3 things you (probably) didn’t know about Finland
Every couple of years, the OECD publish a report from their Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Their findings are (very helpfully) compiled into league tables, charting the performance of each of the participating countries in maths, literacy and application of scientific knowledge. These tables are then used to fuel media stories like this one, which […]
Read MoreMaybe class size does matter after all?
The key to a better education system is – by all accounts – to ensure we have better teachers. Hard to argue with that isn’t it? And just for the record I’m all for enhancing teacher quality – who would argue against it? It’s just I’m not keen on the way that the phrase – teacher quality […]
Read MoreIs Pyne Taking the PISA?
Yesterday the OECD released the 2012 results from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). You’ve heard of the “Education Race?” Well this is the Education World Cup. As Angel Gurria, the OECD General Secretary puts it, PISA has become the world’s premier yardstick for evaluating the quality, equity and efficiency of school systems. Unlike […]
Read MoreBehind the Scenes of my Latest Piece in the Age
As soon as I downloaded David Price’s book Open: How We’ll Live, Work & Learn in the Future I thought, “There’s a story here!” In short, Price suggests that globalisation and technology has impacted the world’s workforce and economies in ways that, for the most part, education has failed to grasp. For the piece I had […]
Read MoreChris Pyne wants to be your BFF!
In his first few weeks as Federal Education Minister, Christopher Pyne has continued the Coalition’s penchant for pithy – if a little superficial – slogans, saying that the government’s policy on schools is “achievable, affordable and believable.” It even rhymes. But what does that actually – y’know – mean? Speaking last week at the Independent Education […]
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