Educational Readings
By Allan Alach
By Allan Alach
I welcome suggested articles, so if you come
across a gem, email it to me at allanalach@inspire.net.nz
This week’s homework!
Hattie warms up Visible Learning for Pearson; also Hattie and Pasi
Sahlberg on YouTube
Kelvin Smythe targets John Hattie’s latest ‘research.’
“Hattie’s research is rubbish.
For him, the beauty of it being rubbish is that it allows him to say
it says whatever he likes.
In his latest trick he has produced a new book called The Politics
of Distraction: What doesn’t work in education.”
School starting age: the evidence
Thanks to Cam Lockie for this:
Interesting research from the University of
Cambridge, which runs counter to the usual spin from the school reform
movement.
“In
my own area of experimental and developmental psychology, studies have also
consistently demonstrated the superior learning and motivation arising from
playful, as opposed to
instructional, approaches to learning in children.
Pretence play supports children’s early development of
symbolic representational skills, including those of literacy, more powerfully
than direct instruction. Physical, constructional and social play supports
children in developing their skills of intellectual and emotional ‘self-regulation’, skills which have been shown to be crucial in early learning and
development.”
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| Learning through play |
The Common Core can't speed up child development
When did the science matter to the ideologues?
“However,
for skills in what Bloom calls the "cognitive domain," the school
curriculum has become blind not only to the progression of normal child
development but also to natural variations in the
How Early Academic Training Retards Intellectual Development
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| Peter Gray |
Following on, here’s Peter Gray’s
contribution to this theme. Maybe one day our leaders will realise that there’s more to education than ideology and
economic theories.
“Now,
here’s the point to which I’m leading. It is generally a waste of time, and
often harmful, to teach academic skills to children who have not yet developed
the requisite motivational and intellectual foundations. Children who haven’t acquired a reason to
read or a sense of its value will have little motivation to learn the academic
skills associated with reading and little understanding of those skills. Similarly, children who haven’t acquired an understanding of numbers and how they are useful may
learn the procedure for, say, addition, but that procedure will have little or
no meaning to them.”
ALL Babies Walking By Six Months Old… A Satire on
the Common Core Charade.
“It
was ensured, by adhering to these rigorous standards, ALL babies would be on
track for the Olympics and/or professional athleticism. No one questioned the
age appropriate sports standards. No one questioned who wrote the standards… and
those who did, in any way, were looked down upon. Many, at first, even believed these standards were appropriate,
necessary, and the answer to preparing the babies for a solid future in
professional athletics and quite possibly a turn in the Olympic Games.”
The Education Revolution will Not Be Standardized: The “Moral
Imperative”
of Testing Refusal
“The
bigger picture underlying the battle against neoliberal/corporatised education:
Education reform is not happening in isolation. To revolt against
testing as vehicle for the destruction of our schools, our communities and our
children is to recognize that education is merely one piece to a bigger puzzle
of corporate global control over our lives (energy, food, prisons, industry,
etc etc).”
Myth: You can do more with less
Another Pasi Salhberg article - any other
comment needed?
 |
| Pasi Sahlberg |
“Some
economists have calculated how much students’ achievement could be improved by enhancing the quality of the
teaching force. An efficient way to do that, they argue, is to find poorly performing
teachers and get rid of them. Then, bringing young, enthusiastic talent into
these classrooms will actually lead to the betterment of education at the same
time when resources diminish. Within this logic lie three fallacies that, if
taken as facts, will be harmful for the teaching profession and thereby for the
entire education system.”
Finland’s Latest Educational
Move Will Produce a Generation of Entrepreneurs
And yet another article about Finland….
“The
new approach aims to encourage different kinds of learning,
shifting from facts to problem solving, individual work to collaboration. In other words, instead of skill-oriented instruction,
this topical structure prioritizes the four Cs—communication, creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration—skills
that are central to working in teams, a reflection of the 'hyperconnected'
world we live in today.”
This week’s contributions from Bruce Hammonds:
8 Wishes for My 3-Year Old About the Future of Education
Bruce’s comment: this is a feel good link. What would you wish for in
education for a three year old? A good question for schools to ask their
parents! Here is one dad’s wishes for his three year old and all the
wonderful educators
along the way.
“You
may wonder what your educational journey will look like. Honestly, every person’s experience is different. I am hoping that my journey can be a
guide for yours, but also that you are able to set your own path. Right now I
see an educational system that is evolving, and hopefully it is evolving to meet your needs, wants, desires, and passions. It
is my wish that your educational journey will be successful beyond your wildest
imagination.”
Improving Our Schools From the Inside Out
Bruce’s
comment: Difficult times for teachers in
America. In light of the current issues flooding our education system, from an
overemphasis on standardized testing to a shaky implementation of the Common
Core State Standards, veteran teachers are turning to extreme measures to
stress their dissonance: resigning. Let’s make sure things don’t get so bad in NZ but we know of some teachers who have had enough.
“Foremost, I cannot imagine what it must feel like leaving a
profession that you love out of frustration and hopelessness. I am in no
position to judge any teacher who expresses his or her grievances publicly and
resigns.
But what happens to the teachers who
decide to stay?
What happens to the next generation of
teachers who are committed to the profession irrespective of decisions made
outside of their personal classrooms? I refuse to become jaded and cynical or
simply apathetic, counting down the days until retirement.”
How Student Centered Is Your Classroom?
How student centred are you in your
school/classroom?
“In the education world, the term student-centred classroom is one we
hear a lot. And many educators would agree that when it comes to 21st-century
learning, having a student-centred
Study: Feedback doesn’t always help students
The dark side of feedback.Under some
conditions, we may need to refrain from 'rescuing' children by providing them
with feedback, and instead let them struggle, engage and learn on their own. As
well the concept of feedback implies teacher know best and can easily lead to a
“A new Vanderbilt University study challenges the assumption that
feedback is always a good thing, at least for student learning.The study,
conducted by Emily Fyfe, a doctoral student at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College of Education, suggests that once a lesson is
taught, immediately telling students if they are solving problems correctly or
incorrectly can lead to lower performance on subsequent problems and
post-tests. If a student is working on problems before learning the material,
however, immediate feedback is helpful.”
From Bruce’s ‘goldie oldies’ file:
Together principals can do it
An oldie that Bruce wrote in 2005.
“The
true challenge
is for groups of principals to find their common voice – what is it that they all believe is important and would
focus and engage the energy of them all? The trouble is individual principals
are loath to show their ‘real cards’ and share important educational issues. Our system in NZ since the
mid 80s had bred into them a competitive ethic and, as well, it is not good
form to admit weaknesses to others.”
L.I.S.P. New Zealand's lost research!
New Zealand’s Learning in Science Project had huge
potential but was cut off before it really had a chance due to a change in the
political climate.
“Research
showed that the ‘prior
ideas’ a student brings to any
learning situation , if not aligned with the teachers concepts, remains the
view the learner holds, even if they know the ‘right answer’ to give back in a test. This has dramatic implications for teachers
and teaching and explains why so much of what is taught is soon forgotten or
fragile at best. As David Ausabel , the educational psychologist wisely
wrote, ‘The most important single factor influencing learning is what the
learner already knows; ascertain this and teach accordingly’.”
Towards a creative school.
Bruce’s comment: Rear vision thinking – the schools’ default mode?
“It
is sad to see schools happily 'driving into the future using their rear vision
mirrors'. Just as our students are entering a world beyond our comprehension we
are busy ensuring they will be able to cope with a past age. There is more than
a whiff of Victorian ‘three Rs’ around our schools as teachers focus on testing children in what are
considered the two areas of concern literacy and numeracy. All this conformist
formulaic 'one size fits all' teaching is leading us back to the standardisation
of Henry Ford who one said, 'you can have any colour you like as long as it is
black’.”
Points of view from Mount Eden School
The New Zealand Curriculum – a
lost opportunity? A focus on implementing the New Zealand Curriculum – ideas
from Mt Eden Normal 2007.
“With regard to the 'new' curriculum principal John Faire said that, for many, it is a
bit 'back to the future' and that the curriculum statements and accountability
demands imposed since the early 90s had all but 'squashed out the creativity'
that was to be seen in the 70s and 80s. It is
now he
said, quoting from Stoll and Fink , 'about teaching and about time.' The
front half of the 'new' curriculum he said approvingly is 'future focused' but
the 'second half' is the 'same old same old'. John hopes that the NZC’s more creative future focus is
not lost due to accountability demands.”
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| John Faire |
Unfortunately the situation has become more
difficult for such creativity since John’s presentation in 2007
and his advice is now more relevant than ever.
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| This cartoon up what is happening in too many classrooms! The result of 'intentional teaching, standardized teaching/testing and ill informed feedback An educational 'Procrustean one size fits all bed'! |
1 comment:
Great article. I Like It So Much
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