I spent Monday in masterclass so to speak at the ACARA national roundtable on curriculum for the 21st century. The roundtable was an opportunity to hear from international experts and educators in the context of how we are responding at a national and local level to the rapidly changing world and how jurisdictions are responding … More Metacognition and the digital age
There is no doubt that globalisation has created a greater demand for quality education and there are pressures to rethink the nature and rationale of our curriculum. It leads us to ask questions such as how can we continue to confine knowledge within old frameworks? What possibilities are opened up by the availability of new … More Delivery or design
Over recent decades, the term curriculum has been used in different ways. When I was teaching, curriculum was understood as lists of subjects, learning areas and courses of study. You had the syllabus and it told you everything you needed to teach to your class. We know this content-prescriptive approach limited the scope of teachers to … More A relevant curriculum
In schooling, it seems the rule of three applies. Here’s a few: Elmore’s instructional core: content, teacher skill/knowledge and student engagement; Bransford et al’s theory of how people learn: connections, context and metacognition; Dr Peter Hill’s three goals for the national curriculum: personalised, professional and precision. Susan LaRosa and Dr Bill Hogarth from York District … More Rule of three
On Monday evening, the CEO of ACARA, Dr Peter Hill delivered our 2010 Ann D Clark lecture to over 500 educators. I have known Peter Hill for many years – he’s had an extraordinary career in education and is someone who brings great insight and experience to this role. What is evident is that Peter understands … More A national curriculum
Anecdotally at least, teachers are likely to learn when they interact with other teachers. The process of mentoring, coaching and feedback are powerful strategies for empowering and enabling teachers. Never before have we needed more intellectual rigour as our schools respond to the challenges of a national curriculum, 21st century pedagogies and a mercurial education agenda. This … More The practice of collaboration
Something from France to think about which reminds me of Einstein’s observation that we have to fail forward if we are to learn. In our society failure is too often associated with weakness and poor character but it does not have to be that way. The SMH reports that this week in Paris, a group … More Getting it wrong is good
Edward de Bono, the man that encouraged us to think laterally says he’s seen iterations of the Federal Government’s ‘Education Revolution’ before. In a recent interview, Dr de Bono argued that the Government should be focussed on the needs of young people not on constructing new school halls. He believes it would more valuable to … More Teaching thinking
The pendulum has swung back with comments by the Group of Eight universities that maths education in Australia is in crisis due in part to a lack of skilled maths teachers. I made the point recently that it would have been good to start the national curriculum with a focus on the arts, music, dance, … More Decline of maths
I find it interesting that just as the world is opening up to new possibilities of accessing and sharing information, connecting and collaborating globally, the government’s strategic policy focus is defining what should be learned by all students in all Australian schools today. Perhaps the new draft K-10 national curriculum is more a response to … More A national curriculum
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