Poppy Masselos of Courier Mail Education summarises the Joel Klein story with comprehensive links highlighting his opacity. Klein is the controversial NY Schools Chancellor who has already angered countless Big Apple “education consumers” and Rudd/Gillard seem fixated on emulating his errors. Catch Klein’s National Press Club talk today on ABC TV and make up your own mind.

Chris Bonner’s, author of The Stupid Country  and Future Education Forum, discusses these issues further and with far greater clarity than I am able to elicit whilst I guffaw at Gillard’s naive pandering to failing OS eduexperiments (and ex Australians, which, when he’s finished Boyering us to tears, I’ll comment further)

Australians can and should be leading the educational world and learning from the countries that are setting the pace. In no way are Australian schools in dire straights, as some schools of our two closest allies, Septopia and MC, are. So why import when we should be exporting? Why pander when we can lead? Why be colonial when we could be unique?

Why is Gillard strongly advocating the NYC model without fully considering others ? Easy to see why Klein’s domestic opponents ask reasonable questions that so far remain unanswered. Locally SOS continues the theme by asking “where is the verified, independent, educational improvement evidence, other than Klein’s questionable and abundant own?”

Easy, cheap and lazy springs to mind, all great qualities of those who fundamentally just don’t get it, 21st century education that is. Play catch up if you must Julia, but the NY model is last centuries solution for this centuries learners. The world has moved on, rapidly, and governments just don’t seem to want to know if it costs more than the cheapest solution. (edit5/12: NMC ANZ Horizon Report just released, 198 dowloads as of 5th Dec, get amongst it, good future stuff here, will post more later)

Little boxes, raw stats and testing to the test are so passe, not to mention damaging to learning, I hope the coal facers stop laughing long enough to get to work today.

picture: Rubenstein at flickr