SETT: Stephen Heppell keynote

We missed the start unfortunately. When we arrived Stephen was using the analogy of sailing - about teamwork, communication, analysing data about wind speed etc, downloading predictions about tomorrow's weather. Not just a boat.

Now in education- pupil centric view not pupils centric, not collaborative. We've ignored phones. Very real time poor data. Tesco know where their products are (with rfid) better than we know where our kids are. minimal predictive info. Doing the job is tougher. research comes from where? what metrics are we collecting? useless international diagnostic comparisons.

In 10 years where do you want to be? Happier kids? How do you measure that?

Cautious 20th Century - Mobile phones look promising, but if now we would want gov policy papers etc.

Bottom up 21st Century - just get on with it
Everywhere people pushing the boundaries, trying things out and moving forward even if it might not be right direction. What happens if they're all doing different stuff?? Every school is different, every day is different. We used to tell schools what to do. Used to havebeacon schools, schools of excellence and everyone else would try and copy. Now we give the ingredients and schools apply what works.

Bits of paper count for nothing - online instant degrees or buy a 'copy' of your payslip or buy essays online.

The gateways we've build to represent processes are not working now. How do we demonstrate what we've learnt if we can buy a degree online. Qualifications not transferring into job skills or jobs.

We used to know what we knew - now detective work of searching in unexpected places.
Gone from educational research to learning research
Learning communities now.

Ours schools can improve significantly
Look around the world and see what successful ingredients other schools have
When it impoved tell the community and online.
Successful improvement, evidenced through metrics and successful exhibition = 1/3 staff get a doctorate.
Then start again with next third.

Going from One size fits all to personalisation. Work out own conditions of success.

Teachers do look around and try and improve. This gives recognition for that work. Scotland is one of the six countries participating in this.

Communities and parents important. It should be "our" school not "the" school.

Shared science spaces in small personalised schools open in evenings for debates etc.

Why shouldn't Scotland just sit back and wait for others to do this first
Front leaders in education
Agile
stable
track record
Forward facing
embracing change
stable politically
belief in egalitarianism

national policy should be we could do this
school policy should be lwe don't know how goods our kids could be but ets find out

Fiona Hyslop " we want scotland's people to be all that they might be"

Learning can innoculate children against poverty.

Stephen is using bribery to get good questions - a dvd for every question!

Importance of diversity rather than "uniform children"
Children choosing names of schools after school opened. Eg "leading edge" not including word "school". Small schools not competing but kids interested in what others are doing.

Scotland's future is not in oil etc but in learning.

Comments

[Ian]

One of the things you mentioned run true. In Arlington the schools are a shared resource. The swimming pool is used during the day by the school and in the mornings and evenings the community uses it. In the evening the school is used for evening classes. I have been thinking for a while that the school should be a hub for the community not just the place you send your kids during the day.