Two days after news came through of the death of esteemed physicist and author Stephen Hawking, I presented the Australian Scholarship Group’s National Excellence in Teaching Awards. Hawking’s passing last week affected me deeply and I posted a tweet that his death was a tremor in the force. It wasn’t about the answers, it was … More Stephen Hawking – one of the great teachers
I’ve written before about the improvement delusion that exists in education and why our relentless focus on improving the current model is not taking us anywhere. That model was designed in an age where information was static, schools were insular and technology companies produced technology. We know that information is no longer static, schools are … More What schools can learn from Apple
Over Christmas I had a grandfather’s delight of reading Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to my grandson. The story follows the adventures of a girl transitioning from childhood into a never-seen-before world. Alice talks about her experiences in this new environment as ‘curioser and curioser’. It got me thinking about the importance of curiosity … More Why 2018 needs to be the year of curiosity
Yes, you heard it right. The Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham and NSW Premier, Gladys Berejikilian have suggested that schools lock up phones until the end of the school day to prevent students’ from being distracted. Naturally the comments generated a lot of debate on radio particularly among frustrated parents and teachers. I understand their frustration. … More Technology isn’t the problem
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
Almost a decade ago Ken Robinson was touting the idea of transforming education. Marketer and author, Seth Godin says transformation falls into the most difficult and most precious project category. Transformation in education is mercurial – ask ten different people and you’ll get ten different responses. I don’t necessarily think this is a negative but … More Defining educational transformation
In case you haven’t marked it on your calendar, October the 27th is World Teacher’s Day. It is often easy to dismiss these UNESCO events, however Friday is an opportunity to recognise the valuable contribution teachers make to the lives of students, their communities and society. As I’ve said before, we have never needed good … More Bluyonder voices #3 – next generation teachers
