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[wilberforce]

http://www.internationalschoolsreview.com/international-schools/international-schools.htm

[wilberforce]

Schools are not businesses


By Wayne Au, Bill Bigelow and David Levine/New York



We should stop treating our schools as businesses.

Since the early 20th century, prominent business leaders have acted on the belief that since they are good at making money, they are the most qualified people to decide how to best educate the young.

Entranced by the power and efficiency of American industry, many educational leaders have looked to these businessmen for leadership and for models of operation. They have tried to govern school systems as if they were corporations, organise schools as if they were something akin to factories and orient education toward testing and tracking students toward presumed �real world� destinies.

Today�s mantra is to allow the much-ballyhooed magic of the market to solve educational problems. Thus the emphasis on consumer choice among schools through vouchers or charters or plans to pay teachers based on test-score improvements.

There are many flaws inherent in imagining that schools will work well once they adopt factory or free-market models. Perhaps most fundamental is the presumption that schools work best when they emulate business.

But schools are not businesses.

When they flourish, they are living communities defined by powerful and caring collaboration.

Students are not things to be produced. They are human beings who are learning and growing in ways that are too complex for any standardised scores to truly measure.

Nor are teachers mere robots that drill students in how to take a test. The most talented and dedicated teacher is better nourished by a supportive work culture than by narrow appeals to individual self-interest, which pit teacher against teacher.

The purposes of schooling should not be degraded into privatised preparation toward the fattest paycheque.

Clearly, schools should prepare students to earn decent livelihoods. But just as importantly, they should prepare students to look toward - and even demand - jobs that are a major source of fulfillment and creative expression.

Schools should go far beyond preparing students for work. There are many non-market (perhaps even anti-market) lessons that schools impart: They inculcate an appreciation of the arts, establish healthy habits of exercise, teach co-operation, promote citizenship and show our children how to live together peacefully.

If schools do these tasks well, students when they become adults are much more likely to participate in socially positive ways, such as creating art and music, preventing domestic violence, working for racial equality, promoting clean energy and opposing war.

We have to remember, education is a humane and human process with social values beyond the bottom line. Business leaders have no expertise in this quest, and business models do not apply.

For that matter, now that casino capitalism has imploded, isn�t it time to stop looking to the corporate elite for advice on how to run the schools? These �experts� - the bankers and corporate CEOs - couldn�t even manage the one thing they are supposed to be good at: running their own businesses.

Educators should shed their subordinate status and sense of inferiority. Schools work best when teachers - in dialogue with parents and other citizens - design the educational experience, not corporate officials.� MCT

[wilberforce]

All the MOE schools are going independent. So theoretically there should be a lot of jobs available. The problem is the salaries are not usually competitive and the housing is bad - usually sharing.

[wilberforce]

Educational directory launched
Web posted at: 5/7/2009 5:35:24
Source ::: THE PENINSULA/ BY CHRIS V PANGANIBAN
Dr Yousef Al Horr (left), president of Strategy and Investment, Barwa, presenting a memento to Ahmed Abu-Nahiia, Assistant Head of Public Relations, Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, during the launch of the �See Qatar � Educational� directory yesterday. Mohamed bin Nasser Al Attiyah (second left), Chairman, and Heballah Habib (right), General Manager of See Qatar, are also seen. ABDUL BASIT

DOHA: The Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI) formally launched �See Qatar � Educational�, the country�s first comprehensive electronic directory of educational institutions, last night at Doha Sheraton Hotel.

�See Qatar � Educational� contains information, data and statistics in Arabic and English that will assist guests and visitors in making feasibility studies related to the country�s educational sector. The directory also gives information about laws, regulations and procedures in schools and universities

in Qatar.

The directory, aimed at promoting the educational sector in Qatar, is part of an integrated project called See Qatar that consists of a series of directories covering the sport, tourism, health, investment (real estate, financial, agricultural) commercial, cultural, industrial and the exhibitions and conferences sectors.

The Supreme Education Council and the Ministry of Business and Trade sponsored the project.

The electronic guide also contains a commercial directory of trade and service providers aside from information on kindergartens, schools and educational centres, colleges and universities and even suppliers of educational materials and services.

Dr Khalid Klefeekh Al Hajri, QCCI manager, said in his speech that he considered the project unique and an important addition to the corpus of information on Qatar. He added he was impressed by the project upon learning that the directory is contained in a small, business card-sized CD.

Mohamed bin Nasser Al Attiyah, Chairman of See Qatar, underlined in his speech the importance of the education sector, which is a key part of the government�s programme to make the country�s economy knowledge-based.

He pointed out that the e-guide and directory was the first of its kind in Qatar and it provided comprehensive information to guide all those who want to know about the education sector in Qatar.

Dr. Yousef Al Horr, president of Strategy and Investment, Barwa, the strategic partner of See Qatar, said the project will help promote tourism and highlight the efforts of Qatar Foundation, the Supreme Education Council and

other authorities.

Al Horr said Barwa�s sponsorship of this project is a part of its strategy of supporting and sponsoring development projects related to education and youth and enhancing the country�s standing in these fields regionally and globally.

Heballah Habib, See Qatar general manager, pointed out that �See Qatar � Educational� was presented in an innovative and interactive way and its launch was in line with the trends towards e-governance.

Habib said 100,000 free copies of the CD will be produced and delivered to the target audience through local and international distribution channels.


http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=local_news&month=may2009&file=local_news2009050753524.xml

[Rawdata]

[wilberforce]

No, I didn't know. Rawdata, thanks for putting the word out.

[Rawdata]

Wilber,

I assumed you didn't know, I quickly came to that conclusion, just the same I felt it needed a mention. Quite a few sites use this tactic (some would call it a marketing technique) although more in other subject areas, like adult or gambling sites for instance, than in education. To me it's an indication of what other stuff you can expect from these people later down the road.

Regards

RD

[proudcdn1]

I was interested in some of the schools on this site so I went ahead and paid the 29$. It actually is a decent site once you get in, although I do wonder why you would want to charge people for information that is basically posted for free on other sites....

[Rawdata]

[veiledsentiments]

No need to be too suspicious RD. ISS has been around for a while and is a legitimate organization and their website has always been pay. You can't blame them for charging for the benefit of having all the information for many schools all on one website. It could save hours of surfing. Dave's survives from ad revenue and I notice that the ISS site has no banner ads or any other ads that I saw. So, it's a tradeoff...

ISS also has job fairs during the year and I have many friends who have found great jobs at them. (and a few not-so-good ones... but we all know how that goes)

VS

[Rawdata]

VS,

I know of ISS and what they do of course but I did not know they were behind it, maybe I would have but that second screen (with the fee surprise) just turned me right off.

I got nothing against fees (if justified) but I do against this crass tactic, of getting you to input your data and then "Oh BTW, it's 29$" hoping you'll bite because you've gone that far so what the heck or whatever. Sorry, I don't go for that, it's sneaky.

There's a whole list of "marketing techniques" that I don't like but, I don't want to go off on a rant. I will say this however - I have a lower opinion of them (ISS) than I did before reading your post.



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