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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...

Origins of school leadership

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I am particularly interested in the origins of industrial-based educational values and the operational systems that emerged in the late 19th century. Despite a century of teaching and learning the structural design, values, and operational outputs continue to display a lingering influence on 21st century education. Ironically, we are in similar conditions where technology is revolutionizing society, and significant educational reform is required. The birth of the industrial era presented societal leaders with a complex problem and this problem called for educational reform. A on-mass educational system was required to output a supply of disciplined workers to satisfy the production needs of factories demanded by the emerging manufacturing economy. 21st century nations (such as Australia) are now presented with a new problem and this problem is also calling for educational reform. Whilst we do have a mass and comprehensive educational system it’s rooted basis, the manufacturing era, i...

Australian Standard for Principals reflection

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Reflection My understanding of the Australian Standard for Principals, as compared to the Standard for Teachers is that it is not a regulated nor a compliance framework. Principal registration is not based on meeting standards identified within the Principal Professional Standards. Principals are expected to meet standards identified within the Standard for Teachers to maintain teacher registration. An essential criteria with Northern Territorian Principal  J ob  D escriptions is have teacher r egistration. Whilst, the Australian Standard for Principals doesn't have a compliance mandate, the strength of the standard is the explicit and descriptive understandings/expectations gained through (what I call) a common language statement of expectations. The Australian  Standard for Principals ensures a common understanding of what is expected across Australia. The benefit of a common understanding is that it explicitly describes 'standard based expec...

Innovative Learning Environments and Transformative Schooling

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Transformative Pedagogy, Platforms and Digital Technologies Author:        Bennett, John, J Alias:        JJFBbennett.com University:     Charles Darwin University (Casuarina) Course:        Masters of Education International Title:              Innovative Learning Environments and Transformative Schooling. Purpose: Apply analytical and critical thinking to promote innovation in the context of global demands on educational performance. Apply theoretical concepts to an analysis of international, national, regional and local media representations of education and training. Topic Theme:       Transformative Pedagogy, Platforms and Digital Technologies. Completed:    May, 2014 -------------------------------- Index Introduction 21st Century Autonomous Schools, Learning Culture and Technology Transformative and Constra...