National Standards: 'Can We Learn From Other's Mistakes'

John Hattie, Professor of Auckland University's Faculty of Education and Director of asTTle, calls for clear policy and professional debate to accompany the new national standards. He describes 3 issues associated with national standards in other countries, and urges teachers to be "change agents for the system". The 3 issues discussed are:

1. Accommodation – excluding those students identified as struggling

2. Retention – holding students back

3. Changing the Standards – Making them more achievable to change the average pass rate.

John also talks about the need to put in clear policies alongside National Standards to demonstrate how we are not going to go down these 3 pathways - unlike the US and UK. He encourages debate amongst the profession and supports the idea of an independent review that will measure the improvement National Standards is/is not having on teaching and learning; and for the review to determine if such a policy should continue indefinitely or be scrapped.

To hear John’s presentation click on the link: http://www.edtalks.org/play.php?vid=311