Category: Education Futures

Education Futures, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Give a S***!

wenmothd

I am in the habit of riding my bike along the local river trail as regularly as I can. It’s a shared trail that is used by other cyclists, walkers, runners and those walking their dogs – everyone appreciating the opportunity this great community asset provides. Cycling is one of those activities that provides me with thinking time. This morning my thoughts were on the many dogs I pass on this trail each time I ride it, the different types there are, and the different owners I observe. This morning I was reflecting on the inevitability of these animals taking … Continue reading Give a S***!

Education Futures1 Comment

Education’s “Climate Change”

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Over the Christmas and New Year break I’ve had the opportunity to spend some time reflecting on a lot of what happened for me during 2017, in particular, the requests I’ve had to contribute to discussions and conferences on the them of the future of education. Of course, it’s difficult to think about the future of education in isolation from what’s happening in the broader context of the world – including climate change. So I thought, what better way to start off 2018 than with a post that captures some of this thinking and suggests a link between the call … Continue reading Education’s “Climate Change”

Curriculum, Digital Literacy, Education Futures7 Comments

A shake-up for education?

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This week I had the privilege of attending an event in Auckland where Minister of Education, Nikki Kaye, officially released the final draft of the Digital Technologies-Hangarau Matihiko Curriculum for consultation. The event was opened with a group of students from the Lynfield College Robotics club who gave an outstanding presentation about their work as a team to design and develop robots which they have been entering into various competitions since 2008 – winning multiple national and international titles in that time! One by one the group of year 11 – year 13 students gave their perspective on what contributed to the … Continue reading A shake-up for education?

Communities of Practice, Education FuturesLeave a comment

Going deeper with learning

wenmothd

In his preface to A Rich Seam, Michael Barber writes about a revolution that is impacting almost every area of society, noting… This revolution is already in homes across the developed world and increasingly in the developing world too. And there, it is transforming the way children and young people play, access information, communicate with each other and learn. But, so far, this revolution has not transformed most schools or most teaching and learning in classrooms. Amid the barrage of new initiatives, assessment demands, achievement challenges and the like it’s sometimes difficult to lift your eyes to a horizon that’s focused on … Continue reading Going deeper with learning

Education Futures, Reforming schooling1 Comment

Supply and Demand – the big issue for schools of the future

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I’m currently attending the ConnectED conference of principals in the Newcastle region in Australia, exploring the theme of professional learning communities and enjoying hearing from speakers with a wealth of experience in this area including Alma Harris, Michelle Jones, Helen Timperley and Peter Goss. A constant theme in the presentations and workshops is change, and how, as educational leaders, we need to be disciplined in the ways we work with teachers to embrace and deal with change, empowering them through the process of inquiry and professional learning groups. Many times in the discussions with secondary teachers in particular the challenge of providing … Continue reading Supply and Demand – the big issue for schools of the future

Communities of Practice, Education Futures, Reforming schooling9 Comments

Schools, COOLs and Kids

wenmothd

Let’s face it – schools are primarily about kids and their learning. Sure, we need buildings, teachers, furniture, timetables and the like to support that, but the primary focus should be on them. This is why I am personally very pleased to see the recent announcement from the Ministry of Education regarding the Education (Update) Amendment Bill. The current Act under which our education system operates places huge emphasis on the structures and governance of our schools, but less on the kids themselves – in fact learners and learning are barely mentioned. This would work well enough if all of … Continue reading Schools, COOLs and Kids

Education Futures, emerging technologies1 Comment

The Future of Jobs

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For my first blog post of 2016 I thought it appropriate to feature a 'future focused' piece. As the parent of an 18 year old who is currently assessing his career options I was interested to read this morning a report from the World Economic Forum titled The Future of Jobs that has just been released.  The report is premised on the idea that the world is currently in the midst of a Fourth Industrial Revolution, characterised by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres. The authors argue that this revolution is … Continue reading The Future of Jobs

Education FuturesLeave a comment

Education Act Update – a vision of transformation?

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In the New Zealand context we are facing times of incredible change in our education system, including a review of our Education Act. The consultation process for this review is incredibly short – particularly given the scope of what the Act addresses and the complexity of issues that arise from it as we endeavour to operate an effective and efficient educaiton system within it.  One of the things the consultation process focuses on is making sure everyone knows the goals for education. According to the consultation documentation, the current Act doesn’t say clearly what the education goals for our children and … Continue reading Education Act Update – a vision of transformation?

Education Futures, pedagogy, research and papersLeave a comment

Makerspaces

wenmothd

The buzz words around many areas of education at the moment include STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) and the Maker Movement – both of which emphasise 'hands-on' learning and 'learning by doing', emphasising engagement in real world problems and the use of design principles and approaches. This interest has been  building for some time now – Mark Osborne discusses the Maker Culture in CORE's Ten Trends in 2014, noting that active learning increases the rate of learning faster than passive learning. Simply watching others build or make things fire up parts of our brain that are left untouched by … Continue reading Makerspaces

Education Futures, modern learning environments, Reforming schoolingLeave a comment

Innovative Education Experiences

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There's been a lot of discussion among my colleagues at CORE Education recently about the nature of transformation, and what this looks like in education. Stories emerge daily in our media of how our existing education system is failing to adequately address the needs of current students such as this one about Auckland's education story or this one about our 'broken' assessment system.  So where are the stories of where innovation is challenging traditional educational systems and models in a practical sense? We do have some great examples of innovative practice here in NZ, as highlighted by the Prime Minister's excellence awards, or browsing … Continue reading Innovative Education Experiences