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Posts tagged WISE09
WISE Qatar – Doha Diaries 4 – Wordle of Participants
Nov 22nd
The broad cross section of participants at WISE 2009 fascinated me. I have never shared a face to face event with such a global register.
During a quieter moment in the conference I made a Wordle of the job titles of all of the delegates.
I think it makes for an interesting observation of what groups, organisations and countries that were represented. Not all stakeholders were present, so not all of the views needed for such a wide debate on education were contributed.
In my opinion WISE 2010 needs to have a clear involvement of administration, parents and most of all students of every age group. We need to see the word “pupil” leaping out strongly from the next Wordle I do.
WISE Qatar – Doha Diaries 3 – A Call to Action?
Nov 19th
WISE 2009 has drawn to a close and I have hardly had a moment to sit and reflect on the some of the amazing sessions and ideas that have been discussed. I intend to spend some time writing up my notes beyond the live Tweeting I did.
The event closed with a final gathering of the 1000 participants and Dr Abdullah the Chairman of the Qatar Foundation offered not only some final sentiments but a set of declarations.
Throughout the series of plenary and breakout sessions, we have been listening very closely to the contributions and the key concerns of the participants with a firm commitment to move from debate to concrete outcomes. The identification of 10 strategic priorities is a milestone as it represents a convergence among global educational leaders on the key issues that will affect and shape education in the 21st century.
The 10 strategic priorities declared at the Summit were:
- Access to ‘quality’ education
- A fully integrated approach
- Global citizenship
- Education embedded in the local community
- Protecting education and educators
- Reconciliation
- ‘WISE pioneers’ to monitor progress
- Innovating new ways to learn
- Pursuing sustainable development
- A future built on multi-stakeholder partnership
WISE also refined how it will contribute to drive educational changes in the future.
- WISE will be an agenda-setting forum which will define areas requiring actions across all sectors of education and will seek involvement of appropriate partners.
- WISE will promote innovative practices, methodologies and partnerships, making best use of modern technology.
- WISE will seek to build on the momentum of the inaugural summit to inform public opinion and put education as a priority on the political, social and economic agenda.
The identification of these 10 priorities is a first step. They are fairly predictable and I will be expanding on some of them in the coming weeks in some further blog posts about my experiences. The challenge of changing the face of education worldwide is sometimes too big an issue for me to grapple with. But I think grass roots efforts need to be listened to, amplified and supported. I hope that WISE can help amplify the story of my classroom of the innovation in your classroom or school. It is action we want not just more declarations and talk.
This information is not currently in a form to discuss and comment online, so here is our chance – have your say!
What are your reactions to the 10 declarations? Which is the most important to your setting? And what do you make of the role WISE has outlined to drive future educational changes? What measure of impact would you like to see from the WISE group that is relevant and real to you and your institution?
WISE Qatar – Doha Diaries 2 – Turning a Page
Nov 17th
WISE has begun in earnest and the unprecedented nature of the scale of this education conference was very clear to me. It is a gathering of so many people who could make a difference to world education, it is truly inspiring.
It was a rousing opening speech from Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, who said that world education is almost comatose and that we all need to sound the alarm for change and the right to education. Her Highness challenged the summit to set out an innovative road map that reflects our common convictions.
Dr Irina Bokova the newly appointed Director General of UNESCO explained in her opening that 75 million children worldwide are not in any form of education. This is further compounded by the fact that 800 million adults lack a basic education. She explained that teaching is a top priority for UNESCO and that we must all do our utmost to protect education from the current economic crisis, unfortunately I think that schools in the UK will still feel the financial pinch in the coming months.
The Chairman of the Qatar Foundation, Dr Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani set out further challenges for the summit. That the participants were the driving force for WISE and that we need to turn our words into endurable deeds. He explained that WISE was the beginning of a long term commitment to education innovation on a global scale.
The opening remarks were strong from all of the speakers. As a classroom teacher it helped me remember the very reason why we do our work. Even in the opening session the size of this event is abundantly clear, I hope that the nettle is grasped and as a collective something concrete is achieved in the next few days. How will my class be effected by this summit back home?
As the different speakers took to the stage the colour accent of the room changed, it is not going to be so easy to change global education, to align our common convictions. However the opening remarks helped remind us all why we try and why we need to continue to strive to improve.
As Irina Bokova put it, ” we must build peace in the minds of humans.” I will certainly take that back with me to my school.
WISE Qatar – Doha Diaries 1
Nov 17th
I have arrived safely in Doha, Qatar for the inaugural World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE). I am excited to be here and really looking forward to how the next 3 days pan out.
One thing that is abundantly clear is the international register of attendees. For example in the car from the aiport to the hotel last night I met a Brazilian journalist who had a 20 hour journey, this is a truly global event.
I am writing this on the coach journey to the Ritz-Carlton Doha which will be the venue for WISE. As Alan Levine explained last night the hospitality and friendliness is in abundance and I also shared his initial scepticism of the invite at first glance. But it isn’t some elaborate ruse and the logisitics team behind WISE have done a great job so far.
Interestingly I have been put in a hotel with all of the media professionals. The invite was as a result of this blog and I suppose I have to accept the fact that it is part of the media fabric – hopefully carving my own niche nonetheless.
Monday sees us take part in the opening of the conference as well as a variety of breakout sessions including:
- Globalisation of education – preparing students for a global economy and society
- Bridging Global Inequalities
- Higher Education for a Sustainable World
- Funding Education in the 21st Century – Who Pays for the Education of our Global Citizens
- Pluralism - Every Child Matters
- Innovation - Technology and E-Learning
- Pluralism - Civil Rights and Minorities in Education
- Sustainability - A Fully Intergrated Education Policy
There is lots to choose from and I am hoping to blog some notes over the next few days, that’s if I have time as the programme is pretty full on. You can always follow what I am up to at the conference by checking out my Twitter stream and the hashtag #WISE09 too.
