As you may know, I spent the end of the 2017 school year visiting schools in the UK and Scandinavia. Their challenges are the same as the ones faced here: concern over the quality of schooling, overall relevance of schools in a rapidly changing world and the absence of a coherent educational policy. Nonetheless when … More Transformation is the global agenda
The Reggio Emilia approach highlighted the importance of the physical environment on learning and teaching. The incorporation of the physical environment (in Reggio Emilia) to enhance early childhood experiences is seen as the child’s ‘third teacher’. Stephen Heppell has been working for two decades on raising the status of the ‘third teacher’ within the K-12 … More The third teacher
Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) CEO Geoff Masters, recently identified some of the challenges we face in closing the achievement gaps in schools. He writes: Schools continue to be organised on traditional lines with students being assigned to year groups, and teachers delivering the curriculum specified for each year group. If teachers treat all students in the … More Rethinking the beginning
Six years ago, Hayward School on the outskirts of Manchester in the UK was considered a failing high school. A new principal arrived with a new vision, new leadership team and an expectation that every child can learn and succeed. It was turned into an Academy, renamed Essa and today it is lauded as a school with a … More Simplicity and reliability
For those who grew up watching Sesame Street in the seventies, there is research suggesting the much-loved show led to improved early educational outcomes for children. A new study has found that US children who had greater access to Sesame Street when it first aired experienced positive learning outcomes throughout primary school. Boys and black, non-Hispanic children experienced the … More Lessons from Sesame Street
Last week I had another opportunity to visit two Victorian primary schools that for me demonstrate good theory in practice. Woorana Park and Silverton Primary schools have established themselves as authentic learning communities. Over many years under good instructional leaders they have evaluated their practice, implemented rigorous feedback mechanisms, listened to student and parent voices and used the learning space … More No teacher is an island
In 1979, Sony produced the first portable cassette device – the Walkman. It was a game changer for consumers and the music industry. Sony ended up selling 200 million devices worldwide. Long before Apple or even Google established themselves as innovators, there was Japan. The BBC recently had an interesting article on how Japan is trying to ‘reboot innovation’. In … More Rebooting innovation
Last week I had the great pleasure of sitting down for a Q&A with Larry Rosenstock. Larry is the founder and CEO of High Tech High in San Diego and one of the keynote speakers at last week’s PBL World Australia 2013 hosted by one of our high schools, Parramatta Marist in partnership with the Buck Institute … More World Class Leader
Whenever you visit schools overseas, it is hard not to look at the experience through your own cultural and professional lens. When I was in South Africa it would have been easy to suggest strategies and ideas for improvement but you can’t do this without looking at the country’s history including its political context. The … More Aspiration and opportunity
Last month I returned from South Africa where I participated in the CSC Leaders program. I arrived in Johannesburg around the time former president Nelson Mandela was hospitalised. Wandering through the Apartheid museum one afternoon I was stopped by a BBC cameraman asking for my reflections on Mandela and his legacy. My comment was that … More A powerful weapon
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