The first 100,000 words: Writings on Education by a Teacher

THE HUMAN ELEMENT: ENGAGING WITH PEERS IN WAYS THAT SUPPORT GROWTH  Out of the Box August 19  / August 14, 2019 —  Steven Kolber — “I’ve come to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom.” As educators return to their schools across the world, we all come back with ideas o how to improve our practice. The careful, quiet solitude of holidays is crucial for teachers to reset their emotional exhaustion and allow us to raise our eyes above the day-to-day grind. It goes without saying that all teachers work during their breaks, but I hope we also have all had time to think, plan and re-orientate ourselves as professionals.  As we all head back to our schools, it is time to consider not only our own growth and development but also those of our peers and colleagues. We need to make use of our most precious resources and those that are hardest to share: our human resources.  I create the climate Famously, Haim G...

I am interested in completing research into Cambodia and the increasing role of big data and Edu-business, using Cambodia as a case study. My research will also touch on Australia, the USA, France and other more developed, neoliberal nations and show how cultural trends of this nature are finding popularity in Cambodia. On my most recent trip to Cambodia, July 2019, there was much discussion of PISA-D testing occurring as well as SEA-PLM testing. These two tests are from competing organisations (OECD and ACER) looking to develop a foothold in the nation and a consistent, big-data approach to assessment. Just as with PISA, PISA-D has a range of complex issues associated with it, especially within the country of Cambodia and other pilot nations. But these complexities are also global in nature in regard to the broader scope of neoliberalism and the Global Education Reform Movement (GERM) and bear further exploration. Further to this, Cambodia is the second most NGO-intensive country i...

The levels of data regulation across the world has direct and clear parallels with teacher strength and the robustness of Teachers’ Unions in the developing world. These two elements are unconnected in reality but thrive on the same conditions and have begun to bleed together and intertwine. I will make this case as clearly as I can without making links that are not there or coming off as a conspiracy theorist, though it must be noted, these are likely things that few are aware of, let alone concerned about. Many consider technology and algorithms the final frontier, or the place where humans are most pushing the boundaries of our own existence. Education International’s A ngelo Gavrielatos believes that "Education is the last frontier. It is seen as a very lucrative industry which has yet to be fully capitalised”. This idea of being ‘fully capitalised’ is something that large tech companies use in their own language, shifting it to sound more palatable. As an example, the...

As educators return back to their schools across the world, we all hold concepts of how to improve our practice. The careful, quiet solitude of holidays are crucial for teachers to reset their emotional exhaustion and allow us to raise our eyes above the day-to-day grind. It goes without saying that all teachers work during their breaks, but I hope we have all also had time to think, plan and re-orientate ourselves as professionals also. Whilst we all return back to our schools, it is timely to consider not only our own growth and development, but also those of our peers and colleagues. We need to make use of our most precious resources and those that are hardest to share: our human resources. Famously, Haim Ginott said: “I’ve come to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life mis...