This months BOSS magazine, from the AFR, has so many great stories in it. These include, Youth vs Wisdom - Which bosses are best, Project Turnaround was great, and many more I haven't got through yet. One story that I loved was titled The Real Education Revolution, written by Fiona Smith. The basis of the story is research and insights around education and teaching methods, that educationist Greg Whitby has discovered. The classroom looks less structured, but the education is well planned, tailored and varied. Also a mention on the federal government's Primary Schools for the 21st Century program. We have all heard a lot about this, the magic $25,000 figure for a building, favouritism and wroughting, but has all this distracted us from the fundamental rationale around this policy and its strategy? The article suggests the implementation of this program is already outdated.
Two things came to mind as I read this. First was, I want my child to go to a school like this. I am currently wandering down an important decision path about schooling for my own little boy. What is best? Private versus government? How do you even judge a school, or work out the value from the school fees versus day to day costs of public schools? Based on this article I drew distinct connections between development at work and home. There are many employees whose love or hate of their work often comes down to the manager at the time, not always the organisation. And this holds true for schools. It is not solely the school name that makes it good or bad, it is also about the individuals that teach there, plan lessons and develop the curriculum. So how do I find out about the teachers? What other lessons need to be used during this school hunting time? Where do I find help?
The second thing I thought of is, do I buy my son an i-pad for his third birthday? With this came some other benefits, such as, this morning I was a lot more relaxed when he insisted on playing with my iPhone.
At the end of the day I'm still always amazed when I read business journals and corporate case studies, to find they have such interchangeable messages between work and my family life.
Thanks for this thought provoking story BOSS, it gave me more ideas on how to come to a final decision on a school and was also inspiring, by providing hope of a future progressive schooling system for my own son - But still looking for any more advice.
