After the disappointment of the repetitive start to day 1, I took enjoyed a more leisurely start to Day 2 of the conference.
Dame Stella Rimington began the days proceedings with an interesting speech outlining the global changes that occurred during the her time with the secret service. Sadly there was little I could take back to school except a passing comment she made on the value and diversity of female colleagues within leadership.
Bob Compton, Director of 2 Million Minutes attempted to debunk four third world educational myths and IMHO did so quite successfully. Back in 2005 Bob compared the high school experiences of two teenagers from the U.S., India and China so it is safe to say he is well positioned to take forward this argument.If you are unconvinced that western standards fall short of education standards in China and India, then have a crack at some sample questions. Or watch the trailer.
Madame Fu Ying concluded the morning with a informative portrayal of a new China (political opinions set aside) that portrayed two views, one a young vibrant and economically driven, globally astute urban China the other, a detached but emerging rural China. If educational and global connectivity is possible, she requested that her rural communities be given precedent.
To conclude, Ed Balls and a later a criticism of myself. I did not warm to the keynote, nor did I see the connection to the conference theme so well included by other speakers. Over dinner, the day was of course reviewed and Ed Balls speech critiqued. During this conversation it was proposed that it was less likely to be my own experiences of leadership that would define my later career but rather, more likely the political landscape. presumably only 15-20 years of headship experience and reflection can offer this view. The comments we not meant to belittling, far from it, but to encourage that I look beyond school, beyond school leadership and to look at how education was being led by government, or future governments. That was all shared before coffee was served.
Finally, today I made Tony Parkin and Mike Herrity 3D! Nearly 12 months of conversation and blog reading, it was my pleasure to meet both these online PLN colleagues and we hope to continue to work together in the not to distant future. Should we create a workshop for #ssat10 and the value of Twitter to leadership and why school leaders should might be curious?