By Allan Alach
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!
When
You Hear Claims That Policies Are Working, Read The Fine Print
Applicable to all GERM infected countries.
‘There’s a huge middle ground between the highest-quality
research and the kind of speculation that often drives our education debate.
I’m not saying we always need experiments or highly complex analyses to guide
policy decisions (though, in general, these are always preferred and sometimes
required). The point, rather, is that we shouldn’t draw conclusions based on
evidence that doesn’t support those conclusions.’
A New
Pedagogy is Emerging...And Online Learning is a Key Contributing Factor
What do you think? Looking forward to
reading your observations in the comments section! This seems to be aimed at
post-secondary, but, if this contention is valid, then it has implications for
all levels of education.
‘Recent
developments in digital technologies, especially web 2.0 tools such as blogs,
wikis and social media, and mobile devices such as phones and tablets, have
given the end user, the learner, much more control over access to and the
creation and sharing of knowledge. This empowers learners, and innovative
instructors are finding ways to leverage this learner control to increase
motivation and relevance for learners.’
We
need a war on poverty, not teachers (via Dianne Khan)
‘In
short, if we were serious about education, then our education discussion
wouldn’t be focused on demonizing teachers and coming up with radical schemes
to undermine traditional public schools. It would instead be focused on
mounting a new war on poverty and thus directly addressing the biggest
education problem of all.’
The
Finnish Miracle
Here’s a set of slides (PDF format) from
Pasi Sahlberg detailing why Finnish schools are working and why GERM doesn’t
work. These may be useful for your own presentations.
The Principal: The Most Misunderstood Person in All of
Education:
Having spent 20 years
in the hot seat, this article resonates with me.
‘The
principal is both the administrative director of state educational policy and a
building manager, both an advocate for school change and the protector of
bureaucratic stability. Authorized to be employer, supervisor, professional
figurehead, and inspirational leader, the principal’s core training and
identity is as a classroom teacher.’
Why Standards-Based Teaching is a Hopeless Way to Educate
Youth
‘The
standards-based accountability system of schooling treats students are like
androids who come to school to mechanically learn to follow a path established
by adults, many of whom have no idea what it is like in a 3rd, 8th, or 12th
grade classroom. Nor do these adults have any idea about the aspirations,
creativity, and inventiveness of students in these grades. Yet, these
policy makers have established a system of education that is a meticulous set
of performance statements that all students should learn in mathematics,
English language arts (The Common Core State Standards), and science (The Next
Generation Science Standards).’
This week’s contributions from Bruce
Hammonds:
New Slide: Being Responsible for Teaching the Bored
‘If we are going to demand that students learn the huge
sets of isolated facts that we jam into state and district curricula, can we
really be surprised when teachers struggle to create highly engaged learning
spaces that are driven by passion and interest? More importantly, if we
are convinced that learners are more likely to BE engaged when they are
wrestling with concepts that move them on a deeply personal level, can we
really be surprised when our students find today's schools boring?’
Wanted:
'Canny Outlaws!
Looking way back, here’s an article Bruce
wrote in 2005 that is still relevant.
‘He was challenging us to have the courage of our
convictions and not to meekly accept everything that was being imposed on
schools as the gospel truth. His argument was that Indiana Jones was a good
model because he was an individual who took short cuts, cut through red tape,
but at all times acted morally for the cause of the greater good.’
These 11 Leaders Are Running Education But Have Never
Taught
•Those who can’t do, teach.
•Those who can’t teach, teach others how to
teach.
•Those who can’t teach others how to teach are
educational researchers.
•Those who have no understanding of education
at all are education ‘reformers.’
(Apologies to G.B
Shaw)
The
End of Education
Bruce’s comment: I
came across this article and it resonated so much with my thoughts I have
posted it as a blog.
‘Education as a dwelling in the human experience of
reality is ending. As with the Roman Empire, it is ending with a whimper, not a
bang. The root of the problem is that we have absorbed the socio-economic and
intellectual values of our age, an age ruled by business and science. The
pragmatic values of business and science have become the values of our
educational practices.’
Pink
Floyd – ‘teacher leave that child alone’. The difference between education and
schooling.
Looking back two days, here’s Bruce’s latest
blog posting.
‘
My belief is that if schools focussed on education
rather than schooling then we wouldn’t have the so called ‘achievement gap’
that politicians blame schools for.’
Gratitude
Can Fuel School Transformation
This approach would surely beat performance
pay and other ‘accountability’ measures. Daniel Pink would agree.
‘One
of the most common complaints I hear from teachers, administrators, and staff
working in public schools is something along the lines of, "I don't feel
appreciated." I'd like to propose that by simply incorporating a range of
practices that allow ourselves and others to express gratitude, we might
transform our schools. We'd certainly retain more effective educators, build
stronger relational trust, and develop a culture that focuses on the positive
-- in all adults and all children.’
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