By Allan Alach
I welcome suggested articles, so if you come
across a gem, email it to me at allanalach@inspire.net.nz
The King Has Abdicated
Phil Cullen’s take on the announcement by US academic Gene Glass of his
withdrawal from the discipline of educational measurement due to its misuse by
the school reform movement.
This is big news!!!
This is big news!!!
“If
ever there was a giant amongst educational measurers of the world, it is Gene
Glass, Senior Researcher at the National Education Policy Center at the
University of Colorado, Boulder. The seminal mega-research of Glass and Smith
into ‘Class Size’ is a study to which
any studious commentator refers if ever he or she mentions anything about the
efficacy of class size on child learnings. It had an enormous impact on world
discussion about class size. His leadership during the 1970’s Minimal Competency Testing movement was profound.”
The Great Learning Gap
“Sugata Mitra’s controversial new study summarised in the TES here suggests that self study on the internet can boost a child’s performance by seven years. Basically, 8 and 9 year olds studied
GCSE content online before being examined three months later in examination
conditions. They were successful. It sounds astounding, but it’s true, at least for the small number of children involved. And
actually I don’t think it’s that surprising. To me, this is not a study about the power of the
internet. It’s a study about the power of
children.”
‘Growth
mindset’ is not just for school
students, teachers can grow their minds too
This is is a must for teachers, much more than
the ‘can’ in the title.
“Most
educators would be aware of the term ‘growth mindset’ by now. The idea is you can work on being smarter. Whatever
abilities and talents you have are just a starting point, if you work hard,
make mistakes and keep trying, you can achieve. Teachers are using it to
encourage and motivate children in their classrooms.
But there is another application for this idea; it can be used as an
underlying ethos for the professional learning of teachers.”
10 Ways To Fake A 21st Century Classroom
“It’s 2013, so whatever you’re doing in your
classroom right now is technically 21st century
century.”
With that kind of pressure—and constant district walk-throughs—it
may be necessary for you to fake a 21st century thinking and learning
environment to make the right kind of impression with the right people, and
give the appearance of forward-thinking.”
Play’s the thing
There’s
a lot of useful information here, both in and out of school.
“Somehow
the importance of play has been lost in recent decades. It’s regarded as something trivial, or even as something negative that
contrasts with ‘work’. Let’s not lose sight of its
benefits, and the fundamental contributions it makes to human achievements in
the arts, sciences and technology. Let’s make sure children have a rich diet of play experiences.”
Imagine that you wanted to slowly kill public education
Does this article by Scott McLeod ring any bells
for you?
“Somehow
you have to create a narrative over time that erodes citizens’ support for public schools and counters their incredible historical
legacies of college and career preparation, citizenship development, cultural
socialization, economic opportunity creation, and facilitation of
intergenerational income mobility. Here are
some things that you and your like-minded colleagues might try to do:”
How Should Learners Influence Classroom Design?
“Researchers
and designers of learning environments often debate whether the learner should
adapt to the learning environment, or whether the learning environment should
adapt to them. Arguably, this is the wrong question. A better question is: how
does the environment shape the learner, and in turn, how does the learner shape
the environment?”
Why Schools Should Teach Meaning and Purpose
“I
believe it is the responsibility of a school to help students develop their
personality, but this is not possible when a school tries to be efficient. You
need ‘pointless’ and ‘ineffective’ student
This week’s
contributions from Bruce
Hammonds:
Does a MLE suit all learners?
 |
| By Derek Weymouth NZ |
“Essentially, I don't find this sort of question helpful. There are
some more important questions that should precede it. That’s not to be dismissive at all of the fact that people will be
interested in these sorts of things – it’s important that these themes are fully investigated as new
approaches are being adopted in our schools and learning institutions. It's
like asking "does an MLE suit all learners?" when the equally valid,
yet often uncontested question is "does a traditional egg-crate classroom
suit the needs of all learners?”'
The neurons that shaped civilization
Culture Counts
Seven minutes Ted Ed talk to illustrate the power of culture and learning from
others – a change the rational ‘scientific’ GERM approach to learning.
“Neuroscientist
Vilayanur Ramachandran outlines the fascinating functions of mirror neurons.
Only recently discovered, these neurons allow us to learn complex social
behaviors, some of which formed the foundations of human civilization as we
know it.”
If life is a game, then education is play
Education is best when built upon such notions of play.
“Play
embodies our natural inclination to explore and experiment with objects and
systems outside of us and integrate them first-hand into our psyche. Through
educational play, we get to explore new ideas and come to know ourselves, as
well as those around us in often-profound ways.”
From Bruce’s ‘goldie oldies’ file:
'Haiku Curriculum' - simple and deep!
“At some point the Japanese threw away complex poetic forms and
invented haiku.This is what we ought to do with our current incoherent
curriculums Since the 90s schools worldwide have had to implement a complex set
of curriculums imposed on them by ‘experts’ long removed from the reality of the classroom.”
Messages about education.
“I have been reading an article on the web about the pressures being
placed on young children and their teachers in the United States to achieve
expectations set by standardized tests. In the process teachers have had to
narrow their curriculum to ensure their school does well when results are
published. And as well, I guess, they would be worried about their tenure?”
Why are teachers so reluctant to change?
“Over years of visiting schools it seems mean to say that there has
not been as much change as one
Sailing into the future on the
educational SS Titanic!
Many school structures still reflect a
Titanic mentality
“Many of our current organizations may look impressive but there are
plenty of signs that all is not well. There are ‘social icebergs’ of discontent and alienation ahead that will eventfully force change
on us. Just as it takes a tragedy in our personal lives for us to face up to
new reality, so it is with the wider world of organizations – particularly
those designed in, and for, past eras.”
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