Friday, August 24, 2012

Educational Readings; Martin Thrupp, Finland, Joel Klien,



 

By Allan Alach

 

A potpourri of articles this week, concluding with a couple of more positive ones on the way education should be developing. However as the first article shows, there is little immediate hope while governments play the corporate agenda. The biggest puzzle, to me, is why it is a supposedly more left leaning Labor Government in Australia who are in cahoots with the corporates. A secondary puzzle concerns the Australian Minister of Education Peter Garrett. For those who don’t recognise the name, remember the Australian rock band Midnight Oil, and their protest songs about Aboriginal land rights (Beds are Burning) and uranium mining (Blue Sky Mining) ? Garrett was the singer. Some inconsistencies here, Pete. For more, read Kelvin Smythe’s satirical posting.


I welcome suggested articles, so if you come across a gem, email it to me at allan.alach@ihug.co.nz.


This week’s homework!

Joel Klein Comes Clean

Seems Common Core Standards is all about enabling businesses to profit from education. What a surprise.


Why Creative Geniuses Hated School

Three creative geniuses explain why they hated formal education. Never mind, we’re busy creating another generation who will also hate formal education.


15 Reasons Reformers Are Looking to Finland

Yet another article on Finland and its educational success. Those who want to deform schools in the opposite direction clearly failed their own schooling.


Standardization Will Destroy Our Education System, If It Hasn't Already

Title says it all...


Release of Primary School Data Disingenuous & Deluded

Waikato University Professor of Education Martin Thrupp has released this opinion piece on the New Zealand government’s processes towards joining the international GERM movement. Shambolic. Deceitful.

How to Turn Your Classroom into an Idea Factory

Nothing to do with GERM….

“How can we prepare today’s students to become tomorrow’s innovators? It’s an urgent challenge, repeated by President Obama, corporate CEOs, and global education experts like Yong Zhao and Tony Wagner. Virtually every discussion of 21st-century learning puts innovation and its close cousin, creativity, atop the list of skills students must have for the future.”


This beautiful video about parabolas will 100% blow your mind

Robert T. Gonzalez

I know, I know. You're probably wondering how exciting parabolas can actually be, right? Well, it turns out that, in the remarkably capable hands of mathematical rambler/artist/stream-of-conscious-doodle-wizard Vi Hart, the answer is: pretty damn interesting.’

Apart from blowing minds, it also demonstrates why standards based, tick the right box/supply the right answer approach doesn’t work. We’ll just have to overlook the fact that the producer of this works for Khan Academy!

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