- Excellent 2013 lecture by Michael Fullan on “Schools in need of re-education“
- Her Majesty Susan Sontag talks to us mere mortals about “Modern Literacy“
- The HSRC are looking for a post-doc student in their “Education and Skills Development” portfolio (deadline 17 Nov) – for more details see here.
- What a tattoo looks like while it’s happening (semi-cringey) – IFL Science
- Great collection of modern architecture photos
- “Writing and style guide for university papers and assignments” – from the University of Ottawa
- If you want to get mad read this GroundUp article about Marikana “Lonmin’s Broken Promises“
- Shocking new report by Oxfam (“Even it up“) on global inequality and what needs to be done.
- Quote of the week: “It is worth noting that American students have never received high scores on international tests. On the first such test, a test of mathematics in 1964, senior year students in the US scored last of twelve nations, and eighth-grade students scored next to last. But in the following fifty years, the US outperformed the other eleven nations by every measure, whether economic productivity, military might, technological innovation, or democratic institutions. This raises the question of whether the scores of fifteen-year-old students on international tests predict anything of importance or whether they reflect that our students lack motivation to do their best when taking a test that doesn’t count toward their grade or graduation.” – Diane Ravitch in the NYRB “The myth of Chinese Super Schools” (I’ve received great feedback from friends and colleagues – many challenging Ravitch’s simplistic generalizations – but I still think the article is quite thought-provoking).
Nic Spaull 