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Annette Ford

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Should high school principals and other school district leadership be trained by corporate executives in leadership & strategic planning?

Please respond from the prospective of corporate governance in short term and long term strategic planning

Topics: School leadership Vision & mission diversity public education teaching
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    Debra Smith 200+

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    Jun 27 2012: NO, thank you. Business people are not as talented or excellent as this might suggest.
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    Budimir Zdravkovic 20+

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    Jun 18 2012: No, because this would bring educators and people in the education field, a field which is supposed to serve people with minimum bias in corporate relations with executives who are looking to build an ever expanding consumer base. Unless these executives are training educators free of charge and they are not looking to profit out of the relationship, getting corporations involved in education will seriously limit people's education. If we are talking about public schools especially, this would be equivalent to private institutions profiting out of tax payer money. If we are talking about private schools, we are talking about making education dependent on corporate ideology, such relationships are vulnerable to corporate bias. This can limit education in a number of ways, corporations may influence the curriculum as to what courses are appropriate and what courses are inappropriate. It may establish curriculum which is based on corporate technical knowledge as opposed to methods which criticize such knowledge or criticize the corporate ideology in general. Corporation based schools in my opinion are a form of extreme thought control which should nit have a relationship with unbiased education.
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    Scott Armstrong 50+

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    Jun 16 2012: No. The two are worlds apart and the fundamental principles at the core of each are completely different.

    It's a mistake that the current government in NZ is in the process of making, unfortunately.

  • David Greer

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    Jun 16 2012: I think it's a good idea. However speaking from experience, the world of education and business are two different worlds and much is to be learned on both sides. Corporate Execs can learn from Educators and visa versa.

    The models used in business definitely have application in education, but you don't just waltz in and prescribe corporate remedies without immersing yourself in the context of the high school environment. Students, faculty and staff aren't exactly the same as a client or a for profit cost center.

    With open minds though, much can be borrowed from one another. Getting outside the bubbles we all tend to live in....bubbles of a specific industry or field, opens up a wealth of information and is often the inspiration for creative approaches to age old problems.
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    Linda Taylor 50+

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    Jun 16 2012: Look at what happened to health care before you decide.
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