Kate and William upstage visit to Cambridge

Kate and William chose today to visit Cambridge while I was there...cloudy and cold, they chose the alternative rail provider on the national rail service to us.. Everything is open to multiple providers in England and there is time of day pricing on everything except coffee...that is because they do not how to make it yet...but I digress..

The education faculty is located in a new building and there are lovely learning environments. The head of faculty is an Australian, nee Melbourne. His main touch points in all things educational are Australian..John Hattie, Laurence Ingvarson and the ACER, Phil McKenzie. His research expertise is in school leadership and school improvement ...he explained the Cambridge system  for teacher education,  masters level only, competitive entry, 120 hours of work in schools, and additional testing before employment. Views from the common areas are lovely...

School visits reveal diversity

I have had a busy few days visiting schools in London and beyond. Monday saw me travelling to Sussex, to visit the primary school Haven, which is officially a voluntary-aided primary school, one of about ten categories of school in the UK. It is a CofE school with a strong Christian ethic.

Forget government and non-government...all schools receive government funding except those that are strictly private..there are different governance arrangements and freedoms from government control and even the natioanl curriculum is flexible in delivery outside very minimum requirements.  My second school to visit was King Solomon Academy, a new school in the academy program,  with additional funding to reopen a closed school, offering an extended school day to a 'deprived community' and innovating in all areas of delivery, including offering Singapore's maths curriculum, challenging in year 2 as I saw demonstrated in the classroom. Classes are conducted in near silence!!! Student progress impressive and everything documented and analysed in the 11 hour day put in by all teachers and the principal!! How could this work in  Aus I think to myself??  The next school was more familiar, a large comprehensive with impressive VET provision and new facilities paid for by government ...but all students are wearing blazers even in class!!! Even while jamming on a drum kit!!! A government priority not one of the current head teacher, he assured me. Quoting John Hattie, who wrote the bible on school characteristics for quality schooling, again his words, no mention of uniform in there...lots more to record on the use of progress measures at student and class level and a performance appraisal system for teachers that makes your head spin...

EUROSTAT under siege in the wealthiest country on the planet

Longish train journey from Brussels to Luxembourg today, the wealthiest country on the planet..but what indicator do they use, I ask myself on arrival at the station at the arse end of the town with familiar vistas of rubbish and run down industrial warehouses....excusez- moi le francais.. I am meeting with Education statistics boffins at EUROSTAT, the European Commisson's official body for statistics on all matters including education. They are perversely located at a shoping mall, nestling above floors of commercialism..a subtle message..je ne sais pas? M Sylvain was a lovely Frenchman who assured me...having arrived on a day when the Commission staff were striking ..that speaking to an Australian about education indicators and data issues was an afternoon off for him, as budget cuts have cut deep at the Commission as funds are directed to bail outs. Data issues are the same for them...as us ... Surveys and sampling error, benchmarking an inexact science, definitional issues... I am back in OZ land. A swift ride to the station with deluxe EUROSTAT show bag in tow, I am happy with the day's encounters...

Talkfest European style

The Australian - EU policy dialogue on Skills, Innovation and Growth, kicked off in a gentle manner as Australians were introduced, some heavy hitters on our side..Robine Shreeve, Mr Skills Australia, Tony McKay roving Eductaion guru on teacher quality and our facilitator today, Steven Schwartz, VC Macquarie Uni, (put in a good word for Gabi my daughter a student at Macquarie) and various DIIRSTE and DEEWR bureaucrats who are Europe based, the Agent General for Qld..we still have one.. an amiable Ken Smith, ex PM and C head Qld post KRudd, his wife an old warrior from the women's unit in education and  training in the 90s, mates with Kaye Schofield, another roving educrat over here, now working for AusAid on their education strategy. So it is a small small world. Team Europe had its share of UK professors, the EU head honcho on Education, OECD reps and others...the day veered dangerously towards the higher education  agenda and the future world of online learning. Below is my reflection moment over a coffee in the Cafe Metropole, at the forum venue, a Belle Époque cafe with good coffee..hard to find on this trip...believe it or not...forget PISA..we lead the world in good coffee, drink in or take away..shame we can't replicate the settings...

UNESCO and its unique role in education

My second meeting was at the Institute of Education Planning. The deputy director there is Suzanne Lewis, a powerhouse personality with a PhD from Harvard and a vision for the Institute to contribute broadly to improving the planning for education systems in developing countries. I made a well received presentation to a groups of staff, and and trainees from all over the globe, many of whom are completing their masters  in educational planning. They had good informed questions..and were a lively bunch. Here I am below in my Paris apartment writing up my notes after a long day of meetings...

I had two interesting meetings at UNESCO bodies this week. The first was with the Education For All Global Monitoring Team who monitor and report annually on countries' progress towards six agreed goals. Their reports go straight to the point when countries are failing to make progress..the 2012 report launched in October 2012 "with 164 countries...progress towards many of the targets is slow, and most goals are unlikely to be met..for example, progress on early childhood care and education is slow....adult literacy remains an elusive goal..." Gaps are quantified and the links between financing and improvement are made. Education is placed in its wider social outcomes framework, something the OECD is increasingly advocating for developed countries. 

OECD or OCDE

Took a few days to figure out I was instructing the taxi driver from the metro in the wrong order of initials for the 5 mins journey from the metro..it was non intelligible as OECD but perfectly fine Madame as OCDE! This week I met with a diverse range of OECD directors and researchers. All are doing very sophisticated work on education policy and indicators and research into priority areas like innovation in learning environments and governance systems and accountability. The case study is alive and well as a foundation approach to identifying good practice and then 'scaling up' becomes the challenge. All work is done in a highly consultative way and they have mastered the art of the working conference to deliver improvements of frameworks and products...part of the secret is of course location location location..who does not want to come to Paris for an engaging session on things eductional?? Here I am meeting with Andreas Schleicher, formerly known worldwide as Mr PISA but now working more broadly..with a firm belief on the power of indicators and data to drive policy change.

Lunch at the OECD restaurant of nations

Margaret Pearce and Mark Unwin are our representatives from Australia on all things education, skills and employment. Here they are taking time out with me at the Restaurant of Nations, OECD HQ. A stimulating week of meetings to report on...

Without data you are just another person with an opinion

I had my first meetings today at the OECD in Paris which has to be the centre of all things data.. Statistics, indicators, data, methodological issues, progress measurement, indices, comparative assessment was the lexicon du jour..it was all very stimulating and relevant to my inquiries on the connection between policy reform and outcomes reporting...was I the only one impressed by the physical environment of the Chateau Muette and the new age conference center alongside? Delegates  arrived continously from the World Bank and other impressive organisations as I waited at the security check in.. it must also be the centre of the talkfest...in a good way..

I was most impressed by a particular initiative of the Statistics Directorate called ' How is Life?' It is an interactive website on well-being indices...the latest indicator area of interest both here and the UK .. The data visualisation aspects are spectacular,  but what is of interest is that users can decide the relative weightings of the factors in their own 'formula' and then construct the comparative rankings of countries by overall performance or by individual domains.. This information is then used to guide knowledge about what people think are the determinants of well being...apart from that it is extemely user friendly and attractive to use..have a go... OECD..

A week off in Paris

Blogger is having a week's annual leave before resuming my Churchill itinerary in Paris..stay posted next week!!!

Goodbye Winston and your beloved London. Portrait of a youngish Winston at the National Portrait Gallery, London. 

Innovate or perish

Stimulating meeting with David Albury, Director of the Innovation Unit, this morning in the unlikely venue of the Borough Market on Southbank. Amid the smells and sights of seafood and cheeses, bubbling paella pans of creamy fish and vegetables, discussions were wide ranging around David's work on transforming Education systems worldwide. The Innovation Unit commenced life as a unit within the government department of Education, broke free of government control and government subsidy and is now a well respected not for profit contributing to Education and broader service delivery, and reform processes worldwide. David has worked in Brazil, British Columbia, Korea and Australia and says there is something to learn from every system. We traversed the merits of international testing as policy levers, competition and marketisation of schooling, curriculum design for the knowledge economy and characters-at-large in the world of education reform, including the many pollies David has worked closely with. Can't wait till David visits my workplace in February and engages with our staff and council.