Nations around the world continue to re-think and reform education policies to better prepare children for life and work in a rapidly changing world which places a high value on innovation. What vocational skills will future teachers require to do this? What professional development is needed to prepare them for the 21st century classroom? What are the different roles and responsibilities of 21st century school leaders? How do countries succeed in developing these leaders? What lessons can we learn from successful education systems?

Finlands schools became famous around the world because of the PISA study. This survey, conducted every three years by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), compares 15-year-olds in different countries in reading, math, and science. Finland has ranked at or near the top in all three competencies on every survey since 2000, very close to other high achievers such as South Korea and Singapore.

I had the pleasure of meeting State Secretary Tapio Kosunen during his recent visit to New York to discuss some of Finlands educational priorities going forward.

Where does creating future innovators stand in Finlands educational priorities?

Nurturing innovation is an important priority for us in our school system. What it means to innovate is important when we think about a high quality education. We want more economic growth and nurturing innovation is an important way to do that. We have good examples of work being done in this area in Finland, for example, the research that has been done at Aalto University.

How do you believe your education system nurtures the theme of innovation — what are the building blocks or the key drivers?

You have to think about education incorporating both critical and creative thinking, and these things can and should be nurtured in children starting as young as possible. You then have to find solutions to combine things in a creative way, that is, to include all the important factors affecting a problem together. I also think our view of learning is that you learn all your life and you learn from many different sources, and the individual is the one who has to combine this knowledge and to find solutions. Nurturing innovation is a question of orientation, which is written into our core curriculum because everything comes back to education.

Finnish teachers have become the gold standard for many educators around the world. Can you talk about the training and preparation you believe have been instrumental in achieving this goal?

First of all, I believe our teacher training programs are of high quality because our teachers are required to do a masters degree. This degree is research based but it also requires our teachers in training to work in schools. And so their training combines theory and practical training periods. All our teachers receive help from a mentor teacher at the teacher training school who is giving feedback all the time on their teaching. I like to think they also acquire a sense of creativeness in terms of planning their lessons and thinking of the whole teaching area they are being prepared for. Our teachers are encouraged to think creatively.

Looking forward, what vocational skills will teachers of the future require?

I believe in the future the most important vocational skills required of teachers will fall into four categories. These are:

1. Knowledge of the subject area they are teaching.

The teacher of the future must be a professional of knowledge and have a holistic, in-depth knowledge of his subject areas, teaching, education, and the related expert information networks.

2. Expertise in learning and teaching.

As the concept of learning becomes broader and more essential over peoples lifetimes, the teacher of the future must be able to apply this expertise flexibly across the boundaries of age, municipalities and educational institutions, in many different forms, including on-line environments.

3. Social and ethical competence.

The teacher of the futures work must include passing on social and ethical values such as democracy, human dignity, civic participation and the well-being of people, and being able to engage in multi-professional cooperation and coordination with the home.

4. Versatile skills in practical work in schools.

The teacher of the future must have practical skills needed in the daily life of schools, including running of the school, rights and duties of the teacher and pupil, and financial and administrative issues, in order to continue our practice of incorporating decision making by teachers at the school level in our education system.

What do you believe are the characteristics of a strong school leader?

A strong school leader has to understand how the school operates as part of the overall society. I think the most important thing is that he or she is a pedagogical leader. He has to be a child-centered thinker. He must understand how to enhance learning and how to support teachers in their work. Then comes the administration, taking care of budget, and doing timetables. But pedagogical leadership must come first and he or she must be able to share it. What I mean by that is he or she sets the vision and must ensure that the goals of the core curriculum are being met along with learning outcomes, but he has to appreciate his teachers and remember they are professionals. They have a professional way of thinking about their work. He has to be able to trust and rely on them. Our teachers in Finland are quite autonomous already. They are allowed to choose their methods and they are allowed to be creative.

What do you most look forward to learning from OECD world conferences?

I am interested in learning more about leadership and teacher training from countries around the world because it is important to understand how to continue to motivate teachers and inspire them to stay in their professions long term. Teacher education in Finland has been a popular choice by international comparisons. Young people in Finland are interested in education and surveys indicate that jobs in the educational sector are among five of the most popular professions. I am interested in learning more about the Asian countries and the USA and Australia. Each of the cultures is different to Finland and that is a good thing because it makes the comparisons very interesting indeed. One thing, for example, that we are interested in learning more about is how to use technology and social media in education more effectively. The OECD conference is all about what we can learn from the rest of the world, and I think we can learn a lot.

Photos courtesy of Finlands Ministry of Education and Culture, archive, Institute of Design 2011.

In The Global Search for Education, join me and globally renowned thought leaders including Sir Michael Barber (UK), Dr. Michael Block (US), Dr. Leon Botstein (US), Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond (US), Dr. Madhav Chavan (India), Professor Michael Fullan (Canada), Professor Howard Gardner (US), Professor Yvonne Hellman (The Netherlands), Professor Kristin Helstad (Norway), Jean Hendrickson (US), Professor Rose Hipkins (New Zealand), Professor Cornelia Hoogland (Canada), Mme. Chantal Kaufmann (Belgium), Dr. Eija Kauppinen (Finland), Professor Dominique Lafontaine (Belgium), Professor Hugh Lauder (UK), Professor Ben Levin (Canada), Professor Barry McGaw (Australia), Shiv Nadar (India), Professor R. Natarajan (India), Dr. Denise Pope (US), Sridhar Rajagopalan (India), Dr. Diane Ravitch (US), Sir Ken Robinson (UK), Professor Pasi Sahlberg (Finland), Andreas Schleicher (PISA, OECD), Dr. Anthony Seldon (UK), Dr. David Shaffer (US), Dr. Kirsten Sivesind (Norway), Chancellor Stephen Spahn (US), Yves Theze (Lycee Francais US), Professor Charles Ungerleider (Canada), Professor Tony Wagner (US), Sir David Watson (UK), Professor Dylan Wiliam (UK), Dr. Mark Wormald (UK), Professor Theo Wubbels (The Netherlands), Professor Michael Young (UK), and Professor Minxuan Zhang (China) as they explore the big picture education questions that all nations face today.
The Global Search for Education Community Page

C. M. Rubin is the author of two widely read online series for which she received a 2011 Upton Sinclair award, The Global Search for Education and How Will We Read? She is also the author of three bestselling books, including The Real Alice in Wonderland.

Senator Says Iowa Needs to Get Back on Top in Education

Senator Jerry Behn said much still needs to be done with the education system in Iowa to put the state back amongst the educational elite.

During a special meeting Friday, the Auburn City Board of Education approved the purchase of a potential site for a new high school and began considering a proposal to rezone its elementary schools in 2013, measures administrators say are necessary to accommodate steady growth in the system.

The system will pay approximately $4.76 million to Lipscomb Land Co. Inc. for 101 acres on Samford Avenue east of University Drive.

It will give us enough property to do a lot of things for the school system in the future to accommodate growth, board member Matt Clegg said.

Superintendent Terry Jenkins said the system expects to close the deal by Tuesday.

Assistant Superintendent Cristen Herring said while the possibility of a new high school has been discussed, there are no definite plans for the site, noting enrollment, system needs, funding and other factors would likely determine the lands use.

The new site is more than twice the size of the existing 36-acre high school campus.

The system will buy the land with funds from an $18.5 million general obligation warrant approved by the Auburn City Council in February. The bonds are also funding construction of Pick Elementary School on North College Street.

After the vote to purchase the property, Jenkins presented the board with a proposal to rezone and reconfigure the systems elementary schools in conjunction with the opening of Pick Elementary in 2013. The board is expected to take up the issue at its regular meeting in May.

The plan would create four school zones within the city by recombining the existing elementary schools first through fifth grades and the kindergarten program at the Auburn Early Education Center to create separate schools for kindergarten through second grade and third through fifth grades in each zone. Currently, each elementary school has its own zone.

Auburn High School, Auburn Junior High and Drake Middle would be unaffected by the rezoning.

Jenkins characterized the plan as a way to accommodate growth while moving as few students as possible and adding only one new school.

We have some schools that are very near capacity, Jenkins said.

Jenkins said the system has added approximately 1,700 students during the last decade, swelling its student body to more than 7,000. Jenkins said Auburn has been among the leading systems in the state for growth during the past few years.

The system was last rezoned ahead of the opening of Richland Road Elementary School in 2008, Jenkins said.

Under the proposal, Cary Woods Elementary (K-2) would be paired with Pick Elementary (3-5), Richland Road (K-2) with Yarbrough (3-5), Dean Road (K-2) with Wrights Mill Road (3-5) and Auburn Early Education Center (K-2) with Ogletree (3-5).

The kindergarten program currently located at the Auburn Early Education Center would be divided among the K-2 schools across the zones, with the existing center becoming one of the new K-2 schools.

Jenkins and Herring said the kindergarten population could soon outgrow the center, which has no room to add additional space on its campus.

Jenkins said some of the staff from the center would be moved to other schools, where the system hopes the success of the AEEC would be duplicated.

I think you are going to see a better working relationship between K-2 than we have ever had before, Jenkins said.

Also among the considerations in the plan is student participation in the free- and reduced-lunch program. The rezoning would spread participating students among the four zones as evenly as possible, Jenkins said. About 30 percent of Auburn students participate in the meal program system-wide, and the student bodies at the schools would approximate that rate under the proposal, Jenkins said.

It is so important that we have that parity when it comes to free and reduced lunches, board President Laura Cooper said.

Noting the growth trends in the system, Jenkins said the board should revisit the rezoning plan after the state-mandated 20-day count in fall 2012 to make sure population growth will not overload any of the zones, adding data used to formulate the plan would be two years old by the time it was implemented. Jenkins predicted the rezoning would accommodate growth patterns in the city for about 4 years before the issue had to be revisited.

You may have to do some minor tweaking, Jenkins said.

Planaria Price, left, who has been with Evans Community Adult School for 39 years, says the adult education program has already been cut in half. Now we find out that we are being zeroed out of the budget.
(Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times / January 25, 2012)

More than 110 foster youth from Tulare and Kings County high schools this morning are expected to attend an education seminar highlighting the benefits of post high school studies.

The fifth-annual Access to Higher Education Summit, a joint-sponsored event, provides educational resources for high school students who are in the foster-care system.

Organizers of the event say the summit is designed to encourage foster youth to consider a college education.

The event is 9 am to 3 pm at the College of the Sequoias.

Students will attend workshops on college financial aid and Assembly Bill 12, a law which extends eligibility benefits of foster care to the age of 21.

Representatives from 13 California colleges, universities and programs supporting former foster youth will also be on hand for a resource fair.

Robert Urtecho, COSs dean of science, mathematics and engineering, will jump-start the day-long summit with an address to the audience.

Former foster youth Dee Hankins will serve as the summits keynote speaker.

Hankins, after stops in 12 foster homes, went on to create Win Your Challenges, a motivational system he developed that provides a step-by-step rubric of how to reach goals.

It is rewarding to see how everyone works together so well to create this opportunity for our foster youth, said Jim Vidak, Tulare County superintendent of schools.

The summit was modeled after a similar program developed by Leonard Edwards, a retired Santa Clara County Superior Court judge.

The event is put on by the Tulare County Office of Education, College of the Sequoias, Tulare County Superior Court, Court-Appointed Special Advocates of Tulare County and the Tulare County Independent Living Program.

The Friends of Tulare County and the Walter S. Johnson Foundation provided additional funding for the summit.

MANILA, Philippines — Education Secretary Armin Luistro on Saturday said the country’s state of education is moving forward as the Department of Education (DepEd) continues to close resource gaps, reducing the number of drop-outs, increasing participation, improving student performance, wider private sector and stakeholder participation, and better benefits for teachers.

“It may be moving slow but it is moving steadily,” said Luistro when asked on his assessment regarding the country’s current state of education. “This is because people are now more aware of the need for education and the role of the public in helping government in achieving its goal towards achieving Education for All (EFA).”

Luistro said that as early as now, the DepEd is preparing for the opening of classes in June by holding a one-day Early Registration. “Preparation is very important because it will help us in addressing potential resource needs in time for the opening of the school year,” he said.

The DepEd chief said the one-day registration is part of his department’s efforts to change the mindset of the public, particularly of parents and guardians, on last Minute enrollment.

“There has to be a change in mindset. Di na dapat pwede ang late enrollment kasi ano yun, basta bigla ka na lang sisipot sa pasukan then you’ll expect na may classroom yung anak mo? The parents must help us make the necessary preparation,” he stressed.

Public elementary and secondary schools nationwide conducted the early registration for Kindergarten, Grade 1 pupils, First Year high school students, out-of-school children (OSC), out-of-school youth (OSY), and learners with disability for School Year 2012-2013.

The early registration aims to keep track and guarantee enrolment of OSC and OSY with disabilities whose ages range from 5 to 18 across grade levels and provide them with appropriate education intervention.

This coming school year will mark drastic changes in the education system as the DepEd implements the second phase of its K to 12 Basic Education Program—the introduction of new curriculum for Grade 1 and First Year High School students.

This year, First Year students will also be called “Grade 7” students based on the design of the K to 12—one year Kinder; six years of Elementary Education; four years of Junior High School; and two years for Senior High school.

The Philippine education system, according to Luistro, is moving in the right direction as far as global standards are concerned. “More so now that we are moving towards enhancing the basic education curriculum and expanding the number of years in basic education to 12, much like what is required in the global education and industry arena,” he ended.

Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild held two roundtables Friday promoting his plan to make Tucson more business-friendly.

The framework for both discussions, one hosted by the Tucson Association of Realtors and a subsequent event at the telecommunications company CenturyLink, was the 180-day plan he created during his campaign, establishing a road map for his early months in office.

Hired a small business advocate in his office? Check.

Established a local business preference for city contracts? Working on it.

Finished simplifying the land use code? On the March agenda.

via Mayor: Negative perception of Tucson has to end.

I hope Rothschild does not repeat the same problems the Arizona Dems ran into in 2010 they had a policy of avoiding the elephant in the room the party of the Elephant that was attacking Latinos with two atrocious bills, SB1070 and HB2281, and (mostly white) Dems stayed away from those issues.

In 2012 there are already two bills attempting to repeal both of these bills, and just look at what nationwide news about Tucson has been focused on. The Giffords story is a thing of the past with her resignation, but what is going to be with us everyday, especially with a huge centennial event / week-long demonstration over Spring Break coming to Tucson this March?

Racism.

This can also be put under the subject of Education.

Not only is Arizona ranked last in the nation (sometimes it swaps spots with Mississippi) for education, and not only has Arizona been attacking education since getting 100% Republican rule, Tucson has all of these attacks plus a special one.

A ban on educational excellence for Latinos.

This has led to a ban on their books.

This has led to walkouts.

This has led to sit-ins.

This has led to MAS demonstrations.

So how are you going to get rid of the negative image of Tucson when education and racial profiling are nationwide news here?

By bringing more businesses here? Do businesses want to come to a place that attacks education?

The business angle is tricky also, because big business is usually a large contributor to environmental racism. We bring big polluting companies, and then set up on the southside; places like Raytheon, formerly Hughes.

What do you end up with? TCE in the water supply as a direct result. EPA superfund sites always on the Mexican side of town, never in Oro Valley.

You need energy to power all these companies right? So what do you need more of?

More coal to be exploited from the Navajo peoples on their land to be brought to the southside of Tucson to be burned at Alvernon and I-10.

But hey, the energy for all those Blackberries and iPhones and iPads and computers has to come from somewhere as long as we do not see the smoke on the richer side of town

You are going to need more water also, right?

That is also going to require more exploitation of the Navajos. Tucsons water comes from the CAP which requires Arizonas largest use of energy to pump that water upstream over 300 miles of desert from the Colorado River near Lake Havasu City by the London Bridge.

Parents, teachers, and education advocates released a report ripping the mayors handling of city schools.

They say given the number of school closures, including 11 schools opened under his watch, the mayor has failed the citys school kids, especially blacks and Latinos.

The group dubbed him Mayor 13 Percent because they say thats the percentage of black and Latino students that are college-ready.

Instead of really dealing with the issues, the obstacles to education, the mayor decides to hide behind this whole principle of accountability where instead of actually being in the business of educating, were in the business of shuffling around children, said parent Fred Baptiste.

Thirteen what? 13 percent. Not acceptable in anyones standard, said City Councilman Robert Jackson.

The Department of Education disputes the report, saying, in part, “As a major study this week showed, black and Hispanic students since 2002 have seen historic increases in graduation, college-readiness, and college enrollment rates, precisely because the city replaced large, failing high schools with new small schools.

JUNEAU — Four House Democrats convened to highlight education bills and criticize Gov. Sean Parnells priorities while the Senate Education Committee met Friday to discuss a bill that would increase funding for school districts.

House Democratic Leader Beth Kerttula said education is too low on Parnells list of priorities. Parnell has dismissed that criticism as pure politics.

The debate at the forefront is whether to increase the Base Student Allocation, which gives school districts a set amount of money for each student enrolled, and by how much.

The Education Committee was considering SB 171, which would increase the amount each year from the current $5,680 to $6,070 starting July 1, 2014. It is sponsored by co-chairs Kevin Meyer, R-Anchorage, and Joe Thomas, D-Fairbanks.

The idea is to provide budgets of more than a year and to keep funding increases on pace with inflation. Parnell has said hes open to discussing ways to help school districts meet costs but has problems with increases in formula programs.

Meanwhile, Rep. Pete Petersen outlined HB 143, which would automatically adjust state funding based on changes in the Consumer Price Index, a federal measure of changes in the cost of goods and services.

Petersen cited the states budget surplus and the merit-based scholarship program Parnell signed into law last year, which rewards students for completing a tougher curriculum.

How are the school districts going to offer that curriculum if they dont have the funding and the resources to do it? he said.

Rep. Les Gara touted a bill Friday that would reduce interest rates by 3 percent on student loans if graduates of college and vocational programs remain in or return to Alaska. Money is too often a barrier to college and success in Alaska and HB 272 would halt the brain drain of college graduates from the state, Gara said.

If you want to bring your jobs skills back, which we need for our economy, we will help you and we will reduce your (Alaska student) loan rate, he said.

Another bill discussed was Rep. Chris Tucks Parents as Teachers legislation, HB 49, which would provide training to parents modeled after a service provided on military bases in Alaska.

Parents are ultimately responsible for the education of their children, Tuck said. Unfortunately, right now our children are entering into kindergarten two years behind in literacy and reading.

He said the plan was voluntary but would help bridge that gap and set Alaska children on a track for success.

Other proposals under consideration would provide state funding for children from low-income and lower-middle-class backgrounds to attend preschool. A hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee highlighted a range of correlations between preschool attendance and crime rates, future income and teenage pregnancy.

It was only eight days ago that North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue visited Charlotte, declaring she would fight for more money in the classroom.

This is a fight worth having, she said Jan. 19. Let me be very direct with you. I will never back down from anything that has to do with our children.

But now shes citing that same passion as a reason for not seeking re-election, saying the fight may be too political with her Republican opponents.

The decision has local advocates paying attention

Our belief is regardless of who the governor is, that they must make education a top priority, Bill Anderson said.

Anderson is the executive director at Meck-Ed, a non-partisan education group in Charlotte.

He said it is in everyones best interest for students to succeed.

State graduation rates since Perdue took office in 2008 show a steady increase from 71.8 percent in the first year to 77.7 percent last year.

But Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools get more than half of their money from the state. Since 2009, the districts budget has been reduced by nearly $200 million, costing CMS more than 2,000 jobs.

The economy took its toll, but Perdue blamed some cuts on Republicans, as did Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton.

Its hard to make progress when youre faced in the wrong direction, he said

Dalton has already announced his plans to run for governor now that Perdue is leaving the post.

Anderson said his group and parents will be watching the race closely.

We cant worry about whats happened in the past, Anderson said. We have to worry about today, and tomorrow and the election thats upcoming.