Have you ever found yourself looking for something when you don’t know what it is that you’re looking for? It usually happens when you are looking for solutions to a problem and you find habits of your past distract you from thinking clearly, and the most obvious answers evade you. In many ways, I think this reflects […]
In Search of the Most Amazing Thing* Read More »
As the year draws to a hectic close, and clichés like that one become more prevalent, I have been reflecting not so much on my best books or films or even restaurants of the year, but rather, on what I have learnt* over the past 12 months? Here at Modern Learners, we’ve spent another year,
What Have You Learnt This Year? Read More »
They used to say that everyone had a good time when the circus came to town. Well that may be true, but I’m not so sure that this is happening with the circus that has surrounded the release of the 2015 PISA results this week. While the PISA process itself is quite straightforward, it’s the
The Circus Around International Benchmarking Read More »
Stay with me on this. Its a topic that I think warrants a little more than we normally share here, and I promise, no politics and no mention of the “T” word… I’m not sure if you’re fully aware, but right now there are signs of a fundamental shift in the way our students will
The End of the Beginning of New Credentials Read More »
I was lucky. I completed my teaching degree in the 1970’s during a time of new ideas, new directions and new thinking. It wasn’t just a time for hippies and Woodstockers, but importantly it was also a time of provocative and open discourse around education, which inspired vigorous public conversations around the role of school and
The Moons are Aligning Read More »
How much of what we do every day is part of a routine, habit, or in some cases almost a ritual? I know that for most of us the getting out of bed, shower, teeth thing certainly is, but when it comes to our work the context of the question shifts, and maybe it’s a
Bells and Cells and other Big Fat Myths Read More »
Like many of you I’m sure, I enjoy reading Seth Godin. Maybe not as much as I like reading Sarason, Papert, and Frank Smith, but Godin’s thinking is often a sharp left turn from where I often find myself. I was reading some copy he posted on his AltMBA course site this past week: Welcome to the age
Looking at Technology Through a Learning Lens Read More »
There are many times in our lives when we take risks. For some taking risks is an integral part of their daily lives. Racing car drivers, BASE jumpers are extreme examples; others might say the very act of driving a car or crossing a road presents a risk they face every day. Our perception of
For all that is being written about leadership today, it is probably not surprising that we often take for granted the responsibility that is attached to the role, or trivialise in much the same way the word ‘hero’ has become almost meaningless. Everyone may think they can be a ‘hero’, but everyone sure isn’t a
Leadership and Followship Read More »
When I was started teaching (quite a few years ago,) I was told “the curriculum stops at the classroom door,” inferring of course that what happens inside the classroom can often be very different to what is ‘meant’ to be happening. The extent to which you believed this was a good thing or not depended
How Modern is your Curriculum? Read More »
If you were given the chance to start a new school, what kind of school would it be? It’s the sort of opportunity many educators talk about, and then reality strikes. Are you talking about building a new school, or simply starting anew with an existing one? What constraints do I have? Do I get
Starting a Different Conversation Read More »
There were a lot of people at this year’s ISTE Conference in Denver. Some estimates had it as high as 20,000 making it the largest of this format in the world, and which would appear to confirm the increasing acceptance of the role of computers in our schools. But what is that role? With nearly
A Movement of Ideas Read More »
In recent times an increasing number of educators are walking the educational tightrope to modern learning. It’s not easy, but it’s incredibly rewarding, and those that make it to the ‘other side’ do so because they don’t look down, look back, or lament for past practice. Rather they are focused firmly on what is in front
Mathematics seems to have kicked quite a few goals lately. After several decades of being tightly partnered with literacy as the “subjects du jour,” it has now joined the new elite Science, Technology and Engineering team (who occasionally call in Arts off the bench)….to dominate the public conversation around education priorities. Accordingly, almost without question,
The Mythology of School Mathematics Read More »
I’m puzzled. Like all of you I read widely, and even more so as Will and I seek out ideas and insights that we can curate each week for EML from the wide range of media that we scan every day. There are many themes and memes that emerge, but one recurring topic really worries
Nobody Rises to Low Expectations Read More »
