10 barriers to education around the world

Brought to you by: Write to Learn

on June 2, 2014

Children in poor countries face many barriers to accessing an education. Some are obvious – like not having a school to go to – while others are more subtle, like the teacher at the school not having had the training needed to effectively help children to learn. Here we list 10 major barriers to education, and look at how the Global Partnership for Education is working to overcome them.
1. A lack of funding for education
Image: The Global Partnership for Education
While the Global Partnership for Education is helping many developing countries to increase their own domestic financing for education, global donor support for education is decreasing at an alarming rate.  Total aid delivered for basic education has dropped for three years in a row, resulting in a 16% reduction between 2009 and 2012. Aid to basic education is now at the same level as it was in 2008. This is creating a global funding crisis that is having serious consequences on countries’ ability to get children into school and learning. The 59 developing countries that are GPE partners face a funding shortage of $34 billion over the next four years for primary and secondary education. Money isn’t everything, but it is a key foundation for a successful education system.

Computers in class ‘a scandalous waste’: Sydney Grammar head

Natasha Bita

National correspondent Brisbane

A top Australian school has banned laptops in class, warning that technology “distracts’’ from old-school quality teaching.
The headmaster of Sydney Grammar School, John Vallance, yesterday described the billions of dollars spent on computers in Australian schools over the past seven years as a “scandalous waste of money’’.
“I’ve seen so many schools with limited budgets spending a disproportionate amount of their money on technology that doesn’t really bring any measurable, or non-measurable, benefits,’’ he said.
“Schools have spent hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars­ on interactive whiteboards, digital projectors, and now they’re all being jettisoned.’’
Sydney Grammar has banned students from bringing laptops to school, even in the senior years, and requires them to handwrite assignments and essays until Year 10. Its old-school policy bucks the prevailing trend in most Aus­tralian high schools, and many primary schools, to require parents­ to purchase laptops for use in the classroom.
Dr Vallance said the Rudd-­Gillard government’s $2.4 billion Digital Education Revolution, which used taxpayer funds to buy laptops for high school students, was money wasted. “It didn’t really do anything except enrich Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard and Apple,’’ he said. “They’ve got very powerful lobby influence in the educational community.’’
Sydney Grammar students have access to computers in the school computer lab, and use laptops at home.
But Dr Vallance regards­ laptops as a distraction in the classroom. “We see teaching as fundamentally a social activity,’’ he said. “It’s about interaction ­between people, about discussion, about conversation.
“We find that having laptops or iPads in the classroom inhibit conversation — it’s distracting.
“If you’re lucky enough to have a good teacher and a motivating group of classmates, it would seem a waste to introduce anything that’s going to be a distraction from the benefits that kind of social context will give you.’’

Successful implementation of education policy relies on teacher involvement (04 April 2016)

Educators from over 30 countries have linked the promotion of education as public good to teacher autonomy, political commitment by governments and the recognition of education unions as agents of change.

Susan Hopgood, during the panel session on the Sustainable Development Goals

The EI Conference of affiliates in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries, organised by Education International (EI), brought more than 150 international delegates from OECD member countries for a two-day seminar to Rome, the Italian capital.
The participants were welcomed to Rome by the EI Italian affiliates who said that they were grateful for the opportunity to host the Conference and contribute to EI’s policy development work. They reminded participants that this was the second time that they had hosted the EI OECD affiliates conference.  Fred van Leeuwen, EI General Secretary, in his introduction to the Conference, highlighted the importance of including teachers and education unions in policy dialogue in order for it to be successful. Framing the policy developments in the light of the current international political, economic and social context, from the post-crisis economy to the refugee influx, van Leeuwen regretted that, too often, Governments do not consult the stakeholders directly involved in education when drafting changes in policy or implementing commitments made at national or international level: “Governments may say one thing in an international meeting but do something completely different back home.”
In this regard, he warned of the increasing tendency on the part of governments to neglect education by leaving it in the hands of edu-businesses and for-profit corporations. He emphasised that, despite the OECD’s evidence that shows that the market in education has a negative impact on student outcomes and deepens inequality, “some governments remain steadfast in their attempts to dismantle their public school systems. We are already seeing the effects of this agenda with the break-up of traditional school systems, particularly in some low-income countries. We see the emergence and spread of privately managed, corporate owned, and in many instances, for-profit schools.” He cited the recent examples ofsuch developments in  the Philippines and Kenya, while in Liberia “the authorities are about to hand over all primary and secondary schools to a for profit corporation”.

Education at the Museum

Over the past decade, there has been increasing acknowledgement of the need to better prepare students for secondary education and for jobs in an increasingly globalized workforce.
The confluence of external indicators of American’s lower academic standing in science and other disciplines—reflected, for example, in the 2012 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) test—and recent research pointing to the importance of STEM education underscore the need to tap new resources and redesign science teaching and learning both within and outside the formal system.
Leveraging the power of learning in non-school setting and complementing the formal system, the Museum is directly addressing these challenges:

• About 500,000 visitors come to the Museum each year in school and camp groups to explore permanent halls and temporary exhibitions.
• In just the past year, the Urban Advantage program has increased dramatically—now serving roughly 800 teachers in about 45 percent of the City’s middle schools. These teachers, in turn work with some 80,000 students.
• About 4,500 teachers participate in a range of on-site professional development experiences—from intensive workshops focused on science content and pedagogy to introductions to Museum exhibitions and learning resources for their students.
• About 2,500 youth from pre-K through high school participated in out-of-school programs last year.
• Graduates of the Museum’s Master of Arts in Teaching program are now teaching in high-need schools, primarily in New York City. Roughly 600 students of these teachers took the Earth Science Regents Exam (as of August 2015), and comparative data from prior years suggests that graduates of the MAT program are increasing opportunities for high-need students to take the Earth Science Regents exam.

The demand for these educational offerings has grown, but the Museum’s education spaces are out of date and difficult to access. By both adding and updating dedicated learning spaces, the Gilder Center will significantly enhance the Museum’s capacity to serve New York’s students, teachers, and families.
Major science education initiatives undertaken by the Museum include:

PROGRAMS FOR PRE-K-12 STUDENTS

Urban Advantage Middle School Science Program: An extraordinary effort, now in its twelfth year, spearheaded by the Museum in collaboration with the New York Botanical Garden, Brooklyn and Queens Botanic Gardens, New York Hall of Science, Staten Island and Bronx Zoos, and New York Aquarium. Urban Advantage supports middle school students, their families, and teachers by providing field trips to science-rich institutions, access for teachers to scientists and collections, professional development for educators, and materials for scientific investigations in the classroom. This pioneering science education program is the model for a similar program in Denver, now in its fifth year, and has garnered widespread interest from educators and school districts in the U.S. and abroad.
Lang Science Program: Selected students in 5th grade become part of an exciting 7-year extracurricular program that exposes them to the range of Museum sciences. Students work with researchers, curators, educators, and other Museum professionals who support their intellectual growth and introduce them to college and career choices.
Science Research Mentoring Program (SRMP): This program offers highly motivated high school students the opportunity to engage in year of authentic research, mentored by a Museum scientist. To prepare for the research experience, students take courses at the Museum in lab skills, statistics, and related topics. Based on the successful SRMP model, the Museum has helped to launch a city-wide consortium of similar programs. The NYC Science Research Mentoring Consortium now consists of 11 institutional partners at 14 sites across New York City that are providing mentored research experiences to about 300 youth this year.
Adventures in Science: This series of programs introduces grades K-8 graders to a wide variety of scientific disciplines through thought-provoking investigations and interactive tours of Museum exhibits. The three-day workshops, week-long day camps, and two-week institutes explore topics such as astrophysics, human evolution, robot design, frogs and extreme mammals. In Virtual Worlds Institutes—one of the week-long day camps— students use cutting-edge digital tools to explore topics in depth. For example, participants can populate a virtual Cretaceous ocean with prehistoric sea life; create a Hayden Planetarium mini-space show using the Museum’s Digital Universe; and digitally re-create the world of the Neanderthals.
BridgeUp: STEM: This portfolio of programs focused on the intersection of computer science and science includes an intensive Brown Scholars program for high school girls; an exploratory program for middle-school youth in under-resourced schools; a post-baccalaureate teaching/research fellowship for women; a professional development component for teachers; and public programming, including an annual hackathon, to promote the use of computer science in the observation, research, and communication of science. The Brown Scholars program teaches girls who have completed 9th or 10th grade to code in Python, work on real scientific data sets, and learn how data science and data visualization are important tools for scientists in all fields.
Science and Nature Program for Young Children: This innovative program offers weekday classes for children ages 3 to 11 and their parents or other caregivers. The program combines the best of early-childhood education with the Museum’s unique scientific and educational resources, including live animals, exhibitions, specimens, and artifacts. Emphasis is on hands-on science activities that adults and children can enjoy together. The program serves not only individual children and families, but classes from settlement houses, Head Start programs, and daycare centers around New York City.

PROGRAMS FOR UNDERGRADUATES AND GRADUATE STUDENTS 

Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU): Funded by the National Science Foundation, REU offers paid summer internships for qualified undergraduate students to conduct research projects with Museum scientists either in evolutionary biology or physical sciences. The program includes a general orientation to the Museum and a series of weekly meetings at which students discuss their research, present informal progress reports, and participate in discussions and seminars on various science topics as well as on graduate and research career opportunities.
Museum Education and Employment Program (MEEP): Now in its third decade, MEEP recruits and trains approximately 50 New York City youths, ages 18-21, to work at the Museum as summer guides each year. Participants undergo rigorous training and education in topics from biology and anthropology to leadership and public speaking; develop their own thematic tours; and work as youth guides and role models to camp groups visiting the Museum during the summer months. Graduates of the program have gone on to careers at museums and other cultural institutions, education, social work, and in the private sector. A program for high school students offers similar opportunities during both the summer and the school year.
The Richard Gilder Graduate School at the Museum houses two graduate programs, the Doctor of Philosophy in Comparative Biology—the first Ph.D. degree granting program to be offered at a museum in the Western Hemisphere—and the Master of Arts in Teaching, also the first of its kind.

• Doctor of Philosophy–The pioneering Ph.D. program educates the next generation of biologists through an integrated approach that focuses on the history, evolutionary relationships, and interactions among organisms. Students in the doctoral program work with the Museum’s internationally recognized collections and world-renowned scientific faculty. Global fieldwork with Museum faculty provides exceptional research opportunities for students. The four 2015 Ph.D. graduates bring the total number of Ph.D. degrees conferred by the Richard Gilder Graduate School to 16. 

• Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT)–Drawing on the Museum’s unique resources, this MAT program is the latest initiative in the Museum’s long history of leadership in teacher education and professional development. Funded in part by the New York State Education Department, the U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, and private donors, this 15-month urban residency program addresses a critical shortage of qualified science teachers in New York State, particularly in high-needs schools with diverse populations, by providing a specialization in Earth Science for teachers of grades 7–12. The program employs intensive mentoring and extensive use of technology to provide degree candidates, known as Kathryn W. Davis Graduate Teaching Fellows, with a deep understanding of scientific content as well as of the importance of an inquiry-based approach to learning.

PROGRAMS FOR TEACHERS

Museum onsite professional development programs serve roughly 4,500 teachers each year. A variety of programs running throughout the year—from introductory to intensive—deepen teachers’ content knowledge and practice and introduce them to ways in which they can use Museum resources and exhibitions to enhance teaching and learning. A focus of many programs is to support educators in integrating the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and the Next Generation Science Standards into their classroom practice. To support teachers in planning school visits, the Museum has developed Educator’s Guides that offer strategies for the visit and pre- and post- visit activities, all aligned with curriculum and standards.

Excellence and Innovation in Practice: lessons learned from the 2016 Primary Conference

Posted: 19.02.2016

Approach, Events

By Helen Williams, Acting Director of Primary
“Phew!” This was my first thought as our primary conference closed on 1^st February. “Thank goodness that’s over!” was my second.
It was a fantastic day, attended by over 250 teachers from 150 schools. However, as the dust settles and the evaluations are perused, it’s now time to reflect.
How did the event support the Mathematics Mastery partnership in collaborating, innovating, learning from each other and sharing excellent practice? And what might we do differently as a result of the discussions, insight, and feedback gathered on the day?

Innovation and inspiration

I was inspired by St Thomas of Canterbury Primary School in Sheffield, whose teachers Sarah and Libby spoke passionately about how their school ensures all children ‘keep up, not catch up’.
They’ve implemented a range of innovative intervention activities, designed to help reduce pupil attainment gaps across each year group. These include a daily programme of pre-teaching for pupils needing additional learning support. They’ve also allocated an extra 15 minutes over lunch for intervention activities (while still ensuring teachers and pupils get an hour’s break!)
Other teachers from our partner schools spoke compellingly about how they’re successfully using mixed attainment working, working with parents to address under-achievement, and how learning within their schools is truly without limits.
This reminded me how the Mathematics Mastery approach is far from rigid. It’s designed to be adapted to a school’s individual needs, leading to huge improvements in attitudes, attainment and staff enthusiasm for the subject!

Learning from others

Our keynote speaker, Professor John Mason, helped us understand how to capture children’s attention by considering how our own attention wanes when we are not fully immersed in the mathematics. We were asked to question whether children were using their mathematical powers or whether these are usurped by worksheets or textbooks.
This has led me to consider how we might evaluate our programme materials when we re-write them next year.
Are our lessons inspiring enough?  Do we encourage children to reason, conjecture, hypothesise and generalise sufficiently? Do we give children the power to demonstrate understanding through their own jottings, rather than using task sheets?
Later on we heard from Michelle Thomas, Executive Headteacher of the Federation of Grazebrook and Shacklewell Primary Schools. She spoke enthusiastically about how the mastery approach supports children’s mathematics learning, and how it’s in line with the National Curriculum key messages on children progressing at broadly the same pace.
Michelle gave some wonderfully practical ideas on how to show progress in books (it’s all about marking for progress and showing how well the pupils’ demonstrate a depth of understanding and readiness for the next stage of learning).  She also asked us to consider how well our maths lessons get pupils thinking and reasoning, applying skills fluently and efficiently, and using mathematical resources.
I was drawn to the parallels with John’s talk, and again, will now review our lesson materials to ensure these crucial key messages are embedded throughout.  I can already see how our teacher training for new schools joining the Mathematics Mastery 2016/17 cohort will benefit from this fresh perspective.

Next Steps for Depth

As I mull over the conference evaluations, I feel proud of our tremendously powerful, enthusiastic and supportive partnership of teachers. (I’m also immensely pleased with the positive feedback received – “Really productive, engaging and informative”; “Useful and inspiring”; “A brilliant day”; “Feeling maths inspired!”).
However, my focus is on considering…where next?
I want to harness the huge potential that comes with working with thousands of teachers across the country, and ensure we continue working towards our vision of helping every child to enjoy and succeed in mathematics, regardless of background.
Those of you familiar with the Mathematics Mastery primary programme will know we often use “Next Steps for Depth” stickers to encourage pupils to deepen their understanding. I think the key learning from the conference has to be that, together, we have a real wealth of expertise and experience. And as our programme continues to grow and thrive, our next challenge is how can we maximise this and keep moving towards greater depth – embedding our core values and beliefs into all that we do.