By Allan Alach
One rather scary feature of GERM is the practice, regardless of
country, of ignoring evidence, research, and the voices of experience that go
contrary to ideology. One particular group, ignored most of all, are the senior
statesmen and stateswomen of education who have both the knowledge and wisdom
derived from life long experience to see what is being done to children in the
name of increasing profits. Recently I became aware of yet another name, Tom
Sobol, from New York State.
“I
believe that one of the unfortunate consequences of the standards movement as
currently practiced is the reductionism in the mission, goals, and purposes of
the school. Somehow we have accepted a narrow, ungenerous vision of what life
and learning are about. In the standards movement, the purpose of the school is
to prepare students for success in a global economy; the curriculum of the
school is the skills and knowledge pertinent to the separate traditional
academic disciplines, narrowly conceived; and the measure of the schools is
high scores on the standardized tests that assess this achievement in ways most
suited to individual and group accountability. Yes, we want kids to be
competent. But we also want them to be just and wise. Sometimes in all this
intensity I wonder what we are really teaching our children - or rather, what
they are really learning.”
Check his website http://mylifeinschool.com or track him down on
Facebook.
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!
Academy schools: a flawed system that cannot be
sustained
‘A
report from the Academies Commission reveals a programme that is fundamentally
flawed. The result will be to worsen inequities, significantly damaging
education, argues Ron Glatter.’
More evidence
that charter schools won't work, not that this will make any difference to
ideologically driven GERM minded politicians. Maybe its the hand pulling their
strings that is the problem?
 |
| Pink Floyd. |
We Don't Need No Education
Not Pink Floyd, sorry!
Is education really the key to economic success? According to this article,
no. What does this mean for the
rationale behind GERM?
Ken
Robinson: 1) Creativity & the Imagination
2) Building a Culture of Innovation
These videos feature Sir Ken. Is any other comment
needed?
Transform Education? Yes, We Must
An article by Sir Ken from 2009 - still very
relevant. When he came to New Zealand in 2007, he had a long talk to a very
interested minister of education (http://connect.vln.school.nz/creativityeducation/)
Can you visualise that happening now? Ok stop laughing.
The Global Search for Education: What Is the Fourth Way?
‘The Fourth Way is a powerful new vision to
bring about effective educational reform.’
"We need to establish platforms for teachers to
initiate their own changes and make their own judgments on the frontline, to
invest more in the change capacities of local districts and communities, and to
pursue prudent rather than profligate approaches to testing."
-- Andy Hargreaves and Dennis Shirley
Maybe
we care too much about the wrong things.
Australian educator Pat Buoncristiani’s reflections
after presenting at the recent International Conference of Thinking on
Wellington. Another worthwhile blogger to follow… and another expert for GERM
minded governments to ignore!
Newman
government open to for-profit schools
From Queensland: see what happens if you
elect a right wing government - charter schools follow very quickly. Isn’t that
amazing? I wonder why?
3 comments:
You continue to share fabulous information - thank you so much.
Thanks Diane. For compiling the readings you can thank Allan Alach.
I love the words by Sir Ken about human intelligence..... great sharing as always.
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