Cleverlands: The Secrets Behind the Success of the World’s Education Superpowers

Product Information

First up was Finland, a country oft cited by more progressive educationalists as a system from which the UK could learn. I have never quite bought the Finland story – a country with a frighteningly high suicide rate, unemployment figures at over 8% and only five Nobel Laureates in its history can’t be doing that well in education terms – so I was looking forward to learning more. Besides explaining the linguistic advantages Finland enjoys by having a language with great orthographic transparency (I’m sure you don’t need me to explain) and a heritage of reading – even in the sixteenth century you weren’t allowed to marry in Finland unless you could read a section of religious text – the author explains that Finns achieve impressive reading results perhaps because of, rather than in spite of, starting school at a later age. There is also discussion of the high quality Special Needs provision and explanation of the high quality textbooks which Finnish teachers utilise to good effect. Certainly, I could see much to admire in the Finnish model, though, like the author, I remain unconvinced by the argument that ‘the brightest kids, they’ll learn anyway, whatever you do with them’. I personally started reading around the world in 2008. This venture has introduced me to far off lands, fresh viewpoints, and many new authors I might not have discovered otherwise. Here is a record of my travels since 2009: what it actually felt like as a teacher, and how each of those policies interacted in a particular cultural context to affect

The academic progress of the world’s 15-year-olds is tested regularly by PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment). Pupils from Finland, Japan and Shanghai consistently excel. In 2012, the UK finished near the bottom of the top third, despite relative economic strength. In footballing terms, we’re Everton. Good, but room for improvement. The ground floor also features a handy wet room, with walk in shower, toilet and handbasin and a neighbouring boiler room which houses the hot water cylinder, the solar panel controls, the underfloor heating manifold, and also provides further useful storage space.Slightly further away the busy, bustling town centre has a wide range of facilities, which includes a primary school, the main post office, local and national chain shops and the rejuvenated canal area. A well-appointed modern kitchen, with a range of floor and wall mounted units, a central island and breakfast bar, features a range of built-in appliances including a double oven, an induction hob with extractor over and a dishwasher. Double glazed Bifold doors provide access to the patio area and landscaped rear garden. Bedroom 2 features fitted wardrobes, further storage in the eaves and a Velux walk-out balcony window to the rear. What was slightly less predictable (and worrying for her mother) was that on the completion of a Masters degree, she then chose to travel around the world to research this book, staying with strangers, and ending up in hospital twice. Lucy has also been working as a freelance education consultant/researcher for the past three years, most recently writing a 40,000 word report on teacher career structures across the world for UNESCO (which makes the task of writing her book seem less daunting!). Lucy is the eldest of 5 children and the daughter of two headteachers, so it surprised no-one that she chose to work in the education sector. She studied Psychology and Philosophy at Oxford for her undergrad degree, then spent a year working with autistic children before teaching for three years in a secondary comprehensive school in South West London.

Lucy Crehan, author of ‘Cleverlands’, will share her fascinating experience of high-performing school systems work across the world and how we can be aspirational for all our pupils. The front garden is laid to lawn with a pedestrian access from both sides of the property leading to a generous enclosed landscaped rear garden and patio seating area.A spacious, well presented, 5 bedroom (1 en-suite) detached property with landscaped gardens, integral garage and ample driveway parking. This superb family home features an Air Source heating system with underfloor heating, solar assisted hot water and a west facing balcony off the master bedroom. However, I do hold out hope, particularly because a new 'College of Teachers' is being established, which will give educators more influence over teacher policy at least. I also know there is a growing movement supporting the increased use of evidence in education, and so I hope that the UK government will start to intelligently learn (though not copy) from what is working for other countries. Cleverlands: The secrets behind the success of the world’s education superpowers by Lucy Crehan has been named as one of The Economist’s books of the year for 2016. Below, Jonathan Taylor, Head Teacher of North Bridge House Canonbury provides his review. Lucy will draw on her experience researching the world’s top-performing education systems to share some surprising insights on pedagogy, the philosophy underlying their high performance, and some practical school-level strategies which schools in England can consider, taking inspiration from Finland, Japan, Canada, Singapore and Shanghai. Lucy is an education explorer and international education consultant. She taught science and psychology at a secondary school in London before completing a Masters in Education at Cambridge. She then spent time working in schools and living with teachers in six 'top-performing' education systems; the basis for her book, 'Cleverlands: the secrets behind the success of the world's education superpowers', one of The Economist's 'books of the year 2016'.