On Wednesday 17th June, we all had the amazing opportunity to be invitied to the 17th CCEM (http://www.17ccem.com/) attended by all the education ministers of the Commonwealth. The event was hosted at the impressive KL Convenation Centre (KLCC) over 5 days. The CCEM meets every three years and celebrated its 50 year anniversary in KL this year.
The main focus of this year's conference was to reflect on progress in reaching 'Education for All' (EfA) and the 'Millennium Development Goals' (MDGs) and what objectives to set for those nations achieving their targets. EFA is a UNESCO initiative with huge international support that seeks to enable all primary aged children to go to school by 2015 (http://www.unesco.org/en/efa-international-coordination). The MDGs were established by the UN and seek to end world poverty by 2015. Two of the eight goals focus on education: MDG2 echoes the EfA and aims for universal primary education whilst MDG3 is more specific in its aim for equal gender access to primary and secondary schooling (http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/).
The group were priviledged to be delegates at the Teachers' Forum entitled “The Global Education Alliance: The Role of Teachers” led by Prof Dr Moses Samuel (University of Malaya), Mr Steven Obeegado (UNESCO) and Ms Susan Hopgood (Federal Secretary, Australian Education Union). An issue which clearly touched a nerve with delegate teachers was that of the increasing trend of Public Private Partnerships to improve schools internationally. Many of the delegates felt that this led to pressure upon schools to accept private finance in order to develop. Based on the fabulous opportunity our group had not only to learn from the Malaysian education system on our study visit but also to impart resources and expertise, I challenged the finance debate by arguing that effective school improvement can be achiveved by harnessing the expertise of teachers like ourselves. Study visits, international exchanges and teacher dialogue can often be free but is limited to thousands of pounds. I would strongly argue that such grass roots, face-to-face teacher support is often far more effective and sustainable that multi-million pound education projects seeking to install (rather than embed) technology or new practice.
The point about harnessing potential at the grassroots is a powerful one. Visiting a school in a rural area of Kenya, with very little in the way of resources, brought into stark relief a fact which we sometimes forget; the importance of the teacher's knowledge of both subject and pedagogy. This led to considerable progress and pupil motivation and was a powerful reminder of the importance of drawing forth from students their inherent aptitudes and love of learning. More recently in my school and others I have worked in it is noteworthy that almost without exception the most powerful training (if conducted well!) is that provided internally within the school - perhaps inspired by external influences - but understanding the home-school context and the needs of the students.
ReplyDeleteCaroline - you make an excellent point, both here and at the Conference. The study trip we all experienced is one example of face to face and teacher driven CPD. A further point I would make (which the speaker did not acknowledge), is that there is benefit in public/private partnership especially where the 'private' agenda is driven by strong moral values and when the beneficeries needs are put first. I would agree that school based inset makes the most direct impact as it is 'in context', however the dynamic energy and stimulus from external sources is also a driver to innovation and to change. The example being that travel and exchange of teachers between countries encourages debate and also challenges the status quo and is the foundation for continues improvement. best wishes
ReplyDeleteGeraldine
Caroline excellent point.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be too critical of public/private partnership. The long-term financial implications are dubious to say the least but I would welcome more managers from the private sector passing on their experiences or taking up senior positions in school. The job of running a school is a management position and despite the help they may get from a SBM and the excellent training put on by the NCSL, teachers by their very nature have a different skill set to those who go in to management. I would have no qualms about a manager from the private sector being a Head at a school I worked in, along as they have empathy with what teachers do and have dialogue with their staff, as good managers should have anyway. An interesting article Caroline and we do get a real feel about the whole Malaysian experiences based on the blogs and the photos.
ReplyDeleteGavin makes a good point and as an ex-Secondary teacher who crossed into education management working at CfBT after 20 years in teaching I can recognise the discrete skills that are used in both contexts. I feel that I have gained enormously from both experiences and feel that my understanding of teaching enhances my ability to manage education programmes and to take into account the teachers' perspective. One of the interesting strategies used in Malaysia is that experienced head teachers spend a period working in the Ministry of Education. In fact Dr Lee whom we met had been a senior leader in schools and is now working in a policy advisor and leadership role. I think that when he spoke to us about education policy in Maylasia that his background as a teacher greatly enhanced his ability to make decisions. Certainly it was evident that his decisions were firmly based on the needs of the child as well as the needs of policy. best wishes
ReplyDeleteGeraldine