In my series of blogs about the pedagogy of the Middle East, I have been pleased to come across McKinsey’s study of the 2015 PISA data sets. PISA has a large database of student results from around the world, based on its regular international testing rounds. I don’t quite agree with all of McKinsey’s method and […]
Mindframe and Teacher Direction Read More »
Several of my friends are much better writers than I have ever managed to be. A couple have the muse. They can write with rhythm and poetry in their prose. Others have stamina and can produce books in a moment, it seems, only to go on and produce another and another. I take great pleasure
In my blog about Changing the Pedagogy of the Middle East, I tried to express my great frustration at the efforts being made to improve our teaching and learning in the region. I dislike the way that some educators bring to the region a ‘fashionable pedagogy’ that is not even supported by evidence in the west.
Baby steps to changing the pedagogy of the Middle East Read More »
At the end of 2018, I predicted that 2019 would be the “Year of Agility” for school operators within Dubai, as the market would demand different approaches to HR, new recruitment strategies to attract teaching talent, and new ways to use technology as a resource to support the curriculum. I also predicted that 2019 would
The Battle of School Bingo on Dubai’s Radio Stations or “The Year of Hope” Read More »
As I travel I like to ask school chains, what are your educational assets? If the answer is, “it’s our teachers”, I worry about all that high turnover in the international field. If the answer is “mainly, it’s our schools”, I worry about the missed opportunities. You see, I have commented before about the Copernican shift that
What are your educational assets? Read More »
Interesting times for GEMS, the international schools chain with a customised school model at almost every price. The news of their successful move on Ma’arif in Saudi Arabia, another school chain, is out and now they can enjoy having a large Acquisition under their belt. I almost added, “at last” because, in their sixty years
GEMS cutting a new path Read More »
In the Middle East, we entered a new phase of maturity in the schools market a couple of years ago. Supply of private schools increased in many countries and demand softened for some market segments. That brought in an Age of Competition which is great for consumers and for quality. It also brought a new
Advice to Investors! Read More »
Last week, I visited Singapore where my friends at the Global Schools Foundation (GSF) have built a new ‘smart’ school. I have known GSF for 7 or 8 years now and they are a special group of people. They oversee a fast-moving and energetic school chain that has schools throughout Asia, including Japan which is
Our Smart, Digital Future Read More »
I want to continue on a theme I started recently. You see, there is a not a simple route to improving pedagogy and we can do a lot of damage by suggesting that there is. An allegory will help and I am sorry for the inevitable generalisation. With global pedagogy, it is best to recognise
The Three Villages Read More »
International schools have grown at a fantastic rate in the last 20 years and one of my favourite statistics is the difference between the number of teachers in International Schools in the year 2000 (about 90,000 teachers) compared with 2017 (over 460,000). That means that the number of teachers in International Schools today is equal
Five important trends in the growth of international schools Read More »
