This week, a historic pay case was lodged in Australia that will test the work of the child care educator against industry standards. A number of reasons for this have been cited in the media, including the rates of pay for equivalently qualified educators in the school sector and the fact that this industry hasContinueContinue reading “Early learning & pre-school education needs a brand makeover – it’s so much more than ‘childcare’”
Category Archives: Education
Lessons for schools from a book retailer that is reversing the trend: Dymocks trumps Borders
In 2013 Australia’s 130 year old Dymocks bookstores are still standing. In fact, the iconic bookstore chain claims to have sold more books last year than ever before. Dymocks Managing Director, Steve Cox believes bookstores have a tremendous future. “Book stores attract customers to shopping centres,” he says. “People will stop coming to shopping centres ifContinueContinue reading “Lessons for schools from a book retailer that is reversing the trend: Dymocks trumps Borders”
“If you have a choice between a great teacher and a smaller class, go for a great teacher” 10 steps to greatness
Education policy adviser to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Andreas Schleicher said, “too much money had been spent reducing class sizes, instead of boosting teacher performance”. Northern Beaches Christian School, is becoming known as one of the world’s most innovative schools. Each week we host individuals and groups from across Australia and aroundContinueContinue reading ““If you have a choice between a great teacher and a smaller class, go for a great teacher” 10 steps to greatness”
Leadership is hard… facing the facts & charting the course, it’s not all smooth sailing
…and if your are only looking for smooth sailing, you’re probably not leading. For our northern hemisphere colleagues about to take to the sun and enjoy some obviously well-deserved downtime, we in the southern hemisphere are in the ‘bleak midwinter’, well, as bleak as beautiful Sydney can get. It’s halfway through the year and thereContinueContinue reading “Leadership is hard… facing the facts & charting the course, it’s not all smooth sailing”
Overcrowded schools an opportunity to disrupt not maintain the status quo. The current model is broken.
Students in Sydney’s North Shore government schools are overcrowded. The solution seems to be a simple mathematical equation. If we need to accommodate 360 more students , we need to form 12 classes and then find 12 classrooms in which to house them: 360 ÷ 30 = 12. Simple. Presumably, it also means that every studentContinueContinue reading “Overcrowded schools an opportunity to disrupt not maintain the status quo. The current model is broken.”
Cross-generational learning: Babyboomers #ReverseMentoring to learn from Gen Y teachers
Reverse mentoring was an idea of Jack Welch, the legend CEO at GE, instigated 10 years ago. He established a program where the top-level executives were mentored by young people, initially to learn how to use the internet. Today, reversed mentoring helps baby boomers learn about social media, apps and workplace trends, but it hasContinueContinue reading “Cross-generational learning: Babyboomers #ReverseMentoring to learn from Gen Y teachers”
We can’t stay in conference-land forever, now it’s time to get on with it after #edutech and #cefpinz13
Over the last couple of weeks I have been at two conferences, well, kind of. Last week I was in Auckland for CEFPI Australasian Conference, and via the Twitter-feed at Edutech over the last couple of days. Lots of similar messages across both… recognition of the changing times calls to action challenging the status quoContinueContinue reading “We can’t stay in conference-land forever, now it’s time to get on with it after #edutech and #cefpinz13”
Tracking the tweets: Leadership lessons from the Christchurch Earthquake at #CEFPINZ13
‘All the kids are ok’. Humbled by narratives of Christchurch earthquake We’ve just wrapped up the CEPFI Conference for 2013 in Auckland, it was a challenging, inspiring and, at times, an emotional few days. So what is CEFPI? The acronym is for Council for Educational Facilities International, in short, t a dialogue between educators andContinueContinue reading “Tracking the tweets: Leadership lessons from the Christchurch Earthquake at #CEFPINZ13”
#QualityWork shows deep understanding, is critiqued, is revised, is aesthetically pleasing… and what else?
What is your purpose and philosophy of displaying student work? Is it just something teachers have always done? What does the work you display show? To confess, there were times during my teaching when displaying students’ work was more about decorating a space, than visually articulating learning. My epiphany came on a visit to anContinueContinue reading “#QualityWork shows deep understanding, is critiqued, is revised, is aesthetically pleasing… and what else?”
How can schools be fit for purpose? High Tech High – passion, creativity, aesthetics #PBL
It’s one thing to say tech geniuses don’t need degrees. After all, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg all dropped out of college. But now we’ve got David Karp, who doesn’t even have a high school diploma. Karp, 26, founded Tumblr, the online blogging forum, and sold it to Yahoo for $US1.1 billion. (fullContinueContinue reading “How can schools be fit for purpose? High Tech High – passion, creativity, aesthetics #PBL”
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