David Perkins Quotations

Sometimes the Good is the enemy of the BEST!

One barrier... is the impoverishment of classroom language, the failure to cultivate a common vocabulary about inquiry, explanation, argument and problem solving.

Teachers and administrators sleepwalk through their responsibilities, dulled and discouraged by the endless pressures and problems.

Education ultimately depends on what happens in classrooms... between teachers and learners. That is fundamental.'... 'I hope that teachers will discover the optimism and direction to combat the energy - draining pressures and frustrations of most educational settings.

Our thinking tends to be hazy, hasty, narrow, or sprawling-causal terms for impulsive. Just like anything else, thinking skills require upkeep. If they aren't nourished, they'll fade away.

We know at lot more now than the 'last time around the 1960s and 1970s - about how to work for smart schools... ' 'The smart school finds it's foundation in a rich and evolving set of principles about human thinking and learning.'

Learning is a consequence of thinking.

The metaphor ( coaching) with sports is meant quite seriously... the coach stands back , observes the performance, and provides guidance. The coach applauds strengths, identifies weaknesses, points up principles, offers guiding and often inspiring imagery, and decides what kind of practice to emphasize.

Parramatta are only looking at under-15s, unless there is someone exceptional,

By then (15) they have had their own kids in their development programme for two years. They prefer our kids to finish their schooling in New Zealand.