The OECD says that in Australia, “disparities in student performance related to socio-economic status take root at an early age and widen throughout students’ lives”: even the youngest learners in our school communities are not getting a go. Decades of research and examining best practice in classrooms have already shown us how to make our … More Why investment in early education for all is fair play
A recent survey of small to medium businesses said the education system isn’t providing the skills students need to be ‘entrepreneurial and innovative‘. Is education failing business or is business failing education? I attended the Western Sydney Business Connection State of the Region Address by the Hon. Mike Baird MP, Premier of NSW this week. Around … More Business failing education?
We live in societies where the culture of competition exists everywhere and it is no more evident than in education. Schooling has become big business and learning is competitive. At an international level, we rank education systems and encourage them to ‘beat the best’. At a local level, there is a growing demand for coaching and tutoring … More Collaborative competition
As educators know, extraordinary opportunities for learning come from those often unpredictable and unscripted teachable moments. Those moments that are not ‘text-book’ and yet provide students with valuable occasions for critical thinking, reflection and deeper learning. On Friday, our government missed a teachable moment when the Prime Minister rejected appeals for the resettlement of Rohingya … More Missing a teachable moment
My colleague in Melbourne, Stephen Elder wrote an excellent piece in Saturday’s Australian newspaper on the ongoing Gonski saga and the need for both sides of politics to engage in the real issue of public policy. I hate to harp on about this but I can’t believe that politicians continue to get bogged down in … More Best evidence is the best policy
As the new Federal Minister for Education Christopher Pyne settles into his portfolio, I have been thinking about what changes have been made to the educational landscape over the past six years. I don’t want to rekindle old debates because many of the Gillard-Rudd policies and initiatives have already been criticised and condemned. It may … More A united voice
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