Claremont Graduate University School of Educational Studies

GLOW is a Glimmer of Teaching Differently

Join the CGU community as Education Research Professor Charles “Chuck” Kerchner discusses the underlying politics and organizational decisions that set Scotland’s public educational system apart from the U.S.

Most public school reform involves rearranging adult power and privile...ge, and relatively little time is spent thinking about or actually changing how students learn and teachers teach.

Professor Kerchner began investigating places where students “learn differently,” got some financial support from the Haynes Foundation, and began his field work with a look at GLOW, the Scottish intranet system that connects all 700,000 students in the country.

On examination, one finds that the underlying assumption about teaching is drastically different than in the low-trust, NCLB-driven United States. Scotland thinks that teachers are smart and competent, that they can be entrusted to develop the lessons that will fulfill the national objectives. To do this they needed to collaborate, and to collaborate they needed to be connected. Thus, GLOW is as much an investment in teachers as it is in technology.

Professor Kerchner will describe GLOW, provide some examples, and discuss the underlying politics and organizational decisions that set Scotland apart from the U.S.

Light refreshments will be provided.
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