We have tried almost everything to make our schools better for all kids. More this and little bit less that. We have change the order of curriculum delivery and asked kids to try harder. And, yes, we think more data and tougher sanctions when these data show set targets are not met would be the road to better schools. All of these and other ideas have left many wonder, what next. How about making music education accessible…
read moreI was just about to pass my third year as a resident in Australia when I sent my manuscript to the Griffith Review. It was an essay, my manifesto, about experiences and lessons learned during those three years as an educator, parent of school-age boys, and community member in vibrant city of Sydney. My manuscript had a working title “Fixing Australian Education” and it suggest that we need a whole new way of thinking…
read moreI have been enjoying several great conversations with colleagues and educators around the world this year that have also been recorded as podcasts. Here are some of those listed in random order. Thank you to all my hosts of these episodes. I hope you’ll like to listen these. PODCAST: Reimagine schools with Greg Goins Finnish Lessons with Pasi Sahlberg In this episode, Finnish educator,…
read moreI have been awarded two Australian Council for Educational Leaders (ACEL) awards this year. ACEL is a not-for-profit organisation that supports the development of educational leadership capabilities across Australia through conferences and workshops, leadership programs, and online resources. ACEL is the largest professional association in the education sector in Australia and the wider Asia-Pacific region. It has a growing…
read moreThe World Bank, the OECD and the United Nations recently recognised educational inequity as a growing global challenge. But what does educational equity look like and how is it achieved?
read moreIn the spring of 2018, thousands of teachers across the United States—in states like Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Arizona—walked off their jobs while calling for higher wages and better working conditions. Ultimately, these American educators trumpeted a simple request: treat us like professionals. Teachers in many other countries feel the same way as their US counterparts. In this new book with Tim Walker we explore…
read moreEverybody agrees that the COVID-19 pandemic is a big disruption in education. It questions many traditional rules and structures that have organised the work of schools in the past. But not everyone agrees that the pandemic will eventually change schools. In this article, I narrow the scope of that question and ask whether the pandemic helps us fix some of the pre-existing inequalities that we were unable, and often unwilling,…
read moreIt is 12 months since the book William Doyle and I wrote was published in the United States. It has been a hard-to-get item in much of the rest of the world due to publishing rights and more recently because the restrictions caused by the pandemic. The book has received positive reviews in the American Journal…
read moreFinnish Lessons (Teachers College Press) was published first time in November 2011. The expectations were not high but there was considerable interest in the United States and especially in Canada to read more about Finnish education system and what might be the reasons for its unexpected performance so far. Global launch of Finnish Lessons took place in Edmonton, Canada, where then-Minister of Education, Hon. Dave Hancock…
read moreOn June 4th I sat down with ABC’s Sarah Kanowski to have a conversation about my work, life and perspectives to education in Australia and Finland. This is the first public interview that the story went to look at my very early years as a schoolboy, adolescent and student and how all these often unexpected and planned life events took me to Sydney, Australia today. It is not often that one can have a conversation like…
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