The talk about “disruption” in education has been building for quite some time now, but as with much of the rhetoric that surrounds school change and “reform,” the bar for what constitutes real disruption continues to be set relatively low. We’re told that “Massively Open Online Courses” (MOOCs) will disrupt the entire higher education system. […]
Everything You Think is “Disruptive” Isn’t Read More »
In this era of evidence-based decision-making, how often are we now being confounded, rather than comforted by evidence? While on the surface it seems natural that leaders would seek research and evidence to support the decisions they make, digging a little deeper reveals all might not be quite what it seems. Evidence-based decision-making certainly came
Truthiness and the Education Conversation Read More »
Let’s take a quick quiz of some of the things you probably “learned” in high school: 1. What’s the circumference of a circle with the radius of 4? 2. What Scottish scientist discovered penicillin in 1928? 3. What geologic era are we in right now? 4. In the sentence “The swimming pool is closed today,”
What’s Worth Learning in School? Read More »
Over recent months, in both the columns of EML and beyond, there have been a number of thoughtful discussions around the concept of self-directed learning. Certainly the recent Mindshift article around the most recent Global X Prize provoked a lot of debate, given the clear brief of the contest to “develop a free, open-source and
Who Directs the “Self-Directed?” Read More »
On rare occasion, usually when I’m struggling with a bout of insomnia or boredom, I’ll hop on Twitter and take part in a “chat,” a usually unfollowable, fast-stream of 140-character observations and opinions from dozens (if not hundreds) of people that requires it’s own literacy and mindset to make even a modicum of sense at.
There’s Really Only One Way to “Raise Student Engagement” Read More »
To administrate or lead, that is the question. As we start to identify the essential components of a modern learning environment, our use of language becomes even more important in describing our meanings and intentions. Too often in the past, critical ideas have been marginalised, and their meaning appropriated beyond recognition, leaving only a shadow
To Administrate or To Lead Read More »
“Leadership is a choice. It’s the choice not to do nothing.” ~Seth Godin, Tribes There are many others I’m sure, but two particular articles published in the last couple of weeks ought to have educational leaders thinking deeply about their work. The first is an essay in Wired magazine by Harvard Professor David Edwards who
Few topics will get a group of educators engaged more than asking them for their thoughts on the role of curriculum in our schools today. At one end are those who carry a firm belief about the innateness or permanence of certain knowledge, which they believe should be taught to all children. These are people
The Folly of Curriculum as Political Football Read More »
My daughter, the high school senior, was in the middle of prepping a presentation for Social Studies when I called home from the road a few days ago. “How’s it going?” I asked. “It’s so annoying,” she said without missing a beat. “What’s annoying about it?” I asked, pretty much knowing what her reply would
What We Know Isn’t What We Do Read More »
Having spent significant time over the past eighteen months working with educational and policy leaders from a broad cross-section of countries I felt a long plane flight home was a good time to reflect on the directions that appear to be emerging as educational priorities for governments around the world. The first and most obvious
The Pain of Powerful Policy Read More »
It’s not unusual for someone to raise a hand in the middle of a workshop we’re doing and say “I get these changes and shifts, but what do I do about it in my school?” Or something along those lines. Like most in education, we want answers. Lingering questions about change or uncertainty, it seems,
Questions Over Answers Read More »
NYU professor and widely-read author Clay Shirky’s recent post about the need to ask his students to put their laptops away during his lectures signals an interesting shift in the conversations around young people’s technology use. It was very much in line with the recent New York Times article that carried the ‘surprising’ news that
At Least We’re Talking About Ubiquitous Access Read More »
These are not easy times to be in education. Regardless of if you agree with changes in policy and assessment whether you’re in the UK, the US, Australia or almost anywhere else, significant change is afoot in one form or another in almost every state, province and country. New tests, new professional evaluations, new, in
Are You Powerless? Read More »
