Friday, May 19, 2017

Stressed teachers / do real science/early education / teaching writing ( and grammar) wrong / creativity and risk taking


Why have schools made it so complicated - we are all born learners

Education Readings

By Allan Alach

I welcome suggested articles, so if you come across a gem, email it to me at allanalach@inspire.net.nz

Workaholic Teachers
‘If you are a teacher then you are permanently busting a gut, not getting enough sleep, struggling to keep up and very often going to work unwell. Despite all this, you live and breathe teaching and you talk about leaving but know deep down that you won’t.’

Schools told to ditch textbooks and let pupils experiment in science lessons
‘Schools are failing their pupils’ education by forcing them to regurgitate facts instead of letting them take part in practical science lessons, a leading expert has said.
Practical science can be overshadowed by factors such as a need to learn a “mountain” of information, a focus on English and maths and a lack of specialist teachers, according to Katherine Mathieson, chief executive of the British Science Association.’

The Saber‐tooth Curriculum
Following last week’s satire about a curriculum for teaching walking, here’s another satire:
‘New‐Fist was a doer, in spite of the fact that there was little in his environment with which to do anything very complex. You have undoubtedly heard of the pear‐ shaped, chipped‐stone tool which archeologists call the coup‐de‐point or fist
hammer.’

Your Fidget Spinner Is (Maybe) Making You Smarter
Making use of the latest craze:
Fidgiting
Why is fidgeting so hot? Because it’s an adaptation to deskbound lifestyles. Society increasingly demands mental work while enforcing unhealthy, sedentary physical habits. Fidgeting is a way to cope. It also has cognitive benefits.’

To Engage Students and Teachers, Treat Core Subjects Like Extracurriculars
‘Education researchers Jal Mehta and Sarah Fine have been observing different school systems over the past six years in an attempt to document the variables that contribute to deeper learning. But as they spent more time in schools, it was hard to ignore the ways in which the activity around the edges of institutions — elective courses, extracurricular activities — was where students and teachers “were most fired up,” said Fine, a postdoctoral student at Harvard Graduate School of Education. ‘

We are teaching kids how to write all wrong — and no, Mr. Miyagi’s rote lessons won’t help a bit
We’re teaching writing wrong.
We must be, because when I meet people and they find out that I’ve spent 20 years teaching writing at the college level, they are eager to tell me how today’s generation can’t write worth a damn.
What they write doesn’t make sense! I can’t even understand the sentences, let alone the message!”’

Contributed by Bruce Hammonds:

The Student-Centered Math Class
‘…Peter Liljedahl, a professor at Simon Fraser University. Liljedahl proposes three strategies that you can implement in order to create what he calls the thinking classroom: Start with good problems, use visibly random groups, and work regularly on vertical nonpermanent surfaces. I started using these three strategies in my math classes, and they have been an absolute game-changer.’

Creativity and risk taking
Eat an elephant - one bite at a time
Our vision for Hornby High School ('A centre of creative excellence') is pretty big. Trying to get there could be likened to trying to eat an elephant (not that I am suggesting really eating these beautiful creatures.....)
How do you do that?" Well - one bite at a time, of course. So we broke the vision down into three strategic goals, one of which is "To foster inspirational, risk taking and enterprising leadership in all members of our learning community”.’

Saws, mud, rope swings, open fires - and not an iPad in sight
‘Yet an outdoor nursery which shuns modern technology and allows toddlers to roll around in the mud and even cut wood using a huge saw has been rated outstanding by Ofsted.Set in a forest and with no running water or electricity, the Elves and Fairies Woodland Nursery in Dorset says its goal is to teach the importance of nature.’

Pity our children – they’re being turned into grammar robots at school
‘Last week the education select committee concluded that the evidence did not show that teaching specific grammatical techniques improved writing; and it recommended that the new Spag – spelling, punctuation and grammar – tests should no longer be mandatory for older primary schoolchildren.’

From Bruce’s ‘goldie oldies’ file:

Points of view from Mount Eden School
‘The NZ government's reactionary National Standards has side lined an excellent curriculum but principal John Faire of Mount Eden School still provides  pertinent advice about how to
Mount Eden
implement it
. Schools, he said, have 'three choices' - to 'bolt it on', to 'rewire the school', or to 'redesign the school'.  He favours the third approach.With regard to the 'new' curriculum John said that for many it is a bit 'back to the future' and that the curriculum statements and accountability demands imposed since the early 90s had all but 'squashed out the creativity' that was to be seen in the 70s and 80s.’

The artistry of teaching and future learning attributes
‘The future of education will be substantially determined by the shared perception of the purpose of learning, and that this is best expressed in terms of the needs of the learner. A focus on deep and profound learning would determine the qualities of a learner of the future This in turn has implications for the quality of the teaching provided.’


The artistry of teaching

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