Ambassador Kirsti Kauppi, Dr. Nicholas Breakwell, Dr. David Perkins, Andreas Schleicher and Pak Tee Ng contributed to The Global Search for Education discussions this month on future learning, sharing perspectives on topics which ranged from what’s really worth learning, to strategies to improve learning amongst 15 year olds, to an insider’s look at how online training for teachers has evolved and grown in recent years. Teacher attrition costs the United States up to $2.2 billion annually. What can be done to solve this problem? Our Top Global Teacher bloggers shared their views as to what school administrators can do to help.
“If we are to achieve the joint goals adopted in the UN in September, they have to be part of everything we do, including education,” Kirsti Kauppi, Finland’s Ambassador to the United States, told me. The ambassador believes that all 17 goals of the Agenda are relevant to education, not just number four, “quality education.” She added that Finland is exploring what the implementation of the UN goals means to its education system. The ambassador discussed Finland’s new phenomenon based learning approach that she stated “aims to make teaching more integrated, and develop both a wide understanding and versatile skills.”
What’s really worth learning? Dr. David Perkins of Harvard Graduate School of Education has participated in curriculum projects addressing thinking, understanding and learning in Colombia, Israel, Venezuela, South Africa, Sweden, Holland, Australia and the United States. This month, he shared with me the top 5 strategies he recommends to teachers to help them nurture the 4 C’s (creativity, critical thinking, communication, collaboration) in classrooms.
“All countries can improve their students’ performance, given the right policies and the will to implement them,” according to PISA’s Andreas Schleicher, who discussed in his interview with me the factors affecting 15 year old students’ low performance on test together with recommendations for what countries can do to help, based on a new analysis of previously published PISA data called “Low Performing Students: Why They Fail and How to Help Them Succeed.”
What started as a highly protested transition, with fears that online teachers wouldn’t be properly trained, is becoming a global phenomenon according to Dr. Nicholas Breakwell, who spent almost a decade at Hibernia College in Ireland and its subsidiary in the UK (the latter was recently purchased by TES Global). This month, Breakwell discussed why he expects to see an acceleration in online education for teachers.
Pak Tee Ng is Associate Dean, Leadership Learning, and the Head of Policy and Leadership Studies Academic Group at the National Institute of Education (NIE), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. This month, he shared his vision for schools of the future, including how they will be more environmentally conscious and globally inclusive, and what the role of physical teachers will be.
“The relentless drive toward higher test scores has left teachers feeling a palpable pressure to show student progress above all else,” says top global teacher blogger Adam Steiner. How can school administrators help to reduce teacher attrition? “Expectations should be lined up with experience,” comments Vicki Davis. “Strong mentoring colleagues are critical,” adds Todd Finley, while Richard Wells believes in the benefits of team-teaching that “relieves some of the pressure put on new teachers as well as provides a time-efficient source of professional development.” Finally, Craig Kemp points to staff drinks and social gatherings as being essential to a healthy education culture.
Our thanks to all our friends and supporters around the world.
Join me and globally renowned thought leaders including Sir Michael Barber (UK), Dr. Michael Block (U.S.), Dr. Leon Botstein (U.S.), Professor Clay Christensen (U.S.), Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond (U.S.), Dr. MadhavChavan (India), Professor Michael Fullan (Canada), Professor Howard Gardner (U.S.), Professor Andy Hargreaves (U.S.), Professor Yvonne Hellman (The Netherlands), Professor Kristin Helstad (Norway), Jean Hendrickson (U.S.), Professor Rose Hipkins (New Zealand), Professor Cornelia Hoogland (Canada), Honourable Jeff Johnson (Canada), Mme. Chantal Kaufmann (Belgium), Dr. EijaKauppinen (Finland), State Secretary TapioKosunen (Finland), Professor Dominique Lafontaine (Belgium), Professor Hugh Lauder (UK), Lord Ken Macdonald (UK), Professor Geoff Masters (Australia), Professor Barry McGaw (Australia), Shiv Nadar (India), Professor R. Natarajan (India), Dr. Pak Tee Ng (Singapore), Dr. Denise Pope (US), Sridhar Rajagopalan (India), Dr. Diane Ravitch (U.S.), Richard Wilson Riley (U.S.), Sir Ken Robinson (UK), Professor Pasi Sahlberg (Finland), Professor Manabu Sato (Japan), Andreas Schleicher (PISA, OECD), Dr. Anthony Seldon (UK), Dr. David Shaffer (U.S.), Dr. Kirsten Sivesind (Norway), Chancellor Stephen Spahn (U.S.), Yves Theze (LyceeFrancais U.S.), Professor Charles Ungerleider (Canada), Professor Tony Wagner (U.S.), Sir David Watson (UK), Professor Dylan Wiliam (UK), Dr. Mark Wormald (UK), Professor Theo Wubbels (The Netherlands), Professor Michael Young (UK), and Professor Minxuan Zhang (China) as they explore the big picture education questions that all nations face today.
The Global Search for Education Community Page
C. M. Rubin is the author of two widely read online series for which she received a 2011 Upton Sinclair award, “The Global Search for Education” and “How Will We Read?” She is also the author of three bestselling books, including The Real Alice in Wonderland, is the publisher of CMRubinWorld, and is a Disruptor Foundation Fellow.
Follow C. M. Rubin on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@cmrubinworld
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The Global Search for Education: Our Top 12 Global Teacher Blogs – What are the biggest mistakes teachers make when integrating technology into the classroom?
The Global Search for Education: Our Top 12 Global Teacher Blogs – Remembering Joe Bower and His Love of Learning
The Global Search for Education: Global Teachers – It’s Genius Time Kids!
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