Through Kristen Swanson’s Trail Blazer’s wiki, I discovered this interesting TED Talk (they’re all interesting) in which Bill Gates discusses mosquitoes, malaria, and education. The education part of his talk (the last eight minutes) presents some interesting fodder for conversation. One of the statistics that I found interesting was that obtaining a Master’s degree in education does n0t significantly improve a teacher’s effectiveness. In response to that statistic, Gates points to teachers reflecting on their practices and sharing their best practices with others. To encourage honest reflection on classroom practices, Gates advocates for video cameras in the classroom. While you may not agree with everything that Gates proposes in this talk, it will definitely make you think about what does and doesn’t work in education. The talk is embedded below.

Here are some related items that may be of interest to you:
Doing What Works: Research-Based Education
TED Talk: 3 Ways the Brain Creates Meaning
Ten Trends to Affect Teaching in the Future (and now)