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.

Academics active in public debate

Meetings with two high flyer academics who have their fingers in many pies. Becky Francis, of Kings College and Pearsons ThinkTank and Chris Husbands of the Institute of Education at University of London are both members of the Commission on Academies. The commission is a self appointed panel reviewing the government's reform agenda for schools by collecting evidence, holding public hearings and forums and writing a report. This is how high level intellectual debate is conducted here, open informed debate which has high impact on government policy and reputation. Many contacts and papers to follow up form meeting these two dynamos....

The front entrance maketh the school

Former NSW Premier Bob Carr, self styled Education Premier, once famously declared that the front entrance to a school was a fundamental indicator of the quality of teaching and learning within. So he started a controversial program to upgrade the entrances of NSW public schools. He may have taken his inspiration from the well-located City of London school. Fronting the Thames, the students and teachers gaze dreamily across the river to the monolithic Tate Modern and it is the back door with St |Pauls Cathedral pressing down on it, that truly impresses.

An elite independent school for boys, it dates back to the 15 century. It is a top ranked school at GSCE levels and A levels and a staggering 20% leave school for Oxford and Cambridge. Not withstanding the extensive program of mandatory testing in English schools the school also sets its own entrance exams for entry at 11 and 13 years and 16 years to the various stages of schooling. What am I doing here you may ask? Well 'just looking' as they say...want to see how the various categories of school compare and how they use their performance data to improve. It is fair to say this school concentrates on enriching curriculum for outstanding students rather than getting struggling students over the line. For boys who pass the competitive entry to the school, last year only 40 new entrants started from 1000 applications, it is truly an 'elite' experience.