10 nov-08 curriculum-corporation_conf._keynote

Editor's Notes

• #3 We know that globalization is about change. But it need not be change that’s forced upon us or change that we’re helpless to influence. BUILD There are two forces that can direct and control the impact of this change: education and the internet. BUILD Through education, we can change the way we connect to the larger economy – connect ourselves, our workforce and our communities. We can use the internet to open up new economic and social opportunities that before were impossible. And we can use these two forces together to create new hope for access and equity across the globe.
• #4 In a globalized world, comparative education performance matters. It matters if you ‘re winning, it matters if you’re stagnating – and it’s entirely possible to be doing both. This scatter graph plots student science performance by OECD country, drawing on the latest international data we have, the 2006 PISA scores. BUILD The vertical axis shows which countries are lagging, and which are leading. The horizontal axis shows us which countries are doing best at combating the damaging impact on student achievement of socio-economic background, or class. The aim is to be top right hand corner like Finland: above average level of student performance, below average impact of socio economic background The US is a mid-performing nation. But beneath this underwhelming headline there’s a terrifying backstory. BUILD Because it’s a top 10 nation in producing outstanding science students and it’s a bottom 20 nation in terms of the number of students who are science illiterate. That’s the wasted human capability that flows from the failure to get poorer children performing to their potential. Competing and stagnating. This risk to status and standing becomes more acute still if you look at the growth potential of emerging markets and economies like Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania, China, and Russia. They’re in blue on the chart, and in many of them, as you can see, the damaging impact of social stratification is around average or below average. BUILD Which suggests they’re ready to leapfrog into the top right quadrant provided they make good use of education levers: better teaching and learning, redesigned curriculum and education technology. In fact a recent study by Oxford’s Said School of Business has developed an index to track this ability to potentially leapfrog in education by looking at broadband access and quality as it pertains to the single biggest innovation the net is providing, the opportunity to use it for video based collaboration and learning. BRIC countries are identified as having major potential – if they can overcome the obvious infrastructure challenges.
• #5 In country after country, and here in the US, globalization is driving demand for education. For greater access to education, for equitable access to education and for quality of education. Globalization makes trade easier, which in turn makes capital more mobile. And it’s that mobility that results in a shift of economic wealth through the creation and loss of jobs around the world as capital seeks lower or more productive markets for its return on investment. BUILD The result is a demand for higher skills, so that countries can become or remain competitive. And that means pressure for better and fairer access to the education that will deliver those skills – in countries that are gaining jobs, losing jobs or both at the same time. Because there’s often a shift from lower wage/lower skilled jobs to higher wage/higher skilled jobs as capital moves. Which in turn increases the demand from business for more productive and skilled workers and increases the demand from citizens for increased access to those skills.
• #6 In the United States, the education world is under colossal pressure to change, fast…BUILD The way learners want to access the system, the quantity of learners seeking access, and the demands of those learners for new skills that allow them to participate fully in their communities and the new economy are growing. At the same time, employers demand new skills from their employees: for survival, for opportunity, for retooling and retrenching. They need new skills that allow for a more mobile, nimble, and responsive workforce that understands the basics of their industry and craft, but also the ability to collaborate, communicate, and conceptualize new approaches quickly. Wherever you look you find an education system caught between 20 th century traditions and the need for a bold and drastically new design.
• #9 The result is a changing paradigm in education. A change that provides for a system to meet both social and economic demands, and to do so in a way that is measurable. From 1.0 – the way it was through much of the 20 th Century, some good schools, some bad schools but very little system to support them Through 2.0 – the prevalent paradigm through the late 1980s, the 1990’s and on to today, where change came about largely as a result of Government’s insistence on accountability; and To 3.0 in which 21 st century learning, teaching and new technologies, powered by an adopted version of the 2.0 system, prepare learners for a world in which collaboration and change are ever present. No system in the world has achieved 3.0. In Finland, which is top of the PISA tables, the DG of Schools says it’s time to reform Finnish education radically in order to introduce 3.0
• #10 Our vision of education has the learner fully engaged in the learning process With web 2.0 technologies there is an oppty for the learner to learn in radically different ways Teacher works as the facilitator Students work on ever increasing complex problems utilizing collaborative technologies Content can be drawn from global informal resources and Collaboration and creating is integral to the experience
• #11 Our vision of education has the learner fully engaged in the learning process With web 2.0 technologies there is an oppty for the learner to learn in radically different ways Teacher works as the facilitator Students work on ever increasing complex problems utilizing collaborative technologies Content can be drawn from global informal resources and Collaboration and creating is integral to the experience
• #13 Building Basic Capacity Is the Priority Challenge for Many Developing World Systems Education 0.5 Still to establish traditional education systems
• #14 Variability in Performance Is the Critical Challenge in the Developed World Education 2.0 System reform
• #15 So back to those internal and external pressures on our education systems that are pushing it to do more, reach more, and achieve more. Lets look at what the drivers of those changes are and perhaps more importantly the tasks and tools available to leaders to change their education systems. Do More: BUILD Talent is global; so we need to think actively about what it is we need to do to sequence the path to 21 st Century learning in a student centred way that looks to more individualized planning and prioritizes creativity and collaboration to ensure today’s talent is not lost. Reach More: BUILD Access and equity remain major issues in the developed and developing world; wealth and income of families and communities limit resources and require us to look for new ways to bridge gaps in the provision of quality education and access to education. Here, perhaps more than anywhere else we can use technology to accelerate the process of change. Using collaborative technology helps us build the networks of teachers and community supports to establish a new role for schools in our communities and for teachers are part of a community. Achieve More: BUILD Competition is driving the need for change and increased quality and quantity of graduates with the skills to meet the challenges of today’s economy. The ability to balance these challenges brought on by competition that is forcing internal and external pressure on our system is solely the domain of empowered, informed leaders. With improved, more engaged, more empowered leaders, employing technology and fostering 21 st century skills, our schools systems in the developed or developing world can indeed do more, reach more, and achieve more.