A Conversation with Sir Ken Robinson
Recently, I sat down with world-renowned creativity expert and New York Times Best Selling Author, Sir Ken Robinson. We discussed a range of issues including the impact of that talk, as well as the impact on education of standardised tests and the rise of the no excuses approach in schools. We also explored that whilst many subscribe to […]
Read More[SNEAK PREVIEW] Chatting with Sir Ken Robinson
Last week I presented at the Future Schools event in Melbourne. As well as speaking across the program, I also facilitated a panel discussion with former Templestowe College principal, Peter Hutton; the CEO of AITSL, Lisa Rodgers and creativity expert and New York Times best selling author, Sir Ken Robinson. After the event I sat […]
Read More[Still] struggling to get our head around social media in schools…
In February this year, I had the opportunity to ask over 1000 senior students from about forty schools across Australia, which statement best summed up how their school taught social media. I’m assuming schools would do this, as I can definitely recall a subject called Media Studies when I was at school back in the nineties… I asked… Which of […]
Read MoreDo Schools Kill Learning?
Ten years ago, a talk by Sir Ken Robinson was published on TED. Having being viewed over 41 million times on TED alone, it has become one of the most – if not the most – viewed TED talk ever. It was provocatively titled: Do Schools Kill Creativity? The popularity of Ken’s talk catapulted him into the Public Speaking […]
Read MoreMaking teachers nervous the key to lifting standards?
Four years ago I wrote a piece for the UK Huffington Post reflecting on the nonsense being espoused by the then head of OFSTED, Sir Michael Wilshaw. Upon his appointment as Chief Inspector of Schools he dispensed this advice to UK headmasters: “A good head would never be loved by his or her staff. If […]
Read MoreDI$CLO$URE
A couple of months ago I was – along with other bloggers and “industry influencers” – invited by a large tech company to attend a free workshop showcasing their new tablet and software. They were happy to “donate” to me (and by extension I assume others) a tablet worth over $1000 in return for my blogging about […]
Read MoreThe Revolution Won’t Necessarily Be Televised
Over the past month Australia’s national broadcaster, the ABC, aired a four-part documentary called Revolution School in which it followed the staff and students of Kambrya College in Victoria throughout the course of 2015. The premise of the doco was that Kambrya was a struggling school – in 2008 its Year 12 results put it in the state’s bottom 10% of […]
Read MoreSnake, Walkmans, Moments & School…
What do these three things have in common, and why on earth would I waste your time asking you that question? If you’re of a certain vintage you’ll be aware of just how amazing Nokia phones were. What’s that? You can’t remember? Check this out. Of course, Sony Walkmans were so popular even competitor’s offerings were referred to as Walkmans, […]
Read More5 Key Takeaways about Student Wellbeing
A couple of weeks ago the Centre for Education Statistics & Evaluation released their literature review into Student Wellbeing. You can access the entire document here. It clearly and concisely lays out all the considerations important for addressing student wellbeing in your school. It also offers dozens of research papers to explore by way of referencing. Having said that, if […]
Read MoreChatting with John Hattie – Pt. 3
This is the third in a series of posts based around an interview I had with John Hattie earlier this year. Whilst many education conferences around the world issue a call to arms – of sorts – to embrace 21st Century Skills, it’s worth pointing out that the cohort of kids that started Kindy in […]
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