“Diane Ravitch is the rarest of scholars—one who reports her findings and conclusions, even when they go against conventional wisdom and even when they counter her earlier, publicly espoused positions.” Howard Gardner ‘So Bill Gates Had This Idea for a History Class’, although inaccurately titled, is quite a good article from The New York Times […]
We need to start thinking now what do we do when large sections of the population are unemployable through no fault of their own. What to do in a future where, for most jobs, humans need not apply? Please watch this 15 minute video. The quote, from the conclusion of the video you just watched, […]
What percentage of students in Australian schools are explicitly taught digital citizenship skills? There are plenty of government sponsored projects that provide resources but how many kids are truly learning at school how to succeed in an online world? How many teachers have the skills to teach them? I do not know. There’s no data. […]
“An entire life spent reading would have fulfilled my every desire; I already knew that at the age of seven. The texture of the world is painful, inadequate; unalterable, or so it seems to me. Really, I believe that an entire life spent reading would have suited me best.” Michel Houellebecq “I sink down […]
“He is a storyteller, a poet, and has the unique ability to communicate with all Australians, across all age groups and gender. Collaborating with indigenous musicians, young performers, and artists of all genres, Kelly has created some of the most important songs of our times.” I grew up with Paul Kelly. His music and distinctive voice […]
“The Red Room Company works in partnership with schools, teachers and poets to put the playfulness back into poetry. One school which has particularly embraced creativity through these projects is Dapto High School.” LIFE MATTERS I had a fun start to the last week of term today being interviewed on Radio National by Natasha Mitchell about our partnership with […]
“I’ll close my eyes and admire the quality of the silence I’ll write rhymes in my mind honestly and define them Solidly redefine and memorise them Until like a diamond when I come out I’ll be better than when I arrived in” […]
There have been many posts about our school’s nurturing democracy program over the last few years at my blog, including this one about our plan to hold formal elections conducted by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC). Today, we made significant progress in assisting students to learn about how preferential voting works in our country as almost 900 […]
The Wollongong Living Books program brings to the community a collection of human ‘books’ that represent a diverse range of backgrounds and life experiences. Our students have enjoyed listening to Living Books several times at school. There truly is a diverse range of ‘books’ on offer and wandering from group to group, it is evident how interested our students […]
It always concerned me that Amazon had such a monopoly on ebooks. However, my customer satisfaction since purchasing my first kindle in 2009, compared with the obvious inferiority of other e-readers, has been high. The price, ease and massive catalogue of ebooks available did not make it seems so bad to have all my eggs in one basket. I […]