Too often, educators fall into the theory-practice trap. How many times have you heard a teacher say, ‘All that theory’s fine, but it doesn’t work in my classroom,’ or the theoretician say, ‘It’s a shame teachers don’t use the theory to inform their work.’ So it was refreshing to meet with a school leader who … More Good practice is good theory
Why is it that so many students struggle with mathematics? It’s one of the questions I’ve been pondering after reading the work of MIT mathematician, Dr Seymour Papert. For me, Papert is becoming a modern John Dewey and his assessment of why children struggle is persuasive: I think part of the trouble with learning mathematics … More Extending mathematical understanding
The listing of Facebook on the stock exchange (now valued at $100 billion) highlights how social media has become serious business. As we conceptualise organisations differently as dynamic, porous and self-learning, we must recognise that social media has be part of the expanded tool kit of leaders. This is no where more pressing than for … More Crossing the social media divide
I believe data is critical to the work of improving schooling and how well we use data to improve student outcomes and teacher learning is a challenge that some of the best performing systems have had to address. I sometimes think the fear we have in using data stems from the fact that we aren’t … More Putting a face to data
When Michael Fullan was here two weeks ago, he spent his second day in discussion with our leadership team on how we can get greater precision in our work. He suggested three key areas as a next step: the coordination of the message across the system, the coordination of work across the networks and a … More Precision
Our system has been very fortunate to have been working with Michael Fullan over a period of five years. Given Fullan’s vast experience and the demands on his time, it never ceases to amaze me how generous he is with his time when he is present. To sit around the table and explore issues in … More Make learning the work
A colleague recently emailed me a slick video on 21st century education. It certainly ticks all the boxes – clear message, simple design, emotive statements, catchy music. I was impressed but when I watched it again, I questioned whether we are succumbing to the hype of technology? Are we allowing ourselves to be distracted from … More The danger of the hype
Michael Fullan will be returning to Australia later this year and as always, it will be refreshing and stimulating to hear him talk to our leaders about improving schooling. Michael has recently written a paper, commissioned and published by the Centre for Strategic Education (CSE). CSE has kindly given permission for me to include … More Choosing the wrong drivers
John Dewey recognised its importance when he said ‘failure is instructive’. Most success stories are crafted from failure, which is why organisations are beginning to recognise the intrinsic rewards that come from understanding and learning from it. Harvard Business Review Magazine has devoted its April issue to the ‘f’ word – failure. There are some pearls of … More Succeeding at failure
Interesting article recently by Peter Holmes a Court on the positive changes taking place in the far north Queensland town of Aurukun. At the heart of reform measures is a focus on improving education participation and retention. At the beginning of 2010, not one student in the township was reading ‘at their normal grade … More A national goal
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