"To compete with China in education we will need to burn our violins and close our swimming pools."
This was said last week in Melbourne, Australia, by author Yong Zhao at the 2012 Joint Australian Primary Principals Association and New Zealand Federation of Principals Trans-Tasman Conference. Zhao presented a keynote at the conference, as did ASCD Board of Directors member Pasi Sahlberg and author Andy Hargreaves. Interestingly, the themes each speaker touched on have relevance to not only Australian audiences, but also those around the world that are going through similar discussions.
Call them the Global Education Reform Movement (GERM) discussions.
"The latest infection sweeping schools, according to Finnish education reformer Pasi Sahlberg [and from which Finland has remained uninfected], is the GERM
Through the end of October, ASCD is hosting a Whole Child Down Under Webinar Series for Australian audiences, focusing on the questions above and how schools and districts can best implement a whole child approach to education. The first episode on the role of the principal aired earlier this week and will be archived for general viewing soon.
The next episode airs on Tuesday, October 10, at 12 p.m. in Sydney and 9 a.m. in Perth. It will focus on how schools and districts can implement not only a whole child approach but a systemic approach to school improvement provide for longer term success and sustainability. We'll share the new and free ASCD School Improvement Tool which, using the Whole Child Tenets and their indicators, allows schools and districts to conduct a needs assessment and receive next steps for improvement. Register now!.
The Whole Child Is Going Down Under
Over the next two months, we will be hosting a webinar series designed specifically for Australian educators. It has become obvious over the last year that the discussions being conducted in Australia about education reform reflect many of the same conversations held here in the United States. Whether it is the debate on the development and expansion of a national curriculum, the basis for funding for states and schools (Gonski), or even the premise and unexpected baggage that accompany initiatives that rank schools by—among other things—academic test scores (My School), there are lessons that Australian educators can learn by reviewing what has occurred in the United States. Larger than all of these discussions, yet embedded into all, is the fundamental question of "what do we want to achieve out of our education system?" Do we, as Australian Minister for School Education Peter Garrett stated, on reviewing the 2009 PISA Results, "prioritize English, Maths, and Science or see the Arts as fundamental to a fully rounded education? What do we learn from looking overseas?" (April 12, 2012).
Our answer is "yes" to all these questions: "yes" to a whole child approach to education, "yes" to a fully well-