tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438349.post1008598579639525524..comments2024-03-12T22:54:04.594+13:00Comments on leading and learning: A respected principal speaks out!Bruce Hammondshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07031065790535111400noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438349.post-27360057479350536572012-07-03T20:12:55.151+12:002012-07-03T20:12:55.151+12:00Speaking out doesn't automatically mean dissen...Speaking out doesn't automatically mean dissent. It does mean we have an opinion and as leaders of communities we are actually paid to express them. <br /><br />I find that its not just governments and departments that want to measure and weigh - i think there is a general community distrust of non measurable things these days as people seek assurances in an increasingly anxiety prone era.<br /><br />I see it in parents taking their children off to all the tutoring programs after school so that they can get ahead of the imaginary standard they set. <br /><br />People do care but we must speak out even if its unpopular.Mark Walkerhttp://www.mwalker.com.aunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438349.post-56175324061446819902012-06-29T00:30:47.941+12:002012-06-29T00:30:47.941+12:00Let's hope this guest blog is the beginning of...Let's hope this guest blog is the beginning of principals realising that it is time to stand up and be counted. Time to confront the political ideology thst is being imposed on education.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438349.post-8609647911965398832012-06-28T16:09:39.009+12:002012-06-28T16:09:39.009+12:00Diffendoofer Day by Dr Suess is an excellent book...Diffendoofer Day by Dr Suess is an excellent book. You can tell which side the Governmnent and Ministry are on!!!<br /><br />All schools should have a copy!Bruce Hammondshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07031065790535111400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438349.post-10940907873880527482012-06-28T13:14:15.574+12:002012-06-28T13:14:15.574+12:00Hi NZkoobi - thanks for your comment. I am not sur...Hi NZkoobi - thanks for your comment. I am not sure of the article you refer to but e-mail me bhammonds@clear.net.nz I will send you a video/article by Yong Zhao.<br /><br />Or google below - video great for BOT or staff meeting.<br /><br />ahttp://www.edutopia.org/blog/yong-zhao-pbl-creative-confidence-suzie-boss=ndBruce Hammondshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07031065790535111400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438349.post-24126835058384495082012-06-28T09:42:36.793+12:002012-06-28T09:42:36.793+12:00Congratulations to the author of this blog.
This i...Congratulations to the author of this blog.<br />This is what I need to hear and read.<br />Thank you.<br /><br />We were taken to task by ERO earlier this term - I was acknowledged as being an experienced and competent teacher/principal but was blasted for data interrogation techniques - I didn't interrogate it enough!<br /><br />Bruce please send me the article that reflects this principal's thinking. I'd get value from reading it I'm sure.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438349.post-73388213235757291452012-06-27T23:37:26.698+12:002012-06-27T23:37:26.698+12:00If only other principals (or better still groups o...If only other principals (or better still groups of principls) had the courage to speak out<br /><br />Thanks to the guest principal - powerful stuff.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438349.post-41408918341621137202012-06-27T21:51:56.513+12:002012-06-27T21:51:56.513+12:00This is what Kelvin Smythe has recently written ab...This is what Kelvin Smythe has recently written about what has happened since politicians have taken control of education:<br /><br />http://www.networkonnet.co.nz/index.php?section=latest&id=415<br /><br />Does .... see national standards, league tables, charter schools, the centrally-driven narrowing of the curriculum, the uniformity and standardisation of education, the lack of freedom for teachers to organise their teaching on holistic grounds, the centralised and bureaucratic dominance of the system, the way the education review office dominates the direction of classroom practice, the highly competitive basis to our system, the emphasis in learning on that which is measurable, the serious weakening of the RTLB and other support services, the dissolution of the advisory service, the way government contracts have made many universities the cruel and arrogant exploiters of schools, the increasing class and ethnic basis for school rolls, and all that stuff – as being separate from Tomorrow’s Schools?Bruce Hammondshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07031065790535111400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438349.post-82311696682647023402012-06-27T21:26:41.042+12:002012-06-27T21:26:41.042+12:00I agree totally with your guest principal. Good on...I agree totally with your guest principal. Good on him for having the foresight and strength to stand up, to protect the very good school that he runs. Clearly he and I share very similar viewpoints on education, as it should be provided in a child centred learning environment, against how schools are being forced to implement the standards based behaviourist nonsense. <br /><br />Beware, the forces of darkness strike when you least expect it, from unexpected directions. However a point arrives when it becomes untenable to carry out requirements in a school that go so against the grain. Does one swallow principles, and submit (as Phil Cullen has highlighted in his article "A Memetic Scenario' (http://treehornexpress.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/a-memetic-scenario/) and thus just follow orders, or does one stick to principles regardless, with inevitable consequences? The Eichmann defence (following orders) doesn't wash, as Phil points out. He also mentions the Milgram Experiment, which revealed that people do have a tendency to follow orders, and draws the comparison with principals who roll over and meekly submit. <br /><br />It is not possible, given the headlong approach that the government is using, to try to sooth the beast by making soothing noises and hope it goes away. There are only two choices, submit or fight. Safety in numbers is of paramount importance, as Ben Franklin said "We must hang together or we will surely hang alone."<br /><br />There is worse to come. This is a carefully planned long term agenda, that started in 1990. They won't give up.Allan Alachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18158713687489914185noreply@blogger.com