Posts by Miriam Mason
What’s the evidence?
25 years! EducAid has spent 25 years learning, working, striving to improve and finding out what works to improve the quality of the education it offers the young Sierra Leoneans it works with. After 25 years, we are now leading the education improvement conversation and action with others in Sierra Leone as part of the…
Read MoreTowards respectful relationships & ensuring schools are safe places for children
The beautiful country of Sierra Leone is one of many countries that have still not banned the use of corporal punishment in schools. The Sierra Leonean Teachers’ Code of Conduct (MEST, 2009) outlaws the cane but the constitution does not forbid its use and the cane is in popular use in schools (Global Initiative to…
Read MoreHow much time should 4 to 18-year-olds spend at school during a calendar year?
(Contribution to the Global Teacher Blog Series) Gosh, what a difficult question! The answer so depends on where you will be when you are not in school. When talking to youngsters in the UK about our youngsters in Sierra Leone, I often find myself saying, ‘…but please don’t imagine that if they can’t go to…
Read MoreThere are various models of support to development….
‘Put your hands up if you paid for your own education!’ I often find myself saying to groups that I talk to in the UK about EducAid’s work in Sierra Leone. My audience always look at me a little confusedly and then we talk about it. I think it is fair to say that it is…
Read MoreHow are your classrooms teaching the skills to resolve tensions and conflicts so as to find the “common ground” in an increasingly diverse world?
A contribution to the Top Global Teacher Bloggers 2018 Series How are your classrooms teaching the skills to resolve tensions and conflicts so as to find the “common ground” in an increasingly diverse world? What an important question at a time when the world rhetoric seems to be about ‘divide and rule’, finding and exaggerating…
Read MoreLiteracy Skills for Sierra Leone in 21st Century
To what extent do you believe the literacy skills required for a new world will be more or less the same as they were before? Will new literate practices need to be generated and does that mean that new literacies be required? If so, what do you think these new literacies will be and how…
Read MoreWhat kind of teachers will continue to flourish in the Fourth Industrial Revolution?
A contribution to the Global Teacher Blog Series Photo by Olivia Acland The Fourth Industrial Revolution is reaching Sub-Saharan Africa in bits and pieces. The consequences of the Fourth Industrial Revolution reaching the rest of the world are more likely how we will experience it more and more before we, ourselves, start really engaging with…
Read MoreA Holistic Learning Approach for All the World’s Students in the Fourth Industrial Revolution
What should an holistic approach to learning look like and how do we shift the focus from the accountability measures in existence now to ones that are relevant for all students in a changing world? Please share specific case studies/examples from your classrooms, schools and communities that can inspire the rest of the world. A…
Read MoreSpace to learn & live & love
Space to learn & live & love Contribution to the Blog Series: Space2Learn.edublogs.org The conventional wisdom is that the best place for any child growing up is in their family. In an ideal world, where that family is financially stable and the family has the wherewithal to care for the emotional, social and welfare needs…
Read MoreTaking Climate Change Seriously in our Schools. What are your best Tips for Teaching About Climate Change in Your Classroom?
Taking Climate Change Seriously in our Schools. What are your best Tips for Teaching About Climate Change in Your Classroom? Contribution to the Global Teacher Series 2018 Strangely, and somewhat frustratingly, it has been quite difficult over the years to get our students in Sierra Leone to think about taking their part in protecting the…
Read MoreHow are you promoting well-being, health and happiness in your classrooms?
How are you promoting well-being, health and happiness in your classrooms? Contribution to The Global Teacher Series 2018 The Battle For The Mind Physical and emotional safety are usually pre-requisites to us being willing to take risks. Risk-taking is usually a pre-requisite for trial and error leading to healthy growth and development. As a…
Read MoreWhat careers advice would you provide to those entering the workforce in 2030?
What careers advice would you provide to those entering the workforce in 2030? Contribution to discussions for the Global Education & Skills Forum 2018: ‘How do we prepare young people for the world of 2030 and beyond?’ The world has been changing exponentially quickly over the last decade plus and is unlikely to stop doing…
Read MoreHow do we instil a better idea of risk taking and struggle in students?
This post is from the Top Global Teachers blog series. Find out more at www.cmrubinworld.com The western world is moving towards lifestyles that require less and less resilience. Physical hardship for many children is becoming a rarity as western parents live up to their dreams of making their children’s childhoods free from suffering. These parents find…
Read MoreMitigating Poverty
MITIGATING POVERTY — Solving poverty is not the prerogative of educators but equalizing every student’s opportunity for success in the classroom is. Part of The Global Teachers Blog series ‘The GEM Report provides an authoritative account of how education is the most vital input for every dimension of sustainable development’ (UNESCO, 2016). The whole…
Read MoreEducation is the answer. What’s the question?
Education is the answer. What’s the question? Sierra Leone has had a traumatic and traumatising few decades. I have been involved with this beautiful country since before my first visit in 1997. Since then, we have seen coups, the ending of an eleven year conflict, the ‘Ebola crisis’, annual flooding culminating in this latest round…
Read MoreDo you believe the curriculum needs to be more relevant for a 21st century world?
Do you believe the curriculum needs to be more relevant for a 21st century world? If you had the power to change the school curriculum, what would you change? Part of the Top Global Teacher Blog Series Prince Ea’s ‘The People vs the School System’ video nearly says it all! The curriculum, the assessment system…
Read MoreIN A 21st CENTURY WORLD, TEACHER LEARNING NEVER STOPS
IN A 21st CENTURY WORLD, TEACHER LEARNING NEVER STOPS —Technology is quickly and forever changing. The moment teachers master one new piece of ed-tech, there may be something newer you need to know more about. Teachers attend professional development sessions of all kinds. If you were calling the shots, how would you change ongoing…
Read MoreExploring Genius Time in Schools
Companies like Google allow employees to spend “20% time” – that is 20% of their time working independently (on concepts they think will most benefit Google) – the goal being to inspire creativity and innovation. Some significant advances have happened and “20% products” include the development of Google News, Gmail, and AdSense. How could this…
Read MoreHow important is teaching ethics in the classroom? How do we instil a moral compass in every student?
When we teach, we are the catalysts for the development of the next generation. As Helen Caldicot said, ‘Teachers are the most responsible and important members of society because their professional efforts affect the fate of the earth.’ There are of course the reductionist and utilitarian approaches that see education as preparation for jobs but…
Read MoreHow to we teach young people the rigorous critical thinking and research skills to distinguish news from propaganda?
How do we ensure the next generation is one which communicates civically, values honesty and recognises reality? Most of our students are accessing education in their third language, having been raised in one of the wealth of local languages as small children, acquiring the lingua franca Krio as they meet others from other language groups…
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