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Last week, the OECD published Education at a Glance 2013, comparing education indicators across 42 countries. Ministers Steven Joyce and Hekia Parata highlighted a few points of interest. Read more

Should children be learning knowledge or skills? People argue as if one is more important than the other. Read more

I was told the story of a teacher in Ontario who reluctantly participated in a project to improve her students’ learning. After several months she found that “her students performed better than she had even expected herself.” When she told her story, she wept. Read more

The week when I was due to meet Michael Gove, The week when I was due to meet Michael Gove, England’s controversial Secretary of State for Education, New Zealand’s own Minister of Education, Hekia Parata, released a damning review of the New Zealand Teachers Council (NZTC) alongside a proposal to reform it into a more professional body. This was timely. Read more

At first glance, the glowing reports about Finnish education make it sound like a magical fairyland. Some of the myths surrounding the legend of Finland’s education system are that teachers’ work is easy and there are no high-stakes tests. Read more

Germany found in 2001 that their 15-year-olds ranked well below the OECD average in maths and reading in the Programme for International Student Achievement (PISA) study. They also had one of the largest gaps between high and low performing students in the world. Read more

Not all teachers in Singapore desire to rise through the ranks to head of department (HoD) or beyond. Many are content to stay in the classroom, branding themselves as HOT – happy, ordinary teachers. Read more

Some Australian politicians believe sacking the bottom 5% of teachers is the answer to improving student achievement. Last week in Melbourne, I interviewed academics at a number of universities, researchers at the Australian Council of Education Research (ACER), media commentators, and think tank researchers. Read more

How do the world’s best performing education systems attract and develop great teachers? To find out, I am about to embark on a journey overseas. Read more