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  • Recent OECD Publication on Rankings of Education Systems

    The OECD is an international economic think tank which regularly publishes a list rankings countries by how effective their schooling is at achieving results for their students. Just recently they’ve come out with a new list containing their findings (based upon achievements solely in maths and sciences), with the top twelve as follows:

    1. Singapore
    2. Hong Kong
    3. South Korea
    4. Japan
    5. Taiwan
    6. Kinland
    7. Estonia
    8. Switzerland
    9. Netherlands
    10. Canada
    11. Poland
    12. Vietnam

    They study the quality of education and its links to economic growth, and have also constructed another interesting list for countries of how much economic growth could be expected by achieving basic levels of education for all 15 year olds. The list is as follows:

    1. Ghana – 3881%
    2. South Africa – 2624%
    3. Honduras – 2016%
    4. Morocco – 1951%
    5. Oman – 1427%
    6. Botswana – 1303%
    7. Macedonia – 1137%
    8. Peru – 1076%
    9. Qatar – 1029%
    10. Saudi Arabia – 975%
    11. Albania – 929%
    12. Colombia – 910%

    Other notable countries who didn’t make the top 12 include the UK at rank 20 and the USA at rank 28.

  • Is There a Correct Amount of Homework to Give to Students?

    Secondary school children, who will have anywhere from 5 to 7 lessons during the day, may well end up with anything up to an additional 2 hours worth of homework to do at the end of the day, a situation which has consistently been a cause for concern for parents.

    Recently a trend has been occurring where the amount of homework students are expected to complete has increased, a trend witnessed in both Primary and Secondary schools. For all students this can be a problem, but it is particularly so for primary school students, who shouldn’t be expected to have to put in hours worth of work on top of the requirements for them to develop and maintain their reading and writing skills.

    When you look at the hours of work students have to put into a day at school, the standard throughout the western world is 6-7 hours. An additional 2 hours worth of homework can push their workload to the same level as a full time job, which seems unfair for children.

  • Report Cards for the End of the School Year

    Every year, teachers are expected to write out a report on how their students have done throughout the year. This can be a difficult process as they need to come up with a personalised comment for each student, when they may well have 25-35 students that they have to do it for. When you have to do it for such a large number, they can end up looking all the same, which is a problem.

    A good way for teachers to come up with something to say about their students is to spend time throughout the year reviewing what their students have achieved. This can give you a clear guide on what to say when it comes time to write out their yearly report, and it can also be a great way to keep an eye on your students and help them improve throughout the year as well.

  • Finding the Right School To Work In

    After you’ve finished acquiring all of the qualifications you’ll need to work as a teacher, you’re next step in your new career is to find a school to work in. There are a lot of schools around, so you will usually have a fair number of options to choose from, which means that you may well be able to choose based upon a number of factors.

    There are a number of factors which teachers use to choose from schools, such as which age group they want to teach, the proximity of the school and the quality of the work environment.

    People become teachers with entirely different aims. Perhaps you were educated in a poor quality school and you want to work in such a place and change people’s lives, or you want to work with students who are likely to be fully engaged in your lessons in a high quality school.