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!
Education Reform explained in 3 memes
.JPG)
Highly recommended post from Save Our Schools
NZ:
“Feel
free to right click, copy and share these memes as far and wide as you wish.”
Dickens and Standardized Testing
“And
it is this that is so very chilling about this educational "reform,"
which is not about reform at all, but something very ominous -- control of the
mind.
How better undermine education than by crippling thought; how better
discourage critical inquiry than by stressing rote learning; how better weaken
democracy than by subverting its schools!”
What’s wrong with standards-based
education? Let me count the ways.
We had hoped that the recent New Zealand
elections would see the end of GERM, sadly that wasn’t the case and so this article remains topical, as it is elsewhere
in the world.
“However,
standards are not a concern of wealthy kids and schools—why
is this? By claiming one set of standards, we create the illusion of equal opportunity
without the community development
'How We Learn' offers new look at how our brains work
“The
science says something completely different. It says the brain is not by nature
a school learner. It's a scavenging learner, a foraging learner. That's the way
it has essentially evolved to learn, by pieces, on the move, picking up
information as it goes along. The implications of that are huge for studying or
for learning of any kind. It means that when we feel restless during practice
it's not because we're not good learners, it's because that's the way the brain
works.”
Thomas Kane On Educational Reform
Gene Glass comments: “Ask a Harvard economics prof how to reform schools and naive
nonsense comes out.”
“I
do have to say, though, as a former teacher, I would advise others to not heed
the advice of a person who has conducted a heck of a lot of research “on” education
but who has, as far as I can tell or find on the internet (see his full resume
or curriculum vita here), not ever been a teacher “in” education
himself, or much less set foot in the classroom.”
School’s quality does not affect gaps
in attainment, research shows
Ah but who reads research when ideology is seen
as the way forward?
“Professor
Steve Strand, of Oxford University, says the stubbornness of the attainment gap
across all types of schools suggests that the quality of a school is not enough
to overcome a disadvantaged background.”
Father’s education level strongest
factor in child’s success at school – study
More research to be ignored …
“A
father’s level of education is the
strongest factor determining a child’s future success at school,
Why Teachers Can't Have a Seat at the Table
“Knowing
why teacher voices have not been pursued or included would tell us something
about reformster attitudes about teachers and illuminate the relationships at
the heart of how public education works in this country. So let's consider the
possible reasons that teachers are not, and have not been, at the infamous
table. What are the reformsters thinking?”
This week’s contributions
from Bruce Hammonds:
Questioning the System- Are We Harming Kids?
Bruce’s
comment: This is a great website to explore. This blog is about what dogs can
teach us about personalising learning.
“That nagging feeling
that we are doing more harm than good. That schools for the most part, as they
currently exist are resulting in the dumbing down of education. We are
developing mediocrity rather than excellence in our graduates. That we are
missing opportunities to help children develop deep learning around their
passion due to our one size fits most approach to learning in our schools.”
Here’s a
number of articles from Bruce about passion based learning:
Passion-Based
Learning: An Interview with Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach
“Educator
Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach challenges us to rediscover our own passion for teaching
by helping our students become passionate seekers of knowledge and
understanding.”
Passion-Based
Learning
“Passion is
hot. It is a force that sells movies and margarine and everything in between.
It is a force the can move mountains, inspire art and make the weak strong. We
need to bring passion back into learning, in teaching and all around. Passion
motivates. It makes a way out of no way. It allows students to overcome
hardships to achieve a goal that is meaningful to them.”
25 Ways to
Institute Passion-Based Learning in the Classroom
“Common sense
tells us that students are more likely to learn if they are motivated by and
engaged with the curriculum or project at hand. Now, hard science is telling us
the same thing. When
How to Ignite
Passion in Your Students: 8 Ways Educators Can Foster Passion-based Learning
‘In the end, it
is passion that drives all great things to be achieved. If passion is forgotten in classrooms, we are losing half the
meaning of learning. As Einstein once said,
“Education is
what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.”’
School garden teaches students many
lessons
Bruce’s comment: Now
that it is spring (in the southern hemisphere), is it time to think about
establishing a school garden?
“The garden is tied to the student’s curriculum. Math, science, reading and healthy living are all part
of the equation. The kids measured the beds for planting and record what’s going on in the garden.”
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