Vivien+Stewart

 Overall, I was surprised at how useful the reading, __A World Class Education__, was. Before reading, I anticipated that the book would be filled with statistics and be really hard to read. However, the book was organized into six chapters that actually made sense and were interesting to an educator! I appreciated the way that the book was set up starting with things that work for different educational systems around the world and //then// discussing what the United States needs to do to improve. It was also surprisingly readable and I was actually able to read it at night without falling asleep. Author Vivien Stewart does an excellent job of comparing the United States educational system to the educational systems of other countries that seem to be preparing for a more global world of the future.  Another really smart thing that Vivien Stewart did was to choose a few countries that are successful or changing their educational program and discussed all the aspects of what those countries have done and where they have improved or not done as well. I liked that she did not just tell only the positives of the countries. For example, at one point, she talks about how China still has huge burdens to overcome since their population is growing at a rapid rate and they have a huge gap between the poor and rich people in China’s rural and urban areas.  The part I found most interesting and useful was when the author explained how countries like Finland and Singapore have developed their education systems. There were very useful solutions starting from redesigning teacher education programs to offering incentives, not all monetary, for recruiting intelligent people to become teachers. Another item that I found to be very interesting was that some countries allow their teachers to have 100 hours of professional development in an area that they choose. At the beginning of the school year, the teachers chose an area of study that they would like to develop or improve on. From then on, they go to useful professional development related to the area of improvement they chose.  I think that Vivien Stewart also took a risk with this book. She was confident and brave enough to question some of the practices that the United States uses. An example of this is when she talked about the United States having a shortage of teachers and “dumbing” down the requirements to get more teachers. Other countries in the same situation, increased incentives in order to make the profession seem a little more appealing and hopefully recruit more people. There are other times when she flat out states that the United States is not preparing students for the future, instead comfortably teaching them like the teachers were taught.
 * Margaret Doan **
 * **1 page reflection: __A World- Class Education__ By: Vivien Stewart **

 Vivien Stewart’s book, __A World-Class Education__, and The Great Lakes Bay Leadership conference both focused on the theme of creating school leaders for a global future. Looking ahead, it is clear that the United States needs to make some changes in their educational system in order to keep producing students that can compete in the future global economy.  Right in line with Stewart’s book was conference speaker Dr. William Skilling’s lecture //Closing Global Achievement Gaps//. Dr. Skilling and Vivien Stewart both began their message with the idea that we are continuing to prepare students in the United States for a world that does not exist anymore. Their main theme for both the book and the lecture was that we need to change our current views of education and start preparing our students to work in other countries. One aspect that both Skilling and Steward focused on was the idea of building cultural relationships.  Another point that both Skilling and Stewart make is that money is NOT our problem. Stewart does a fabulous job of indirectly pointing this out when she gives countless examples of poorer countries that have turned their public education around. She makes an interesting point that these countries made education a priority because they knew it would advance them in the future. Although Skilling does not go so far as to give examples of different countries being successful without money, he focuses more on the fact that many schools have had a desire for change, created a vision, used the same amount of money, and have been successful. Skilling was confident that if a person has a vision and truly wants to change, they can.  A final similarity that Skilling and Stewart shared was the idea of teaching children to be more creative and use inquiry as a teaching method. Stewart mentioned numerous times that countries that are producing the most “job-ready” students are countries that use inquiry methods of teaching. For example, in Finland, the students attend a preschool that is based on playtime. Then, as they go through school, teachers are responsible for grading students’ individual projects instead of standardized tests which they believe narrow the curriculum. Finland is producing children who can think and create. These are both adjectives that potential employers are looking for in their future employees.  Obviously, as educators, our duty is to always be aware of what our students need to be more successful when they leave us. Author, Vivien Stewart and school administrator Dr. William Skilling both offer excellent suggestions about how to improve our current educational system.
 * Margaret Doan **
 * **Relate the reading to at least 1 aspect of the conference (e.g., key note or sessions) (max. 2 pages). **

 The idea from this book that I think I can take to heart in my profession is based around the idea of “a mile wide, an inch deep”. That quote really struck home with me because I see that in my everyday teaching. During my teaching career, I have taught elementary Spanish, high school English, fifth grade general education, and second grade general education, my current position. Having taught that many different curriculums, I feel that this fact is completely true. In any given year, I feel the pressure to fly through curriculum in math, science, social studies, reading, and writing. Especially in math, we cover so many subjects that we often spend one to two days at the most on a topic. At times, we revisit a subject, but since we did not spend much time covering it in the beginning, the students have forgotten how to do the math! Due to this problem, one thing I would like to put into practice is that I would like to start my math units with more pre-assessments. This idea actually comes from Dr. Michael White’s seminar. This will help weed out the topics that the students remember from first grade or kindergarten. If the topic is already learned by the students, I will not need to spend the time going through the lessons. This will allow me more time on the more difficult concepts that we skim over like regrouping in subtraction and the introduction to fractions.  Another aspect of this book that I found really intriguing was to teach cultures. In our district, we currently have a K-12 Spanish program along with other languages in the high school. Our elementary Spanish program meets twice a week for 30 minutes each time. The students have a curriculum to follow that includes listening, speaking, comprehension, and culture. Often, culture is taught through Hispanic holidays. While there is nothing wrong with this, A World Class Education has opened my eyes to the fact that my students are not learning about the everyday life of other cultures. The book pointed out how Brasil, Russia, India, and China will be superpowers by 2050. My students are not learning anything about these everyday cultures or languages. One way I can help my students for the future is to introduce these cultures to the students. I could easily use the technology we have to show images and videos of these countries. Even though it would only be a brief introduction, it would still be creating an awareness for my students. There are days when I truly believe that the second graders believe they are the only ones in the world!!  The final idea that I could use from A World-Class Education is the idea of a lesson study. In Japan, the book discussed how teachers get together for an hour a week to analyze and discuss lessons with a team of teachers. From then on, the teacher takes about a month perfecting the lesson and talking about the lesson with other teachers. This is a non-judgmental situation where a teacher can truly seek help to improve the lesson. During this time, teachers are also given release time to view other teachers teaching those lessons. I would love to have this release time during the school year. During my first year of teaching Spanish, I had my prep time in a large block. During this time, I had enough time to travel across town to another school and observe my mentor teacher for the afternoon. I found this time to be completely rejuvenating and empowering. I would come back from watching her, an expert teacher with 15 years of experience, and teach the same lessons. I found that I was more confident and creative. Of course, I tweaked the lessons to fit my style, but I knew what I wanted it to look like and run. This is very similar to what the book mentioned Japanese districts support. I would love to have time like this to help my second grade lessons. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Overall, I found A World-Class Education to be very informative. Many comparisons of countries tend to be based only on statistics and test results. However, this book also gave real examples and support for what they were writing. It opened my eyes to how the United States needs to revamp its educational system to compete with the world around it.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Margaret Doan **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Relate the readings to your current (and/or prospective) work (2-3 pages). **


 * Nicole Lyman, Final Reflection**