Tag Archives: Education
A Call for Drastic Changes in Educating New Lawyers
Education Worldwide
The legal system has always been the least flexible pilar of our society´s institutions; the very nature of conservatism was supposed to secure order, stability and continuity. That’s why proposal made by the Task Force on the Future of Legal Education of the American Bar Association last week has come as a surprise for many:
licencing legal technicians, cutting the curriculum to 2 years, requirement for practical training for students – and, eventually, real-world experience for faculty, global exposure.
“There’s a time for incremental change and a time for bold change.
This is the time for bold change.”
- Paula Littlewood, a task force member and the executive director of the Washington State Bar Association
Read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/
Image by | SalFalko under CreativeCommons License By-NC 2.0
Federica Project at the IX International Seminar
Education Worldwide
Federica Project a web learning platform from the Italian University of Naples Federico II, participated on November as a demo presentation in our “IX International Seminar Transformative Changes in Education: System-wide Approach”. Rosanna de Rosa, its executive director, described Federica Project as a “mindful model for a lifestyle learning”.
Evelina Bruno, content manager of the Federica website has recently published a summary of her personal experience in the Seminar, both as demo presenter and participant:
Il convegno si è posto come obiettivo la discussione e il confronto interdisciplinare sui sistemi di apprendimento “estesi”, dal punto di vista geografico, sociale, culturale. In riferimento alla situazione geografica, Azra Naseem ha spiegato come l’e-learning riesca a standardizzare l’apprendimento all’interno della loro Università, che ha varie sedi nel mondo, e a renderlo semplice e fruibile per tutti. Per l’aspetto sociale, invece, il progetto relativo alle scuole low cost in Sudafrica, introdotte da James Tooley è stato esemplificativo: infatti, la rivoluzione dell’istruzione a basso costo presso le scuole private sta cambiando profondamente i processi educativi dei paesi in via di sviluppo.
Federica Project facilitates the access to students to content and they have nowadays and open courseware from 13 different faculties with about 5.000 lessons available.
You can read Evelina Bruno’s full post here.
* Post language is Italian but we kindly advise you to use browser translation tools at your convenience.
Florida Leads International Student Literacy Test
Education Worldwide
The U.S. National Center for Education Statistics has released results of the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), where Florida State outperformed the rest of the 52 education systems participating, becoming this way the world leader.
In this PIRLS, reading skills of fourth graders are compared with their peers around the world. Florida participated as a separate education system than the U.S. one. Just 4 other education systems were not measurably different and the remaining 48 scored lower. The world average was 500 and Florida had an average of 569.
© Foundation For Excellence in Education
Jeb Bush, who was governor of Florida from 1999-2007 and Chairman of the Foundation for Excellence in Education declared: “Reading is the gateway to learning. We cannot rest until every child has gained the power that comes through reading. If Florida can do it, every state can and must”.
"Maybe it's a good thing education has not been an issue in this election", Gene Carter. via @CNNSchools
Education Worldwide
While the whole world is closely following up the election of the 45th president of USA, American educators and parents keep their eyes on two states: Georgia and Washington which vote today on the issue of charter schools, and consequently, the public education in the state.
The parents are undecided and often lost, and no wonder: according to the Stanford CREDO study , only “17% of charter schools provide superior education opportunities for their students”, while about half of them do not perform anyway differently from public schools, and the rest fared worse. One more report, “Informing the Debate” study from the Boston Foundation, found “large positive effects for Charter Schools at both the middle and high school levels”.
So, the jury is still out. But state educational agencies, the unions and, first of all, big donors do know what to support.
Related links:
The teenager who wanted to go to school
Education Worldwide
© The New York Times
© Photo in The Telegraph by AFP/Getty Images
Updated on October 18th – Malala Yousafzai, the 14-year-old who was shot in the head by Taliban militants, was described to be “responding well to her care”, according to a hospital’s spokesman. The girl was flown on monday to a UK hospital specialized on treating people wounded in war. Doctors are planning reconstructive operations and they say she faces long-term rehabilitation. Thousands of well-wishers from all over the world are sending their support and prayers for Malala. The hospital’s charity has also a fund where donations can be made for her treatment.
Malala was targeted by the Taliban back in 2009, when she became a national hero after writing an anonymous blog where she condemned the ban on education rights for girls in her area, the Swat Valley. After the Taliban where out of her region she became internationally recognized for her fight. Malala’s family had already received numerous threats and continues to. “We wouldn’t leave our country if my daughter survives or not. We have an ideology that advocates peace. The Taliban cannot stop all independent voices through the force of bullets”, has declared Mr. Yousafzai in Rawalpindi, where her daughter was being treated until now.
The recent attack has horrified and dismayed Pakistan. Numerous human right groups, politicians and citizens have publicly condemned and demonstrated against this brutal attack. Girls in Mingora, Malala’s hometown, have declared that “bullets will not stop them attending school”. Authorities have offered a reward of 85.000 euros to capture the gunmen.
The Pakistan’s Military Chief of Army Staff, Ashfaq Kayani, has also showed his condemnation to the attack: “The cowards who attacked Malala and her fellow students have shown time and again how little regard they have for human life and how low they can fall in their cruel ambition to impose their twisted ideology”.
Related media links:
Malala has been flown to UK for further medical care - video
Malala back in 2009 in the Swat Valley (Pakistan) - video
Other links of interest:
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
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