The Changing Face of Competition for Schools
You may not be aware of the next-generation challengers to the traditional international school model. A recent report from SSATB (now: The Enrollment Management Association) highlights a number of new models to ponder from the perspective of competition. These are not putative or theoretical models of how we might do school -- they exist and they're gaining ground. They are expanding. They have proof of concept.
Why Innovation Fails
Innovation is a buzz-word, admittedly. People think they're cool when they use it, when they criticise schools (and other organisations and industries) for not being innovative. The truth is, though, that innovation is deeply challenging. Although we frequently hear a choir of folks sing the praises of failure, it should be pointed out, as Ben Slater of consultancy Bow & Arrow (London) does in the most recent issue of London Business School Review (2.2015), that "[i]nnovation is a complete and utter basket case in business [...]. There is no other discipline [...] that has a higher failure rate than innovation [...]. It is incredibly hard. There are multiple pain points where innovation can fail [...]."
On Pervasive Myopia
Ever the optimist, I always read reports on 21st-century whatever (e.g., skills, competencies, curriculum, etc.) with the hope that there may be some glimmer of recognition of the life-force of teaching and learning, as opposed to policy-wonk interpretations of what ‘education’ means now. So it was that I immersed myself in a seventy-page PDF from the Asia Society and Rand Corporation (aka a Global Cities Education Network report) entitled Measuring 21st-Century Competencies: Guidance for Educators (November 2013).
Creativity and System Leadership
As much as we hear experts and presenters talk about the need for creativity in education in an incessantly dynamic and interconnected world, we see rather dimly when it comes to how to catalyse it. We say, "Yes! We need more creativity in education!," yet, when it comes to action on this front, we're waiting to be told how to do it, as if there were some road map or how-to manual to which we all should have access.
On Research, Evidence, and Practice
What if research were being undertaken, evidence of 'what works' noted and shared in public forums, yet no espousal and/or application of those results in schools? It would seem difficult to believe that such a thing could be taking place, yet that is precisely the premise of an article in the August 2014 issue of Scientific American.