Yesterday I posted about an article in the Chicago Tribune reporting that Florida had finalised their plan to modernise teaching.  There were a range of changes about to be rolled out – one of them being that teachers were to be rewarded based on how much their students learn.

The idea of providing financial incentives for teachers to increase student performance is an increasingly popular education policy around the world but it would appear that the evidence shows that this strategy simply won’t achieve the desired outcomes. At best the  jury is still out as to whether or not this approach to improving student outcomes actually works, however I think most people have made up their mind.  (I have previously written about the potential problems of rewarding students.  You can see those posts here and here).

I was interested to see a report release by the National Bureau of Economic Research about a study that was conducted as a randomized trial involving over two hundred public schools in New York City.  The report found that:

[Read more…] about Rewarding Teachers – Will it work?

There was an interesting article in the Sun Herald this weekend (click here to read the article).  In it they point out that 2 out of the top 12 primary schools in NSW Australia actively discourage the use of technology in the classroom.  Both Schools use the Rudolf Steiner philosophy of education which embraces the thought that “Electronic media are believed…to hamper seriously the development of the child’s imagination – a faculty which is central to the healthy development of the individual.”

I must admit that I am a fan of using technology in the classroom.  In fact in April I have been selected to be a participant in a select few teachers from around the world to be trained at the Google Teacher Academy as a Google Certified Teacher.  This will allow me to train teachers in how to use the wide variety of free applications available to them in their classrooms.

What I love about these results:

But what I love about these results is the how they demonstrate that teachers need to have what I like to call an ‘and’ mentality rather than an ‘or’ mentality.  Too often teachers feel that in order to be effective teachers they need to keep up with the latest in innovation and teaching methods causing them to jump on the latest idea or fad and throw out what has always worked in the classroom.  They mistakenly think that they can do this OR that.

“What these results show is that quality teaching is not driven by technology – but…here’s a thought…teachers who care.”

My advice would be:

Don’t resist change.  But at the same time don’t pursue change to the detriment of what works for you.  In other words have an ‘and’ not an ‘or’ mindset.

By the way if you would be interested in receiving some training on how to use Google applications in your school or classroom click here.