Education Revolution: Right Idea, Wrong Method

I’ve been published on the ABC today giving my thoughts on the current state of play of education reform in Australia. Here is an excerpt: I’m not saying we shouldn’t aim to improve teaching and learning in schools. Of course we should; any profession worth its salt seeks to continually improve its impact. But what […]

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Why, why why… don’t we ask the right questions?

Those involved with education reform  in Australia, the UK and US seem to focus on what we should teach students, when we should teach our students & how we should teach, assess and compare our students with their international counterparts. To me, it appears that those leading educational change* neglect the most important questions of all. Why should we teach our students that? […]

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Vive le Revolution!

On Friday 2nd March, the teaching community of Sydney got together for an incredible event. Starting at 5pm (yes… after School), 300+ teachers from across all the educational sectors got together to share concepts, collaborate, start new projects, discuss technology and generally explore the nature, purpose and possibilities of education. I’ve written of the TeachMeet phenomenon […]

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What the League Tables DON’T Tell You

In the last couple of weeks, much has been made of the fact that Australia is falling behind its Asian neighbours in terms of educational outcomes for its students. The recently published Grattan Report stated that, “In Shanghai, the average 15-year old mathematics student is performing at a level two to three years above his or her counterpart […]

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Farewell to the Graduating Class of 2025

Today is my 35th birthday. By my reckoning by the time this year’s Kindergarten class graduate in 2025, I may well be in a position where someone might ask me to give a graduation speech for them. So in the spirit of being prepared, here is what I hope to be able to say: May […]

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It Just Clicks – Latest SMH Piece

At the start of this year, 7000  school students in Miami took a maths course delivered entirely by computer. Instead of a teacher, the only adult in the room was a “facilitator” who dealt with technical problems and ensured students remained on task.  Labor’s Digital Education Revolution (DER) ensures that every Year 9 student in […]

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What is the Role of a 21st Century School Principal?

On Sunday I read a report by the Sunday Telegraph’s education editor Laura Speranza which highlighted the technological habits of school principals. I tweeted the following: Via @Laura_Speranza: Principals who don't use: Twitter-90%, Wikis-62%, Blogs-57%. Do you think this is an issue? #edchat #duedchat — Dan Haesler (@danhaesler) September 25, 2011 Unsurprisingly, many of the responses suggested […]

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What’s wrong with Performance Related Pay? – Latest SMH Piece

It is generally accepted in most professions that the better you are, the more money you can command.  Many teachers would agree the top in their field should be rewarded accordingly. So why is it that the Gillard government’s proposed performance-related payment scheme is not being welcomed with open arms? Read my full article in the […]

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Five Ways to Wellbeing

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Felicia Huppert. Felicia is a well-known researcher in the field of wellbeing, and has advised and informed the UK Governments policy making in the area of mental capital and wellbeing. Amongst other things, she introduced me to the work of the New […]

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My Latest Sydney Morning Herald Article

Page 17 of today’s edition of the Sydney Morning Herald carries an article I wrote regarding the development of the new Australian Curriculum. Read it online here Entitled “Old Ways Curb Young” Minds and featuring comment from Daniel Pink, Richard Gerver, Brian Caldwell and Professor Robyn Ewing, I will  be interested to see what reaction […]

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