Harvard or bust?

Parenting: Young, Gifted, and Not Getting Into Harvard

It used to upset him that many kids he interviewed would not get into Harvard, but no longer.

Math humor

A Little Math Humor

Everything from the top ten pick up lines: 'You might have the curves, but I've got the angles', to homework excuses: 'I have a solar powered calculator and it was...

He was told to urinate in bottle

Boy: I had to 'go' in front of class (AP)

AP - A middle school teacher instructed an eighth grader to urinate in a bottle in class instead of allowing him go to the bathroom, the boy and his mother said Friday.

Student gets arrested for violent essay

Ill. Student Charged Over Violent Essay

A high school senior was arrested after writing that "it would be funny" to dream about opening fire in a building and having sex with the dead victims, authorities said.

***This will hurt poetry and freedom of speech.  But what the heck.  For me, there should be responsibility, not just freedom.  Violence, for some is poetry.  Now, if it goes unchecked, it will turn into obsession.

I just hope that they don't treat the student as a criminal.  It will not help him.  Counselling him would be better.

Utah campuses turn into Wild West

Utah Allows Guns on College Campuses

Brent Tenney says he feels pretty safe when he goes to class at the University of Utah, but he takes no chances. He brings a loaded 9 mm semiautomatic with him every day.

No iPods in schools

Schools banning iPods to beat cheaters (AP)

AP - Banning baseball caps during tests was obvious — students were writing the answers under the brim. Then, schools started banning cell phones, realizing students could text message the answers to each other. Now, schools across the country are targeting digital media players as a potential cheating device.

School Culture and its effect on Student Violence

Study: School Culture Affects Student Violence

Students learn to resolves issues peacefully, or they tend to resort to violence.

Educators seek to nullify English as instructional medium

Tutors ask SC not to make English primary education medium

MANILA, Philippines -- Educators, including a retired Supreme Court justice, have asked the high court to nullify an executive order requiring the use of English as the principal medium of instruction beginning with the first grade.

***The problem here is this.  The public school teachers - who do not use English as instructional medium - are the ones asking for the nullification of using English in the primary classroom.  The public school kids in the country do not know enough English already.  And now, this? 

When we asked our students last April to construct a sentence in English, their sentences are very simple.  So simple that I dare say that Andrea at age 3 could have easily defeated their sentences.  "My mother is beautiful".  "The boy is running".  There was even a boy who really can't do it, he ran away without finishing the interview.  This was at the time when we were still looking for thie final list of 30 scholars. 

There is a way out of here.  Why not tell the teachers to teach in Filipino and English?  Make sure that they speak in English - never mind if they have to speak like preschoolers.  The kids have to learn to speak English.  They also need to listen to English being spoken.  No one speaks English at their homes.  Most of them watch Filipino shows and movies.  If the teachers will CONTINUE teaching in Filipino, or worse, Taglish, then our English instruction will go down the drain.

In my former school (DCSR), I also rebelled against the English campaign.  That was at the beginning of my teaching career.  Then, slowly, I realized that there is a good reason for doing this.  There is a good reason for teaching the kids to speak in English, and listen to instructions in English.

One such reason is confidence.  The kids become confident in speaking English.  And this goes on until the time they graduate high school.  Imagine this, a student spends 13 years in preschool, primary and secondary education.  Each year level has about 200 school days.  That is about 2,600 school days.  If a child learns just 20 English words a day (Rizal memorizes 10 nouns and 10 verbs a day in order to learn a new language), by the time s/he graduates, s/he will have learned 52,000 words. 

Enough for him/her to join Mensa International.

Don't drop English as medium of instruction.  For the future of Philippine education.

Oldest college graduate

Woman, 95, to be oldest college graduate (AP)

AP - Sitting on the front row in her college classes carefully taking notes, Nola Ochs is just as likely to answer questions as to ask them. That's not the only thing distinguishing her from fellow students at Fort Hays State University. She's 95, and when she graduates May 12, she'll be what is believed to be the world's oldest person to be awarded a college degree.

***She will certainly shame most people.  Like the teacher I told you about in my former school.  He is pretending he graduated college. 

She did not have a degree

Dean at M.I.T. Resigns, Ending a 28-Year Lie - New York Times

By TAMAR LEWIN

Published: April 27, 2007

Marilee Jones, the dean of admissions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, became well known for urging stressed-out students competing for elite colleges to calm down and stop trying to be perfect. Yesterday she admitted that she had fabricated her own educational credentials, and resigned after nearly three decades at M.I.T. Officials of the institute said she did not have even an undergraduate degree.

***At least, she had the decency to admit it.  The teachers in my former schools and their administrator, are continuing in their lies.  Despite the fact that someone told them it's known already. 

Calculus for the forgetful

Get Ready For Calculus

Considering taking Calculus next? Make sure you have all the pre-requisites in place by checking them out here.Another interesting find is Calculus for the Forgetful: Calculus for the Forgetful is...

Articles - Journal of Education

Strengthening the Case for Community-Based Learning in Teacher Education

Knowledge of learners' assets beyond the traditional structure of school can provide preservice teachers with essential gateways to connecting learners with the content to be studied, and with forming beneficial social relationships that can enhance learning. This article describes ways that preservice teachers responded to community-based activities located in the home communities of their learners. Analysis of work samples, interviews, and observations indicated that revelations about the preservice teachers themselves were confronted, stereotypical beliefs about their learners' communities were challenged, and new discoveries about community's strengths were acknowledged. Evidence suggests that community cultural-immersion activities incorporated in teacher-preparation programs can not only help preservice teachers correct misperceptions about, but also build relationships with their learners that can potentially impact student achievement.

Retrieving Meaning in Teacher Education: The Question of Being

In this article we examine "meaning" and "action" within the "good" work of teaching and learning. One premise of our argument is that teachers and students deserve to experience this good. The second premise is that meaning is part and parcel of Being; the debate about meaning must include attention to meaning as a question/project of Being. We offer our experiences as an educational anthropologist, educational philosopher, and teacher educator who strive to retrieve and pursue meaning and Being as common resources and aspirations.

Curriculum Making as Novice Professional Development: Practical Risk Taking as Learning in High-Stakes Times

This qualitative case study presents three novices in urban schools who enacted curricular projects as participants in a university-based professional development program. This experience created an opportunity for practical risk taking, enabling them to consider the consequences of curricular choices in personal terms. Such professional development pivoted on epistemological inquiry grounded in three critical tension areas: management of relationships, curricular ownership, and the sources of classroom knowledge. In these cases, practical risk taking seemed to precede conceptual changes in the teachers' thinking about curriculum itself, raising concerns about how novices learn during an accountability era where such risk taking is often discouraged.

Graduates' Reports of Advocating for English Language Learners

Beginning teachers, who graduated from a credential program focused on preparing advocates for equity and with attention to teaching English language learners (ELLs), had reported in surveys being well prepared to teach ELLs and promote equity. Focus groups illuminated teachers' reports of ways they advocated for ELLs. Reported classroom acts included creating and maintaining safe environments for English language use and development, differentiating instruction and designing interventions for ELLs, and responding to sociopolitical issues related to race, language, and class. Reported advocacy beyond the classroom included seeing inequity and addressing it with lunchtime and after-school tutorials and clubs, and with family contacts and home visits. Sometimes, such advocacy also included critiquing institutional practices or policy, and proposing or building alternatives. Three cases illustrate accounts of school challenges in meeting needs of ELLs, and document possibilities for how advocacy for ELLs, even in the first years of teaching, can be pursued.

And they are complaining

Government attacked over class sizes

Almost a quarter of all seven to 11-year-olds in England are still taught in classes of more than 30 pupils, according to latest figures.

***Here, if we have 30 in a class, it would be heaven on earth.

More PE hours?

Escudero: DepEd should allot more PE hours

MANILA, Philippines -- The Department of Education should allot more time for physical education activities in elementary and high school to create a balance between mind and body.

***What is he trying to say?  Are you trying to sound like philosopher Plato?  It is clear that Escudero has not taken into consideration the plight of education in this nation.  He does not understand curriculum.  Nor does he seem to understand that public schools are existing only because the teachers are trying hard to do what the government cannot. 

More PE hours?  How about more PE equipment?

Or more spaces to move?  They don't even have fucking classroom Mr. Senator-to-be.

I had high regards for this man.

Had is in the past tense.

Your words reveal your uncare for, or your ignorance on education. 

Either way, I will not vote for you. 

Irish concerns

Mobile texts harm written language? (Reuters)

Reuters - The rising popularity of text messaging on mobile phones poses a threat to writing standards among Irish schoolchildren, an education commission says.

***This was raised already by teachers here in the Philippines, more than 5 years ago.  Well, we got to go with the time.  When Shakespeare became Shakespeare, for some classical grammarians, he murdered the English language.  This is the evolution of language.  A mighty wave.  Stand in the middle and you will drown.

Don't blame the video games

Video Games Not to Blame for Violence

Video game use has soared in recent years, while violent crime rates have dropped.

***Lesson.  Don't give unresearched remarks. 

Sex case: Teacher tells pupil harassed her

Sex case teacher tells court pupil harassed and intimidated her | News crumb | EducationGuardian.co.uk

Rachel Williams
Thursday April 26, 2007
The Guardian

A teacher accused of having an affair with a teenage pupil claimed he had pursued a campaign of harassment and intimidation against her and told police he had trapped her psychologically, a court heard yesterday.

More math and science teachers, please

Bill pushes for more math and science teachers

Read full story for latest details.

You said it man.

Brion: Education and training key to labor competitiveness

Labor Secretary Arturo Brion underscored Wednesday the importance of education and training in improving the Filipino workers’ level of competitiveness in the global arena.

***Knowing the weakness is half the battle won.  Hey, we know this since the time of Magsaysay right? 

Moral: It is not enough to know.

Another moral:  Do not say things that are self-evident.  Even my grade school students could arrive at this conclusion.

1 year of college study

19-year-old to graduate college after year (AP)

AP - A 19-year-old suburban Detroit resident is on track to graduate from The University of Michigan after just a year of study.

$60Million Schools Effort

Billionaires Start $60 Million Schools Effort

Eli Broad and Bill Gates are joining forces for a $60 million foray into politics in an effort to vault education high onto the agenda of the 2008 presidential race.

Harvard research

Advances in genetics can help kids learn

http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2007/04.19/15-mbe.html

Remedial maths

Remedial maths courses offered to new science students

Most universities have to offer remedial maths courses for new science undergraduates because they are giving up the subject after GCSE.

Place for faith in science

There is a place for faith in science, insists Winston

· IVF pioneer attacks 'patronising' evolutionist· Claim that insulting tone damages public trust

Schools accused of avoiding maths A-level

Schools accused of avoiding maths A-level

Schools are discouraging pupils from taking maths A-level in favour of easier subjects to boost their ranking in national league tables, says the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Teacher of the year

Washington woman named Teacher of Year

SEATTLE -- When Andrea Peterson landed her first teaching job, she faced the daunting task of creating a music program with almost no money for supplies in a climate where music was seen as just providing a break for students and teachers.

If this happened here...

Teacher wins £14,000 for fall from toilet

A primary school teacher who dislocated her hip after falling off a toilet designed for children under 11 has been paid almost £14,000 in compensation.

****If this incident happened here....then the teacher gets hospitalized, and everybody laughs at her for being stupid.

First Integrated Prom for Turner County

Students attend first integrated prom

Students of Turner County High School started what they hope will become a new tradition: Black and white students attended the prom together for the first time Saturday.

Great Math Resource

A Great Math Resource

This site is a real gem for the math student of all topics or grades. It is based on research showing that students learn better with guided help on homework,...

Battle for wage hike

'A struggle to make ends meet'

The battle of Northern Ireland's lecturers to win pay parity with school teachers is heating up. Andrew Mourant reports.

***We should do the same here in the Philippines.  Let us create a union of teachers.  Force these private schools to hike the pay of teachers.

Professional misconduct for expose

Documentary teacher faces classroom ban

A teacher who went undercover to expose violence in UK schools for a television documentary faces charges of professional misconduct.

Teacher went too far

Student Embarrassed After Teacher Pulls Braids From Hair (WESH)

WESH - Parents of a student in Pinellas County are upset after they say a language arts teacher went too far.

Good work, Pasig!

Pasig bans students from computer shops during school hours

MANILA, Philippines--Acting on numerous complaints from parents, the Pasig City government has cracked down on computer shops near schools, prohibiting them from allowing minors to play computer games during school hours.

Many wishes are like this one

If Only I Could Do The Math

When he was going through school, this was Lawrence Walsh's wish. If he could have done the math it would have enabled him to fulfill his dreams of becoming...

Ex-con arrested in Columbia U rape

Police arrest ex-con in Columbia U. rape (AP)

AP - During a brutal attack that spanned 19 hours in her apartment, a Columbia University graduate student was forced to swallow large doses of over-the-counter pain medicine as a sedative, police said.

College drinking and heart disease

College drinking may increase heart disease risk (Reuters)

Reuters - A study presented at the American Heart Association's 8th annual conference on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology underway in Chicago, shows that heavy drinking by college students increases levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

Purification by cow urine

Indian teachers "purify" students with cow urine (Reuters)

Reuters - Indian teachers sprinkled cow urine on low-caste students to purify them and drive away evil, reports said on Saturday, in a country where millions of people remain oppressed at the bottom of the ancient Hindu caste system.

***This is the beauty of religion. 

Colorado school blast

Man arrested in Colorado school blast

DENVER (Reuters) - Officials evacuated a high school in Parker, Colorado, after an explosion outside on Friday, the eighth anniversary of a massacre at nearby Columbine High School.

    

Victims serenaded

Virginia Tech shooting victim, freshman Hilary Strollo, reacts ...

(AP) - Virginia Tech shooting victim, freshman Hilary Strollo, reacts to a serenade by the Virginia Tech marching band from the window of her room at the Montgomery General Hospital in Blacksburg, Va., Thursday, April 19, 2007. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Negotiations on inflation pay claim

Board backs teachers' union on inflation pay claim

The body which reviews teachers' pay takes steps towards reopening negotiations over the current pay settlement.

***Sometimes, it's better not to listen to news like this.  Especially if you're someone from a third world country.

230 children suspended each day

Schools suspending more primary pupils

More than 230 children are suspended from primary schools in England each day during term time, according to statistics.

11-year old boy dies in apparent suicide

Mother blames bullying for death of her son, inquest hears

· Open verdict on boy, 11, found hanging in room· School bus driver denies joining in name-calling

Ka-shing Li donates 2 million pounds to Oxford

Sir Ka-shing Li donates £2m to Oxford University to fund global health programmes

Courtesy of the generosity of the Li Ka Shing Foundation, Oxford University will develop new significant global health research networks with Asia, and, in particular, China.

Principal convicted of kissing feet

Ohio principal convicted of kissing feet (AP)

AP - A former principal who kissed the feet of three male students to settle a bet on a volleyball game has been convicted of a misdemeanor sex charge.

Shocking video

Students saddened, shocked by killer's video (Reuters)

Reuters - Students expressed disgust and disbelief at photos and a rage-filled video diatribe sent to a television network by the gunman who massacred 32 people at Virginia Tech university.

NC student makes threats, shoots self

N.C. student makes threats, shoots self (AP)

AP - A teenager shot and killed himself Wednesday shortly after pointing a handgun at two other students in a high school parking lot, police said.

Mental Health problems in campuses

Mental Health Problems Common on College Campuses (U.S. News & World Report)

U.S. News & World Report - The fact that Cho Seung-Hui, the 23-year-old senior who allegedly killed 32 people and himself at Virginia Tech on Monday, was mentally troubled sheds harsh new light on a sad truth: For many students, the college years are far from the best years of their lives.

CHEd reviews tuition policies

CHEd reviews tuition policies to make schools competitive

ILOILO CITY, Philippines -- The Commission on Higher Education (ChEd) is reviewing current policies on tuition increase to enable tertiary education institutions to remain competitive.

Rising exam costs

Colleges complain of rising exam costs

Colleges are now spending more money registering students for exams than teaching them to pass.

Durham, Princeton of Europe

Durham could equal Princeton, says new head

Durham University has the potential to become the 'Princeton of Europe', declares new vice-chancellor.

Teachers move against asbestos

Teachers urge action on asbestos threat

Parents asked to join teachers' campaigns to speed up the removal of asbestos from the fabric of school buildings.

DepEd, Smart to connect more public schools to the Internet

MANILA, Philippines -- The Department of Education (DepEd) has signed an agreement with mobile communications firm Smart Communications and training agency Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) for the expansion of the Smart Schools Program.

There is no poetry for the illiterate

On Education: Word by Word, the World Becomes a Little Less Mystifying for Illiterate Adults

The experiences of a pair of New Yorkers illustrate the frustrations of adult illiteracy and also the relief that properly run adult education programs can bring.

Schools Sickened by Chemicals

3 Chinese Schools Sickened by Chemicals

A fertilizer plant in southwest China discharged a "huge amount" of sulfur dioxide, sickening about 140 children and teachers, state media reported Tuesday.

Deadly campus shootings

A list of deadly campus shootings (AP)

AP - Fatal shootings at U.S. colleges or universities in recent years.

Statement of Virginia Tech president

Statement by Virginia Tech's president (AP)

AP - Statement by Virginia Tech President Charles Steger on Monday afternoon after the fatal shootings of 21 students:

He stepped in and started firing...

Student: He stepped in, started firing

Gunman massacres 32 at two Virginia Tech sites. Survivor: He fired at professor first, then students.  Some students jumped from windows to escape.  Other students locked themselves in teacher's office.  It is the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history

Anscor strengthens presence in education

Corporate News: Anscor strengthens presence in education, tourism sectors

Listed holding firm A. Soriano Corp. (Anscor) has earmarked $20 million this year for planned investments in health care education and training, as well as in tourism.

Malaysia seeks focus on English and ICT

Malaysia seeks focus on English, ICT in school curriculum

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Malaysia's deputy leader has called for revamping the country's school curriculum to make students proficient in English, information technology and analytical thinking, newspapers reported Tuesday.

Proposed NYC school causes stir

Proposed NYC public school causes stir (AP)

AP - This city has dozens of small public schools that focus on themes — sports careers, the arts and social justice. Few generate controversy.

War in Virginia Tech

Law enforcement officers enter a hall on the Virginia Tech campus ...

(Reuters) - Law enforcement officers enter a hall on the Virginia Tech campus with heavy weapons after a gunman shot dozens of people on the university campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, April 16, 2007. (Brendan Bush/Reuters)

How to make campuses safer?

How to Make Campuses Safer

Unlike high schools, most universities can't beef up security with a metal detector or two. So what can be done to protect students?

Women Presence in Computer Science Dwindling

Computer Science Takes Steps to Bring Women to the Fold

Even as women approach or exceed enrollment parity in mathematics, biology and other fields, their presence in computer science is static or even shrinking.

32 Dead on Campus

32 Shot Dead on Virginia Tech Campus

Police officials would not identify the gunman, who killed himself, or say whether one person was behind two shootings on the sprawling campus.

Truth from the blogs...of teachers

The rise of teachers' blogs

Bad-mouthing, bullying ... If you want the truth about school life, read the teachers' blogs. By Wendy Wallace.

Survey of school heads results

Survey of school heads results

School is all about teaching to the tests these days - or is it? Our exclusive survey of heads shows many are bringing back languages and music. Jessica Shepherd reports.

Virginia Tech shooting

Official: 1 dead on Virginia Tech campus (AP)

AP - A shooting at a Virginia Tech dorm Monday left one person dead and one wounded, a state government official with knowledge of the case told The Associated Press.

Early Tests Predict Adult IQ

Early Tests Predict Adult IQ

Scores on elementary school achievement tests have a lot to do with smarts and where kids end up later in life.

Neale is new editor of Oxford Today

Award-winning journalist to be new Editor of 'Oxford Today'

Mr Greg Neale will edit Oxford Today, the University’s alumni magazine, from the Michaelmas 2007 edition onwards. He succeeds Georgina Ferry, who edited the magazine for seven years.

Schools to text truants minutes after bell

Schools to text truants minutes after first bell

Absent pupils will be texted by their schools within minutes of the first bell as part of a new government scheme to combat truancy.

Ozone Quiz for High School Students

DepEd to hold ‘Ozone Quiz’

MANILA, Philippines -- The Department of Education (DepEd) is working with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Environment Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) and the Philippine Ozone Desk for the first Philippine Ozone Quiz for high school students, a statement from the DepEd has said.

Knowledge Makes Learning Easier

Knowledge Makes Learning Easier

We learn better when the material fits into what we already know, a new study suggests.

***We build from previous learning.  In line with most theories of knowledge

Abstinence teaching no effect

Conclusions Are Reported on Teaching of Abstinence

Students who participated in sexual abstinence programs were just as likely to have sex as those who did not, according to a study ordered by Congress.

Turkey School Bus Crash Kills 32

Turkey School Bus Crash Kills 32

A bus full of second-graders crashed into a truck in central Turkey on Saturday, killing at least 32 people, most of them children, the government-owned Anatolia news agency said.

Hooray for Middlebury!

Hundreds of climate rallies planned (AP)

AP - A group of Middlebury College students looking to draw attention to global warming have sparked a national day of action beyond their wildest expectations: 1,350 actions planned Saturday across all 50 states.

Scrapping the Internet?

Researchers Explore Scrapping Internet

Some university researchers want to scrap the current Internet and start over.    

School is out

School's out, for ever

Spurred on by fears over standards, more and more parents are abandoning the school system. Dave Hill meets a family of home educators.

Kaffir Boy

This image supplied by Free Press shows the cover of 'Kaffir ...

(AP) - This image supplied by Free Press shows the cover of 'Kaffir Boy,' which was banned from a Burlingame, Calif., intermediate school after a parent complained about a two-paragraph scene of men paying hungry boys for sex. School Superintendent Sonny Da Marto told the local school board Tuesday, April 10,2007, that he ordered an 8th grade teacher to stop using 'Kaffir Boy' in her English classes even though a literature review committee composed of parents, teachers, a librarian, a student and a school board member approved the book.(AP Photo/Free Press)

Suspended for Racism

Sharp rise in pupils suspended for racism

The number of pupils suspended from school for racist abuse rose by nearly one-third in a year, new figures show.

Library plans

Bush library plans under fire (AFP)

AFP - Plans to establish a presidential library and think tank for George W. Bush at his wife's alma mater in Texas have come under fire from both faculty and the clergy associated with Southern Methodist University.

Educational Management and Administration and Leadership: (Dec 14 2006) The 'Bigger Feeling': The Importance of Spiritual Experience in Educational Leadership

The 'Bigger Feeling': The Importance of Spiritual Experience in Educational Leadership

This article reports findings from a study of headteachers and spirituality. It is intended to give some insight into the importance of spiritual experience as a phenomenon which enables leaders to be better resourced internally and find deeper meaning, and to provide evidence of the significance and influence of spiritual experience for educational leadership in schools. The study draws on survey and interview data from secondary and primary headteachers in three local education authorities in England.

Universities undermine their own foundations

Universities undermine their own foundations

Contracting out English preparation courses in Britain is a short-term fix, writes Glenn Fulcher.

Blogged with Flock

Democracy growth 'depends on spread of education'

Democracy growth 'depends on spread of education'

An equal spread of education across a population is needed for democracy to take root and grow, new research shows.

Blogged with Flock

Pass science A-levels - and collect £500

Pass science A-levels - and collect £500

Teenagers could be paid for passing A-levels in maths and science under new recommendations from business and higher education leaders.

Blogged with Flock

Teachers to debate faith schools ban

Teachers to debate faith schools ban

A ban on all faith schools to stop religious groups indoctrinating children is due to be debated by teachers.

Blogged with Flock

Roco apologizes for ‘autism’ remark

Roco apologizes for ‘autism’ remark

MANILA, Philippines -- Genuine Opposition (GO) candidate Sonia Roco vowed on Friday to take up the cudgels in the Senate for autistic persons if she wins in the May elections.

***Quite unbecoming for a teacher of many years.

Blogged with Flock

Schoolgirl sex attack man jailed

Schoolgirl sex attack man jailed

A man caught on CCTV is sentenced for a sex attack on a young girl he followed and lured into a wood.

Blogged with Flock

Bombs Rattle Classroom

Bombs rattle classroom, unite students

Political science students at Baghdad University had barely begun a discussion of comparisons between the Iraq and Vietnam wars when suddenly nearby explosions shook the classroom.

Blogged with Flock

Malaysian teacher caned by school principal (Reuters)

Malaysian teacher caned by school principal (Reuters)

Reuters - A Malaysian teacher who was caned by the principal of her school after being mistaken for astudent idling outside the classroom has complained toauthorities in a bid to stop the incident from happening again.

Blogged with Flock

Education Dept oversight questioned

Education Dept. oversight questioned (AP)

AP - An Education Department official placed on leave over a potential conflict of interest in his management of the government's student loan program filed disclosure forms that raise questions about the department's oversight of its own employees.

Blogged with Flock

University Of Virginia Receives $100 Million Donation

U.Va. Receives $100 Million Donation

Retired media executive Frank Batten Sr. has donated $100 million to the University of Virginia — the largest single gift in the university's history, the school announced Thursday.

Blogged with Flock

Study: College Students Know More About Politics Than American Idol

College Students Know More About Politics Than American Idol

The stereotype of the self-involved, culture-obsessed U.S. college student is wrong, according to a new study.  

Blogged with Flock

SE International Student of the Year from Oxford

South East’s International Student of the Year from Oxford

Emma Link, a 25-year-old Australian maths postgraduate from Green College, has been named the South East’s International Student of the Year, 2007 in a British Council competition.

Blogged with Flock

SE International Student of the Year from Oxford

South East’s International Student of the Year from Oxford

Emma Link, a 25-year-old Australian maths postgraduate from Green College, has been named the South East’s International Student of the Year, 2007 in a British Council competition.

Blogged with Flock

Teachers suffer bullying

Many teachers suffer bullying by pupils, poll finds

Two-thirds of teachers claim they have been bullied or harassed at school or college in the last two years, and in 65% of cases pupils were the perpetrators.

Blogged with Flock

I Love Stanford

Stanford Conducts Internet Research

Stanford University recently conducted a research study to see what people do on the Internet. According to their website with a 1996-based layout, E-mail still reigns king as the most popular activity with 90% of users sending e-mails. And get this: Chat rooms are for the young and anonymous, as if you didn’t already know tons of pervs chill in them all day long. Stanford also describes the Internet as “a giant public library with a decidedly commercial tilt”, which sounds just a little off. If said library had stacks and stacks of goat porn, perhaps we’d agree.

THE INTERNET STUDY: More Detail [Stanford’s excuse for a website] 

Blogged with Flock

Primary school teachers: Unskilled in music, we are

Tune up our training, say 'unskilled' music teachers

Primary school teachers say they lack the necessary skills to teach music even though it is part of the national curriculum.

Money plan to attract students to science

Money plan to attract students to science

The government should financially reward sixth-formers who achieve A-levels in science or technology to attract more students to the subjects, new report suggests.

Failing to Deliver Education Aid

Rich nations 'failing to deliver education aid'

The world's richest nations are failing to deliver promised aid to educate children in war-torn countries, charity report claims.

CHED removes cap on tuition hikes.

CHEd removes cap on tuition hikes

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines -- Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) Chairman Carlito Puno on Wednesday said that universities and colleges could impose tuition increases beyond the limit the commission earlier set.

***Good news for schools.  Not for parents.

Schools Improve Mich. Student Health

Schools improve Mich. students' health (AP)

AP - Preston Brooks replaced lunchtime bacon double-cheeseburgers with submarine sandwiches loaded with vegetables.

Education...

Who said: Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.

http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0819782.html

9 US Presidents never attended college

Did you know: Nine U.S. presidents never attended college.

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/prestrivia1.html

Nothing can stop them

Canceled by Principal, Student Play Heads to Off Broadway

Students at a Connecticut high school whose principal canceled a play they were preparing on the Iraq war are now planning to perform the work in June in New York, at the Public Theater.

Five from MIT are Guggenheim Fellows

Five from MIT are Guggenheim Fellows

Five members of the MIT faculty have been awarded Guggenheim Fellowships for 2007. They are Edmund Bertschinger, Erica Funkhouser, Michel X. Goemans, Erika Naginski, and Anne Whiston Spirn.

Duke lacrosse players cleared in sex assault

Duke lacrosse players cleared in sex assault case (Reuters)

Reuters - Three student athletes accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a black stripper at a Duke University lacrosse team party were cleared of all remaining criminal charges on Wednesday, authorities said.

Snow closes schools, grounds airlines

Snow closes schools, grounds airlines (AP)

AP - Hundreds of airline flights were grounded Wednesday, a major league baseball game was called and six people were killed in accidents on icy roads as yet another spring snowstorm hit the upper Midwest.

Academic Salaries rose almost 4% this year

Survey: Academic Salaries on the Rise

Salaries of full-time college faculty rose 3.8 percent this year, the biggest increase in five years.

Online Videos Hurting Teachers

Malicious Online Videos Hurting Teachers

The teacher stumbling at the front of the classroom in his white briefs, pants pulled down to his ankles by a student, probably wishes he were somewhere else. That place is probably not YouTube.

Cuomo to announce settlement with lender

Cuomo to announce settlement with lender (AP)

AP - New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is poised to announce a settlement with a "significant" student lender Wednesday as his probe widens into improper practices within the lucrative college loan industry.

Education secretary under fire for recommending Wikipedia

Johnson criticised for recommending Wikipedia

Education secretary under fire for recommending the use of the free online encyclopedia Wikipedia for schoolwork.

Teen gets 45 years for killing assistant principal

Teen gets 45 years for killing assistant principal

Read full story for latest details.

English is Language of Global Education

English as Language of Global Education

In the shifting universe of global academia, English is becoming as commonplace as creeping ivy and mortarboards.

Best Education System for Scotland

Labour pledges best education system for Scotland

· McConnell launches election campaign · End to unemployment among other promises

Web bosses must block videos mocking teachers

Web bosses 'must block videos mocking teachers'

· 'Moral obligation' to stop the cyber-bullies · Only a tiny minority to blame, says YouTube

Ban pupils who make false accusations

Ban pupils who make false accusations, union demands

Pupils who falsely accuse their teachers of abuse should be permanently excluded, a teaching union has demanded.

Coyote Attack Foiled by an 11-year-old

Youth Foils Coyote Attack on Boy in N.J.

Wildlife officials are investigating what could be the first coyote attack on a human in New Jersey following a backyard attack on a toddler that was foiled by an 11-year-old.

Columbia to Receive $400M Gift

Report: Columbia to Receive $400M Gift

One of Columbia University's strongest supporters is giving the university $400 million to spend on financial aid — one of the largest gifts ever to an American university.

IBM is child-friendly

IBM earns 'child-friendly' citation anew

MANILA, Philippines -- IBM Philippines has been cited as a "child-friendly" firm by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP).

DepEd to train senior officials on IT

DEPED to train senior officials on IT

MANILA -- While students are taking their summer vacation, the Department of Education (DEPED) might start training its senior officials on information and communications technology (ICT).

2 Chicago HS students injured by gun

2 Chicago high school students injured by gun (AP)

AP - A high school student passed a handgun to a classmate inside a Chicago classroom Tuesday when it accidentally discharged, striking both in the leg, police said.

***And how did it get there?  What lax security they have.

Oxford Strengthens China Link

Oxford strengthens China links

The Vice-Chancellor underlined the university’s strong links with China in welcoming Li Yuanchao, Party Secretary for Jiangsu Province, China to Oxford last month.

Guns in homes strongly associates with higher rates of suicide

Guns in homes strongly associated with higher rates of suicide

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/2007-releases/press04102007.html

They are just kids.

Entertainment Photos - AP on Yahoo! News Photos

Members of the Rutgers women's basketball team are shown during a news conference held on campus in Piscataway, N.J., Tuesday, April 10, 2007, to react to derogatory remarks directed at their team made on air by radio personality Don Imus. The team said they would meet privately with Imus. (AP Photo/Mike Derer)

***They are just kids.  Don Imus got to be axed.

Teachers' Weekends in US

Teachers' weekends saved in discipline guidance

Teachers have been let off having to supervise weekend detentions for disruptive pupils, official guidance for schools published today reveals.

Theatrical piece

Hostage incident was ‘a theatrical piece’ -- Ducat

MANILA, Philippines -- "It was a theatrical piece."

Teacher Training Scheme to go Nationwide

Teacher training scheme to go nationwide

A graduate teacher training programme to attract high-flyers to the profession is being expanded, it has emerged.

Ban Cyber-bullying

Ban cyber-bullying clips, Johnson to urge websites

Websites such as YouTube and ratemyteachers.com should ban video clips of teachers or pupils who have been the target of cyber-bullying, education secretary to tell conference.

Boy Charged With Murder

Boy, 13, charged with stab murder

A 13-year-old is charged with murdering teenager Paul Erhahon who was fatally stabbed near his home.

Common High School Math Test in 9 States

Common High School Math Test in 9 States

Nine states have come together for the first time to develop a common high school math test, a move described by some as a step toward national educational standards.

Integrated prom for Ga. Senior Class

Ga. Senior Class to Try Integrated Prom

Breaking from tradition, high school students in this small town are getting together for this year's prom.

MySpace postings are free speech!!!!

Court: MySpace postings are free speech (AP)

AP - A judge violated a juvenile's free-speech rights when he placed her on probation for posting an expletive-laden entry on MySpace criticizing a school principal, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled.

****Go FREEDOM!

Project-Based Learning

The Leadership Book: Enhancing the Theory-Practice Connection Through Project-Based Learning

Inspired by the educational benefits of project-based learning, a class project for leadership courses is described that takes interview assignments to a new level. Students use the findings from their interviews with managers to develop a book on leadership that they have had a hand in from start to finish. The project provides a comprehensive approach to linking the concepts and realities of leadership and engages students in a collaborative learning activity that challenges them as both individuals and group members. The project also provides numerous skill-building opportunities that maximize the value of the project. The six phases of the project are described in detail, along with suggestions for the project's timeline and assessment mechanisms. Options for altering the project's length are discussed as well as its potential for use in other management courses.

Personal Leadership Conundrum

Personal Leadership Conundrum

The Personal Leadership Conundrum leadership development project is a semester-long, personal leadership inquiry that provides students with a self-directed learning opportunity. The guiding framework for this leadership inquiry is a personal leadership conundrum developed by students based on their experience. Students engage in problem-based learning and reflect on their experience to develop a clear understanding of their conundrum and how they might resolve it in practice. The exercise provides a structure through which students can become lifelong learners. In addition to the students' personal development, through interviews conducted by the students with leaders, the project creates a community of inquiry into leadership within the institution and/or field that it is employed.

Teachers demand right to walk out of hot classrooms

Teachers demand right to walk out of hot classrooms

· Climate change could lead to summer closures· Staff and pupils at risk from fainting and cramps

Libyans are queuing up to learn English

Libyans are queuing up to learn English

After years when foreign language teaching was banned, Libyans are now queuing up to learn English. Ian Black reports.

Rise of International Student Commuters

The rise of international student commuters at UK universities

A new breed of international student commuters is growing at UK universities. Jessica Shepherd reports.

Educators at the bottom of the heap

Lecturers paid less than other professionals

Guess who's at the bottom of the heap in a new study of low-paid, overworked professionals? Jessica Shepherd reports.

Values-Based Leader

Choosing a Values-Based Leader: An Experiential Exercise

Scandals throughout corporate America have encouraged companies to seek leaders who can sustain profitability and embody positive values within the organization. This group exercise highlights some of the key challenges involved in choosing a values-based leader. Participants assess three hypothetical companies' values during a period of change and then select one of six potential candidates for the CEO position based on the alignment between individual, leader, and organizational values. The exercise may be used in undergraduate, master of business administration (MBA), and executive MBA classes. Participants have especially enjoyed the surprises that emerge during the debriefing stage.

Growing Leaders in Emergent Markets

Growing Leaders in Emergent Markets: Leadership Enhancement in the New South Africa

South Africa has unique challenges. Thirteen years since becoming democratic, it is still going through its own unprecedented change in joining the global economic network and moving from Apartheid to democracy and from a closed to an open community. These political and sociological changes have also infiltrated business and therefore management education in South Africa, bringing demand for new approaches. At the Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town, the authors adapted their traditional MBA teaching approaches to become more creative. This article summarizes the main themes within a core MBA course that have been guided by their new learning design, growth-stages methodology, a multipronged plan for moving management and leadership students through the growth stages by using ideas from systems thinking, scenario planning, coaching and mentoring, and organizational learning. These Western constructs are being complemented by African knowledge, which the authors are slowly developing and integrating into the traditional business school curricula.

Teaching as Science and Art

Case Method Teaching as Science and Art: A Metaphoric Approach and Curricular Application

The following article takes a metaphoric approach to case method teaching to shed light on one of our most important practices. The article hinges on the dual comparison of case method as science and as art. The dominant, scientific view of cases is that they are neutral descriptions of real-life business problems, subject to rigorous analysis. The dormant literary perspective enables us to see cases as incomplete natural narratives, open to multiple and diverse interpretations. By taking a stereoscopic view of case method—as a scientific and literary enterprise—we hone our students' managerial, problem-solving skills and heighten their leadership potential by developing their abilities as critical and creative thinkers. This article describes The Language of Leadership, an upper-level elective course that illustrates the implications of treating case method as science and art.

Enhancing Leadership Skills Development

Enhancing Leadership Skill Development By Creating Practice/Feedback Opportunities in the Classroom

Efforts to enhance students' management action and leadership skills are generally based on behavior modeling and experiential learning models. The classroom practicum approach to developing leadership skills described in this article enhances student learning by integrating a greater emphasis on the transfer phase of the learning process than is typical with either approach. By engaging students in opportunities for extended practice and informed feedback, this approach seeks to better achieve the conditions known to result in improved learning. Just as important, the classroom practicum approach seeks to achieve these conditions through a course design that is practicable even in classes with larger enrollments.

Artistic Undertones of Humanistic Leadership Education

Artistic Undertones of Humanistic Leadership Education

Leaders are increasingly called on to function in ways that demand creative smarts as much as book smarts and street smarts. Consequently, more attention is being given to artistic potentialities of leadership. To help create relevant educational opportunities, the author responds in three ways. First is to identify a framework of characteristics that provide an artistic context for leadership in action. Second is to establish an integrative foundation for such characteristics and to translate the resultant pattern into an integral array of leadership competencies. Third is to develop a diverse array of artistic catalysts and activities to promote these competencies.

Argentina: Protests Over Killing of Teacher

Protests over Argentina death

Argentina is brought to a near standstill as people protest over the killing of a teacher last week.

Barnard President to Step Down

Barnard President Will Step Down

Judith R. Shapiro, who has been the president of Barnard College since 1994, announced that she plans to step down at the end of the 2007-8 school year.

Bloomberg Attacks Critics of Plan to Fix Schools

Mayor Attacks Critics of Plan to Fix Schools

Trying to tamp down criticism of his management of the city school system, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg convened a group of “independent leaders” to stand behind him at a news conference as a show of support for his proposals.

2 of 3 children are physically abused

2 out of every 3 Indian children are physically abused

Two out of every three children in India are physically abused, according to a landmark government study. Commissioned by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the study says 53% of the surveyed children reported one or more forms of sexual abuse.

Plans of Guilty Plea on Prof stabbing

Guilty Plea Planned in Prof's Stabbing

A college student accused of stabbing a science professor in the neck because she gave him a failing grade plans to plead guilty to the attack, his lawyer said Monday.

Vandals deflate the tires on all 88 district's school buses

Vandals Strike Mich. School Bus Fleet

Public school students got an extra day of spring break in Bay City on Monday after vandals deflated the tires on all 88 of the district's school buses.

***Talk about courage and persistence

Online Tech School

O'Reilly opens online tech school

For those of you who want to add to your tech skills, this sounds like it could be a great way to do it. Certificates available include Client-Side Web Programming, Linux/Unix System Administration Certificate, Web Programming Certificate, Open Source Programming Certificate, and a .NET Programming Certificate.

Schools Focuses on Black Boys

To Close Gaps, Schools Focus on Black Boys

School districts in diversifying suburbs are coming under pressure to address a seemingly intractable racial divide.

Gays struggle at black colleges

Many gays struggle at black colleges (AP)

AP - So lured was April Maxwell by the promise of the black college experience, with its distinct traditions and tight-knit campus life, that she enrolled at Hampton University in 2001 without even visiting the waterfront campus.

Teen who shot grandparents gets support

Teen who shot grandparents gets support (AP)

AP - Every week, Janet Sisk rises as early as 5 a.m. and drives nearly 100 miles to spend her Sundays with a teenager who was just 12 when he murdered his grandparents in their sleep.

Study Recommends - Drop out of School (Digg)

Study says "Drop out of school"

A recent 2-year study performed by the respected PA foundation presents evidence suggesting that public school relies on a heavily flawed system and should be avoided. Flagship article from leading researcher's blog.

Parents seek dismissal of raps vs Ducat, Carbonell

Hostages’ parents seek dismissal of raps vs Ducat, Carbonell

MANILA, Philippines -- The parents of 27 children held hostage in Manila last March 28 will submit a joint affidavit on Tuesday before the Manila prosecutor’s office seeking the dismissal of charges against hostage takers Armando “Jun” Ducat and Cesar Carbonell.

Wow, April is Math Awareness Month

April is Math Awareness Month

Math Awareness began in 1986 and is held each year in April. Its goal is to increase public understanding of and appreciation for mathematics. The theme for this year is...

Issues on Reuters Article

Philippine schools offer hard lesson in life - Yahoo! News

Here are the fundamental issues reported by Crimmins on the Reuters Article

• Dropout rate is climbing so fast (in secondary school, it rose to 15.8 percent in 2005-06 from 8.5 percent in 2000-01) because of continued underfundung and rapid population growth. Dropout rates in some schools is 30 per cent.
  
• The public schools were once the pride of Asia. Scenario now: insufficient teachers, classrooms and textbooks
• The poor are most at risk. Without education, the poor remains poor. Vicious cycle. Example of Ducat was highlighted and his "impassioned condemnation of corruption and inequality in education"
• Transparency International rated RP number 126 out of 163 in 2006 global survey on corruption. Behind Libya and Uganda!
• "Corruption is really pervasive in the education system." -
  
• Book publishers bribe school boards and superintendents to win contracts. Result - inappropriate texts, book shortages.
  
• Some teachers earning "as little as 165,000 pesos ($3,400) a year, sometimes over-charge their students for materials or accept payoffs for higher grades".
• Many teachers left RP "for better-paying work as domestic help".
• A result is "bitterness among the poor".
• Economy is growing but the poor is not affected because of population explosion among them. Reason? Lack of "contraception and little education about birth control in the mainly Catholic nation".
• "46 percent of the Philippine population live on less than $2 a day, and 28 percent of children under the age of five are underweight" - UN
• "Extreme poverty is forcing more and more students out of the classroom and onto the streets of large cities, where they beg and hustle to survive".
• One teacher was quoted as saying that even if education is free, the problem is "the daily expenses and allowances of the children". He continues, "I have had students who attend classes on empty stomachs."
  
• Overcrowded classrooms (1:65) and lack of space (not enough chairs and desks) prevail in classrooms. Classes are held in shifts (6am and 1pm).
• "While the rich can send their children to private institutions with air conditioning and computers, rural public schools often have to make do without reliable electricity and classes are sometimes held outside or in the stairwell".
• Education spending (2004) in RP is 3.2% of GDP (higher than Indonesia's 0.9 percent, lower than Malaysia's 8% and Thailand's 4.2%) Education budget will be hiked to 13% this year (133 Billion pesos).
  
• "For decades, the Philippines was acclaimed as one of the most highly educated countries in Asia but recent test scores tell a different story" - Only 20% of 12 year olds scored the mastery level of 75 percent in math, science, social studies and languages in the 2004/2005 school year.

Disturbing article in Reuters about Philippine education

Philippine schools offer hard lesson in life (Reuters)

Reuters - School is out for Filipino children this summer and a large proportion of them won't be coming back.

Reuters - School is out for Filipino children this summer and a large proportion of them won't be coming back.

***Any educator who has remaining dignity to be called a Filipino teacher should be disturbed and do something about this. I know it's not something new. Simply, it is just a re-statement of the brutal facts of Philippine education. But it gets to the nerves once you see it in Most Recommended in Yahoo. Who wrote it? Not even a Filipino. It seems Filipinos are too tired and helpless to look at the facts of education in the Philippines.

We were not educated in the best schools just to keep our mouths shut. We know the plight of education. We studied it. We heard it being spoken on education circles, by our comrades in the fields. But we simply shrug our shoulders because we know that we are weak and helpless to do anything.

I know we are weak and so few. But on the wings of one small bird, hope will flap its way towards past glories - when we were revered as the beacon of literacy and shining light of intellectual pride in Asia.

There is hope in education. And Education is the way out of poverty.

School district investigates $250 bill for watching porn

School district investigates porn bill (AP)

AP - School district officials are trying to identify who watched $250 worth of pay-per-view pornographic movies using a school cable television box, officials said.

OpenOffice

Schools should use OpenOffice.org

Even if you believe that OpenOffice.org isn’t as good as MS Office, it’s hard to argue with that price. As school budgets become tighter and tighter due to rising energy costs, health care costs, or new requirements under NCLB [No Child Left Behind], OpenOffice.org will look better and better.

Top 10 Student Inventions.

The Top 10 Student Inventions

You don’t have to be a famous researcher or engineer to come up with the next big invention. These ten student projects prove just that.

***Unbelievable

Scathing Satire?

The Coulter Hoax: How Ann Coulter Exposed the Intelligent Design Movement

Coulter's treatment of evolutionary biology in her book Godless is best interpreted as a hoax, providing a scathing satire of the antievolution community.

   

High Anxiety of Getting Into College

High Anxiety of Getting Into College

This is the time of year when colleges send their decisions and many high school counselors console, cheer up and otherwise try to help this year’s seniors.

****I am reminded of the story I read in "Millionaire Mind" about a high school student who was told by their school counselor not to pursue college anymore because his SAT scores were way below national standards.

Then, the author asked, "If you are that boy, would you have persisted?"

I would've cowered in fear and anxiety, especially during my high school days. Perhaps as a high school, and in the light of statistical proof, I would've dismissed college as a mere wish. That it is for the intellectuals. That God did not give me what it takes to be a college graduate. That further, it was not my destiny.

But given all that pressure, this boy persisted. Despite all odds. Now, that boy has been an icon of American freedom and equality. His speech is considered number one on the Top 100 Most Significant American Political Speeches of the 20th century. You can hear his speech here.

Oh, I forgot. His name is Martin Luther King, Jr.

No more money

$187 Million Public School, Under a Cloud in New Jersey

The state agency financing school construction is expected to suspend work on some of the 40 projects it is developing, because it has run out of money.

Inputs, Comments on Article on Education

Article: Instructional Leadership Behavior of Papua New Guinea high school principals: a provincial case study

Boe, Lahui-Ako


Reflection points/inputs by: Ramon George Atento (Nov 7, 2005)


While I believe that every piece of literature I have read (so far) pertaining to educational leadership and administration have always been at least interesting and at most entirely useful, thanks to our most able professors, there are some good points about this research that points towards being better instructional leadership, that is, a focus more on what we should be in the first place.

Again, while I believe these checklists are often incomplete, inadequate and most of the times, inappropriate as to setting, there are alignments in our settings (PNG and RP) that make us want to embrace the checklists given by the author for good leadership - collaboration, communication, feedback, influence and professionalism.

Further, again, there is the insistence on certain points that are nevertheless not entirely new to us, being practitioners in the educational leadership: vision, shared leadership, risk-taking (once classified by Barth, 2000 for his Model of a good school), a focus on people, education aspects of school rather than purely technical perspective.

Again, we see the same complaints of the surveyed PNG principals (the author, and presumably, the teachers themselves) that there is a serious lack of principal training. Add to this the repeated insistence that the principals lack time to do their job well). The same is true for the other literature that we read. For example, Parkay and Hall (1992) although focused on the Beginning Principals and Leithwood and Montgomery (1986) have moaned consistently in their studies for lack of principal training.

America and Britain have their shares of wantokism, our version of the padrino system ("blood is thicker than water", or "it's not what you know but whom you know"). But, with due respect to the system – and the expertise of the principals chosen, I do believe that the principals themselves are not (all) completely illiterate in management, or worse, simply there because they know somebody from up there. It is also summary executionism to put them all to the waste basket for lack of expertise, creativity, eadership, responsibility, etc.

One thing I notice is that teachers (the author of the article is a teacher) mostly criticize their principals to death for heaven and hell and everything in between. I was a teacher then and we too criticized the system we were in. Looking back, I realized now that I was a Theory Y (or Z) person in a Theory X environment - with a leader who would rather think of us as likened to factory workers and what-have-you. Bottom line, we were dismissed back then as meaningless and insignificant. There was no sharing of leadership or teacher empowerment. To prove my point, we were experiencing a yearly teacher turn-over rate of about 30-40% I guess. Last year, at least ten of us left. I heard now that they are doing badly with the new ones for incompetence and uncaring attitude.

Then, I became a leader myself. Although my present set-up is a lot lower in stature than my former school in terms of facilities, curriculum implementation and evaluation. (The system is far worse - an unexistent manual of operations etc.) - teacher turn-over rate has been practically zero for the last four or five years. Plus, the students in my new school rated their teachers better than we were rated back in my former school (though not significant). What was the reason for that? I have my opinions on this but they are untested, uncorrelated and too much for this write-up so I would rather not talk about it here. Perhaps in summary, I would point out here that the success and failure of the school, though influenced greatly by the availability of an instructional leader (Lipman, 1985) - cannot be solely accounted by it. The teachers play an important role. I keep on saying this because new principals (those of us who care, mind you) were caring teachers too. Barth (2000) described us as teachers who thought they can change the system. Perhaps, we can, but not during our beginning year (Parkay and Hall, 1992)

I will put it this way. The article focuses on complaints of teachers (31 vs 5?) to their principals. Usually principals are outnumbered this way, even more. Bigger schools have the ratio in the hundred I guess. Now, may I contend that of these 100 teachers, perhaps not the best will rise to be principal. But he/she is not certainly one among the lower half of the norm. The only lacking factor in the newly hired principal is this: lack of training. S/he is not ready to be a principal because s/he has been a teacher/area coor/assistant to whomever. There was no prior knowledge of how it is down there.

I just watched a movie (documentary) about Robert McNamara, secretary of defense to Kennedy and Johnson during the Cuban Missile Crisis and Vietnam War. His "lessons" (of the 11) has this as numero uno: "Emphatize with the enemy". Put yourself in his shoes. Elsewhere, Sun Tzu remarked, "If you know yourself and your enemy, you will not fear the results of a hundred battles". We must know where we stand, and where our staff stands. Hence, there are theories on motivation (content and process theories), and countless checklists on how to influence, coerce and make your staff follow you to the ends of the world. But when you are down there (at the fifteen foot line, with no more time remaining, two shots, the opponent leads by one) you throw the statistics behind you. So what if you are Rick Barry or Larry Bird?
So what if you made the last two hundred free throw baskets consecutively, that is, without missing a shot?

Without some knowledge of how they stand more or less, it is always crisis management. It is always like war management. In war, as the movie I talked about above points out, the leader (presumably the general or the secretary of defense) often commits a mistake. And several thousands of people, including civilians, might be killed. Sure you can commit them but you can never ever repeat the same mistake. You could erase a country in the globe for that.

The problem with leadership is not always about the principals, although talking to my classmates, Patricia, Andy, and May among others, one will certainly battle the theory in my mind. But, as I am fond of being at the other side all the time, principals cannot be all wrong. I was educated in UST, where our patron saint, my favorite, St. Thomas Aquinas maintained that even the "dull and ignorant has something to say", and that we must regard not the person speaking but the truth spoken. Hence, we must say that as Hume, and Kierkegaard and Sartre are athiests (for the summary executioners), for the wide-eyed thinkers - including our venerable John Paul II, they too have something to say. They cannot be all wrong.

The only thing that we have to recommend here is that somehow principals should open their eyes on the most pressing things around them - the direction of the school, the VMGO, and the communication of this direction to the staff. I believe that most principals are regarded in a shallow manner by his/her teachers because of this lack of communication of goals. Dr. Munoz somehow alluded to this fact when she talked about a study (hers, from what I remember) that it is an essential factor in leadership that the principal has interpersonal skills.

Another thing is the motivation and attitude of the staff. This will be the focus of our report. It is one thing to have good teachers. If you have two good teachers in your school, that's equivalent to twenty more because they can influence their peers to do better (I remember the song "Stout-hearted men" from grade school: Give me ten and I'll soon give you ten thousand more). But expectancy theory prompts us, if they know not where this competency and caring will amount to, either they will stop being motivated (they will have negative attitudes) or they will simply find a new environment. Somehow, I got from Dr. Habulan's lectures last term that mostly, Theory Y people are the people who are most prone to get out of a bad system the quickest possible way. It's in their veins. They are the easiest to motivate (being intrinsically motivated) but they will leave immediately (or will start to not care) if there is no expectation of a reward (monetary, or otherwise).

Moving to procedural matters however - What despaired me in the article the most is the lack of consistency on the statistical treatment. And one thing that is of my essence is that I cannot trust something that has no statistical basis to begin with. In the first place the methodology used for rating is inconsistent. I was reading to the article - 30 plus and all - hoping that a redemption will come towards the end. But, 30 pages and at least 1.5 hours after -I came to the end. What?

Firstly, the author used a 5-point Likert scale to rate the instructional leadership styles of the principals in PNG. It's a good plan. But then, he (?) converted this to unsatisfactory (1,2,3) and satisfactory 4,5)

While this is probably okay towards the end (when we are about to get the means, interpret and all), this is a no-no in statistics. In the hierarchy of scales, interval (Likert) comes a step higher than the quasi-nominal satisfactory/ unsatisfactory (like Yes/no, Male/Female, Pass/Fail). It would have been better to retain the 5 point scale and get the average. Then, at least compare the self=ratings of the principals and the teachers - find the correlation perhaps (or find if there are significant differences - add.). Then, and only then, can you convert this to satisfactory and unsatisfactory in the final analysis.

As if it is not enough, he then turned towards analyzing through the frequency table (unsatisfactory versus satisfactory). This he did without any mention of any non-parametric study (chi-square would have been appropriate), nor any statistical referencing (critical values) etc. In the first place, summarizing the 1,2, and 3 as unsatisfactory and 4,5 as satisfactory will naturally skew the distribution to the right. Normal (and classical) probability will put the odds at 3 to 2 that the principals will be rated unsatisfactorily.

I did the mathematics back home (hence, the long input), and this is what I got:

Using a non-parametric stat (Chi-Square, I have no choice that's the only thing available for the data given)

Table 2: Defining community goals – X2 = 5.45 not significant
Table 3: Managing curriculum and instruction X2 = 19.88 significant
Table 4: Positive Learning Climate X2 = 58.32 significant
Table 5: Feedback X2 = 1.95 not significant
Table 6: Assessment of progress X2 = 1.79 not significant

So there you go, the results were significant only (at 0.05) in the "managing curriculum and instruction" (which is, sadly, the very core of instructional leadership nevertheless), and "giving positive learning climate" (again, very important if not essential as instructional leaders, from the lectures and sharing of our Dr. Mich Munoz)

Towards the end, the author was maintaining that the results point to being significant towards unsatisfactory rating, but the big question is how? Having mentioned no statistical test, we can dismiss his results as insignificant and likened to a high school report. My students last year in high school fared better – as they were introduced to SPSS for WIndows - and the reliability measurements.

This pains me but as I am a positive person, I viewed it this way. If an article such as this can make its way to the web, and the journal (?) where it was published, we too can! I can do better than this guy! Hence, I am all the more inflamed to do better in every way and be the best that I can be.

The other things will surely be shared by my classmates.



References:

Agresti, A & Finlay, B. (1986). Statistics for the Social Sciences. San Francisco CA: Dellen Publishing:

Barth, Roland (2000). Improving Schools from Within. New York: Mc-Graw-Hill.

Clavell, J. (1983). The Art of War by Sun Tzu. New York: Doubleday Press.

Fisher, RA and Yates, F. (1974). Statistical Tables for Biological, Agricultural and Medical Research. London: Longman Group.

Leithwood, Kenneth and Montgomery, Deborah. (1986). The Principal Profile. Ontario: OISE Press.

Lipman, JM, Rankin, RE and Hoeh, JA Jr. (1985). The Principalship Concepts, Competencies and Cases. New York: Lomgman.

Lunenburg, Frederic and Ornstein, Allan (2000). Educational Administration: Concepts and Practices (3rd edition). CA: Wadsworth, Thomason Learning

Mc Gregor, Douglas. (1960). The Human Side of the Enterprise. NY: Mc-Graw-Hill.

Ouchi, William. (1981). Theory Z. Reading, Massachussetts: Addison-Wesley Publishing.

Parkay, Forrest and Hall, Gene E (1992). Becoming a Principal: The Challenges of Beginning Leadership. Massachussetts: Allyn and Bacon.