Education standards are falling?
Do you think education standards are falling?I would hazard a guess that almost everyone reading this completed Year 9 (of Form 3) Maths (or Math is some countries.)Here are some questions from the 2009 Year 9 NAPLAN Numeracy test. See how you go. You're welcome to...
Silicon Valley sidelines best talent
The NYT article here raises two issues dear to our hearts at The Spiral Path: discrimination against women in the workplace and cultures that frustrate innovation. In another string to the argument business is irrational and makes decisions that hinder productivity...
Human Potential and Hope
I came across this piece by Marcia Devlin this morning.The first part of her post reminded me of my Grade 6 teacher. (A Mr Horn, if I remember correctly.) Now I liked Mr Horn very much. I thought he was an engaging teacher who always made us think. But I do remember...
Education is broken – but it doesn’t have to be
If you read this blog regularly you will know that my heart weeps for education. At a time in which the world faces its greatest ever challenges, we are returning to models of education that were essentially developed 200 years ago. In Australia, we have the...
Clara Schumann
Do a google search on Schumann and you will most likely find references to Robert Schumann, the 19th century composer. You won't immediately find that his wife Clara Schumann, was also a noted composer and virtuoso pianist.As an interesting aside there was a strong...
Marie Curie
Marie Curie's name is intimately associated with the discovery of 'radioactivity.' This is not accurate as that discovery belongs to Henri Becquerel. To me precise she isolated the active radioactive source within pitchblende. Starting with several tonnes of...
Frank Tate
Frank Tate was Victoria's first Director of Education. Reading his biography is an amazing experience. Here was someone who was passionate about education and an educational reformer. He addressed issues we think of as modern. Tate was not content to be a routine...
Mahatma Gandhi
Gandhi held no pubic office and was the head of no organisation yet he was one of the most influential people of the 20th Century.
Charlotte Bronte
Charlotte Bronte (1816 -1885)
Character of the day: Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt may be best known as the wife of US President Franklin D Roosevelt. However she was an amazing and influential woman in her own right.