About a decade or so ago, a number of Australian regions, including Tasmania and Victoria, began to take a deep look at their approach to education. Although Teaching for Understanding was not the only educational option available, a number of schools and districts elected to try it on for size. The big question was: "would it fit?"

WIDE World has worked with a number of Australian educators over the past five years, including the Loddon Mallee Department of Education in Victoria, Huntingtower Schools, and the Tasmania School Education Division, and we were interested in hearing the response to that question.

But before the words were out of our mouth, A.B. Paterson college in Queensland had an answer for us.

Hosts of the first Teaching for Understanding conference, the school has been through a remarkable journey. In her Teacher Magazine article, the principal, Dawn Lang, details her school's TfU transformation.

Even David Perkins, on his trip to Australia this July and August, was surprised to see how many folks already had practical familiarity with Teaching for Understanding.

"I had the privilege of seeing several teachers present their work within the TfU framework at the A. B. Paterson College conference in July," David said. "It was plain that these practitioners had lived with Teaching for Understanding for a while and made it their own across such subjects as English, math, athletics, and more."

David Perkins's trip around Australia, speaking about the applicability of Teaching for Understanding, prompted a number of similar reflections from his listeners.

"I love the way that every time one plans with the framework it is great professional development," Peter Dry, Vice Principal and Head of Middle School at Huntingtower Schools, mentioned. "[David Perkins's] insight and thoughtfulness is remarkable and he asks vital questions of traditional education and how relevant it really is."

For Peter Martella, David's talk was a reaffirmation of understanding principles.

"David Perkin's talk that I heard in Melbourne confirmed to me that the path we are on to promote best practice in pedagogy is the correct one (involving deep understandings in our students, in topics that are significant and meaningful, and enabling ways for them to demonstrate these)...," Peter Martella, Grovedale Cluster Educator in Victoria, said.

"By using the skills and strategies as outlined in TfU, this is a practical way that we can make an impact of having a common vision across nine schools," he added.

From the fabulous duo who instruct our Teaching to Standards with New Technologies 1 course, Susan Wirsig and Shannon Martin-Croft, comes this new tip...

"A class is about to embark on an independent research project that requires students to do some Internet research. Before the teacher sets them loose on this project, she wants to model how to effectively conduct focused online research.

In the past, she has noticed that her students use broad keywords to search for quite specific information on the Internet, an effort that brings back overwhelming amounts of off-topic information, requiring students to spend gobs of time filtering and sorting before they can address the understanding goals in the lesson.

The teacher also views this "learning to do online searching" as an opportunity to engage her students in higher-order thinking. As students go about refining their search words, they will be steered to think about the topic in unique ways, stretching their familiar thinking boundaries.

This particular exercise scaffolds students through the process of developing intentional search strategies by modeling the questions students can ask of themselves as they seek to return the most relevant results, while encouraging students to experiment with and analyze the outcomes of different methodologies. Students will work individually at one computer. (This lesson can easily be modified to accommodate settings with fewer computers)."

This summer some bold and innovative school leaders took part in WIDE World's pilot Leading for Understanding 1 course.

Based on the concept that understanding should be part of a whole-school approach to education, the course was designed to help school leaders collaborate with their teachers and students to achieve this aim.

Like all of WIDE World's courses, the content contained short videos from David Perkins, the textbook, resources, and, most importantly, discussions. It was in these discussions (on-site and online) that these inspiring action projects were forged:

In Florida, a crack team of educators is laying the groundwork for a "small learning community initiative," aimed at breaking very large high schools into smaller learning communities.

In New York, teachers and administrators are investigating how to involve the entire school community as they incorporate Teaching for Understanding into their professional development.

In Australia, educators have developed an action project that introduces and supports a mentoring culture into their school district. It also encourages educators to work together to achieve their goals and dreams of school improvement.

David Zarowin, WIDE World's executive director, will be giving a keynote speech at the 2nd International Forum on Teacher Education (October 25-27, 2006) in Shanghai, China.

WIDE Worlders from Shanghai and Cambridge will also be hosting a roundtable on the importance of sustained and supportive online professional development. The conference is sponsored by East China Normal University, the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO, and the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Network for International Education and Values Education.

If you'd like to meet some of the WIDE World folk this year, we may well be coming to a city (Orlando, Nashville, Anaheim, Seattle...) near you. See our extended Calendar of Events.

Ever wonder how WIDE World's CCDT Tool can contribute to your teaching experience? Interested in chatting to a Cambridge Public Schools technology integration specialist about his experiences as a coach and educator?

Then come on over to Sturbridge on Wednesday, November 15, to the annual MassCUE conference. Kevin McGonegal will be giving his talk, "Designing Curriculum Units Online and Improving Classroom Technology Integration," from 1:10 - 2:10. Show him your support, sample some free candy at Booth 20, and enjoy the day!

October 25-27, 2006

David Zarowin speaks at the 2nd International Forum on Teacher Education in Shanghai, China. After trips to Chile and Colombia this summer, his frequent flyer miles could now take him to the moon (but not back...yet).

October 28, 2006

For those in Boston Public Schools, the LINC III conference at the Hyatt Regency offers educators, students, and parents a chance to catch up on the latest in technology in education.

November 15-16, 2006

WIDE World entertains attendees at Booth 20 with their humorous repartee. Kevin McGonegal speaks at MassCUE about technology integration and our free curriculum tool. Crowds roar!

November 28-30, 2006

Educators from Singapore's Victoria School will be speaking at the Asia-Pacific Education Research Association Conference (APERA) in Hong Kong. The titles of their talks are: (1) Reflections on Improving Teacher Performance through Online Learning and (2) School innovation: Teachers' Receptivity to Curriculum Innovation and Change. Come one, come all!

December 2-6, 2006

Stone Wiske, our co-principal investigator, Patricia Gazda-Grace, Binghamton City school district's director of curriculum and instruction, and Roxie Oberg, a high school English teacher, will be co-presenting at the NSDC Annual Conference in Nashville, TN. The title of their talk is: "Sustaining Systemic Professional Learning with Online Technology." Come and discuss the talk at Booth 500.

Adventure of the American Mind
Educators from American Higher Education
Bacchus Marsh Grammar School - Victoria, Australia
Barker College - New South Wales, Australia
Binghamton Schools - New York, U.S.A.
Boston Public Schools - Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Canberra Grammar School - Australian Capital Territory,
    Australia
Eton, S.C. - Mexico City, Mexico
Grovedale Cluster - Victoria, Australia
Jefferson Parish Public Schools - Louisiana, U.S.A.
Lamar County School District - Mississippi, U.S.A.
Loddon Mallee Department of Education and Training -
    Victoria, Australia
Miami Dade County Public Schools - Florida, U.S.A.
Rowan Elementary School - Mississippi, U.S.A.
Sarasota County Schools - Florida, U.S.A.
Saskatchewan Learning - Saskatchewan, Canada
School of the Future - New York, U.S.A.
Shanghai Distance Education Group - China
Singapore River Valley High School - Singapore
Tapestry - Scotland
Victoria School - Singapore
Weston Public Schools - Massachusetts, U.S.A.