Happy New Year! We face the future of schooling with more optimism than with pessimism. As I go into schools I see change and innovative practice. Sure, its too often one-off but they are beacons of learning to all of us. In particular, I see more staff passionate about their work and a willingness to … More What lies beyond (the) bluyonder?
The Greater Sydney Commission unveiled plans this week to make Parramatta the economic centre of Sydney. Under the proposal, a staggering $30 billion is needed to transform the region and create new infrastructure, schools, hospitals, green space and housing. Transformation is no longer a fringe concept. It is the norm for many nation states and … More When West Meets East
When schools and systems have the audacity and courage to challenge the status quo, they are often labelled as experimental or worse, irresponsible. Our system has copped its fair share of criticism over the years for taking an ‘experimental’ approach to learning and teaching. While some in the wider community may view it as experimental, … More Contemporary schooling needs to be seen to be believed
It’s difficult to escape ‘customer experience’ in today’s world. At a conference I attended earlier this year, one of the presenters spoke about the ‘Uber experience’ and how it had become the gold standard in terms of how they rated all interactions with other businesses/organisations. Most businesses today invest significant time and money understanding their … More Schooling: the new frontier in customer experience
The whole notion of the school curriculum has, in recent times, been subjected to insistent pressures and numerous reviews. In fact, we are awaiting the recommendations of a review into the NSW curriculum to ensure it is ‘preparing students to meet the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.’ The realisation that the Industrial Age … More Curriculum unlimited
My position on technology, especially mobile phones in schools has not changed in a decade. In fact, as technologies become increasingly sophisticated, the worst school systems can do is flee from the overwhelming impact of the digital/knowledge age. I firmly believe that technology isn’t the biggest challenge in schools today. We operate in an environment … More Powering education through AI
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
It’s been interesting to catch snippets of the conversation with Sir David Attenborough at the World Economic Forum in Davos recently. Sir David was discussing the ‘urgency of now’ needed to address the global environmental challenges we face. If you mute the sound and read the captions or insert education instead of environment, you may … More Time for adult decisions
We’ve sent humans to the moon, scaled the highest mountains on the planet and developed 3D printers – all giant steps in human endeavour. Yet I believe the one area where we struggle to make the greatest leap forward is schooling. As an educator, I am flabbergasted when I re-read the likes of John Dewey … More A giant step forward for schools
Schooling must undergo a massive shift from a bureaucracy that continues to promotes improvement and discourages risk-taking to micro-enterprises that are adaptive and in pursuit of ambitious targets for all learners. If you’re looking for some food for thought or discussion starters in the staffroom, I recommend Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini’s piece in the … More Imagination, experimentation and learning
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