The Changing World of Education: Kony 2012

by | Mar 11, 2012 | Blog, Teacher's Corner, Video

I’m beginning to see that we are living at the edge of a very unusual time in education.  My students helped me discover this today by introducing me to a documentary on Joseph Kony the Ugandan warlord. By now you may have heard of the Kony 2012 campaign designed by the US based non-profit Invisible Children (If not I’ll post the documentary at the bottom).  Since the videos initial release, just earlier this week, over 60 million people have viewed it. Suddenly students who were never interested in Central African war atrocities want to discuss and learn more about the topic.  No doubt this is partly due to the nature of the story but it’s also a testimony to the effectiveness of clever branding and brilliant marketing.  Over the last few years there has been a steady increase of viral marketing and attempts to raise awareness through social media, but none have seemed as layered and effective as the Kony 2012 campaign. So how does this relate to education?  As I watched the inspiration rise in my students as we discussed this topic I see an opportunity to capitalize on their motivation.  In fact it seems more and more normal for my students to be keen marketing commentators.  I’d like to follow their motivation and see where we end up, but there’s one big problem, this is IB history and May exams are right around the corner.  So instead of harnessing my student’s ambition and seeing where it takes us I have to get my students ready to be assessed.  Anyone who teaches 12th graders in the spring knows...

Your Questions For Dr. Krajczar

by | Mar 6, 2012 | Education, Leadership News

As I mentioned in previous posts the goal of this blog is to learn more about great leadership in international education and where it’s happening.  Since I’m just about out of ideas, I’ve been lucky enough to connect with someone who should have some good thoughts on the topic. I’m excited to announce that Dr. Richard Krajczar has agreed to meet with me to share his thoughts on leadership and international education.  Dr. Krajczar is the current Executive Director of the East Asia Regional Council of Schools, or more commonly referred to as EARCOS.  For any of you who are teaching in East Asia it’s likely you’re familiar with the organization and have maybe even attended one of their annual teacher or leadership conferences. Before overseeing EARCOS Dr. Krajczar was the Headmaster at the International School of Kuala Lumpur and has worked in international education for over thirty years. So instead of only relying on myself to come up with questions, I thought I’d open it up to any readers out there who have something they’d like the to ask Dr. Krajczar.  I can’t promise I’ll ask every question, but don’t miss out on this opportunity and post your questions...

Is Admin To Blame For All Our Problems

by | Mar 5, 2012 | Leadership News, US Schools

Although this editorial is about the education system in the US, it says some pretty provocative things about administrators in general.  I think most responsible administrators would accept a lot of responsibility for their school’s success or failure, but do they deserve the most blame?  Is poor leadership as endemic in school administration as Mr. White seems to think?  Are international schools different, or are our problems masked by our relatively high performing population? Paul D. White: Education Lost in Administration By Paul D. White NO education reform article I’ve ever read accurately identified the two real stumbling blocks to improving our K-12 school system. The reason is because almost all of them are written by school administrators – not teachers. Our schools are melting down – academically and morally – for two simple reasons that (contrary to what you’re told) have almost nothing to do with teacher quality or a lack of funding: Ineffective leadership at all levels and a refusal to hold parents accountable for their children’s behavior. That’s it. These two areas are the source of every single thing that’s wrong with our nation’s schools. School leaders would have you believe that public education’s failure is totally due to ineffective teaching. But their endless attempts to lay full blame on inadequate teachers, teacher training programs, tenure, nonspecific curriculum, etc., are nothing but camouflage blather, used to distract the public from the real causes of this problem. This problem starts at the top, with the U.S secretary of education. The education secretary is the symbolic head of all K-12 schools in the United States. Secretary Arne Duncan, like...

Make Room for the Introverts

by | Mar 3, 2012 | Leadership News, Video

A great TED Talk about society’s view of introverts and our obsession with extroverted leadership. How can we as teachers, administrators, parents, etc rethink the way we view introverts and extroverts?  Are you an introvert?  How about your school’s leaders?  Is your school a good place to be an...

5 Ways to Deal with a Red Light/Green Light Leader

by | Mar 3, 2012 | Blog, Education, Teacher's Corner

For most educators it’s hard to not have at least one working experience with a typical Red Light/Green Light administrator.  It usually starts with a stroke of inspiration while relaxing with coworkers on Friday night or if you work in Asia in the middle of a foot massage.  You’ve just discovered the solution to a nagging school problem.  On Monday, after the morning rush has passed, you walk into the “gate keepers” office (principal, headmaster, department head, etc) to lay out your sweeping vision for the school.  Oddly enough, they don’t seem as excited about it as you were when you first thought about it. So what’s wrong?  Well it could be a number of things.  Maybe your idea just isn’t that good.  Or maybe something else needs to take priority right now.  Or maybe you’re working with a Red Light/Green Light leader; a leader who instead of encouraging colleagues to be creative, take risks and solve problems, demands “veto power” on all potential projects.** Don’t be discouraged. Here are 5 ways to deal with a Red Light/Green Light Leader: 1.  Experiment Within Your Sphere of Influence If you’re like me you feel surrounded by problems that are begging for a solution.  Here in the Philippines I see intense poverty, pollution and wasted resources outside of school, and in school there’s a whole different set of of problems. Whether working with Red Light/Green Light leaders or not one should first ask whether the issue is within my sphere of influence.  aAsking this question will focus your time and energy on projects that you hold some sway or authority over.  It’s...