Education expert Stephen Heppell gave a fascinating and lively presentation during his recent visit to Australia (and NAB) and key note speech at the NAB Schools First Community Tuesday event.
Learning spaces
Stephen spoke of new physical environments and their impact on positive learning outcomes, valuing ingenuity over creativity in education and playing with notions of time. Why do we structure school days around short burst learning periods? Can we introduce immersion models focusing on topics around days or even months?
Childrens Futures Market
A fascinating section of Stephen’s address focussed on the notion of monetising educational outcomes with a view to a possible ‘Children’s Futures Market’ where the derivative is children’s outcomes. Over time one might assess, did these children get better jobs, become better parents, better earners or better citizens who delivered more back to society?
The future is online
In his closing remarks, Stephen pointed to the online world as a way of seeing the future of learning spaces- as it has already dictated a number of changes.
Video content
Stephen’s presentation is split into two videos of approximately 15 minutes each.
A panel discussion featuring Stephen Heppell, Adam Smith (Youth Advocate, Centre for Public Education) and Mary Lawrey (Principal, Sacred Heart School Fitzroy) is featured across four 10-15 minute videos.
Further information on Stephen Heppell: http://www.heppell.net/
Answers to questions asked through NAB’s facebook and twitter channels prior to the session:
Twitter:
yourtutor8:46am via web
@NAB @stephenheppell How will the need for innovation overcome edu bureaucracies’ inertia? What move for educators who want change? –JG
Jarrod Robinson How does Stephen feel the national curriculum will impact innovation in the curriculum?
These questions are well covered by Stephen in the presentation and in particular within the panel discussion. To paraphrase, whilst he is critical of the move to a national curriculum, he feels that teachers have the power to move beyond impediments through the learning environments they have the opportunity to create at a grass roots level. At a bureaucratic level he felt that the negatives of a national curriculum would be realised and acted upon within a five year window or thereabouts.
Further reading: http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/national-curriculum-means-lack-of-state-competition-20111113-1nduj.html
Miss_Parker_Aus Nov 14, 5:37pm via Twitter for iPhone
@NAB @stephenheppell @schools_first my sister is having trouble deciding if her son is ready for school yet or to keep him back. Any advice?
Stephen answered a number of questions around the best circumstances for children with similar responses. To crudely paraphrase- you know the children in your life better than anyone and their capacity for learning extends beyond the classroom. You also have the power to change the situation if you don’t feel it’s working out. Overwhelmingly, Stephen’s message is that there is an opportunity for parents to play a role- just as companies and the broader community has – in a shared delivery of education.
Facebook:
Leanne Jacobs its also Bully Awareness week ….. his thoughts on the schools support here. Public seem to think schools dont do enough?
Bullying in Australian schools isn’t Stephen’s area of expertise. However, we can recommend checking out programs delivered in many schools across the country by the Alanna and Madeline Foundation, supported by NAB. The partnership demonstrates our shared philosophy to protect our most valuable assets – children.
NAB’s involvement has helped The Alannah and Madeline Foundation develop an anti-bullying framework ‘The Better Buddies Program’. Now operating in 800 schools throughout Australia, the Better Buddies Program delivers a very positive and effective anti-bullying, anti-violence message using the Buddy Bear as its mascot. The program aims to permanently change the culture of bullying by teaching school children that it is ‘cool’ for a big kid to look after a little kid. The framework provides year-long formal and informal buddy activities as well as four special events: Better Buddies Games, Better Buddies Book Week, Better Buddies Picnic and Better Buddies Week.
More information on the AMF’s range of programs here.
http://www.amf.org.au/
