Last week, the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reported on the NSW Government’s decision to open a new selective school in South West Sydney is what is known in politics as a ‘Captain’s Call’. Unfortunately, Premier Berejiklian has made the wrong call on this one. More selective schools makes for a good sound bite, but it’s … More Oh captain, my captain!
Often times understanding how people learn is like trying to master chess. It requires the ongoing commitment to gaining greater knowledge, skills and insights. Richard Elmore talks about this in the context of the instructional core; John Bransford et al. in developing a metacognitive culture within the learning space. I’m often asked to reflect on … More Worth every Winx
Just as the industrial revolution ushered in a mass model of schooling, the digital revolution is forcing us to rethink schooling for today’s world. The biggest difference now is the rapid pace of change, which means the gap between school, society and technology is growing ever-wider. The call to radically transform schooling is being met … More What does educational transformation mean?
Pam Betts is the Executive Director of Catholic Education in Brisbane, Queensland. In the latest bluyonder voices podcast, Pam shares why teaching was always in her DNA and why every student needs the opportunity to be the best they can be.
While I have been on professional leave, I have found myself with time to think and reflect. What has become very clear to me is that while we expect teachers to be continuously learning, reflecting and transforming the work, I don’t feel we have the same expectations of education systems. And that is a problem. … More Learning how to learn is the new currency
After another big school year, I’m now on professional leave for the next few weeks where the bulk of my time will be attending an advanced leaders course at Cambridge. I’ll also be visiting some innovative schools and meeting with educational authorities in England and Scandinavia. The focus will be on how these schools and … More The academisation of schools
Over the past decade I’ve had the opportunity to chat with some innovative and inspiring educators, leaders and academics. So often the focus is on what they are doing now rather than how they came to teaching and what inspired them then and now. That’s the starting point for a new podcast series ‘bluyonder voices’, … More Bluyonder voices podcast #1
I was honoured to deliver the Sir Harold Wyndham Oration two weeks ago. In my speech, I argued that it is time to be bold and creative and to take the radical path in imagining what schools need to be. It is time to go beyond an improvement agenda and instead adopt a transformation agenda. … More Five pillars to transformation
Finnish educator, author and advisor Pasi Sahlberg was in Sydney recently to deliver our annual Ann D Clark lecture. There aren’t too many countries that haven’t been compared or aspire to the Finnish model of education. I don’t want to disappoint the publishers, pundits and policymakers but in his keynote, Pasi revealed some home truths … More #mythbusting Finnish education
An interesting dichotomy exists in our society between how teachers are represented within traditional forms of media. Film/TV have typically depicted teachers as walking on holy ground having earned the respect and admiration of students particularly those on the margins. Think of To Sir with Love, Dead Poets Society or Goodbye Mr Chips. Then there are the … More The X-factor
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