The Global Search for Education: What Is the Fourth Way?
Jan28

The Global Search for Education: What Is the Fourth Way?

 “We need to establish platforms for teachers to initiate their own changes and make their own judgments on the frontline, to invest more in the change capacities of local districts and communities, and to pursue prudent rather than profligate approaches to testing.” — Andy Hargreaves and Dennis Shirley  The Fourth Way is a powerful new vision to bring about effective educational reform. Even after one has...

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The Global Search for Education: Internet Sharing Programs
Jan21

The Global Search for Education: Internet Sharing Programs

 “The strength of the Wikiwijs platform is that we are now able to make all learning materials available for all teachers in the entire country to share.  Everyone can access the materials through one port of entry.” — Robert Schuwer  The goal of the Netherlands Wikiwijs program, when it was launched by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science five years ago, was to mainstream the use of open...

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The Global Search for Education: What Will Finland Do Next?
Jan14

The Global Search for Education: What Will Finland Do Next?

 “Finnish schools are fear-free places where children don’t need to worry about competition, failure or performance that in many countries are fueled by standardized testing.” — Pasi Sahlberg Photo courtesy of Elvi Rista.  Systematic pursuit of children’s wellbeing and happiness in secure environments takes precedence over measured academic achievements in Finnish schools, according to Pasi Sahlberg,...

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The Global Search for Education: UK on Testing
Jan07

The Global Search for Education: UK on Testing

“The English Baccalaureate has the merits of strengthening the general academic education of lower achieving students and removing useless, mostly quasi-vocational subjects.” — Michael Young   “It is time for the race to the bottom to end.  We believe it is time to tackle grade inflation and dumbing down.” — Michael Gove In the fall of 2012, the British Education Secretary, Michael Gove,...

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The Global Search for Education: On US Education Problems
Dec20

The Global Search for Education: On US Education Problems

 “Providing college tuition-free without getting the money back through taxes for the better educated means that the poor end up subsidizing the education of the rich.” — Andreas Schleicher  According to Andreas Schleicher of OECD, the United States is unique among countries in that the generation of workers entering the US workforce does not have higher college attainment levels than the generation about to...

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