Education Futures » Contributors

Rethinking Teacher Preparation

Jayson Richardson — Mon, 04 May 2009 11:10:11 +0000

Let your mind wonder for just a moment. As yourself this question: If I could redesign an entire teacher education program, what would it look like?
Here is my vision of a teacher education program. I imagine a teacher preparation program that:

Challenges the individual. No one in this program would say “But I thought getting an education degree was easy!”
Is rigorous enough to attract intellectual, innovative, thought-leaders
Robustly develops a student’s ability to solve problem, become a critical thinker, and work collaboratively.
Is packed with upper level courses in history, ethics, mathematics, law, economics, policy, research, engineering, biology, anatomy, chemistry, and computer sciences (just to name a few).
Is academically challenging so that becoming a educator is professionalized at the level of doctors, lawyers, MBAs, etc.
Stresses global, national, and local issues. Students would not only understand where Cambodia is, but have some understanding of its politics, culture, history, and relationship to the rest of the world.
Mandates each student study abroad.
Mandates the individual gain proficiency in a foreign language.
Forces the pre-teacher to act on the tenants of social justice and peace education. This individual would be a skilled conflict mediator.
Produces teachers who are intercultural leaders.

The main draw back would be that this individual may be too marketable for the teacher education profession. With skills like these, what Fortune 500 or innovate start-up company would not be banging on this person’s door? This individual would be a cosmopolitan and in high demand. Thus, if such a teacher education program were created, how could we retain such individuals. Isn’t this the person you want to teach your children? Why are we not doing more to create cosmopolitan educators? What is your vision? Are there revolutionary programs out there? I would love to hear about innovative approaches currently underway.

(Jayson Richardson is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership, University of North Carolina-Wilmington.)

Building Global School Leaders

Jayson Richardson — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:00:50 +0000

How do we convince professional development programs that leaders need a 21st century, global mindset? Are there models of higher education that are consistently, proactively, and effectively building school leaders who are prepared to compete in a knowledge economy? More accurately, are there higher education programs that are producing school leaders that create a school environment that produces innovative, knowledge workers?

As an assistant professor of Educational Leadership at the University of North Carolina Wilmington in the Watson School of Education, I am actively seeking to answer this question. We mandate that all students in our doctoral program participate in three internships: one domestic, one business, and one international. We currently send budding school leaders to Japan, Belize, and South Africa. We are always looking at the ‘So what?’ question. That is, once folks do this sort of internship, what happens next? Is this enough? Is it a first step? What more should educational leadership programs do to meet the needs of school leaders in the 21st century? How can we build programs that focus on building level issues, global issues, AND technological innovation? Does anyone have any sample school leadership programs to share that are doing a spectacular job of meeting these three vital skills? I would love to hear from the international community too.

Introducing Jeffrey Schulz, guest blogger

John Moravec — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 17:41:54 +0000

Jeffrey Schulz is a PhD student at the University of Minnesota in Educational Policy and Administration with heavy leanings toward Comparative International Development of Education. His research interests lie in the futures of education, particularly at the secondary level.

Additionally, he has extensive teaching experience in urban education, and is currently working for BlueSky Charter School, Minnesota’s first fully online high school. He has been teaching English and has just accepted a position as the school’s Curriculum Coordinator.

Sustainable Tourism

Jayson Richardson — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 18:05:05 +0000

For those of us who love travel and are interested in international development issues, perhaps the concept of sustainable tourism is of interest to you! I have a friend working in Cambodia on a sustainable tourism project. If you are looking for an adventure, perhaps consider looking into these types of projects. Sustainable Travel International is a good start. If you have been on such a tour, please share….

ICTs for Peace and Reconciliation

Jayson Richardson — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 02:15:33 +0000

While doing research with Dr. Edward Brantmeier, I ran across this interesting information from Cole and Crawford (2007) in an article called “Building peace through information and communication technologies.” The table below details some of the authors’ main points.

Ways of Promoting Peace and Reconciliation through ICTs	Examples of ICTs
Provide information	Internet connectivity Mobile phones and personal data assistants (PDAs) Geographic information systems (GIS Satellite imagery Listservs and forums Radio Chat
Help people process information	Websites and portals Data visualization tools Online dispute resolution tools Virtual command centers
Improve decision making	Games and simulations Online dispute resolution tools
Reduce scarcity	Mobile phones Handheld portable devices
Support relationships	Social networking tools Online collaboration tools Mobile phones Virtual reality Telecentres
Help people understand each other	Translation software Blogs Social networking tools Multimedia

Introducing Jayson Richardson, guest blogger

John Moravec — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 12:42:05 +0000

Dr. Jayson W. Richardson is a recent graduate of the University of Minnesota with a focus on comparative and international development education. His research interests include information and communication technology for development and technology leadership in less developed nations. He conducted his dissertation research on an ICT in education project while working at UNESCO in Cambodia. He currently works as a Project Manager and International Development Coordinator for Seward Inc.

Over the next week, Jayson will explore the impact of technology on education in less developed states.