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
A colleague of mine spent a week at Harvard Business School earlier this year learning how to apply scientific methodologies to strategic decision-making. The course drew participants from all sectors and all parts of the world. Yet very few in education. Telling perhaps? The premise is that if you are going to roll out a … More Can we apply scientific rigour to teaching?
I attended a summit in Sydney last week where representatives of some of the biggest companies and brands spoke: Disney, Atlassian, Uber and Qualtrics. What unites each of these organisations is an unrelenting focus on the ‘people experience’. Customer and employee satisfaction drives everything and it is what propels them to reach new heights. The … More Speak less, listen more
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
As an election pledge, Labor announced in February and then re-announced last week that it would establish a ‘National Principals’ Academy’ in an effort to have ‘the best school system in the world’. While there are a whole range of issues here that need to be addressed, we always welcome greater focus on the important … More It takes a village, not an academy to teach a child
We have a tendency in education to search for immediate solutions to challenges, which often end up as partial solutions anyway. At a state and federal level, we’re in an election cycle where parties are promising more structural change such as smaller classes, more teachers, better buildings etc. I understand how appealing these are to … More What is the impact of teachers?
Last week the Gonski Institute for Education held a forum to discuss school assessment. Clearly there are growing concerns around the world regarding the negative impact of high stakes testing. So much so that Singapore has now taken the step of banning high stakes testing of students below the age of 11. Australia hasn’t taken … More A learning eco-system
We are less than two weeks out from a state election and two months from a federal election and while it’s heartening to hear the major parties include education and education funding in their campaigning, my fear is that as always, the policy dial is wound back and we end up in culture war territory … More Campaigning for educational change
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
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