By Allan Alach
There was a wealth of excellent articles to chose from for this
week’s list of readings. Make sure you watch the “Why I hate school but love
education’ video - very powerful and, to my mind, very true. The series of articles
about national standards will keep you out of trouble for quite some time -
they are lengthy but extremely well researched and presented, and so are
possibly the defining statements about the attempts to impose standardised
learning in New Zealand.
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!
In an Era of Global Competition, What Exactly Are We
Testing For?
World renowned educator
Yong Zhao finds that ‘...the countries with lower
scores had students who reported higher interest in the subjects,’ and further, ‘If the stated goal is to get kids ready for careers, and careers
demand confidence, creativity, and an entrepreneurial attitude, then why focus
on test scores that seem to produce the opposite effect?’
Don’t
Mandate Cursive Writing
‘In
their eagerness to drag the schools and children of their states back to the
early 20th century, legislators in North Carolina and South Carolina want to
mandate the teaching of cursive writing. In this comment, handwriting expert
Kate Gladstone explains why the cursive mandate is a bad idea.’
Education Discussion: The History and Evolution of
Standardized Testing
While some of this
article isn’t that relevant, it does provide food for thought, regardless of
whether the tests are used for ranking purposes (summative) or in an attempt to
provide diagnostic information (formative).
The
break-things-into-bits mistake we have been making in education for centuries –
happening today with standards
‘Dewey’s point is clear even if the writing is dense:
so-called analysis of things into bits for the purpose of learning the whole
has no basis in cognitive psychology or epistemology. Indeed, as he says just
after, it is a case of putting the cart before the horse. Distinctions are made
when we need them in the service of understanding. Learning an endless array of
distinctions and their names prior to encountering the whole and interesting
problems that require analysis yields no meaning and merely verbal knowledge.’
Is It Possible to Measure Creativity?
What do you think? I
have my doubts.
Why I
Hate School But Love Education
‘As the cyclical and seemingly never ending debate about
education rages on, the topic - somewhat ironically, often poses more questions
than it provides answers.But what is the value of mainstream schooling? Why is
it that some of the most high profile and successful figures within the Western
world openly admit to never having completed any form of higher learning?’
 |
| Pink Floyd 'We don't want your education....' |
Indeed. We must not confuse education with
schooling. Two different things altogether, yet this is the club used by
GERMers to justify ‘deform.’
National
Standards and Neanderthals – “They will know what is required …”
Here is a series of three very comprehensive
articles about national standards in New Zealand, with much relevance to other
countries as well. This is a superb
analysis.
‘It’s
pretty clear from the documentation that National Standards ‘double down’ on
the directing and controlling aspects of education that have been at the heart
of modern schooling since its inception. But there’s a subtler point to be made
about what this rhetoric indicates about the actual – as opposed to claimed –
role of National Standards.
The role is not, in fact, to enhance learning –
or the capacity to learn (‘learning how to learn’). It is
about directing learning to achieve a progression within a
subject area.’
1 comment:
Great video!
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