The Global Search for Education

How does Singapore view the importance of a world-class teaching profession? How has its government responded? What progress has been made to date? What are Singapore's next steps to advance the teaching profession in the 21st century?

Today we continue the conversation with someone who understands better than anyone why professional excellence is one of the most vital investments we can make in our children's future: Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers.

Here's a powerful challenge to the world of education: Improve the profession of teaching.

"Through the process of disruptive innovation along came minicomputers, then personal computers, and now tablets and smartphones. That's the force of disruptive innovation, and it is closing the achievement gap on an international level."

The first IB "through school" will open its doors to students in one of the world's leading education systems in August 2012 -- Seoul, South Korea. The school is located in Seoul's new Digital Media City, considered Korea's Silicon Valley.

"Our teachers in Finland are quite autonomous already. They are allowed to choose their methods and they are allowed to be creative."

World Water Day on March 22 is a day on which all global citizens should focus their attention on the importance of fresh water to sustainable development.

How do you train an innovator? Which schools are doing it better than others? Are teachers equipped with the new skills required to educate students in this decade? Are curricula incorporating the essential content that will help young people become more innovative?

How important is dance to life? How important is oxygen to life? In American culture today, Martha Graham's legacy serves as a constant reminder of the importance of dance in our lives.

I had the opportunity to have a more private "face to face" with the 2012 Face to Face conference participant Dr. Eija Kauppinen on the thinking behind arts education in Finland today and for the future.

In 2009, Sir David Watson received the Times Higher Education Lifetime Achievement Award. I had the opportunity to get Sir David's views on higher education and a life of learning.

On January 1, 2012, educators nationwide lost an educational icon. Dr. Martin Haberman, long time researcher, educator, writer, and mentor to teachers, passed away in Milwaukee. And Dr. Haberman never wavered from his goal.

Today, with the help of Kirsten Sivesind, and Principal Bjorn Bolstad, the faculty and students of the Ringstabekk Skole in Barum, a suburb of Oslo, we can gain education insights into how a model Norwegian public school is addressing skills needed in the 21st century.

As part of our on-going Global Search for Education series, we shall be occasionally showcasing quality practices in school and community programs from which we hope schools around the world will learn and take inspiration.

Finnish educator Pasi Sahlberg and Chancellor Stephen Spahn of the Dwight School in Manhattan have big dreams for education. Sahlberg, the celebrated global reformer, spent the day at Spahn's school in Manhattan.

The co-founders of BASIS Schools, Michael and Olga Block, aimed to offer the type of education students receive in the top performing education systems around the world; the type of education that would help American students compete in the global economy.

Given the intense competition to be accepted, is Cambridge, a world-renowned academic institution, seeing an increase in student anxiety and stress?

What do we mean when we say that beyond skills and knowledge, an arts education better prepares students for the 21st century?

The desire for successful children in a performance-based culture often consumes us before we realize it.

The impact of poverty is significant in the outcomes of children in America's education system. So what should we be doing to support the approximate 20 percent of U.S. school children who live in poverty?

The education system that will optimize the prospects of success in the global world will be one that develops passion, releases creativity, and deeply challenges its young people.

"On the face of it, the two systems are at least a century apart and may have nothing to learn from each other."

The U.S. cannot improve its education system for all or even most children by keeping its present focus on charter schools, more testing, teacher evaluation and union bashing. None of those feature in the best-performing countries.

Dylan Wiliam and his colleagues have developed a classroom program called Embedded Formative Assessment. Over the last four years, this program has been established in over 1000 teacher learning communities