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'Some years ago cartoonist Bill Leak created a visual representation of the shift in modern schooling and its teaching practices. Leak’s cartoon depicts a modern Australian living room with a school-aged boy planted in front of the television. Homer Simpson, at work on a hamburger, features on the screen. Standing in the corner, a frustrated father looks over at his son and shouts, “Turn that off and do your homework”. The son, appearing conflicted, replies, “This is my homework”. The cartoon, entitled “Studying Homer”, comments on the raging debate about what our children should be learning in schools.2 After all, Generation Z are the screenagers and they fill our middle school and high school classrooms. Many predict that at least fifty per cent of this iGen will also spill over into higher education. According to McCrindle Research, these dot.com kids are “globalised” and “digitalised”, living their lives through technology and constantly consuming popular culture.3 Moreover, they are identified as “distinctly social” and “uniquely visual” because they connect with others through social media; they tap and swipe and watch screens on their slick mobile devices.4' (Introduction)
Notes
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Epigraph:
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
–T. S. Eliot, “Little Gidding”
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Last amended 15 Feb 2017 10:50:44