By Allan Alach
I welcome suggested articles, so if you come
across a gem, email it to me at allanalach@inspire.net.nz
You can do it, baby!
Interesting observation on the ‘you can be anything
you like’ messages that children receive.
“‘You
can be anything you want to be’ is pithy advice that
isn’t helping most of the young
launch careers or find satisfaction in life. If we really think about it, few
of us mean it literally. Twenge has told her daughter that ‘when
people say you can be anything, it’s not true. For
example, you can’t be a dinosaur.’ Perhaps what we’re really trying to
say to our children is that we trust in their ability to build a meaningful
life.”
A Myth for Teachers: Jobs That Don’t Exist Yet
We’ve often heard the phrase “We are currently preparing students for
jobs that don’t yet exist . . “ and
I must confess I’ve used it myself. However….
“This
is a claim used to justify dumbing-down, the idea being that if technology
changes working life really quickly then there is no need to teach content as
it will be irrelevant by the time our students get to the workplace. The
widespread use of the claim in educational environments can almost all be
traced back to the “Did You Know?” or
“Shift Happens” videos
that went viral among fashionably minded educators some time back. These
consisted of a variety of poorly sourced and dubious claims about the future
accompanied by enough bright colours and loud music to hypnotise the
congenitally gullible.”
We need more misfits in #education
“Misfits
don't see a problem with asking 'why' and asking for justification and misfits
don't base their actions on what is safe and what is 'status quo.’”
Encouraging the Einstein and Edison in Everyone
I’m a little dubious about the long term effectiveness of these kind
of approaches but then again they are better than all the nonsense associated
with ‘raising achievement.’
“The
21st century will require solutions that are fashioned differently from how the
problems were made. The solutions of this century will come from creative
people who are willing to look at doing things differently. As such, the future
will need more Albert Einsteins and Thomas Edisons -- and by the way, there is
a bit of them in all of us. Here are some ways to nurture both in all of your
students.”
Whose fingers on the button?
Here’s an article by Seymour Papert (acknowledged as one of Piaget’s protégés)
that was written in 1998 about the use of digital technologies in
education. Papert’s
book Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas, published in
1980, is still extremely relevant and should be on your ‘must
read’ list.
“From
this follows a political aspect of child power as a factor in the interplay of
change and resistance to change in education. For if the computer industry, the
education establishment and the politicians have a common vested interest in
keeping school as it is, children do not. And if just 10 per cent of children
came to school with the experience of far richer learning outside, and with the
expertise to show the school how to do it better, the pressure for change would
quickly become irresistible.”
What I’m really thinking: the soon to
be ex-teacher
Is this familiar?
“A
bloated body of managers, many of whom haven’t taught in years. Driven by data and every new initiative, they
have lost touch with where they came from. Without teachers who prioritise
their rapport with pupils and make learning a fun, collaborative experience,
the school is losing its soul.”
NAPLAN: Shakespeare would have failed the year 9 literacy test
Thanks to Phil Cullen for this article that discusses an unexpected
outcome of Australia’s national testing programme. I suspect similar comments could be
made about other national testing regimes.
“In
online sample tests [of the year 9 NAPLAN], 25 of the 50 questions relate to
spelling. It is a fair
This week’s contributions from Bruce Hammonds:
Three Traits
of the Best Principals.
Bill Ferriter:
“Let me start
with a simple statement of truth: I am JUST
a classroom teacher.
I've never
worked as a building principal -- and my knowledge of the principalship is
limited to tons of reading, tons of conversations, and my first-hand experience
working with tons of different principals and assistant principals during my
20+ years of teaching. What I DO know is
that regardless of their unique sets of strengths and weaknesses, the best
principals that I've ever worked for shared three traits.”
The Secret
Power of Differentiated Instruction
If Bart Simpson understands the destructive use of
ability grouping teachers ought to as well.
“Do we separate
students based on ability and continue to let the best ones in the other class
get ahead while the “special” students fall
behind because of a lack of ability? Bart Simpson said it best: “Let
me get this straight. We’re behind the rest of
our class and we’re going to catch up to them by
going slower than they are?”
Project-Based
Learning Activities—on a Budget!
“Project-based
learning activities can be daunting for a teacher new to the concepts. If you
are new, here are some key issues to know about real project-based learning:
1 Project based learning begins with an
inquiry into a real-world problem.
2 Learning often takes place in
collaborative groups, where students build a sense of community.
3 Research into the authentic problem
involves going beyond the textbook, and involves activities such as interviews,
web searches, and inviting guest speakers to class.Keeping in mind these
criteria develop some great project-based learning activities on a budget?”
Personalised
Learning - an idea for its time or just another buzz word
“I was
re-reading Sir Ken Robinson’s latest book (which
must be a must read for creative teachers looking for inspiration in this age
of educational conformity) and was captured by his thoughts about the two
worlds students live in. One world – the
personal one –
all but ignored in classrooms. It is this personal
world that was/is the world that creative teachers help students value and
explore.”
From Bruce’s ‘goldie oldies’ file:
Learning is about constructing meaning.
Marie Clay and constructivism
“Marie Clay - more than just about reading. In most teachers’
minds mention Marie Clay and they think of Reading Recovery. To me, I attribute
to her the remark that, 'if a child hasn't learnt to learn something we haven't
yet found the way to help him or her' or that, 'all children will learn
Time to throw a spanner in the works!
“It is not hard to see secondary schools as artefacts of the 19th C
.They so much resemble the Industrial Revolution on which they were based. They
may be kinder gentler places today – for some
students that is debatable, but they retain the features of a true industrial
aged hierarchical organization or, worse still, a factory!”
Transforming schools through Project
Based Learning (PBL) .
 |
| Thomas Markham |
“The 21stC will require a personalisation of learning and the
cultivation of student talent and creativity. It is important for a country
like New Zealand for schools to encourage such innovation and creativity but to
achieve this will require considerable transformation of the current
system.American educationalist Thom Markham is an enthusiast for Project Based
Learning (PBL) and believes that the most important innovation schools can
implement is high quality project based learning.”
The Right to Learn - an agenda for the
21stC; challenging the status quo.
“As we enter the second decade of the 'new' millennium what has
changed in education? Not much.We can do a lot better.What is needed are fresh
perspectives.So far reforms have not changed the basic assumptions of
traditional schooling. A new vision is required. We need to let go of what has
gone on before and think of how to use technology to re-imagine the experience
for learners.”
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