Educational Readings - the creativity of teachers. Leonard Cohen /Ray Bradbury

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!

Is Education as We Know it On its Way Out?

Your thoughts?

“Call me old-fashioned, but in my mind, I still feel teachers have their place in the world. Setting aside other considerations, there is something intangible that a one-to-one interaction with a teacher brings that cannot be replaced. Every person I've ever met has a story about at least one teacher who played a significant role in shaping who this person is. Not all teachers are the same, and it is telling that every person mentions this one teacher who made an impact.”

http://huff.to/1rudQdz

How One Designer Bridged the Gap Between Play and Learning

How can we reflect this in primary schooling?

Boston Chlidren's Museum

“When we talk about playing and learning, we naturally think of children’s museums. Most major cities offer some experience like this, where kids are able to get their hands dirty, and — shocking! — learn something at the same time. The museums — at least the good ones — are always both engaging and interactive in a way that’s fun for kids, but they’re also fun for grown-ups too. As we’ve been reporting for our series on play next month, it got me wondering: What goes into creating great museum experiences, and how do designers go about them?”

http://bit.ly/1qTyHDt

Leonard Cohen on Creativity, Hard Work, and Why You Should Never Quit Before You Know What It Is You’re Quitting

Not strictly educational but I’m sure you will be able to make the connections. This is a gem.

“Before I can discard the verse, I have to write it… I can’t discard a verse before it is written because it is the writing of the verse that produces whatever delights or interests or facets that are going to catch the light. The cutting of the gem has to be finished before you can see whether it shines.”

http://bit.ly/1tmBd6M

Ray Bradbury on Failure, Why We Hate Work, and the Importance of Love in Creative Endeavors

On a similar vein to the above article …

“I can only suggest that we often indulge in made work, in false business, to keep from being bored. Or worse still we conceive the idea of working for money. The money becomes the object, the target, the end-all and be-all. Thus work, being important only as a means to that end, degenerates into boredom. Can we wonder then that we hate it so?”

http://bit.ly/1nX3oIV

An Open Letter to My Son’s Kindergarten Teacher

This is good!

“It concerns me a bit that you are going to require him to “With guidance and support from adults, explore a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.” I appreciate the guidance and support from adults, in fact I expect it, but I’m confused about him publishing his writing. You see, he can’t write.”

http://bit.ly/1yLOw3q

This is educational ‘innovation’?

If you still have any notion that the OECD/PISA manipulation of education has any beneficial features, this article should put an end to that. More madness …

Find New Zealand!

“The ability to measure innovation is essential to an improvement strategy in education. Knowing whether, and how much, practices are changing within classrooms and educational organisations, how teachers develop and use their pedagogical resources, and to what extent change can be linked to improvements would provide a substantial increase in the international education knowledge base. Measuring Innovation in Education offers new perspectives to address this need for measurement.”

http://wapo.st/1rDcScH

Stuck in the past?

UK academic Steve Wheeler:

“… there is conflicting evidence that technology has actually delivered any significant change to the pedagogy practiced in school classrooms. The answer to the question for many schools, is that technology brings very little change to the way teachers educate. The mass production pedagogy model stubbornly persists, and personalised learning seems far from the reach of many young people.”

http://bit.ly/1kL4CCd

Marion Brady: We Need the Right Kind of Standards, Not CCSS

Another excellent article by Marion.

“School subjects are just tools—means to an end. We don’t tell surgeons which scalpels

and clamps to use; what we want to know is their kill/cure rate. We don’t check the toolbox of the plumber we’ve called to see if he (or she) brought a basin wrench and propane torch; we want to know that when the job’s done the stuff goes down when we flush. We don’t kick the tires of the airliner we’re about to board; we trust the judgment of the people on the flight deck.”

http://bit.ly/1peYMNx

This week’s contributions from

Bruce Hammonds:

The Neuroscience Behind Stress and Learning

Bruce: “The real oil about brain friendly learning”

“The realities of standardized tests and increasingly structured, if not synchronized, curriculum continue to build classroom stress levels. Neuroimaging research reveals the disturbances in the brain's learning circuits and neurotransmitters that accompany stressful learning environments. The neuroscientific research about learning has revealed the negative impact of stress and anxiety and the qualitative improvement of the brain circuitry involved in memory and executive function that accompanies positive motivation and engagement.”

http://bit.ly/1p5plSG

Classrooms Flooded with Devices

Article from New Zealand with relevance all over!

‘“It is increasingly important,” says the ministry’s “head of student achievement” Rowena Phair, “that school leavers have the skills to succeed in the digital age”. A student with their own device can “learn any time and anywhere”, and “connect and collaborate” with students and experts outside the school. Plus there are loads of great educational resources online. That sounds fair enough, yet there’s something naggingly familiar about some of the rhetoric. Sixty years ago, Skinner said his Teaching Machine offered “vastly improved conditions for effective study”. Last month, a report from the ministry-backed 21st-Century Learning Reference Group told us that digitally-based education “can significantly improve learning outcomes”’.

But is that really true?

http://bit.ly/1jSU2xO

Edutopia - a great site for creative teachers

George Lucas

Posted by Bruce on his blog.

“A site that regularly supplies us with interesting ( and practical ) links is Edutopia. Edutopia is a site set up by George Lucas of Star Wars fame. I recommend you joining their  newsletter – add your e-mail on the Edutopia site.”

http://bit.ly/WCq3jE

Chipping Away: Reforms That Don't Make a Difference

‘A sculptor was once asked how he could start with a big block of marble and create a

beautiful statue of a horse. The answer: "I just take my hammer and chisel, and I knock off everything that doesn't look like a horse.”’

‘Among a plethora of bad ideas being shoved at educators today, here are five myths that we should knock off:’

http://bit.ly/1pfv08x

From Bruce’s oldies but goodies file:

Educating for Creativity

Bruce: “An oldie – always good to read/listen to what Sir Ken has to say.”

“It is a shame that schools, secondary schools in particular, have such fixed routines that ensure their students receive an outdated fragmented view of learning and in the process that deaden the human spirit.”

http://bit.ly/1kOKfUS

Linda-Darling Hammond: Lessons for New Zealand from America

Bruce’s comment: “Perfect pre –election reading” (New Zealand has a general election on September 20, which we hope will bring the end of GERM in New Zealand).

“‘The Flat World and Education’,  a book by Linda Darling-Hammond is a must read for educationalists and politicians who want to develop an alternative to the technocratic style of education that has been slowly destroying the creativity of students and teachers  in New Zealand and, in turn, the social fabric of our increasingly troubled society.”

http://bit.ly/UlVnBr

Learning is about constructing meaning.

Dame Marie Clay

An oldie:Wise words from Dame Marie Clay.

“I was pleased, many years ago, to read an article by Marie Clay in which she wrote about the importance of the creative arts in the learning process. All too often, as soon as children enter school, early attempts to write and draw are subsumed by a sect like obsession with literacy. It may be time to redress the balance? In earlier, more creative times, it was common to see 'language experience' and 'related arts' approaches to learning.”

http://bit.ly/1kV5g08

This week’s contributions from Phil Cullen

Corporal Punishment

Australia, under the Tony Abbott led government, is returning to the 19th century in many ways. This includes suggesting that corporal punishment has a place in 21st century schools.

http://bit.ly/UnLTFO

Edutopia - a great site( established by George Lucas) for creative teachers

A site that regularly supplies us with interesting ( and practical ) links is Edutopia. Edutopia is a site set up by George Lucas of Star Wars fame. I recommend you joining their  newsletter – add your e-mail on the Edutopia site.

I have copied some information from the Edutopia site and links to a few of their articles.

The George Lucas Educational Foundation (GLEF) documents and disseminates the most exciting classrooms where these innovations are taking place. By shining the spotlight on these inspiring teachers and students, we hope others will consider how their work can promote change in their own schools

Message from George Lucas:

'Education is the foundation of our democracy -- the stepping-stones for our youth to reach their full potential. My own experience in public school was quite frustrating. I was often bored. Occasionally, I had a teacher who engaged my curiosity and motivated me to learn. Those were the teachers I really loved. I wondered, "Why can't school be engaging all of the time?" As a father, I've felt the imperative to transform schooling even more urgently.

Traditional education can be extremely isolating -- the curriculum is often abstract and not relevant to real life, teachers and students don't usually connect with resources and experts outside of the classroom, and many schools operate as if they were separate from their communities.

Project-based learning, student teams working cooperatively, children connecting with passionate experts, and broader forms of assessment can dramatically improve student learning. New digital multimedia and telecommunications can support these practices and engage our students. And well-prepared educators are critical'.

Edutopia Mission:

We are dedicated to improving the K-12 learning process through innovative, replicable, and evidence-based strategies that prepare students to thrive in their studies, careers, and adult lives.

Edutopia Vision:

Our vision is of a new world of learning, a place where students and parents, teachers and administrators, policy makers and the people they serve are all empowered to change education for the better; a place where schools provide rigorous project-based learning, social-emotional learning, and access to new technology; a place where innovation is the rule, not the exception; a place where students become lifelong learners and develop 21st-century skills, especially three fundamental skills:

•how to find information;

•how to assess the quality of information;

•how to creatively and effectively use information to accomplish a goal.


( The New Zealand Curriculum asks teachers to ensure students are able to 'seek, use and create their own knowledge')

What Edutopia Does

It’s a place of inspiration and aspiration based on the urgent belief that improving education is the key to the survival of the human race. We call this place Edutopia, and we provide not just the vision for this new world of learning but the real-world information and community connections to make it a reality.

We pursue our mission through three primary sets of activities:

•identifying, describing, and promoting effective models and innovations in K-12 education by producing video and other digital media;

•funding and developing research to identify and evaluate rigorous practices for learners, educators and schools; and

•developing advanced software, technology and material for educational purposes.

 Message from George Lucas

 May 8, 2012

'I was bored in school.

It's true. I didn't feel like the school system was designed for my

learning style. It wasn't until college where I could pursue my passion, making films, that I found my way.

Recently on Edutopia.org, we published observations from 8th graders about what they believe creates an engaging learning experience. Their answers were straight-forward and definitive: project-based learning, technology, and an enthusiastic teacher. I couldn't agree more.

Today, with the power of the Internet, we are experiencing a force that is revolutionizing education and offering opportunities to reach and engage diverse learners like me. When technology is deployed effectively, it can free up teachers from standing in front of the class and presenting information. We can "flip" the classroom with lectures occurring at home via

the Internet and rigorous project-based learning taking place in cooperative groups at school. In this environment, teachers can be guides and coaches to the students. What is more powerful in education than a student who is guided by an adult who truly cares -- someone who knows your name, who encourages you, and is committed to your success in life?

By learning about and replicating strategies that work in education, we have the potential to transform our schools. By creating strong cultures of creativity and curiosity, we can

engage students as active participants in their own education, rather than passive recipients of facts and formulas. In a world where information is at our fingertips, our greatest challenge is help students learn how to find information, assess its accuracy and apply it to solve problems. All around our country and the world, there are teachers and schools succeeding at the task, many featured on Edutopia.'

Some Edutopia links to explore

The Maker movement is a unique combination of artistry, circuitry, and old-fashioned craftsmanship. Certainly, learning by doing or "making" has been happening since our ancestors refined the wheel

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/maker-movement-moving-into-classrooms-vicki-davis

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/the-student-side-of-making-gayle-allen

The power of the joy of learning.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/neuroscience-behind-stress-and-learning-judy-willis

These eight ideas by Carol Tomlinson  synthesize what four decades in classrooms have taught her are the most important principles for teachers to understand

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/mastering-the-teaching-game-carol-tomlinson

Great range of u-tube videos ( staff meetings)

http://www.youtube.com/user/edutopia

Educational Readings- focus on creativity

Our readings compiler is now holidaying in Arles

By Allan Alach -  bonjour from Arles

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!

Creativity is rejected: teachers and bosses don’t value out-of-the-box thinking.

“Unfortunately, the place where our first creative ideas go to die is the place that should be most open to them—school. Studies show that teachers overwhelmingly discriminate against creative students, favoring their satisfier classmates who more readily follow directions and do what they’re told.”

“It’s ironic that even as children are taught the accomplishments of the world’s most innovative minds, their own creativity is being squelched.”

http://slate.me/1rnmsjE

Poverty and the Moral Imperative of Education

An important article by Peter Greene, dismantling the neoliberal claim that education is the cure to poverty.

“This is the "education fixes poverty" mantra. If we get everybody through high school

prepared for a good job (defined in many PD sessions as "a job with an above-the-poverty-line" wage) then nobody will be poor and everybody will be healthy and happy and successful. There are two huge problems with this argument.”

“Failing school does not cause poverty. And it's not even right to say poverty causes failing school. The high level of failure among students living in poverty is a sign that our schools are not meeting the needs of those students.”

http://bit.ly/WesSHy

Sweden’s School Choice Disaster

Neolibs - take careful note…

“Advocates for choice-based solutions should take a look at what’s happened to schools in Sweden, where parents and educators would be thrilled to trade their country’s steep drop in PISA scores over the past 10 years for America’s middling but consistent

Crisis in education

results. What’s caused the recent crisis in Swedish education? Researchers and policy analysts are increasingly pointing the finger at many of the choice-oriented reforms that are being championed as the way forward for American schools. While this doesn’t necessarily mean that adding more accountability and discipline to American schools would be a bad thing, it does hint at the many headaches that can come from trying to do so by aggressively introducing marketlike competition to education.”

http://slate.me/1mPYblK

Great technology requires an understanding of the humans who use it.

“MIT BLOSSOMS, one of the most exciting and effective uses of educational technology to help high school students learn math and science, doesn’t boast the latest in artificial intelligence or adaptive algorithms. Its secret weapon is, rather, a canny understanding of human psychology—both students’ and teachers’. Technologically speaking, its basic model could be executed with an old television and VCR.”

http://bit.ly/1yvGvzC

How can schools feed student appetites for sourcing sustainable produce?

“Thankfully the workshop leaders were undaunted by the challenge of slowly unpicking the jargon to help students understand why it's important to think about how their meals

got to their plates. From food miles and Fairtrade to the environmental and health benefits of becoming a vegetarian, no aspect of the journey from soil to supermarket shelf was unexplored. At the end of the class, the penny finally dropped. Asked what they can do to source more sustainably, the response from pupils was emphatic: "Grow my own vegetables," shouted one girl. "Buy foods locally," offered another.”

http://bit.ly/1qKLvMe

This week’s contributions from

Bruce Hammonds:

Transforming School Culture Through Mutual Respect

Bruce: “Importance of valuing mutual respect.”

“A pivotal aspect of fostering mutual respect among teachers, students and staff is adhering to the following eight expectations, which I’ve witnessed fundamentally change the way schools function.”

http://bit.ly/W7JjVS

Study: Too Many Structured Activities May Hinder Children’s Executive Functioning

Bruce: “Over structuring results in students missing out on social skills – is this happening in NZ classrooms?”

“When children spend more time in structured activities, they get worse at working

Freedom to learn vital

toward goals, making decisions, and regulating their behavior, according to a new study.

Instead, kids might learn more when they have the responsibility to decide for themselves what they’re going to do with their time. Psychologists at the University of Colorado and the University of Denver studied the schedules of 70 six-year olds, and they found that the kids who spent more time in less-structured activities had more highly-developed self-directed executive function.”

http://bit.ly/1kthj4o

From Bruce’s oldies but goodies file:

The transformative Power of Interest : Annie Murphy Paul - Dan Pink and Carol Dweck

Bruce’s comment: “I really like the message of this blog. There has been a recent

Ann Murphy Paul 

Education Review Office Report on Secondary school achievement saying the most impressive school was one where the school tailored the curriculum to students’ interests e.g. linking maths to information technology. Seems obvious to me. Personalised learning is the pedagogy of relationships.  We need to focus on what students are thinking – they are too often a neglected resource ignored by teachers to busy teaching to listen to student ‘voice’..The blog below is about the transformative power of interest. 
The future is about learning not education. Education is what someone gives to you – learning is what you do yourself. We need to focus on ‘teaching’ students ‘how to learn’ – to ‘seek, use and create their own knowledge’ as it says in the 2007 New Zealand Curriculum.

http://bit.ly/1eUbjRf

Children as scientists

Bruce: “An oldie – something written in 1947 which is reflected in 2007 New Zealand Curriculum”

“I recently came across an extract from an article called 'Children are Scientists' written in 1947 by Herbert Zim. That we haven't yet created schools based on assisting students research their own questions and concerns just goes to show how much 'our' curriculums, what 'we' think is important for them to learn, has ignored the source of real motivation for students to learn.”

http://bit.ly/1roDtd8

More 'Magic' of Teaching

Bruce: “Evolution of computer use in classrooms by a creative South Island

Mike is now Princ at Waimari

principal”

“It would seem to me that if we want to develop a creative education system, able to develop the talents of all students, then we need to listen more to those teachers who have gifts they could share with others. All too often 'we' think that all good ideas come from 'on high' but hopefully this myth is losing its power as current curriculums are being found wanting - ironically by the very people who introduced them.”

http://bit.ly/1oX21t4

The killing of creativity by the technocrats.

In this posting Bruce references an article by Kelvin Smythe about “St” John Hattie.  This is a must read, as Hattie and others of his ilk threaten true holistic child centred education.

 Hattie:Peddling meta research

“As I visit classrooms I have become increasingly concerned about the use of a number of strategies as defined by John Hattie and promulgated by the contracted advisers spreading the word about his 'best practices’. Somehow, just because Hattie has amalgamated every piece of 'school effectiveness' research available ( mainly it seems from the USA) his findings, it seems, ought to be taken for read. The opposite ought to be the case - we need to be very wary of such so called 'meta research.'. More worrying however is that the approaches he is peddling is pushing into the background the home grown innovative creative learning centred philosophy that was once an important element in many classrooms. Overseas experts aways seem to know best - or those that return with their carpet bag full of snake oil.”

http://bit.ly/WeTrMo

This week’s contributions from Phil Cullen

Want to improve teaching? Ask a teacher

“The media has been full of complaints about poor-quality teachers. But does the answer really lie in choosing teachers with better academic marks? Teacher Chris Fotinopoulos is not convinced.”

http://bit.ly/1zEkCjd

There are many ways of being smart... Headteacher writes to pupils saying not to worry about exams

“You might hope that every school would want pupils to work their very hardest – and pass any exams with flying colours.

But one primary head has decided there is more to life than educational achievements, and has written to her final-year pupils to tell them not to worry about their results.

Headmistress Rachel Tomlinson and her head of year six, Amy Birkett, told children that there are ‘many ways of being smart’ in the message, which was included with their Key Stage Two results.

They asked the 11-year-old pupils to remember that the scores ‘will tell you something, but they will not tell you everything’.”

http://dailym.ai/1oZLjcn