First Educational Readings for 2014

By Allan Alach

Welcome back to another year of educational miscellany. Let’s hope that it brings some serious GERM disinfection around the world.

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!

The Big Lie About Student Achievement

“The Big Lie is all about extrinsic motivation; getting the grade to prove something to somebody else. Grades become stand-ins for self-worth. Everything we know about teaching and learning revolves around this one true thing: real education only occurs with intrinsic motivation, a desire to learn just because of a student's passion for the subject. Everything else is crap that lives in a student's brain just barely long enough to pass a test. No wonder students cheat and plagiarize; they've been told education is a game, and they need to win it.’

http://huff.to/1f5xuEt

10 ways to create a learning culture… (via Tony Gurr)

Another start of school year posting.

http://bit.ly/1aZFfLc

Able readers damaged by phonics, academic says

This includes use of ‘non-words’ to teach phonics!

http://bbc.in/1neX7Hi

The 7 Myths of Class Size Reduction -- And the Truth

A pertinent article from 2010. Take note John Hattie.

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Still a must read

As John Dewey wrote, "What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must the community want for all of its children." If education is really the civil rights issue of our era, it is about time those people making policies for our schools begin to provide for other people's children what they provide for their own.’

http://huff.to/1lkCMlc

Unionization And Working Poverty

‘Attacking teachers and their unions in the hope that this will improve the quality of education, while assuming that better education is the key to escaping poverty, is thus a doubly misguided strategy. Of course, if destroying unions is the goal, and reducing poverty is only a fig leaf, the current discourse and strategy of the corporate education reformers makes excellent sense.’

http://bit.ly/1eet2Ue

Teachers' pay must be at the heart of global education reform

If the development community is serious about improving teaching and learning, it must address the recruitment, reward and retention of teachers.

http://bit.ly/1hOoaoM

21st Century Child Abuse

Excellent blog by Diane Ravitch

Diane Ravitch

‘Yet our current obsession with data has led us to crush the spirits of our children, to make sure that budding Mozarts and Einsteins and those who dream instead of conforming are pressed into the same narrow mold.’

http://bit.ly/Mhf8pN

The Myth Of Learning Styles

Yes I know I’ve covered this before, however this article includes a comprehensive infographic.

http://bit.ly/1flU0ZC

This week’s contributions from Bruce Hammonds:

Here’s a range of beginning the school year blog articles by Bruce (for Australian and New Zealand teachers).

Beginning the school year - what attitudes do learners have towards aspects of schooling?

http://bit.ly/1dK90fQ

Beginning the school year - sharing our stories.

http://bit.ly/1fs98Ua

Beginning the school year - developing a 'growth mindset' through a simple portrait( Carol Dweck)

http://bit.ly/1ecSr0v

Beginning the school year - the importance of observation in learning

http://bit.ly/1dK98Mf

Beginning the school year - what talents do your students bring to your class?

http://bit.ly/1naVzhu

Beginning the school year - how do we learn?

http://bit.ly/1dK9e6H

Developing a 'stance' as a teacher - ideas of Robert Fried and William Glasser

http://bit.ly/1jDbuEU