For some years I have examined the education systems of different countries to explore what works and what doesn’t work in education. My first and main priority is to find the best and most efficient ways of optimising childrens’ wellbeing and learning; everything else is secondary to that.
I am glad to relate that today the task is not that difficult as in previous times. Firstly, carrying out research by way of the internet produces an enormous amount of information. Secondly, since 2000, there have been a number of international reports that examine and describe what is occurring in countries throughout the world.
It is very easy to examine the policies that are successful and those which are not. What has surprised me beyond measure is the way administrators but especially politicians refuse to examine data and information that is freely available. It seems time and after time, what can only be described as the implementation of a policy based on a political agenda has occurred even when there is considerable evidence to indicate that such policies produce far worse results than alternative policies.
The worst two offenders in this regard are the UK and USA and it should be no surprise that according to the 2007 UNICEF Report, they are now the worst two countries in the developed world in which to raise children.
The upside is, and I emphasise this elsewhere, the more power we give teachers the more their children achieve; the less power we give them the less they achieve.
Children are far too important for us to do anything but our very best for them and as I see it that excludes our elected representatives from acting purely from a political agenda when evidence indicates that such an agenda produces poor results. These scenarios will be described in some detail in different chapters.
Contents for The Task for New Zealand Education – Preface
© ISBN: 0-909001-61-8
Preface
Chapter 1: Setting the Scene
Chapter 2: Where to Start?
Chapter 3: OECD PISA Reports
Chapter 4: UNICEF Report
Chapter 5: Decline of USA
Chapter 6: The UK Experience
Chapter 7: My UK Experience
Chapter 8: People at the coalface
Chapter 9: Stressed out Children
Chapter 10: Finland
Chapter 11: The Interview
Chapter 12: Pointers for the Future
Chapter 13: Music – The Crucial Ingredient
Chapter 14: Conclusion
If interested, Mollet Learning Academy (MLA) and WideHorizon Education Resources (WER) produces Teaching Packs that are designed to appeal to the heart, head and hands. Original material is the Mollet Learning Academy (MLA) Teaching Packs (written initially for New Zealand teachers). On request from USA teachers, monitoring and assessment procedures were added and renamed WER Teaching Packs to distinguish them from MLA Teaching Packs. All lessons are designed to appeal to the heart, head and hands. Please visit
Dr. David Mollet davidmetis@gmail.com
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USA: 619-463-1270, 6656 Reservoir Lane, San Diego, CA 92115 (Skype waldorfedu)
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