Last year when I started this blog I also stumbled upon the website of renowned Finnish educator Pasi Sahlberg. On his website he talks about his current position as a visiting Professor of Practice at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education. For the first time in my life I wished I was a Harvard student. I wished I was a student again even though I was about to move to Japan to start a new job. So there was nothing I could do – until I found his course syllabus for
HGSEAT103: THE TEACHING PROFESSION AROUND THE WORLD PART 1
Sahlberg had posted his course syllabus free for anyone to see. I had struck gold! It was like finding buried treasure. Not only was there a course description but also a required reading list, and a week-by-week break down plus weekly focus questions and assigned reading. I would miss the lectures, guest speakers, and group discussions, but I had the back bone of the class. I could learn a lot from the resources, theories, and critiques regarding education. I decided to become a ghost student. I was going to follow the syllabus and learn all that I could.
And that is how I came up with this series – The Ghost Student. I want to document and share what I had learned and what I thought about the course. I also want to share more of my educational journey with all of you. I am still working on posting regularly. I dropped the ball these past three months. This is my big splash back into regular blogging.
Here is what you can expect from The Ghost Student:
- Two weeks of posting for one week of class
- Learn the basics of education systems around the world
- Key points from the assigned readings, papers, and movies/videos
- Responses to the weekly focus questions
- A funny anecdote or two from my time as a student and a teacher
And finally The Ghost Student Series is kicking off on July 15th!
You can check you Sahlberg’s syllabus here. I will be posting more on the syllabus in the next few days – stayed tuned!
