The Global Search for Education: Dreams
“I see schools as being a place for finding your talent, enriching yourself through being socially attached to one another, and building a healthy personality.” — Pasi Sahlberg Finnish educator Pasi Sahlberg and Chancellor Stephen Spahn of the Dwight School in Manhattan have big dreams for education. Sahlberg, the celebrated global reformer and author of newly released (and already in reprint) Finnish...
The Global Search for Education: Block Building
“We have implemented very high academic standards that are internationally competitive” — Michael Block The co-founders of BASIS Schools, Michael and Olga Block, aimed to offer the type of education students receive in the top performing education systems around the world, the type of education that would help American students compete in the global economy. Ten years after BASIS Schools opened its first...
The Global Search for Education: The 20%
“The achievement gap is not created by schools. The achievement gap begins before the children are born.” — Diane Ravitch photo courtesy of Rick D’Elia, Save the Children U.S. Programs. Even with food stamps, poor people are still poor. The OECD lists the U.S. as being one of the five top OECD nations with the highest child poverty rate. The impact of poverty is significant in the outcomes of children...
The Global Search for Education: A Look at a Finnish School
Aurora School Principal Martti Hellström in the classroom with his pupils If you thought you knew everything about the remarkable transformation of Finland’s schools from mediocre to one of the top performing school systems in the world, think again. Native Finn Pasi Sahlberg (educator, researcher, advisor on global education reform, and Director General of CIMO in Helsinki, Finland), who has lived and closely studied...
The Global Search for Education: Change Leader
“The way to improve the quality of teaching is through teamwork in the schools, and then surround it with better teacher pre-service, better attraction of the profession, and better professional development.” — Michael Fullan Michael Fullan has been working to identify the right drivers for whole system education reform. His paper, “Choosing the Wrong Drivers for Whole System Reform,” has...
The Global Search for Education: All That Is Me
“The education system that will optimize the prospects of success in the global world will be one that develops passion, releases creativity, and which has deeply challenged its young people.” — Anthony Seldon Developing the whole child has been the goal of many leading global educators. Those who are succeeding appear to have struck the balance among learning, assessment, and helping students understand who...
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