David Instance (OECD): “Look beyond the structure of schooling”
Why innovation? Why learning? In 2009, nearly 20% of 15-year-olds participating in the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which measures learners’ knowledge and skills in mathematics, reading and science, failed to perform at levels commonly seen as the basic minimum needed to function in the contemporary world. That percentage was higher in some systems. […]
Tony Wagner: “How Do We Develop Young People to Become Innovators?”
In the past, our country has produced innovators more by accident than by design. Rarely do entrepreneurs or innovators talk about how their schooling or their places of work — or even their parents — developed their talents or encouraged their aspirations. Three of the most innovative entrepreneurs of the last half century — Edwin […]
A Teacher’s Life in the 21st Century
I remember when I started studying to become a teacher I thought; “I want to make a difference. I do not want to become one of those teachers that I had when I was young. A boring, burned out, old fashioned teacher that didn’t have a clue on what was going on in young peoples’ lives.“ […]
Dr. Paul Kim: “It’s time to flip the classroom”
Dr Paul Kim, Chief Technology Officer and Assistant Dean for Stanford University School of Education, has long laid emphasis on creating learning tools that are simple and can be used in highly challenging conditions. This belief led him to focus on the use of mobile phones as a learning tool, given their low power consumption, low cost, […]
Make Sustainable Development an Integral Part of Curriculum
This is article 3 of 4 in our special focus on education’s impact on development and why the new development goals must go further to ensure that all children have access to quality basic and secondary education. This special focus is co-produced by Global Partnership for Education. The phrase “Education for Sustainable Development” was coined by […]
Prof. John Traxler: Potential of Learning with Mobiles in Africa
Using mobile devices to deliver learning in Africa is obvious and ought to be successful. The reasons are easy to identify and include near-universal ownership and access to simple mobile phones, and comprehensive, energetic and competitive mobile networks. Furthermore, other technology options that might deliver learning are practically non-existent owing to poor infrastructure including unstable […]
Scott Isbrandt: “We would like to see youth in Mali gain entrepreneurial skills”
The Mali Support to Youth Entrepreneurs Project (known also by its French name Projet d’Appui aux Jeunes Entrepreneurs or PAJE-Nièta) accompanies out-of-school youth on the path to becoming more educated, economically productive, and civically engaged in their communities. The PAJE-Nièta program aims to provide 12,000 rural out-of-school youths with improved basic education, work readiness and […]
Tove Wang: “Education in fragile states needs to be a priority for the rest of the world”
2012 WISE Awards Winner Tove Romsaas Wang from Save the Children pays tribute to World Refugee Day with a guest opinion piece stressing the need for education in conflict-affected fragile states. Not once in more than 30 years of working for Save the Children have I met a child who does not have a dream for the […]
Sean Coughlan: “There are fewer journalists writing about education”
“There are sheaves of international business magazines. Science and technology likewise. But where is their counterpart in education?” writes Sean Coughlan in this guest article on the importance of Education journalism. Mr. Coughlan is an award-winning education correspondent for BBC News in London. Education is more important than ever. Everyone agrees that it’s a vital ingredient for […]
Freda Wolfenden: “Africa needs new solutions to its education challenges”
“Africa needs new solutions to its education challenges, not merely an extension of existing systems, ” writes Ms. Freda Wolfenden, Director of 2011 WISE Awards Winner TESSA, in this week’s guest article. Through the Millennium Development Goals the global community promised all children a quality education regardless of their gender, ethnicity and educational needs. Undoubtedly […]