Building the Future - Creating global citizens that function in the knowledge society
Through improving education today, we can build a better tomorrow.

The web site of Australian ICT Teacher, Kevin Grunert.


Archive for November, 2008

Teaching for Uncertain Futures

Sunday, November 30th, 2008

Something that I am well aware of is the need to consider that the world that the students in my classroom will be living in is very different to what existed 50 years ago.

So, I was quite excited to see that Teaching Australia (who are funded by Commonwealth Government) had identified this as an area worth researching and had prepared this paper.

Teaching for Uncertain Futures, published in February 2008, reports on the Open Book Scenarios project, describes four alternate scenario worlds of 2030 and discusses the implications of change for the teaching profession.

The Open Book Scenarios - teaching for uncertain futures scenario building project involved teachers and principals from across Australia exploring possible futures for teaching and school leadership in 2030 and the implications of these alternate worlds for teaching and school leadership.

The scenario builders addressed two key questions:

  • What will the Australian teaching profession have to do to be successful in the environments in which it will have to operate in 2030?
  • What are the implications of these challenges for school leadership?
  • I strongly suggest you take the time to have a read of Teaching for Uncertain Futures and feel free to discuss your thoughts in the comments.

    CARisma (Transport SA teaching resource on cars & emissions)

    Sunday, November 30th, 2008

    Whilst searching for a list of the Key Competencies and their descriptions, I came across the “CARisma” teaching resource released by Transport SA.

    From the CARisma site:

    CARisma is a teaching and learning resource that explores the status of the car in our society, Your students will learn about:

    • how the car has become such a focal point in our culture
    • the impact of the car on our culture and environment
    • active travel and alternative transport modes to the car.

    CARisma has been designed for years 6 - 10 in South Australian schooling and its content is linked with the current curriculum. CARisma Investigations are based on Constructivist Theory and use a range of pedagogical concepts and teaching tools:

    • for teachers to use in planning and teaching a unit of research about the car in our society
    • for students to independently navigate, research and complete some Investigations

    Go take a look at the CARisma site, and feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

    Did You Know?

    Friday, November 21st, 2008

    A thought provoking video that provides some interesting facts and figures on the type of world we’re currently in and that the students we are teaching today will be living in.

    If you’d like to share your thoughts on this, feel free to discuss this in the comments.