I do NOT have a problem with him beginning to candidate elsewhere because most professionals know that at his level it can take a year or more to land a substantive post. He is wise to continue to seek out opportunities beyond Bermuda for when his term here is completed because 2016 is around the corner.

It is also important to note that he has to deal with the constant politics that impede his ability to concentrate on doing what he has been hired to do. I would not blame him for moving on prior to the end of his contract and recommending one of the brilliant Bermudians he has had the opportunity to observe to succeed him in this role. I wish him well and commend him for what has been accomplished already under his leadership.

More on need for change in education from Will Richardson
Posted: 15 Mar 2014 05:37 PM PDT
“If you want school to be test prep that’s fine, but please realize you don’t need schools any longer for test prep…(online) kids will get personalized self paced curriculum where they can pretty much get prepared for the test…I understand why we go for better…most of us are products of the system and we can relate to what better means…we have taken the same tests that our kids have taken and forgotten the same answers that our kids are going to forget as they go through school..We know the system…the system worked pretty well for a few decades…but right now this system is KILLING our kids. It is taking all the imagination, all the creativity, all the initiative, all the engagement right OUT of them”
“It is time now we stop trying to do schools better and we start trying to do them differently…schools in the form they were constructed are no longer relevant to our kids’ lives in terms of places to get information and knowledge. Information and knowledge are everywhere…we have to reenvision schools for a different purpose and that purpose is more meaningful, more important, more difficult in a lot of ways..schools for our kids have to be places of deep enquiry, where they are solving real world problems because they have a lot of problems that they will need to solve..places where we can help them find their passions and support those passions so that they can become the life long learners in this context that we all want them to be..and none of this is the stuff of test prep, all of that is the stuff of life prep”
“Do we want our kids being prepared for their futures by a system that hasn’t fundamentally changes in 125 years?..We have to take back this conversation about education from the businessmen and the politicians..and we have to scream to whoever is listening that test prep and learning are two very different things and one has been lost at the expense of the other right now and this is not acceptable for our kids…The system was built for a world that no longer exists”
Another TED talk about the need of reforming education to adapt to the many possibilities of the modern world by Will Richardson. He has been blogging about the intersection of social online learning networks and education for the past 10 years. He is a former public school educator for 22 years, and is a co-founder of Powerful Learning Practice, a unique long-term, job-embedded professional development program that has mentored over 3,500 teachers worldwide in the last four years. Extremely interesting and inspiring talk, please take the time to watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni75vIE4vdk

Seen any stunning achievements or has it mostly been a pile of excuses & reports?

Bermuda: we are hoping that Education becomes the most important thing for the future of our island nation.
http://ridethewavefoundation.blogspot.ca/

If we need to look for a new person, the position must be filled by the absolute best person we can find. Any other approach will just fail our kids for more years. Our kids deserve the best we can find, not the best Bermudian we can find.

Yes, you can be “kicked out” but I doubt that it would be done on a “whim”. In fact, considering that you have been here for 10 years and your friend for 20 years seems to be self-contradicting to your assertions.

Assuming that you and your friend have been compensated for your services all these years, how is it that Bemuuda has not been “committed” you?

Get real!!

LOL!

Never judge a book by its cover!

Your first paragraph is obscure, the employer being whom, Dr Grant Gibbons?

I am merely pointing out that if termination is the option then legally we must terminate in accordance with both his contract AND the law.

Honestly, we do not know what Dr Heatley’s reasons are for continuing to seek employment elsewhere; are they personal or professional reasons? But what we do know is that he continued to seek employment immediately after signing his contract to be Bermuda’s Education Commissioner. And, although he has done nothing wrong, he has placed his commitment to Bermuda’s education system in severe doubt and effectively undermined the faith and confidence in him from his most ardent supporters.

This man is a very seasoned, politically savvy executive who has faced far more challenges than our education system; he has faced down firestorms of controversies. Honestly, we do not know what the underline issues (with him) are here, so let’s not assume that the fault line is the challenges of our education system. Yet, now we have to sort out HIS problem AND the education system – where does it end? He was employed to sort it out, NOT compound to its problems!

The immediate issue, Dr Heatley’s commitment and future in Bermuda. Once that is resolved, we will know the next logical steps to take.

Education’s greatest asset may well be its collective workforce of university lettered graduates (BAs BScs, MAs, MScs, PhDs), and it may well be its greatest pressure point. They are very intelligent, talented, ambitious and eager for upward mobility. Can someone – Bermudian – make a difference in the position of Education Commissioner? Well a Bermudian made an extraordinary difference as the current president of Bermuda College.

As I said earlier, Dr Heatley was employed to sort out the problems, NOT compound them. We have a right to be angry and disappointed, but putting those emotions aside, we must now make this a seamless transition, with or without Dr Heatly.

Conversely, if the position is closed out then where does central power centre? With the education department? The PS? The Minister? Or should more powers be devolved back to the individual education institutes and less with the Ministry?

Leach Scott MP should be elevated to Minister of Education.

London, England

Yes, Finland’s education is excellent but what you fail to point out is that their education system is 100% funded by the state. Are the people in this country willing to pay more taxes so that every child has equal educational opportunities?

Like every country in the world, Bermuda has its challenges with education and there are no panaceas.

This time OBA government, put a Bermudian in this position. If you fail to do this, I can only assume that you have no confidence in the abilities of your compatriots.

The biggest concern shpuld be: why is this happening? What is it about Bermuda and its education system, its politics, its state of affairs, that would cause somebody in this position to potentially give up after six months? That should concern everybody. Instead I’m there will be reams of stupid bickering about whether or not a Bermudian should be hired in his place.

Once again Government bringing in two more high level post which will be filled by non Bermudian at Education. This is very troubling and speaks to our lack of value for our own people.

No we do not need Heatley nor the other Two High Ranking Officers Recently hired at Education.

Bermuda must begin to believe in their own and value their own. Education is too Top Heavy and recent changes by the Commissioner has made if even more top heavy. All needs to be put at the school level for real change to take place. Put folks in schools to help make effective impact on learning and teaching.

Removal of Heatley is a small start.

Bring back the Oleander stick, you will not need the Board of Education.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnE_PFPW2VA

Terry Lister talks about a commitment to our children, then that requires a complete shakeup in Education from the Administration to the qualifications of the teachers (they should all have Masters degrees)
Finland is #1 in the world…..We should take lead from the BEST !

KIDS want to be INSPIRED……
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni75vIE4vdk

Education Leadership: Will Richardson at TEDxMelbourne
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ekcWQxgk3k

Follow this blog: http://ridethewavefoundation.blogspot.ca

……………………Silence……………………

There is no way in Hades that the overpaid, grossly underworked, clock watchers employed at the MOE will allow anyone to disrupt their easy, not accountable to anyone, work (?) days.
Many of them seem to feel that their Doctorates mean they no longer need to work hard.
The Minister needs to have a no holes barred conversation with his staff( including the Secretary to the Cabinet) and get rid of the dead wood.
Our children deserve better!

If this is true, this is ridiculous. I would hate to loose Ms. Lisa Smith at HSPS, but she, and Dr. Gina Tucker (I am sure there are others) are very capable of serving the country well in this post. They are committed to Bermuda, to our students.

GET CRACKIN’!