By Allan Alach
After a lovely break in England, I’ve returned to the fray. The
nonsense didn’t take a break while I was away!
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!
How
Poverty and Privilege Are Fueling America's Gaping Education Divide
It's
time for some new thinking about how to address the persistent inequalities
that plague our education system.
Not just the USA…..
Case study: The false promise of value-added teacher
assessment
‘Value-added assessment is all the rage in school reform
these days. It involves the use of complicated formulas that plug in student
standardized test scores to try to determine how much “value” a teacher has
added to that result.’
One of the curses of
modern times is that of teacher performance pay, under a variety of disguises.
Teachers in England were on strike last week, over this very matter, and we can
expect it to keep reappearing until GERM is eliminated.
U.S. Needs Moratorium on (Privileged) White Men
Pontificating on Race, Class, Gender
‘Before
I continue, let me clarify that my calling for a moratorium on white men
pontificating on race, class, and gender would include me.’
The points made here apply to many other
countries, such as Australia, New Zealand and the UK…..
Smart learning strategies
‘What’s the key to effective learning? One intriguing
body of research suggests a rather riddle-like answer: It’s not just what you
know. It’s what you know about what you know.’
Not rocket science,
and not necessarily completely new, but oh how we have forgotten this.
Re-wild the Child (via Dave Kennedy)
English journalist George
Monbiot is always a good read and this is no exception.
 |
| Measure the value of this!! |
‘What is the best way to knacker a child’s education?
Force him or her to spend too long in the classroom. An overview of research
into outdoor education by King’s College London found that children who spend
time learning in natural environments “perform better in reading, mathematics,
science and social studies.”’
After viewing the Crucible
US reading guru Ken
Goodman:
‘The evil I speak of is what is happening in schools to
children in the name of teaching them to read. All of the forces of evil are
involved: Greed of publishers and profiteers, greed of politicians who use
literacy to attack schools and stir up fear among their constituents,
amorality of school board members and administrators. But especially evil are
those whose fundamentalist views of literacy, learning, and schooling are being
enacted into laws that are designed to root out heresy- anyone who does not
share their fundamentalist belief- and create an atmosphere of fear and
intimidation for any who challenge their doctrine.’
Bruce Hammonds never sleeps…
here’s a selection from the zillions Bruce sends me….
Building
a District Culture to Foster Innovation (via Bruce Hammonds)
Not rocket science again,
and not necessarily completely new, but oh how we have forgotten this…..
 |
| Factory model of schooling wrong |
“The
factory school model of the 20th century [was] designed to mimic what factories
needed in their workers,” Ms. Moran said. “Now, [the workforce] wants kids who
can really work through issues to generate solutions that work without being
dependent on someone at the top to solve it for them.
A
Better List Of Ideas For Project-Based Learning.
“Are
you running into snags when it comes to bringing project-based learning into
your teaching practices? Maybe you've been trying to incorporate PBL into your
classroom and you're stuck on ideas of how to proceed. There are some great
ideas to move you forward in the following article by the staff of TeachThought
.... read on and be enlightened! ”
How
Do We Raise Critical Thinkers?
“As students
progress through the 21st century, the essential skill set they must possess
has shifted. Students must develop critical thinking skills if they are to
succeed in a globalized, digital world. This infographic produced by Mentoring
Minds provides teachers with a daily reminder of the skills students must
cultivate in their classrooms.”
Schools’
Test Focus Queried
 |
| Why follow America? |
“According
to Prof. Yong Zhao of the University of Oregon, our focus on testing only
succeeds in educating students using the factory mentality that was the basis
for the Industrial Age educational model—a recipe for disaster in the digital
age. Read more in the following NZ Herald article by Nicholas Jones.”
Kindergarten gets tough as kids are forced to bubble in
multiple choice tests
‘They don’t even know how to hold a pencil yet, but
kindergartners are getting a taste of the tough side of education with Common
Core standardized math tests.’
No comment required.
1 comment:
Although i am not good in reading but never forget to read your articles :) Thanks
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