#pisa methode

[dedoholistic]

DU und Dein Schulkind - Die ganze Wahrheit über die Schule

von Horst Költze und Maria Teresa De Donato

Rezension von Eleonora Davide, Redaktionsleiterin u. Journalistin

[edernetdotorg]

Declining Math Skills in Canadian Students: A PISA Study

The most recent Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results have shown a significant decline in Canadian children’s math abilities. This decline, measured from 2003 to 2022, shows only 12% of Canadian students reaching high proficiency levels in math, a stark contrast to higher percentages in Asian regions like Singapore and Hong Kong. The PISA Examination Administered…

[andiatas]

Prince Carl Philip & Princess Sofia launch game in Minecraft

After two years of hard work, the Prince Couple launches their own world in the computer game Minecraft. The game aims to encourage children to read and write, mainly children with dyslexia, but everyone can benefit from it.

- This gives me goosebumps, I think it's so cool, says Prince Carl Philip.

Photo: Ida Åkesson/SPA

With several big bangs and lots of confetti in the air, Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia launched a whole new world in Minecraft Education at the gaming company Mojang's headquarters. Dexi Ville is a game that will increase children's and young people's curiosity about words, letters and reading.

- I had somehow hoped this game had existed when I was your age. I needed something that had awakened my desire to read and my curiosity about words, says Prince Carl Philip from the stage and turns to a school class in the audience.

- Because it is not easy, and I think you know that too, to feel the desire to read when the letters jump around or that it takes a very long time to find the willingness and peace to start reading, says the prince.

Faced many prejudices about dyslexia

The prince says that he has encountered and had to deal with many of the misconceptions and prejudices that people have about dyslexia and what it means for individuals who have dyslexia.

The idea for the game was raised during a meeting at the Royal Palace. Dexi Ville is a development of the prince couple's foundation's method game, "The Big Adventure," which they worked on extensively a few years ago.

- We put so much energy and effort into that game, and it turned out to be a great initiative, but nobody found it. So it was obvious that we had to find someone we could ally with, someone who already has the children and the target group, says Kim Waller, secretary general at the Prince Couple's Foundation.

Photo: Ida Åkesson/SPA

Got to play with the kids

The latest PISA report shows that Swedish children's reading skills are declining sharply. Kim Waller emphasizes the importance of supplementing traditional teaching with more methods.

A while later, Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia get to test Dexi Ville together with some children. A block is broken, and Prince Carl Philip quickly builds a new wall. He sits concentrated in front of a computer screen and plays Minecraft.

- This is super fun, and you're super good at this, he says to a young guy who plays with him.

This is Dexi Ville

Name: Dexi Ville – the Wordcraft Adventure Target group: all children between the ages of 8 and 10. The game is currently available in Swedish and English. Developer: Prinsparets Stiftelse, together with Minecraft Education and Shapescape. Microsoft and Nordea are enabling partners. The purpose of the game: to promote increased reading habit, expanded vocabulary and reading fluency, increased curiosity and reading comprehension. Where to find the game: It is available to all Minecraft Education license holders.

Translation and editing for clarity done by me of an article by Jenny Alexandersson, Royal Reporter at Aftonbladet. The article was published on May 30, 2024.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Galileo's first telescopes 🔭

Galileo's (1564-1642) early telescopes, which he constructed in the early 17th century (around 1609), marked a major advancement in observational astronomy.

These telescopes were based on the principles of existing Dutch telescopes, which had been developed by spectacle makers in the Netherlands.

These early telescopes, known as refracting telescopes, utilized a combination of lenses to gather and focus light, magnifying distant objects. Galileo further refined and improved their design.

The design of Galileo's telescopes typically consisted of a convex objective lens (the primary lens) and a concave eyepiece lens (the secondary lens).

The objective lens collected light from distant objects and converged it to a focal point, forming an image.

The eyepiece lens then magnified this image for the observer to see.

Galileo's telescopes had relatively low magnification power compared to modern telescopes, but they enabled him to make groundbreaking observations.

With these instruments, he made a series of significant discoveries, including:

Observations of the Moon

Galileo observed the rugged, mountainous surface of the Moon, challenging the prevailing belief in its perfect smoothness.

He also noticed the presence of craters and other lunar features.

Sunspots

It revealed that the Sun was not a perfect sphere and that it rotated on its axis

Discovery of Jupiter's moons

He observed four of Jupiter's largest moons, now known as the Galilean moons.

Their discovery provided evidence that not all celestial bodies orbited the Earth, challenging the geocentric model of the universe.

Phases of Venus

Galileo observed the phases of Venus, which he interpreted as evidence for the heliocentric model of the solar system proposed by Copernicus.

This observation suggested that Venus orbits the Sun and not the Earth.

Observation of Saturn

Galileo observed Saturn and its rings, although he was not able to discern the true nature of the rings due to limitations in his telescope's resolving power.

Galileo's telescopes revolutionized astronomy by providing concrete evidence that supported the Copernican heliocentric model of the solar system.

His observations and discoveries contributed to a profound shift in our understanding of the cosmos and laid the foundation for modern observational astronomy.

Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath.

He was born in the city of Pisa, then part of the Duchy of Florence.

Galileo has been called the "father of observational astronomy, modern-era classical physics, the scientific method, and modern science."

[blueiscoool]

A 2,000-Year-Old Hoard of Roman Silver Coins Found in Italy

A soldier glances around before stooping down in the woods and digging. He carefully sets his valuables into the dirt hole and covers them up. Methodically, he memorizes the location by a nearby landmark.

Or perhaps the scene looked a little different.

A frazzled merchant hurries into the forest and drops to his knees. Flinching at every sound, he buries his treasures as quickly as possible. Jumping to his feet, he casts one last glance at the disturbed ground and runs.

Either way, one thing is certain. Whoever buried their treasure never returned.

A volunteer went for a hike through the newly cleared part of a forest in Livorno, Italy, in November 2021. Walking down the slope, they noticed a shiny glint among the leaves, according to an April 14 news release from the Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the provinces of Pisa and Livorno shared by the Livornese Paleontological Archaeological Group.

Looking closer, the hiker realized they’d stumbled upon some ancient-looking coins. Local archaeological authorities were called to investigate.

Archaeologists excavated the area and unearthed 175 ancient Roman coins. The silver coins date back over 2,000 years, Il Tirreno, an Italian outlet reported. Photos show the small, worn silver discs.

Most of the coins were found grouped together with fragments of a container, the outlet reported. A few coins were found scattered in the area. No other artifacts were uncovered.

“The coins have definitely been hidden,” Lorella Alderighi, the archaeologist who investigated the find, said. “They constituted a ‘treasure’ or piggy bank. The easiest way to hide valuables was to bury them underground, away from homes where no one could find them.”

The oldest coins were from about 157 B.C., with the newest from 82 B.C., the Hungarian Numismatic Society said in a Facebook post.

The newest coins correspond with “a very turbulent historical period” for the ancient Roman empire, Alderighi said. The empire was in the middle of its first large-scale civil war.

“These coins may have been the savings of a soldier returning home [during] military service,” Alderighi said.

Alternatively, the coins could have been hidden by a wealthy merchant, another historian said.

The treasure trove remained hidden for 2,000 years, the release said. The silver finds will soon be on display at the Museum of Natural History of the Mediterranean in the Province of Livorno, Il Terrino reported.

Livorno is about 200 miles northwest of Rome along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

New measurements of gravitational anomaly at low acceleration favor modified gravity, researcher claims

Wide binary stars as direct probes of the nature of gravity at low acceleration weaker than about 1 nanometer per second squared have been hotly debated. The nature of gravity at such low acceleration is of utmost importance because the concept of dark matter, the gravitational dynamics of astrophysical systems, fundamental theories of physics and cosmology are all inextricably intertwined with it.

For example, a deviation from Newtonian expectation at such low acceleration would require a modification or extension of Einstein's general relativity despite all its successes outside the low acceleration regime.

Two recent independent studies led by Kyu-Hyun Chae and Xavier Hernandez claim that the statistical properties of wide binary stars based on European Space Agency's latest Gaia database deviate from the Newtonian expectation in agreement with the prediction of modified gravity theories under the new theoretical framework called modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND, sometimes referred to as Milgromian dynamics), introduced 40 years ago by Mordehai (Moti) Milgrom.

The breakdown of Newtonian gravity at low acceleration would mean a scientific revolution whose full implications are immeasurably far-reaching. Because of this importance and considering other divergent claims, Chae has carried out a new analysis to address all the issues raised so far, in particular the challenges to the specific low-acceleration gravitational anomaly obtained by himself.

For this, Chae has considered a full range of samples, allowing various fractions of hierarchical systems where a binary has an unseen nested inner binary, and applied various methods that cover essentially all the methods published so far, including the method used by some researchers to claim against the gravitational anomaly.

The study was published in The Astrophysical Journal on 9 September 2024. "To some extent, it was my obligation to the science community to carry out this new work. I had to clarify the issues and challenges raised to my claimed conclusion and explain the causes of the divergent claims by others," says Chae.

Chae found that all methods with various samples give consistent results. The magnitude of the gravitational anomaly first identified last year appears robust.

Chae says, "The gravitational anomaly is clearly imprinted in the data. One cannot remove it. It is mysterious to many scientists why gravity is boosted by about 40% when the internal acceleration between the orbiting pair of stars is weaker than about 0.1 nanometer per second squared. However, the presence and the degree of the gravitational anomaly were, in fact, predicted by MOND or Milgromian dynamics."

Like Newton's universal law of gravitation and Einstein's general relativity, MOND satisfies the universality of free fall (also referred to as the weak equivalence principle) that is known to be first suggested by Galileo Galilei through experiments at the leaning tower of Pisa.

Newton and Einstein go one step further and adopt (unknowingly or knowingly) the strong equivalence principle by which the internal dynamics of a gravitational system falling freely under a nearly constant external field is not affected by the external field. In contrast, MOND does not postulate the strong equivalence principle and considers theoretical possibilities free of it.

Thus, while wide binaries falling freely under the external field of the Milky Way are expected to obey Kepler's laws according to Newton's and Einstein's theories, MOND predicts that the wide binary internal motion deviates from the Newton-Einstein prediction by the degree dictated by the Milky Way's external field strength of about 0.2 nanometers per second squared. That is about 40% as measured by the new study, in agreement with previous results.

While these consistent results are arresting, unlimited reproductions and confirmations are needed for the reported gravitational anomaly to become a true scientific fact. Also, the reported gravitational anomaly will have to be better characterized continually to provide useful constraints on theories.

The eyes of researchers are on new data and better methodologies for that purpose. In particular, existing research results were obtained with only the sky-projected transverse velocities of stars because the line-of-sight velocity components have not yet been precisely measured. Researchers, including Chae, are considering new measurements of the line-of-sight velocities of stars.

The other study, with Hernandez as the lead author, was published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

[mariacallous]

When Giorgia Meloni, the hard-right leader who is likely to become Italy’s next prime minister, said on Italian TV this month that she opposed adoption by gay couples and that having a mother and a father was best for a child, Luigi, 6, overheard her and asked his father about it.

“I wasn’t able to answer very well,” said his father, Francesco Zaccagnini. “I said they are not happy with how we love each other.”

In recent weeks, Mr. Zaccagnini, 44, who works for a labor union in the Tuscan city of Pisa and is a gay father, went door to door asking friends and acquaintances to vote in Sunday’s elections to oppose Ms. Meloni’s party, Brothers of Italy.

“My family is at stake,” he said.

Mr. Zaccagnini and his partner had Luigi and their 6-month-old daughter, Livia, with two surrogate mothers who live in the United States. In her election campaign, Ms. Meloni pledged to oppose surrogacy and adoption by gay couples. As a member of Parliament, she submitted an amendment to a law that would extend a ban on surrogacy in Italy to Italians who seek the method abroad. It has not yet been approved by Parliament.

Italy is already an outlier in Western Europe in terms of gay rights — gay marriage is still not recognized by law — but the possibility of Ms. Meloni taking power has prompted fears among gay families that things might get worse.

In 2016, Parliament passed a law recognizing civil unions of same-sex couples despite opposition by the Roman Catholic Church, which is influential in Italy.

Gay parents remain cut off from the main avenues for adoption, which require a marriage rather than a civil union. And with surrogacy banned and in vitro fertilization only allowed for heterosexual couples, gay couples are effectively forced to travel abroad to become parents, and to navigate complicated — and case by case — paths through bureaucracy, courts and social services.

“We hoped that the country would go forward,” said Alessia Crocini, the president of Rainbow Families, an association of gay families. “But we have a dark period ahead.”

Ms. Meloni has said that civil unions are good enough for gay couples. She has also repeatedly said that she is not homophobic, and that she is not going to alter existing civil rights, but that what is best for a child is to have both a mother and a father. Her surrogacy proposal scared many gay parents, as did her tone and emphasis on what constitutes a family.

“It gives homophobes an excuse and a political support,” Ms. Crocini said.

Ms. Meloni has decried what she calls “gender ideology” as aimed at the disappearance of women as mothers, and opposes the teaching of such ideas in schools.

Ms. Crocini said she worried that her son, 8, saying he has two mothers at school might be considered gender ideology.

She has some reason to think that. Federico Mollicone, the culture spokesman for Ms. Meloni’s party, recently urged the Italian state broadcaster RAI not to air an episode of the popular cartoon “Peppa Pig” that featured a bear with two mothers, calling it “gender indoctrination,” and claiming that young children should not see gay adoption presented as something “natural” or “normal, because it’s not.”

Last year, Ms. Meloni campaigned to make surrogacy a “universal crime,” using a picture of a child with a bar code on its hand.

Mr. Zaccagnini said he was scared his son would see such images and messages if they kept circulating. Despite his instinct to stay in Italy and fight, Mr. Zaccagnini said he had been thinking about relocating abroad.

“My son this year will start reading,” he said. “I need to protect him somehow.”

[beardedmrbean]

Domestic outlets are covering Russia's fresh strikes on Ukrainian cities.

The attacks coincided with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö's visit to Norway on Monday. Speaking at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs in Oslo, he said, "unfortunately it seems that in the war there is a new phase starting, and that is a kind of escalation in the situation. Hopefully this will be the last such escalation."

Helsingin Sanomat (siirryt toiseen palveluun) reports on Niinistö and Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre condemning the strikes, which they said terrorised civilians.

Niinistö said it was difficult to imagine Russian President Vladimir Putin admitting any kind of defeat in the war, but said that a free Ukraine must be the end result.

"The west's job is not to find him [Putin] a way out. Ukraine must be free and that's Ukraine's way out of this."

How does Estonia do it?

Estonian kids are outshining Finnish pupils—at least according to the results of the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) test, while Finland's declining trend continues.

Estonia's education system is based on Finland's, but the small Baltic country's methods are more "old-fashioned," Iltalehti reports, adding that 90 percent of teachers are women and 48 years old on average.

"Teachers in Estonian schools are more demanding than Finnish teachers," one teacher who has worked in both countries told IL, adding that Estonian teachers give their pupils more homework.

Frequent testing is also a feature of the Estonian system, according to the paper, which said that differences are apparent early on, as Estonian kindergarten teachers already focus on academic issues.

IL quotes Kaarel Rundu, who manages Tallinn's schools, as saying Estonia's daycares aren't storage facilities.

"In Estonia, daycares follow a curriculum preparing kids for formal schooling," he said.

Erasing history?

Toppling monuments is a global phenomenon. In Finland, Lenin statues have been coming down, and now Hanko's Nord Stream monuments may be next in line for warehousing, following an attack on the Baltic Sea gas pipelines between Russia and Europe, reports Hufvudstadsbladet (siirryt toiseen palveluun).

The coastal city has two Nord Stream monuments commemorating the construction of both pipelines.

Anders Ahlvik, CEO of the port of Hanko, told the Swedish-language daily that while some now consider the monuments to be controversial, they are a part of the port's history.

"Hanko's role in Nord Stream had nothing to do with gas sales. These were steel pipes laid on the seabed," he said, noting that Nord Stream 2 provided jobs for 250 people in the local area.

"Nord Stream is not the same as Gazprom," he said.

[jedesvaz]

Machine Learning for Data Analysis: Week 4. K-means clustering

For this week, a K-means clustering was requested. The dataset for this assignment has been the same of the PISA Score in previous tasks.

K-means clustering is the first unsupervised learning, so this time, a response variable is not requested, but a validation variables took its place.

Importing libraries

2. Loading the dataset

3. Data management

4. Subsetting clustering variables

All the clustering variables selected are 2-level categorical. These variables are:

-Whether the student is male or female (0/1)

-Whether the student is expected to obtain a bachelor's degree

-Whether the student's school has a library

-Whether the student's mother assisted to high school

Whether the student has access to a computer for schoolwork

-Whether the student's mother holds a bachelor's degree

-Whether the student's mother works

-Whether the student's father assisted to high school

-Whether the student's father holds a bachelor's degree

-Whether the student born in the United States

5. Standardizing clustering variables

This step is neccesary to normalize the variables and not having different scales among them.

6. Splitting data into train and test sets

The test set consisted of the 30% of the total dataset.

7. K-means cluster analysis for 1-9 clusters

8. Plotting average distance from observations from the cluster centroid to use the Elbow Method to identify number of clusters to choose

Using 8 clusters it can be obtaing the lowest average distance, which is less than 2.2 (>2.2)

9. Interpreting 3 cluster solution

2 clusters, marked with yellow and green, are not separated at all, while the thid one, can be seen in a better way.

10. BEGIN multiple steps to merge cluster assignment with clustering variables to examine cluster variable means by cluster

11. END multiple steps to merge cluster assignment with clustering variables to examine cluster variable means by cluster

[dedoholistic]

Schule: Rücktritt als Protest - Der Fall einiger Lehrer

von Maria Teresa De Donato

[sicilycontactimprovretreat]

TEACHERS

MARTA IUCCI

Passionate dancer, researcher and teacher of the Feldenkrais Method since 2011 and Contact Improvisation (CI). I studied in Rome, my city of origin, from 2007 to 2011.

I like to consider myself an endless student and think of learning as our infinite potential as human beings. Feeling in order to remain fully alive and in a state of presence.

My main inspiration and teacher at CI is Nita Little. I have also been lucky enough to study with Nancy Stark Smith in Italy and to have been organising workshops for Ray Chung and Martin Keogh at Spazio Nu in Pontedera (IT), a space I have been collaborating with for 9 years.

From 2016 to 2019 I collaborated with Asaf Bachrach, Matthieu Gaudeau and Ema Bige on the project “F.A.R.” in Paris (Feldenkrais, Alexander and Rolfing in CI).

I currently live in Italy (Tuscany), where I opened my Feldenkrais studio and teach regular CI classes in Pisa and Livorno… as well as teaching in many other places!

MARTA WRESINSKA

Contact Improvisation (CI) dancer, teacher, passionate about improvisation in dance, contemporary dance, somatic methods, martial arts and movement as a means of expression and personal growth.

She trained in contemporary dance with Iris Muñoz, Michalle Mann, Leonardo Robayo. In CI with Cristiane Boullosa, Katja Mustonen, Linda Bufali, Martin Keough, Mirva Mäkinen, Urs Stauffer, Dani and Eckhi, Sebastian Flegiel, among others. She learns Integrative Body Process (PCI) in In Corpore School with Antonio del Olmo.

With different companies she continues to investigate the CI technique, multidisciplinary improvisation, videodance and performance. Over the years, she collaborates with several artists both in Poland and Spain, including: Perros de Otra Vida, Sharon Fridman, leOma, Teatro Biuro Podrozy, Alter Ego and Proyecto Open Spaces. As a CI facilitator she has worked in different countries: India, Canada, Portugal, Poland and Spain. Nowadays, she lives in Madrid and combines her artistic interest with her work as a teacher and organiser of events related to CI. Co-organizer of the Reunión festival and Mediterránea Contact Festival.

JESÚS ALONSO

Jesús Alonso CI Movement researcher and dancer. His work focuses on dance understood as an exploration of bodily sensations and the poetics of movement. IHe´s participated as a teacher in Flow Festival in Warsaw and Mediterranea Contact Festival, organizinand os La Reunión and teaches regular CI classes and worshops in Madrid. Trained with teachers such as Cristiane Bullousa, Diana Bonilla, Linda Bufali, Katja Mustonen, Mirva Mäkinen, Charlie Morrissey, Rai Chung... and in contemporary dance and movement research with Poliana Lima and Lucas Condró and Mónica Valenciano. Feldenkrais Method with Simonetta Alessandri and Julen Arévalo.

[bbumtravel]

From rejected architecture to becoming a national icon?

We are talking about the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the most famous landmarks in Italy and around the world. It is located in the city of Pisa, in the Tuscany region. Construction of the tower began in 1173 and it started to lean soon after, due to unstable ground and foundation issues. Despite efforts to correct its tilt during construction, the tower continues to lean to this day.

The tower is a freestanding bell tower of the cathedral of Pisa, known as the Duomo di Pisa or the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta. It is made of white marble and stands at about 56 meters (183 feet) tall. The design features a cylindrical shape with eight stories of arches, columns, and intricate decorations.

Despite its unintended tilt, the Leaning Tower of Pisa has become an iconic symbol of architectural uniqueness and attracts millions of visitors annually who come to admire its lean and take memorable photos with it. It is also recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with the other structures in the Cathedral Square of Pisa.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa, or simply the Tower of Pisa, is part of the cathedral complex in Pisa, Italy. Its construction began in 1173 and lasted for about 199 years, due to interruptions caused by wars and the tower's gradual tilt, which started during its construction due to a poorly laid foundation, is one of tourists Italy its

Here are some interesting facts about the Leaning Tower of Pisa:

Cause of the Lean: The tower began to lean soon after construction started in 1173 due to a poorly laid foundation and unstable soil. The lean increased with each subsequent level added to the tower.

Interventions to Prevent Collapse: Throughout history, various attempts were made to stabilize or reduce the lean of the tower. Notably, in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, significant efforts were made to prevent the tower from toppling over by reducing its lean through soil extraction and other engineering methods.

Famous Design and Architecture: The Leaning Tower of Pisa is renowned for its unique design and architectural style, characterized by white marble and Romanesque arches. It stands approximately 56 meters (183 feet) tall and originally had seven bells, one for each note of the musical scale.

Tourist Attraction: Despite its unintended tilt, the tower attracts millions of tourists annually who come to marvel at its lean and take iconic photos pretending to hold it up or push it over.

UNESCO World Heritage Site: Along with the cathedral and baptistery of Pisa, the Leaning Tower is part of the Piazza del Duomo UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987, recognizing its cultural and historical significance.

These facts highlight how the Leaning Tower of Pisa has not only become a symbol of architectural uniqueness but also a testament to human ingenuity in preserving historical landmarks.

One of the places worth visiting. !!!!! Thanks for reading ☻♥

[r1g1]

PISA 2024 Experimental

[Situation: In the principal's office at an advanced international school. The school principal, one teacher, one of the students, and his guardian are seated.] Position: In the principal’s office at Jassim Bin Hamad Secondary School for Boys. The school principal, one teacher, one of the students, and his guardian sit. Director: Hello everyone, we are here today to discuss the importance of international PISA tests and how the school, students and parents can benefit from them. Teacher: Certainly, Pisa offers a great opportunity to improve the learning experience for students and motivate them to achieve their academic goals. One of the saints: What is this so-called “Pisa” and who is it targeting? Teacher: “PISA” is an abbreviation of the first letters of “Program for International Student Assessment” As for your second question, PISA targets students who are 15 years old in the year of the test, that is, those born in 2008 for this version of the test. One of the parents: But what makes PISA tests special for students? Teacher: The Pisa 2024 pilot test measures multiple skills such as reading, mathematics, and science. Recently, in this trial version, the English language was added in preparation for adding it in future versions. This test provides valuable insight into students’ performance and determines the readiness of educational institutions for the basic version of the test, which will be launched in 2025. Principal: In addition, the results of the PISA pilot help guide the school’s learning and teaching processes, leading to improved overall performance which is reflected in students’ performance in the core test that will take place in 2025. Teacher: Not only that, it also provides useful guidance to students and parents about their future academic and career path choices. One of the parents: I believe that this will have a great positive impact on the development of our children. Thanks for the clarification. Director: Therefore, we must work together as a team to make the most of this wonderful educational opportunity. Director:** Now I understand the great importance of this test. I will begin immediately, from today, to focus on my studies, and I will be particularly interested in developing methods for answering questions by using the handbook that was distributed to us, as well as, of course, by referring to my teachers for everything that is difficult for me to understand.

[exhibit-of-the-century]

Masterlist: Lesson Recommended Readings

Masterlist

BUY ME A COFFEE

✨Lucy E. Thompson, 'Vermeer's Curtain: Privacy, Slut-Shaming and Surveillance in "A Girl Reading a Letter", Survelliance & Society 2017 ✨Gregor Weber, 'Paths to Inner Values,' in Gregor Weber, Pieter Roelofs, and Taco Dibbits, Vermeer, (NewYork: Thames & Hudson, 2023) ✨Bernard Berenson on Masaccio, panel in National Gallery, 1907 ✨Giorgio Vadari, Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects (online translation published, 1912) ✨Marjorie Munsterberg, Writing about Art ✨Paul Binski, Westminster Abbey and the Plantagenets: Kingship and the Representation of Power, 1200-1400, 1955 ✨Toby Green, A Fistful of Shells: West Africa from the River of the Slave Trade to the Age of Revolution, 'Rivers of Cloth, Masks of Bronze: The Bights of Benin and Biafra', 2019

✨Pieter Roelofs, 'Girls with Pearls', extract from 'Vermeer's Tronies' in Gregor Weber, Pieter Roelofs, and Taco Dibbits, Vermeer, (NewYork: Thames and Hudson, 2023)

✨Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks (1986)

✨Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth (1963)

✨Decolonial/Postcolonial Voices

✨Honour, Hugh and Fleming, John.  A World History of Art. London: Laurence King Publishing. 7th ed, 2005

✨The Painter of Modern Life, Charles Baudlaire, 1863 Part 2, Part 3 Other Quality

✨The Photographers Eye, John Szarkowski, 1966

✨Elkins, James. Stories of Art. London: Routledge, 2002

✨Paragraphs on Conceptual Art, Sol Lewitt, 1967

✨Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England. London, volume 1, The Cities of London and Westminster, 1973

✨Annie E. Coombes, Reinventing Africa: Museums, Material Culture and Popular Imagination in Late Victorian and Edwardian England, 'Material Vulture at the Crossroads of Knowledge: The Case of the Benin "Bronzes", 1994

✨Hatt, Michael and Klonk, Charlotte, Art History: A Critical Introduction to its Methods, 2006

✨Meyer Schapiro, H. W. Janson and E. H. Gombrich, ‘Criteria of Periodization in the History of European Art’, New Literary History, 1970 ✨Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann, ‘Periodization and its Discontents’, Journal of Art Historiography, 2010

✨Kathryn Wysocki Gunsch, The Benin Plaques: A 16th Century Imperial Monument, 2018

✨D'Alleva, Anne. How to Write Art History. London: Lawrence King Publishing, 2010/2013/2015

✨Christopher Wilson, The Gothic Cathedral: the Architecture of the Great Church, 1130 - 1530, 1990

✨Anne D'Alleva, Methods and Theories of Art History, 2005/2012

✨Jonathan Alexander and Paul Binski (eds.), Age of Chivalry: Art in Plantagenet England, 1200-1400, 1987 ✨Paul Binski, Ann Massing, and Marie Louise Sauerberg (eds.), The Westminster Retable: History, Technique, Conservation, 2009

✨Christa Gardner von Teuffel, ‘Masaccio and the Pisa Altarpiece: A New Approach’, Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen, 1977 Part 2

✨John Shearman, ‘Masaccio’s Pisa Altar-Piece: An Alternative Reconstruction’, The Burlington Magazine, 1966

✨Kathryn Wysocki Gunsch, ‘Art and/or Ethnographica?: The Reception of Benin Works from1897–1935’, African Arts, 2013

✨Eliot Wooldridge Rowlands, Masaccio: Saint Andrew and the Pisa altarpiece, 2003

✨Svetlana Alpers, The Art of Describing: Dutch Art in the Seventeenth Century, 1983

✨Clementine Deliss, Metabolic Museum 2020 ✨Laura Sangha, ‘On Periodisation: Or what’s the best way to chop history into bits’, The Many Headed Monster, 2016 ✨A Gangatharan, ‘The Problem of Periodization in History’, Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 2008

✨McHam, Sarah Blake, "Donatello's Bronze David and Judith as Metaphors of Medici Rule in Florence," Art Bulletin, 2001

✨Eve Borsook, ‘A Note on Masaccio in Pisa’, The Burlington Magazine, 1961

✨Gombrich, E.H. The Story of Art, London: Phaidon Press Ltd, numerous editions

✨Paul Binski, 'The Cosmati at Westminster and the English Court Style', The Art Bulletin 72, 1990

✨Lindy Grant and Richard Mortimer (eds.), Westminster Abbey: The Cosmati Pavements, 2002

✨Peter Draper, The Formation of English Gothic: Architecture and Identity, 2006

✨Paul Crossley, ‘English Gothic Architecture’, in Jonathan Alexander and Paul Binski (eds.), Age of Chivalry: Art in Plantagenet England, 1200-1400, 1987

✨James H. Beck, Masaccio: The Documents, 1978 ✨R. A. Donkin, Beyond Price: Pearls and Pearl-Fishing: Origins to the Age of Discoveries, 1998

✨Nanette Salomon, ‘From Sexuality to Civility: Vermeer’s Women’, National Gallery of Art, Studies in the History of Art, 1998

✨Irene Cieraad, ‘Rocking the Cradle of Dutch Domesticity: A Radical Reinterpretation of Seventeenth-Century “Homescapes” 1’, Home Cultures, 2019

✨Walter D. Mignolo, ‘Delinking: The rhetoric of modernity, the logic of colonility and the grammar of de-coloniality’ in culture studies (2000)

✨H. Perry Chapman, ‘Women in Vermeer’s home: Mimesis and ideation’, Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek,2000

✨Christopher Wilson, ‘The English Response to French Gothic Architecture, c. 1200-1350’, in Jonathan Alexander and Paul Binski (eds.), Age of Chivalry: Art in Plantagenet England, 1200-1400, 1987

✨Johann Joachim Wicklemann (1717 - 1768) from Reflections on the Imitation of Greek Works in Painting and Sculpture

✨Antonie Cotpel (1661-1722) on the grand manner, from 'On the Aesthetic of the Painter'

✨Andre Felibien (1619-1695) Preface to Seven Conferences

✨Charles Le Burn (1619-1690) 'First Confrence'

✨Various Authors (Reviews) on Manet's Olympia

✨Zionism and its Religious Critics in fin-de-siecle Vienna, Robert S. Wistrich, 1996

✨Sex, Lies and Decoation: Adolf Loos and Gustav Klimt, Beatriz Colomina, 2010

✨Women Writers and Artists in Fin-de-Siecle Vienna, Helga H. Harriman, 1993

✨Fashion and Feminism in "Fin de Siecle" Vienna, Mary L. Wagner, 1989-1990

✨5 Eros and Thanatos in Fin-de-Siecle Vienna, Sigmund Freud, Otto Weininger, Arthur Schitzler, 2016

✨Recent Scholarship on Vienna's "Golden Age", Gustav Klimt, and Egon Schiele, Reinhold Heller, 1977

✨Maternity and Sexulaity in the 1890s, Wendy Slatkin, 1980

✨Andre Breton (1896 - 1957) and Leon Trotsky (1879 - 1940) 'Towards a Free Revolutionary Art'

✨Sergei Tretyakov (1892 - 1939) 'We Are Searching' and 'We Raise the Alarm'

✨George Grosz (1893 - 1959) and Weiland Herzfeld (1896 - 1988) 'Art is in Danger'

✨Paul Gaugin (1848 - 1903) from three letters written before leaving for Polynesia

✨Siegfried Kracauer (1889 - 1966) from 'The Mass Ornament'

✨Victor Fournel (1829 - 1894) 'The Art of Flanerie'

✨Various Author's (Reviews) on Mante's Olympia

✨Rosalind Krauss (b. 1940) 'A View of Modernism'

✨Clement Greenberg (1909 - 1994) 'Modernist Painting'

✨Clive Bell (1881 - 1964) 'The Aesthetic Hypothesis'

✨Catherine Grant and Dorothy Price, 'Decolonizing Art History', Art History 43:1 (2020), pp.8-66.

✨Terry Smith (b. 1944) from 'What Is Contemporary Art?'

✨Geeta Kapur (b. 1943) 'Contemporary Cultural Practice: Some Polemical Categories'

✨Chin-Tao Wu 'Biennials Without Borders?'

✨Edouard Glissant (1928 - 2011) 'Creolisation and the Americas'

✨Rasheed Araeen (b. 1935) 'Why Third Text?'

[beardedmrbean]

Multiple papers report on Wednesday that the Nord Stream gas pipelines are leaking into the Baltic Sea, following explosions that occurred on Tuesday evening.

The natural gas pipeline, installed at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, runs from Russia to Germany.

In total, three leaks have been detected in the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, Helsingin Sanomat (siirryt toiseen palveluun) reports. Finland's largest circulating daily adds that the damage has been described as "unparalleled."

Tabloids Ilta-Sanomat (siirryt toiseen palveluun)and Iltalehti (siirryt toiseen palveluun) write that European authorities believe that the leaks were no accident, with certain leaders calling the damage "sabotage" and seismologists saying that the tremors causing the leaks were most likely explosions, not earthquakes.

Swedish and Danish waters are mostly impacted by the leaks but scientists also detected explosions in Finnish waters, Iltalehti (siirryt toiseen palveluun) reports.

The Finnish Foreign Ministry tweeted (siirryt toiseen palveluun)on Tuesday that it will be closely following and discussing the matter with Swedish and Danish authorities. Police are now investigating the explosions as aggravated sabotage.

Russians flock to hotels in Southeast Finland

The Lappeenranta-based newspaper Etelä-Saimaa (siirryt toiseen palveluun) reports on an influx of Russian families and groups of men to hotels in Southeast Finland.

Last week, two of the city's hotels, Rakuuna and Lähde, reported receiving a flurry of last-minute reservations. According to the paper, the hotels are now so fully booked they have begun adding reservation requests to a waiting list.

According to a source, Russian tourists have been reportedly seen sleeping in the hotel corridors of a spa hotel in neighbouring Imatra on Monday night.

However, the head of hotel services at the Imatra spa, Taru Haaspuro, denies this, the paper writes.

"All the guests have their own rooms. I was here myself late on Monday evening," Haaspuro told the paper.

"We are full. Some individual rooms become available every day but they go quickly."

Receptionists told the paper that most of the Russian hotel guests hold room reservations for just a day or two, which raises the question of what they plan to do next.

Finnish education system outpaced by Estonia

Educational experts around the world have now turned their attention away from Finland and towards Estonia following the latest PISA results, Helsingin Sanomat (HS) writes.

Estonian students got the best scores in Europe, in the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) test, while Finland's declining trend continued.

Since Estonia's education system is based on Finland's, what is Estonia getting right that Finland is not?

Estonia's Pisa project manager Gunda Tira told HS that the answer to the "million dollar question," has to do with the fact that Finland has been experimenting with innovative models that give more responsibility to students. In the meantime, she said Estonia has continued to follow more traditional teaching methods that ensure order and a well-functioning learning environment.

"Perhaps modern student-centred teaching methods are used more in Finland. I personally think that student-centred methods should only be used when the student has already reached a certain level of knowledge and is smart enough to study independently," Tira said.

Experts also said that the sharp decline in the PISA performance of Finnish students coincided with the boom of the internet, gaming and social media.

"Reading has stopped being interesting," the paper writes, adding that according to the most recent Pisa study, 63 percent of boys and 39 percent of girls in Finland admitted that they only read if they had to.

[janinekristy1234]

"For in educating the minds of today, we are shaping the sustainable and equitable world of tomorrow".

The University of Science and Technology of the Philippines (USTP) has long been at the forefront of advancing a sustainable future. Its tagline, "Advancing a Sustainable Future," reflects its commitment to developing and implementing innovative solutions to the world's most pressing challenges.

As a trailblazer, I value and believe that quality education is the foundation of a prosperous and sustainable society. It empowers individuals to reach their full potential, contributes to economic growth, and promotes social justice.

A 2023 study by the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) further highlights the extent of this issue. The study revealed that at least 78% of students in the Philippines failed to reach minimum levels of proficiency in each of the three PISA subjects – reading, mathematics, and science.

These results point to several underlying factors that contribute to the subpar performance of Filipino students. These factors include:

Inadequate Resources and Infrastructure: Many schools in the Philippines, particularly in rural areas, lack basic resources and infrastructure, such as classrooms, textbooks, and teaching materials. This scarcity of resources hinders effective teaching and learning.

Teacher Quality and Shortage: The Philippines faces a shortage of qualified teachers, with a deficit of over 100,000 public school teachers in 2022. This shortage, coupled with concerns about teacher quality and training, negatively impacts student performance.

Access to Education: While the Philippines has achieved universal basic education, millions of children remain out of school due to poverty, conflict, disability, and other socioeconomic factors. This lack of access to education further widens the educational gap.

Despite these challenges, there have been some positive developments in Philippine education. The government has increased its investment in education, and various innovative programs and initiatives are underway to improve the quality of education.

Notable initiatives include:

K to 12 Program: The K to 12 program added two more years to basic education, aiming to improve the quality of education and make Filipino students more competitive globally.

Last Mile Schools Program: This program aims to provide access to education for children in remote and underserved communities by building schools in hard-to-reach areas and providing necessary resources.

Teacher Training Program: This initiative aims to improve teacher quality by providing training on the latest teaching methods and curriculum.

The World Bank defines quality education as "education that provides all learners with the knowledge, skills, and values they need to become successful citizens." This includes access to a safe and supportive learning environment, qualified and motivated teachers, and relevant and engaging curriculum.

The benefits of quality education are well-documented. For example, a study by the World Bank found that each additional year of schooling is associated with a 10% increase in earnings. In addition, quality education can help to reduce poverty, improve health outcomes, and promote gender equality.

There is a significant global need for quality education. According to UNESCO, 258 million children and adolescents are out of school, and 617 million children and adolescents are not achieving minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics.

There are a number of examples of countries that have made significant progress in improving quality education. For example, Vietnam has achieved a 95% enrollment rate in primary education, and its students now perform above the global average in reading and mathematics.

Investing in quality education is one of the best investments that a country can make. It is an investment in the future of its citizens and the future of the planet.

Here are some specific examples of how quality education is being achieved around the world:

In Finland, all teachers are required to have a master's degree, and they are given a high degree of autonomy in their classrooms. As a result, Finland consistently ranks among the top countries in the world for student achievement.

In Brazil, the Bolsa Família program provides cash transfers to poor families on the condition that their children attend school. The program has been credited with helping to reduce child labor and increase school enrollment rates.

In Kenya, the use of mobile phones has been used to improve communication between teachers and parents, and to provide students with access to educational resources.

In a world that is constantly evolving, education stands as the cornerstone of progress, empowerment, and positive change. As a trailblazer and a city scholar, I am proud that I participated in our community-based project in our barangay, which is barangay Pagatpat. Together with our former president and my co-scholars, the “Edukbata Drive” initiative was made. In which we reach out to elementary schools in our barangay to lend help for reading,writing, and solving. Beforehand, we had proper training and knowledge before diving into the field of tutoring kids. It is quite a fulfilling journey for us because the feedback of the teachers and parents says that after the tutoring, they improved their academic performances and became honor students. Our project has been recognized by PinasForward and will be implemented citywide. And we also won the Kinanao Awards and the Most Outstanding Community-Based Organization.

These examples demonstrate that there is no single solution to the challenge of improving quality education. However, they also show that it is possible to make significant progress by investing in teachers, providing access to resources, and creating a supportive learning environment.

As we work towards achieving the targets set by SDG 4, let us foster partnerships and collaborations. Governments, NGOs, businesses, and communities must come together with a shared commitment to prioritize and elevate education. Let us leverage technology to reach those in remote areas and create innovative solutions that make learning more accessible and engaging.

May the pages of our future be written with the ink of wisdom, and may the story of quality education echo through the corridors of time, inspiring generations to come. The classroom may end, but the lessons of a quality education resonate forever, echoing the promise of a brighter, more enlightened world.

“The world is changing rapidly, and our education system must change with it. We need to provide all students with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in the 21st century, and this means investing in quality education for all.”

Here are some educational sources that you can visit and read: