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Necropolis Gully

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  Necropolis Gully Ancient Fertility  The only sound in the deep quiet of the crevice was the crunch of my boots on the debris-strewn ground. Towering stone walls, draped in vibrant green moss , rose on either side, making me feel like an intruder in a forgotten tomb . My matte-black suit , a product of a future this place could never have imagined, felt profane against the ancient rock . Then I saw it: a weathered, silent figure standing in the path. It was a statue of a woman , carved from the same stone as the gully but shaped with clear intent. Moss crept up its base and clung to its form like a second skin. This impossible artifact, an architectural anomaly in this raw, natural fissure , stopped me. My steady, determined posture belied the storm of questions raging in my mind. The statue stared forward with blank, unseeing eyes, a silent witness to a history I had just stumbled into. My mission was to find my crew, but this place, this silent, stone woman , was a new, un...
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Surplus of university graduates - academic unemployment

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In  the fast  growing region in the  world there   is  high levels of unemployment of university graduates. India, China, Malaysia and Hong Kong are all experiencing a surplus of university graduates. In China there are over 6 million unemployed graduates and This has led to a questioning of education standards and the capabilities of the graduates. Business says they do not have the skills for the 21st century. http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/china/120717/economy-college-education-youth-unemployment  This has led to a questioning of the value of exam-based learning and the promise of white-collar jobs. Look at the World Economic forum and scroll down and look at the global dimensions of unemployment for your people. http://www.weforum.org/community/global-agenda-councils/youth-unemployment-visualization-2013 Educating or unemployment. The issue of youth unemployment is a significant issue for Australia. A...
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PISA and Education Reform.

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PISA and Education Reform. This ABC Hindsight program discusses why Finland reformed its education system in the 1970s. http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/rearvision/finland-the-real-education-revolution/4228418 Pasi  Sahlburg, a former director of Education in Finland discusses  how Finland has achieved success and the important role of teacher quality and teacher training. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf65Z_gqH1U This is an excellent discussion, as it covers the purpose of change and the strategic processes employed to gain achievement. The discussion also highlights the need of countries to make reform . PISA is a reflective tool which countries can validate against and use to make reform . Australia is different  to  Finland and as this discussion implicitly identifies – as the world changes nations need to reform their approach to education. It could be that Finland got it right for an era the Industrial era (which the PISA testing m...
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Is education a global competition?

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Question: Is education a global competition?  Australia's schools are failing and are behind other countries across the globe. Jo Tovey from the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reports on the PISA 2009 results for Australia. Does this impression of global competition mean that Australian teachers and students are in a global race?  Sydney Morning Herald 2006: OECD report finds Australian students falling behind Tovey's report identifies a reason for Australia's performance relative to other nations and highlights growing inequalities between rich and poor as a reason for Australia's ranking. Sydney Morning Herald 2013: Too many losers in divided education system   Does this impression of global competition mean that Australian teachers and students should behave like they are in a  global race? This question is complicated as it pre-states an assumption based on problem identification and action. I am not sure what percent of teachers are aware of the PIS...
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Globalization of Eductation

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Readings: Global Student Mobility in the Asia Pacific: Mobility, Migration, Security and Well-being of international students:   http://www.c-s-p.org/Flyers/Global-Student-Mobility-in-the-Asia-Pacific--Mobility--Migration--Security-and-Wellbeing-of-Internat1-4438-1908-5.htm Two cultures in science :   http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/ockhamsrazor/two--cultures-in-science/5154684 Science, Engineering and mathematics in Crisis :  http://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/education/the-stem-crisis-is-a-myth Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in the National Interest: A Strategic Approach in July 2013 :   http://www.chiefscientist.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/STEMstrategy290713FINALweb.pdf Globalization and the Australian Dream :  http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/sundayextra/the-australian-dream-is-over/5154750 The following discussion is based on personal understandings in association with the signifi...
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