’t take care of them ourselves. And if pride has to admit that its fears are unmanagable, it still does not like to admit that the remedy might be trusting someone else who is wiser and stronger.

In other words, pride is a form of unbelief and does not like to trust in God for his future grace. Faith, on the other hand, admits the need for help. Pride won’t. Faith banks on God to give help. Pride won’t. Faith casts anxieties on God. Pride won’t.

Therefore, the way to battle the unbelief of pride is to admit freely that you have anxieties, and to cherish the promise of future grace in the words, “He cares for you.” And then unload your fears onto his strong shoulders.

One of the greatest responsibilities we have is to support ourselves and others in living at our highest and best. Whether we’re parents, partners, friends or leaders, it’s incumbent upon us to help others to live as close to their unique potential as we can.

With everything we say and do, we’re influencing — positively or negatively — the people we care about. The ideal is to do this with consideration and intention. 

Here are ten ways you can help others see and realize the best that’s within them:

1. BELIEVE IN THEM

We all have self-doubts from time to time. Our confidence is shaken. We lack the faith in our talents and skills to go for an important promotion or launch a new initiative. Having someone believe in you at these times is priceless. The stories of great men and women are saturated with examples of someone who believed in them even when they didn’t fully believe in themselves.

2. ENCOURAGE THEM

“You can do it.” “I know you can.” These are words that are all-too-infrequently voiced. Sincere encouragement can go a long way in helping someone stay the course. The more specific you are, the better the results. “I remember when you got through your slump last year and ended up winning the sales contest. I’m willing to bet that you’ll do even better this time.”

3. EXPECT A LOT

We’re often told not to get our hopes up. We’re encouraged to have REALISTIC expectations. But when it comes to helping others operate at their best, we sometimes have to up-level our expectations. This can be taken to extremes, but there are many times when a teacher, a parent or even a boss has required more of us than we thought we were capable. And we’ve risen to the challenge which enabled us to see further than before.

4. TELL THE TRUTH

And tell it with compassion. We often avoid telling the hard truth because we don’t want to upset anyone. We want to be NICE. But telling the truth is a loving act. You may be the only person who can or will say to another what needs to be said. And you can confront someone without being combative.

5. BE A ROLE MODEL

One of the best ways we influence is by our own actions. Who we are speaks much more loudly than what we say. Don’t think that people aren’t watching you. They are. And they’re registering everything about you consciously and unconsciously. We automatically emulate our role models. And we’re ALL role models to someone so let’s be good ones.

6. SHARE YOURSELF

Too often, we miss the value of sharing our failings. We don’t want to be vulnerable so we hold back. In doing so, we deprive others of our experience, our learning and our humanity. When you share from your own experience — especially your failures — you increase empathy, you’re more approachable and you increase your relatability to others.

7. CHALLENGE THEM

The word “challenge” has some negative connotations. The meaning we’re using here is, “a test of one’s abilities or resources in a demanding but stimulating undertaking.” We all need to be challenged from time to time. Doing it for another is an art form. Go too far and it will backfire. Go too easy and you will appear patronizing. Remind people of their commitment to being their best and state your challenge. “I challenge you to overcome these unimportant opinions and get on with the real task at hand, get the job done, make the commitment, etc.”

8. ASK GOOD QUESTIONS

A good therapist or coach doesn’t tell their clients what to do. They ask good questions in order for the client to understand themselves better, to get clear on what the issue is and from there to make good choices. You can do the same. By asking elegant questions, you cause people to think and come up with solutions. They’ll appreciate it. Gary Lockwood has a good article about this called Asking Intelligent Questions with Impact.

9. ACKNOWLEDGE THEM

You find what you’re looking for. If you’re looking for the best in someone, you’ll see it. If you’re looking for their failings, you’ll see those. Catch people doing things right and tell them. When we acknowledge the good deeds of others, they tend to do more of them. Write a note. Send a card. Give them a call. Praise them in front of others.

10. SPEND TIME WITH THEM

We love what we give our time to. By devoting your most precious resource (time) to another individual, you’re showing them that you truly value them and your relationship with them. Invest time in your relationships; it’s what life is made of.

Ladies & Gentlemen, as you may already know our upcoming pay-per view for this year are Tuesday Backlash. We have received the logo and special thanks to Tailor Brands for making this happened and as well this logo will be air lived during our annual wrestling tv programs even though our tv programs will be terminated in couple of days so we are going back to normal methods of showcasing the events but this logo still shows up on the screens until the day of the pay- per view.


The Tuesday Backlash logo are shown below:

Good luck to all superstars for chasing their dreams 


Kind Regards

Network Secondary College Staff


Ash Wednesday - March 6, 2019

The first day of Lent

Ash Wednesday is one of the most popular and important holy days in the liturgical calendar. Ash Wednesday opens Lent, a season of fasting and prayer.

Ash Wednesday takes place 46 days before Easter Sunday, and is chiefly observed by Catholics, although many other Christians observe it too.

Ash Wednesday comes from the ancient Jewish tradition of penance and fasting. The practice includes the wearing of ashes on the head. The ashes symbolize the dust from which God made us. As the priest applies the ashes to a person's forehead, he speaks the words: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

Alternatively, the priest may speak the words, "Repent and believe in the Gospel."

Ashes also symbolize grief, in this case, grief that we have sinned and caused division from God.

Writings from the Second-century Church refer to the wearing of ashes as a sign of penance.

Priests administer ashes during Mass and all are invited to accept the ashes as a visible symbol of penance. Even non-Christians and the excommunicated are welcome to receive the ashes. The ashes are made from blessed palm branches, taken from the previous year's palm Sunday Mass.

It is important to remember that Ash Wednesday is a day of penitential prayer and fasting. Some faithful take the rest of the day off work and remain home. It is generally inappropriate to dine out, to shop, or to go about in public after receiving the ashes. Feasting is highly inappropriate. Small children, the elderly and sick are exempt from this observance.

Priest applying ashes

It is not required that a person wear the ashes for the rest of the day, and they may be washed off after Mass. However, many people keep the ashes as a reminder until the evening.

Recently, movements have developed that involve pastors distributing ashes to passersby in public places. This isn't considered taboo, but Catholics should know this practice is distinctly Protestant. Catholics should still receive ashes within the context of Mass.

In some cases, ashes may be delivered by a priest or a family member to those who are sick or shut-in.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Season of Lent. It is a season of penance, reflection, and fasting which prepares us for Christ's Resurrection on Easter Sunday, through which we attain redemption.

Why we receive the ashes

Girl receiving palms

Following the example of the Ninevites, who did penance in sackcloth and ashes, our foreheads are marked with ashes to humble our hearts and reminds us that life passes away on Earth. We remember this when we are told

"Remember, Man is dust, and unto dust you shall return."

Ashes are a symbol of penance made sacramental by the blessing of the Church, and they help us develop a spirit of humility and sacrifice.

The distribution of ashes comes from a ceremony of ages past. Christians who had committed grave faults performed public penance. On Ash Wednesday, the Bishop blessed the hair shirts which they were to wear during the forty days of penance, and sprinkled over them ashes made from the palms from the previous year. Then, while the faithful recited the Seven Penitential Psalms, the penitents were turned out of the church because of their sins -- just as Adam, the first man, was turned out of Paradise because of his disobedience. The penitents did not enter the church again until Maundy Thursday after having won reconciliation by the toil of forty days' penance and sacramental absolution. Later, all Christians, whether public or secret penitents, came to receive ashes out of devotion. In earlier times, the distribution of ashes was followed by a penitential procession.

The Ashes

The ashes are made from the blessed palms used in the Palm Sunday celebration of the previous year. The ashes are christened with Holy Water and are scented by exposure to incense. While the ashes symbolize penance and contrition, they are also a reminder that God is gracious and merciful to those who call on Him with repentant hearts. His Divine mercy is of utmost importance during the season of Lent, and the Church calls on us to seek that mercy during the entire Lenten season with reflection, prayer and penance.

More Lent & Easter


God bless you all

Fr. Michael Smith

Parish Priest & Secretary of Parish



Challenger Institute of Technology and Polytechnic West now form South Metropolitan TAFE, creating one of Western Australia’s most diverse training providers with major campuses in Bentley, Carlisle, Fremantle, Murdoch, Rockingham, Thornlie and Mandurah.

South Metropolitan TAFE offers more than 500 qualifications, from foundation courses and apprenticeships to associate degrees, with over 37,000 students across its campuses.

Our purpose

"We provide students with skills to enable employment and career development"

We do this by:

  • Providing students with high quality training services that prepare them for pathways to employment.
  • Providing students with pathways to further education and training opportunities that can launch and extend their careers.
  • Helping industry and our employers grow and create the workforce of the future.
  • Strengthening our communities by enabling life long learning opportunities for all.

Our vision

"By 2020 SM TAFE will be recognised as a national leader in providing skills for employment and career development."

  • Our vision ensures we aspire to create futures for individuals - through preparing them for jobs or supporting further learning to develop their careers.
  • By creating future workforces for industry and employers - through helping them employ skilled staff or upskill their existing workforce.
  • And by creating strong futures for our communities.


The National Assessment Program is run at the direction of the Education Council (previously known as SCSEEC). It includes the National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), the three-yearly sample assessments in science literacy, civics and citizenship, and information and communication technology (ICT) literacy, and participation in international sample assessments.

The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) is the independent statutory authority responsible for the overall management of the Australian National Assessment Program, in collaboration with representatives from all states and territories and non-government school sectors.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN is an annual assessment for all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. It tests the types of skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life. The tests cover skills in reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy. The assessments are undertaken every year in the second full week in May.

NAP sample assessments

NAP sample assessments occur annually on a rolling basis. In 2016, civics and citizenship was tested and in 2017, ICT literacy was tested. Science literacy was tested in 2015.

Only a small sample of randomly selected schools participate in the sample assessments, which provide a national snapshot of performance in these three agreed areas of learning. The civics and citizenship test was delivered online for the first time in 2013.

International sample assessments 

As part of the National Assessment Program, Australia participates in the following international sample assessments:

ACARA does not oversee the delivery of these assessments.

Why Naplan? 

Australia's future depends upon each citizen having the knowledge, understanding, skills and values necessary to provide the basis for a productive and rewarding life for citizens in an educated, just and open society. High quality schooling is central to achieving this vision.

The National Assessment Program (NAP) is the measure through which governments, education authorities, schools and the community can determine whether or not young Australians are meeting important educational outcomes.

In a world where people are increasingly mobile, the majority of today’s students can be expected to live and work in a range of places in Australia and overseas. It is important that there be consistent and well understood measures of student achievement around the country, and that the outcomes of these assessments be used to inform future policy development, resource allocation, curriculum planning and, where necessary, intervention programs. The NAP provides useful nationally comparable evidence about student achievement. By participating in these assessments schools benefit not only their own students, but also the students in every state and territory.

Benefits of the NAP

Two benefits of the NAP are to help drive improvements in student outcomes and provide increased accountability for the community.

Driving improvements

All Australian schools benefit from the outcomes of national testing. Schools can gain detailed information about how they are performing, and they can identify strengths and weaknesses which may warrant further attention. Aggregated results are made available through comprehensive reports at the national and school level. National level aggregated results are also available online. For more information on how results are reported, see Test Results.

At the system level, the NAP provides education ministers with information about the success of their policies and resourcing in priority curriculum areas. The NAP also provides ministers with the capacity to monitor the success of policies aimed at improving the achievement of different student groups, such as Indigenous students.

Without the nationally comparable data about student performance that the NAP provides, states and territories have only limited information about the achievement of their students in relation to their peers. NAP data provide an additional suite of information, thus enhancing the capacity for evidence-based decision making about policy, resourcing and systemic practices.

Accountability

The NAP also performs an accountability function. Australians can expect education resources to be allocated in ways that ensure that all students achieve worthwhile learning during their time at school. The reported outcomes of the NAP enable the Australian public to develop a general national perspective on student achievement and, more specifically, an understanding of how their schools are performing.

NAP history

In 1999, ministers of education released the Adelaide declaration on national goals for schooling in the 21st century (Adelaide Declaration). In this declaration, ministers agreed to report on progress towards the achievement of the national goals comparable by state and territory, using national key performance measures as the basis for reporting. In order to measure student achievement in relation to the national goals, ministers agreed to a program, called the National Assessment Program (NAP), to collect, analyse and report nationally comparable data on student achievement in literacy, numeracy, science, ICT and civics and citizenship.

Following the Adelaide Declaration, the NAP sample assessments started in 2003 with science literacy.

The Adelaide Declaration was superseded by the 2008 Melbourne declaration on educational goals for young Australians (Melbourne Declaration). The Melbourne Declaration, in contrast to the earlier declaration on schooling, has a broader frame and sets out educational goals for young Australians. These are:

  • Goal 1: Australian schooling promotes equity and excellence

  • Goal 2: All young Australians become
    - successful learners
    - confident and creative individuals
    - active and informed citizens

Ministers agreed on eight actions to achieve these educational goals. One of these actions is to ‘promote world-class curriculum and assessment’.

The Melbourne Declaration states that:

assessment of student progress will be rigorous and comprehensive. It needs to reflect the curriculum, and draw on a combination of the professional judgement of teachers and testing, including national testing. 

The Melbourne Declaration also states that the learning areas English and mathematics are fundamental in all years of schooling, placing emphasis on the literacy and numeracy skills assessed by NAPLAN tests.

The first NAPLAN tests took place in 2008 and were conducted by the then Ministerial Council for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA, now Education Council). This was the first time all students in Australia in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 were assessed in literacy and numeracy using the same year level tests. The national tests, which replaced a raft of tests administered by Australian states and territories, improved the comparability of students’ results across states and territories.

May blessing (praise, laudation, and eulogy) be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) Who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual (given by the Holy Spirit) blessing in the heavenly realm! 4 Even as [in His love] He chose us [actually picked us out for Himself as His own] in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy (consecrated and set apart for Him) and blameless in His sight, even above reproach, before Him in love. 5 For He foreordained us (destined us, planned in love for us) to be adopted (revealed) as His own children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the purpose of His will [because it pleased Him and was His kind intent] — 6 [So that we might be] to the praise and the commendation of His glorious grace (favor and mercy), which He so freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption (deliverance and salvation) through His blood, the remission (forgiveness) of our offenses (shortcomings and trespasses), in accordance with the riches and the generosity of His gracious favor, 8 Which He lavished upon us in every kind of wisdom and understanding (practical insight and prudence), 9 Making known to us the mystery (secret) of His will (of His plan, of His purpose). [And it is this:] In accordance with His good pleasure (His merciful intention) which He had previously purposed and set forth in Him, 10 [He planned] for the maturity of the times and the climax of the ages to unify all things and head them up and consummate them in Christ, [both] things in heaven and things on the earth. 11 In Him we also were made [God’s] heritage (portion) and we obtained an inheritance; for we had been foreordained (chosen and appointed beforehand) in accordance with His purpose, Who works out everything in agreement with the counsel and design of His [own] will, 12 So that we who first hoped in Christ [who first put our confidence in Him have been destined and appointed to] live for the praise of His glory! 13 In Him you also who have heard the Word of Truth, the glad tidings (Gospel) of your salvation, and have believed in and adhered to and relied on Him, were stamped with the seal of the long-promised Holy Spirit. 14 That [Spirit] is the guarantee of our inheritance [the firstfruits, the pledge and foretaste, the down payment on our heritage], in anticipation of its full redemption and our acquiring [complete] possession of it — to the praise of His glory.  Ephesians 1:3-14 AMP 

1. He has blessed us (Ephesians 1:3). 

Father God has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm. This means that, in Christ, we have received all the benefits of a relationship with Him. We have: been chosen as His; received His salvation; been adopted as His children; been forgiven; received insight into the things of the Spirit; received the power to serve God and do His will; received the gifts of the Spirit; and the hope of living forever with Him. We can enjoy these blessings now, because we have an intimate relationship with Him. Spiritual blessings in the “heavenly realms”, means that these blessings are eternal, not temporal.

2. He has chosen us (Ephesians 1:4).

Father God “chose us in him” to emphasize that salvation depends totally on Him and not us. We are not saved because our works deserve it, but because of God’s free and gracious salvation. We could not and did not influence God’s decision to save us, but He saved us according to His own plan. We can’t take the credit – all we can do is express our gratefulness and thanks for His wonderful love for us.

3. He has predestined us (Ephesians 1:5 &11).

“Predestined” means “marked out beforehand”, and is another way of saying that salvation is all God’s work and none our own doing. In His infinite love, and through Jesus’ sacrifice, God has brought us into His family, adopted us His own children and made us heirs along with Jesus. Under the law at that time, adopted children had the exact same rights as biological children, even if they were previously slaves.

4. He has made us accepted (Ephesians 1:6).

Father God freely and graciously accepts us even if we don’t deserve it. Not only that, He loves us as much as He loves Jesus (John 17:23).
    
5. He has redeemed us (Ephesians 1:7).

Jesus blood’ represents Jesus’ death. Through His death and the riches and generosity of His gracious favor, He paid the price for us to receive both redemption and forgiveness. Redemption was the price paid to gain freedom for a slave. We are released from our slavery to sin and brought into the freedom of forgiveness and right-standing with God. 

6. He has abounded toward us (Ephesians 1:8).

God’s grace has been LAVISHED on us. We have received a generous, over-abundance of God’s love, grace and favor!

7. He has made known unto us (Ephesians 1:9).

In His love and mercy, Father God planned to save and redeem us from the foundation of the earth. His plan of salvation was consummated in Jesus Christ and could only be fully understood by us after Jesus rose from the dead. When you receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, through God’s word, the Holy Spirit reveals to you the Father’s plan for you. 

8. He has given us an inheritance (Ephesians 1:11,14).

An inheritance is something you don’t earn. It’s bestowed upon you at the discretion of another. We have inherited the Kingdom of God and all of God’s wonderful promises and blessings with it!
 
9. He has sealed us (Ephesians 1:13).

The Holy Spirit is the seal and also the “earnest” or “pledge” of our inheritance. The word “seal” means: to stamp (with a signet or private mark) for security or preservation (literally or figuratively); to keep secret; to attest. We use the word “seal” to denote several things: we seal things for security, to hide them, to confirm or testify to something, and to confirm ownership. We are sealed by the blessed Holy Spirit! The word “earnest” or “pledge” is used to indicate part of the purchase-money or property given in advance as security for the rest. The Holy Spirit is the guarantee – the “earnest” or “pledge” – of our glorious inheritance!

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