“New Zealand’s future becomes more and more a race between education and economic stagnation and social dislocation… The need to build a learning culture is seen as critical to our success as a nation – the question is, how to do this within the resources available and in a way appropriate to New Zealand’s own cultural values.” – (Consultel report Exec Summary, page 8) Education has long been one of the ‘big three’ in terms of government spend, regarded as an investment in the future of our society, emphasising sustainable growth and economic prosperity,  as well as providing citizens with … Continue reading Virtual learning in NZ schools

There is an urgent need to update education systems to equip children with the skills to navigate the future of work and the future of societies. The Education 4.0 framework provides a vision for how school systems can be updated to deliver on children’s future needs. This transformation calls for shifts in learning content to include both the technical and human-centric skills needed to build growing and inclusive economies and societies and shifts in learning experiences that more closely mirror the future of work. World Economic Forum Earlier this year the World Economic Forum published a new report titled Schools of … Continue reading Preparing students for the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Learning theory must be engaged with and referenced in an ongoing way to ensure our practice has meaning and is effective. Continue reading Why theory matters

The question we need to consider is how can we expect our young people to make informed and future-focused career choices when their reference points are very narrow and they have no idea where the jobs that attract them can go? Continue reading Can we really plan our careers?

it seems climate change is a hot topic in many places at the moment – not surprising given the unprecedented outbreaks of fire across Australia in recent weeks, not to mention the same thing happening across the sub-arctic region. It … Continue reading What can we learn from a PDF?

Educators, policy makers and politicians the world over have been consumed with thinking about the future of education for some time now, with much of the conversation focused on the increasing ‘gap’ between the models of schools and schooling we … Continue reading Defining new models of education

I spent quite a bit of time on the road yesterday, visiting family members and completing a number of tasks. As I drove I became aware of the very large number of vehicles on our roads that have indicators that … Continue reading What indicators teach us about learner agency