Building Understanding

My name is Dennis Harter (dharter to everyone on the web) and I’m in my second year as the High School Vice Principal at International School Bangkok in Thailand.

I am in my 19th year as an educator at international schools – 8 years as a middle and high school math teacher and 8 years as a middle school and high school technology and learning coordinator. I’ve worked in Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok. I have a personal interest in international school education, as I also attended international schools for most of my K-12 schooling.

I began blogging about education in January 2007 at Blogger under the un-inventive title of “Harter Learning”, but moved everything over to Edublogs and “Thinking Allowed” in March 2007.  Finally, ready to venture out on my own and learn more I started my own domain with a re-titled blog, “Building Understanding”,  in August 2009.

I continue to consider education and the role technology plays in enhancing student learning.  Additionally, with the pace of change in the world now thanks in part to technological growth and a “flattening” of the planet, I am very concerned with how educators will answer our obligation to ensure that learners are prepared for success in that world.  With my growing role in school leadership, my thoughts often center on the role of educational leaders in shaping a viable, practical, and responsible curriculum for today’s learners and tomorrow’s adults – so that they can succeed in ensuring a world that celebrates diversity, promotes tolerance, preserves the Earth, and furthers the potential of all of us.

We need to Build Understanding in each and every one of us.