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
Feel free to send on to other teachers who might enjoy!
Feel free to send on to other teachers who might enjoy!
This week’s homework!
Teachers Work Harder
This article has a New Zealand flavour, written
as a result of an incident where a 15 year old girl criticised the quality of
her secondary school education and which upset her teacher. The observations
made in this article are applicable all over.
“The
immense responsibility of guiding the learning of twenty children is not borne
lightly, and
leads to the ridiculous hours, the tearful breakdowns and the
cancelled social life plans because maybe, if you get a little more done, you’ll feel a little better about having a life and
taking some time for yourself. If that seems over the top, even illogical, then
you’re right. It is. But that doesn’t stop every teacher, wherever they are, having a mental list of all
of the things that they have not yet done and still need to do. A list which is
continually added to, due to the evolutionary nature of managing the learning
needs of twenty or more children.”
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| Student Angela criticizes her school |
Is It Time to Give Up on Computers in Schools?
This is a very provocative article, that, in my
opinion, has a lot of truth (and I’m
a keen user of technologies!). The problem isn’t the technology; its the underlying ideology that has moved the
role of computers a long way from Seymour Papert’s vision.
“Little
by little the subversive features of the computer were eroded away: … the
computer was now used to reinforce School’s ways. What had started as a subversive instrument of change was
neutralized by the system and converted into an instrument of consolidation.”
How to privatise the education system, without people noticing – a
step by step guide
This article is about England; however you'll
see the pattern.
“If
you have a particular ideological axe to grind, and you want to make things
tougher for the socially and economically deprived areas of the country,
abolish any data system that compares children’s progress with the progress made by children in schools in similar
circumstances (a “contextual” approach) and
insist on a system that ignores any such external factors.”
We do everything to escape the rat race. Then we inflict it on our
kids.
“At
the school gates there’s no bigger topic of conversation
than the pressure-cooker nature of it all; the way homework starts aged five,
the endless cycle of tests and mocks and exams, the fear that instead of
getting children excited about learning we’re funnelling stuff into them like little foie gras goslings.”
 |
| Jamie McKenzie |
The importance of surprise when conducting authentic research
“There
should be surprise, delight or even discomfort as one explores.
True inquiry involves discovery. The task at hand should awaken
curiosity and take the student on an adventure. Mere topical research requires
little more than gathering and is often sleep inducing. It is up to the teacher
to frame research projects around questions of import and tasks that require fresh
thinking, problem-solving and imagination.”
 |
| Value differences |
Secret Teacher: we are too quick to label children who aren't
perfect
“If everyone spent
less time fretting about the many ways in which our children aren’t perfect and
perceiving their natural variations as a defect in need of special treatment,
our jobs would be mucheasier. The more we pander to it, the worse it seems to
get: my school’s
list of children’s
individual needs gets longer every term, and we now have a slot in the weekly
staff meeting to help us keep abreast of them all. Of course we need to enable
all children to succeed, but part of that is
teaching them to embrace their differences and adapt to different situations.”
Aspirational parents condemn their children to a desperate, joyless
life
Not purely educational but very relevant all the
same.
“In
the cause of self-advancement, we are urged to sacrifice our leisure, our
pleasures and our time with partners and children, to climb over the bodies of
our rivals and to set ourselves against the common interests of humankind. And
then? We discover that we have achieved no greater satisfaction than that with
which we began.”
The bait and switch of school “reform”:
Behind the new corporate agenda for education lurks the old politics of profit
and self-interest.
“… those
most aggressively trying to privatize public schools and focus education around
standardized tests just “happen to be” Wall
Streeters —
as if that’s merely a random,
inconsequential coincidence. Somehow, we are to assume that these same Wall
Streeters who make millions off of “parasitic” investment
schemes to leech public institutions for private profit couldn’t have ulterior motives when it comes to public schools.”
This week’s contributions from Bruce Hammonds:
Parents, Stop
Hovering: 'Risky' Play May Have Benefits for Kids
An article for ‘helicopter’ and
‘snowplough’
parents (those who always want to smooth the way for
their children), and for schools who have to deal with them.
 |
| Importance of play |
“There was a time
when parents sent their kids outside to play, with the instruction to
'"just be home by dinner." Times have changed, however, and worries
over children's safety -- whether it's being injured, or harmed by a stranger
-- have led to kids having more structured activities, and less "free
play."But there is such a thing as too much caution, experts say.”
Everything I
Learned in Business, I Learned From My Kids
Twelve slides to
show how our children can help us learn.
“Children,whether
they are ours or those of friends or relatives or complete strangers, have
valuable lessons to teach us about the way we go about our personal and
professional lives. From collaborating creatively to creating strengths from
each others differences to the art of simple listening. Children have helped us discover a new way of working. We should keep these
lessons in mind as we interact with others, seek resolutions to challenges, and
try to be our best selves in and out of the workplace.”
In DPS imaginarium, room to experiment
for students and teachers
Creating conditions for teachers to be
creative and then sharing successful ideas with other schools. Seems like a
plan.
“Once an idea — which might be as small as a classroom
strategy or as big as a new school design — is developed,
the ‘imaginarium’ team runs through a series of piloting and reflection exercises. The
team then presents a case to district leadership about whether that project
should be scaled up.”
5 new realities in education
The future isn’t about developing knowledge or skills it’s about learning
“‘Knowledge’ isn’t the word any longer. ‘Skills’ is no longer the term. ‘Learning’ is the word,” Richardson said, noting that the jobs of
tomorrow will require serial mastery. “If our kids don’t have the ability to learn, it really doesn’t matter how much knowledge we give them.”
From Bruce’s ‘goldie oldies’ file:
 |
| So what has changed? |
Back to the
future?
Mark Twain once
said that he could live for a month on one compliment so it was great to
receive an e-mail, from a student teacher from Glasgow University in 2008 who
said, after reading a newsletter I wrote
in 2002, that it 'completely changed my view of education and teaching.’ I
couldn't resist re-reading what I had written in 2002 and was pleasantly
surprised to see how relevant what I had written is to today's (2015)
challenges.
Providing opportunities to develop students passions and interests
I have always
liked the quote from Jerome Bruner that, 'teaching is the canny art of
intellectual temptation.' Students are innately curious and if they have
developed a range of interests they will do almost anything to learn more
about, or get better at it.The New Zealand Curriculum asks teachers to see
their students as active 'seekers, users, and creators of their own knowledge'.
Achieving this will provide a real challenge to many school. Our identity is
closely linked to what we are good at doing, or the interests we have, and so it makes sense to expose students to a range of
experiences that provide opportunities to develop, uncover, or amplify, their
interests.
A vision of Schooling
Wise words from an earlier era that need to be revisited - the thoughts of ‘Ozzie’ Phil Cullen:
Wise words from an earlier era that need to be revisited - the thoughts of ‘Ozzie’ Phil Cullen:
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| Aussie wisdom |
“Phil Cullen a
highly respected Australian educator and former Director of Primary Education
Queensland 1975- 1988. He is critical of the direction education has taken and
believes in a system that has faith in the creativity of teachers. He is very
concerned about such imposition as national testing. Maybe it is time for back
to the future?”
And:
“Phil worries
that throughout the western world education has been placed in the hands of
'know it alls' with university degrees and with little practical experience.
And all too often primary education is placed in the hands of people whose lack
of knowledge of primary teaching is staggering.”
Joyful
Learning
What is the
purpose of learning. What dispositions do we want to cultivate? 'Is joy
mentioned in any list’? Joy is not to be equated with simply having fun but seen as being
gained as the result of
“If principals
can help teachers find joy in their work, and help their teachers strive to
'own their own teaching' the teachers can enter their rooms every morning
enthusiastic to help their students experience joy in their learning.”
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