Monday, November 14, 2011

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on International Education Week 2011

8 comments:

  1. In addition to International Education Week, this week also marks American Education Week (http://www.nea.org/grants/19823.htm) so I imagine the U.S. Department of Education will focus much more on the domestic this week than on the international. To be fair, American Education Week started 78 years before International Education Week...

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  2. While it is true American Education Week started 78 years ago its focus is on domestic education in the K-12 sector. Whereas International Education recognizes the value of education abroad. Secretary Clinton stated there were approximaately 7% of students attending higher education institution in the US compared to 1% of US students who were studying abroad. She made a valid point that US students need to consider studing abroad in order to compete in a global society.

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  3. After reading some material that NEA has placed on its website (the link you provided here specifically) I see that this is actually the 90th anniversary of American Education Week (since 1921) and is important to domestic K-12 education in all ways.

    How do we converse and integrate globally with other countries, cultures, and learning sysytems to prepare our students for globalization's effects? Yes, one answer may be supporting more of our domestic students in an abroad study experience, but how do we actually to about this, increasing the number of abroad enrollments? This my be economically challenged. Can we as a country, government, or other create funds for these students to study abroad?

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  4. @Lisa ~ Thanks for your comment. Yes this year marks the 90th anniversary of American Education Week but it is the 12th International Education Week which is why I indicated that there the NEA American Education Week had a 78 year head start. It is also true that the American Education Week is a K-12 initiative and that International Education Week is primarily, but not exclusively, a higher education initiative. Both are important weeks to celebrate. I just think that International Education Week might be better placed at a different time of year so that the U.S. Dept. of Education can allocate focus on both of these initiatives rather than split their focus between the two as the DoE has a big stake in international education initiatives at the post-secondary level.

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  5. Before we dive into that question, let’s face some facts. Learning should not be painful and also does not have to be boring, although it’s usually both. However, it’s unnecessary going to be joyful, interesting, either. From time to time we often have to work our ass off to figure out something or get a job done.

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  6. In K-12 institutions, there is an emphasis on educator week. You mentioned the International Education Week, is this only for international educators? Is there an educator's week for higher ed?

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  7. @yh2100 ~ I don't think there is an educator's week for higher education. Since higher education is not compulsory I don't think there will be a focus on higher education.

    I think anyone who is interested in academic mobility and the idea of mutual understanding will benefit fro IEW.

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