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!
Excellent article
by Diane Ravitch that has immense significance all over, seeing as GERMers use
PISA scores to justify school reform.
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‘International test scores do not
predict the economic future. Once a nation is above a basic threshold of
literacy, the numbers reflect how good that nation is at test-taking. They are
meaningless as economic predictors.’
Steve
Jobs: Liberal Arts Essential for Innovation
The
Pedagogy of Freedom (via Michael Fawcett)
‘The pedagogy promoted by Hirsch
often becomes reduced to a transmission model of teaching which instills a
culture of conformity and passive absorption of knowledge. It creates ‘cheerful
robots’ devoid of critical thought, questioning and the desire to challenge the
assumptions, practices, and outcomes taken for granted in dominant culture
and in conventional education.’
Teacher quality, Wiggins and Hattie: More doing the wrong
things the right ways
 |
| Runs with the hares hunts with the hounds! |
Another article
debunking St John Hattie and his like minded compatriots.
‘Hattie’s
influence in New Zealand, in fact, prompted this:
The political and media
stir caused by professor John Hattie’s research on student achievement has
prompted a group of academics to look closely at his work.
The authors were
particularly concerned that politicians might use Hattie’s work to justify
ill-informed policy decisions.
Hattie’s
work [1] is poised to support in NZ and the U.S. increasing class size and
implementing merit pay, for example—both of which are not supported by large
bodies of research. Wiggins and Hattie are trapped, then, in the measurable and
the visible—paralyzed by a world in which we focus on control.’
Letter
to Parents about Testing
‘Parents, teachers and administrators are increasingly
concerned about the testing that is taking place -- and how the testing is
being used -- in New York State. Below, please find a copy of a letter
expressing the concerns of many principals. The letter is written to parents by
principals. We hope you can support the letter by signing your name to it. To
sign the letter, please follow this link: Support the Testing Letter’
What
Schools Can Do to Help Boys Succeed
Being
a boy can be a serious liability in today’s classroom. As a group, boys are
noisy, rowdy and hard to manage. Many are messy, disorganized and won’t sit
still. Young male rambunctiousness, according to a recent study, leads teachers
to underestimate schools their intellectual and academic abilities. “Girl
behavior is the gold standard in ,” says psychologist Michael Thompson. “Boys are
treated like defective girls.
Here’s three articles with an English theme, all
attacking the ‘free school’ (aka charter schools aka partnership schools in New
Zealand) ideology.
Nick Clegg turns on Michael Gove over his
'ideological' school reforms
‘Liberal
Democrat leader says that all state teachers should be qualified, in rebuff to
Tory education policy.’
 |
| Michael Gove - who needs him? |
The tide is slowly turning in Britain….
“Must Try Harder:” Free School Report
Seems that English
‘free’ schools (are a failing concept…. are you surprised?
‘Then,
of course, came the fall-out: an old-school
slanging match in the Commons, pleas from across
the spectrum to allow the new policy to “bed in”, and the
observation that what data we have indicate that the
best free schools are indeed as good as or better than the best state schools…
but that the failing free schools are worse. Thus far, student outcomes in both systems are similar,
which mirrors findings in the far more
detailed and comprehensive studies of US charter schools.’
Labour criticises government's 'false' data on free
schools
‘Shadow
education minister says Lord Nash misled parliament with claim free schools
outperform others in state sector.’
Are you surprised?
This week’s contributions from Bruce
Hammonds:
TED
Talk: All It Takes Is 10 Mindful Minutes
‘When
is the last time you did absolutely nothing for 10 whole minutes? Not texting,
talking or even thinking? Mindfulness expert Andy Puddicombe describes the
transformative power of doing just that: Refreshing your mind for 10 minutes a
day, simply by being mindful and experiencing the present moment. (No need for
incense or sitting in uncomfortable positions.’
The
Blue School
A blog article that Bruce wrote back in
2010, about a school in New York.
‘Blue
School believes in an integrated, emergent child-centred curriculum. The school
has curriculum essence statements for the usual range of learning areas
including language and mathematics. They all represent a creative approach to
learning.’
What
do good learners do?
An article written by Bruce in 2005, that
references Postman’s and
Weingartner’s book ‘Teaching as a Subversive Activity’ that provides an
excellent outline of a good learner.
‘What we need to do as teachers is to create an
environment in our schools and classrooms that such behaviors can flourish.
Obviously this cannot happen in school with fragmented teaching and subjects.
We are talking about an environment in which the full spectrum of learning
behaviors – both attitudes and skills – being employed all the time; from
problem to problem, from kindergarten to graduate school.’
Bringing
Authenticity to the Classroom
‘Authenticity—that
is the name of the game! It's the powerful force that makes teaching relevant
for students. Students aren't being impossible; they are being practical. Why
would they want to learn something they will never have use for? Using
authentic, real-world connections or scenarios demonstrates the need for
students to learn the content or skill. ‘
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