Category Education

World Class – Bryan Bruce

I can’t remember a time when a education documentary was this anticipated. I’m not sure what content it will hold, whether it will be one eyed and one sided, or whether it will hold anything worthwhile. I also don’t…

How should teachers be rewarded?

Education reformers (or deformers) have begun using the idea of ‘rewarding’ good teachers to whittle out the ‘bad’ teachers by using student data, achievement rates, and other variables that are almost completely removed from the ability of a teacher to…

I wish David would see more…

Today Chris Hipkins’ bill was drawn out of a hat in parliament to undergo vigorous debate as to the abolishment of the charter school policy brought in by ACT, even though all historic evidence and international examples of this have…

Problem Parenting

Through the course of my career, I’ve come across them all. I’ve met the over-protective mother, the stern but busy father, the parents who we never see (for various reasons) and the parents who are as flaky as a puff…

Getting started with Genius Hour

So this week I was intrigued by the concept of “Genius Hour” or “Passion Projects”. It just so happened that there seems to be a spare hour on Friday where students have finished their handwriting and spelling, and have got…

Discovery and Inquiry

Last week I was introduced to the idea of encouraging discovery rather than instruction in terms of the way that content is delivered. You see, back when I was at school, the teacher was the fount of knowledge and learning…