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| Coming soon to NZ |
Readings by Allan Alach - sent to us from the UK.
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 Problem Isn't Just Common Core, but the Entire Reform Agenda
New Zealand readers, substitute ‘national standards’ for ‘common core’
but otherwise this article is relevant all over.
“A
call for national standards ensures that we continue doing what is most wrong
with our bureaucratic schools (establish-prescribe-measure) and that we persist
in looking away from the largest cause of low student achievement: childhood
poverty.”
Just ask the teachers
“One
of the central features of corporate school reform is that those driving it
haven’t bothered to seriously ask teachers to offer their solutions to
improving public education.”
I'm a teacher. I never saw this coming.
A story from Canada that will resonate with
teachers all over.
“The
only people I can talk to these days are my colleagues. We’re all like dogs that have been beaten too much. We’re skittish and reactive around the public. We don’t trust the motives of the
Why Pearson Tests Our Kids
A must read article about Pearson Group,
possibly the biggest threat to education around the world.
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| Edu business |
"Pearson Personalized Learning" is not
about supporting schools; it is about replacing them. And it is about replacing
them without any evidence that their products work or any concern for the
impact of their products on schools and student learning.
How the PISA Tests Mislead the World
Yet another academic shooting holes in PISA -
reformers, please take note!
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| Questionable! |
‘The
international test-score rankings are almost universally interpreted by
countries as an indication of the quality of their schools, despite the
extensive methodological problems that make it virtually impossible to draw
causal relationships between test scores and school quality. We are taking
tenuous results and applying them in a questionable way.’
What You See in Today's Public School Classroom Is A Mirage
A variation of this is found all over - teachers
spending their own money on classroom materials. This is totally ignored by
teacher bashers, probably because they have no idea this happens.
“It's
the first day of September. You bring your child to her new classroom, and as
you say goodbye, you poke your head in the room. Everything looks great! You
see neatly arranged desks. There's a SMARTboard at the front of the room. The
walls are covered with beautiful
Markets are Ineffective in Education and Create Social Inequalities
Surprise, surprise, not that our corporate
influenced politicians will take any notice.
“A
new study has found that competition between schools and greater school autonomy
do not increase student achievement. It also found that competition tends to
increase social inequalities in school results. The study is published in the
latest issue of the Journal of Education Policy.”
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Tony Abbott backs US-style corporate schools for Australia
Poor Australia, what did they do to deserve
this?
“True
to form, it is no surprise that he would come out with an announcement, during
his visit to New York, ‘that the federal government will unveil
plans next month for an Americanised education system in which schools are run
in partnership with big companies and children educated to work specifically
for those companies or others in the same field’”
This week’s contributions from
Democratic Education And Unschooling
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| Find John Holt's video |
Bruce’s
comment: “Explore this site – lots of good reads/views/links”
“Democratic
education is a educational philosophy towards greater decision-making power for
students in the running of their own schools. It brings democratic values to
education and can include self-determination within a community of equals, as
well as such values as justice, respect and trust. There are a growing number
of democratic schools in the world. Unschooling is type of homeschooling that
doesn't use a fixed curriculum, allowing children as much freedom to learn in
the world, as their parents can comfortably bear.”
12 Timeless Project-Based Learning Resources
“Project-based
learning is based on the idea that students learn best by tackling and solving
real world problems. Students are much more engaged with the subject matter and
look to the teacher as more of a coach who guides them through their own
reflections and ideas. Project-based learning often involves students working
in pairs or groups, thus facilitating a deeper understanding of cooperation and
communication in solving problems.
Ready to try project-based learning in your classroom? These
tried-and-true resources are sure to get you on the right track.”
Downhills loses the fight as academies move in
A warning for New Zealand schools and, most
likely, for Australian schools.
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| Parents lose fight for their school. |
“The
four primaries - Downhills, Coleraine Park, Noel Park and Nightingale - were
told by the Department for Education last year that they were potential
academies after years of low results and recent Ofsted reports labelling them
inadequate. Six other schools in the borough are also firmly in ministers'
sights.These changes form part of an official policy backed by Michael Gove, the
education secretary, of enforced conversion of the country's 200
worst-performing primaries into academies.”
In New Orleans, traditional public schools close for good
There are now NO public schools in New Orleans -
a text book case of disaster capitalism.
“But
in New Orleans, under the Recovery School District, the Louisiana state agency
that seized
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3 Super-Simple Summer Science Activities
Bruce comments “A bit of science fun.”
“Here
are my top three super-simple science demonstrations that mix the wow factor of
any good science demo with some nice science exploration.”
From Bruce’s oldies but goodies file:
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| Culture counts! |
“Could
New Zealand become such an innovative culture equivalent to Shakespeare’s England? Was Shakespeare an isolated genius or
the result of cultural conditions or both? ‘Elizabethan
England,’ Lehrer writes, ‘provided
the ideal place for a young dramatist to develop’. It was an age obsessed with theatre aided by a massive increase in
literacy. The result was a ‘dramatic democratisation of knowledge’.’ Shakespeare is a reminder…that
culture largely determines creative output.’”
This week’s contributions from Phil Cullen:
Frequently Asked Questions
“Pretend
that you are an Education Minister or shadow minister in one of Australian
States or
at the federal level; and that your colleague, Mr. Chris Hipkins, the
child-oriented shadow minister for education in New Zealand, has ‘possessed’ your intellect. You respond as truthfully as he usually does to the
sort of questions that Aussie ministers are likely to receive.”
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| Imagine Chris Hipkins |
Teacher Proofing
An excellent article by former Queensland Director of Primary Education (i.e top dog) Phil Cullen, that is applicable all over.
"There is a new list on the way from up-above…..data-driven instruction, blended learning, differential learning, closing the achievement and talent gap, student-centric instruction, yap, yap. Makes one ever wonder what ever happened to classroom teaching as a descriptor?”
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