Education Readings
By Allan Alach
I welcome suggested articles, so if you come
across a gem, email it to me at allanalach@inspire.net.nz
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| Jo Cox - great loss |
Politics at its worst and best
This article by Robin Alexander (Cambridge
Primary Review Trust) discusses the situation in UK as the vote to stay in or
leave the European Union reached the crunch point. There’s much in this article
that is applicable in many other countries and I’m sure the points he makes
will resonate with you.
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| Sir Robin Alexander |
‘What has this to do with primary education? Everything. Most
schools espouse a vision of human relations which is diametrically opposed to
the divisive and inflammatory rhetoric to which we’ve been treated during the
past few months. Somehow they must hold the line against that rhetoric’s malign
pervasiveness and champion with children the possibility of a more generous and
inclusive world. Most schools – at least
we hope this is so – make the quest for truth and understanding paramount in their
shaping of children’s curriculum experiences, yet myths, lies and obfuscation
have been rather more prominent of late in the public sphere.’
Seeing Struggling Math Learners as ‘Sense Makers,’ Not ‘Mistake
Makers’
‘In discussions of progressive and constructivist teaching
practices, math is often the odd subject out. Teachers and schools that are
capable of creating real-world, contextualized, project-based learning
activities in every other area of school often struggle to do the same for
mathematics, even as prospective employers and universities put more emphasis
on its importance. This struggle may come from a fundamental misunderstanding
about the discipline and how it should be taught.’
What Educators and Parents Should Know About Neuroplasticity,
Learning and Dance
Apart from anything else the children will love
it. What else do you need?
‘Talking, writing, and numbers are the media of knowledge. However,
we now know that dance is a language, brain-driven art, and also, a fuel for
learning subjects other than dance. In short, dance is an avenue to thinking,
translating, interpreting, communicating, feeling, and creating. As a multimedia
communication that generates new brain cells and their connections, dance at
any age enriches our cognitive, emotional, and physical development beyond the
exercise itself and extends to most facets of life.’
The #1 Reason for Poor Student Performance
‘His answer is clear: stress. Students from non-supportive and even
violent households and environments—which is where, at least in some cases,
economics does come into play—are unable to develop higher-order thinking
skills.’
Contributed by Bruce
Hammonds:
Design Thinking and PBL
‘With the development of Modern Learning Environments schools need
to consider cross curricular project based learning and design thinking.While
project-based learning has existed for decades, design thinking has recently
entered the education lexicon, even though its history can be traced back to
Herbert A. Simon's 1969 book The Sciences of the Artificial. So why the
resurgence of these ideas?’
Art the 4th R
What the Common Core Missed
‘Art and design work together to form a foundational language that
allows us to "speak transmedia" with meaning and articulation. It is
a highly portable language that translates well across curricular areas,
cultures and the universe of diverse ideas. Above all, it is a language that
helps us develop new perspectives, skills and habits of mind for solving
problems, mining opportunities, and
"seeing" in its most compelling sense. It is time for Art to take its
rightful place along side reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic. Art isn't just good
for the soul. It is a language we all need to be able to speak.’
Building a Nation of Makers
‘Makers, builders and doers – of all ages and backgrounds – always
have had a vital role in pushing our country to develop creative solutions to
some of our most pressing challenges. As President Barack Obama has noted,
during this week, "We celebrate the tinkerers and dreamers whose talent
and drive have brought new ideas to life, and we recommit to cultivating the
next generation of problem solvers.".The term "making" refers to
both traditional outlets for creativity such as metalworking, woodworking and
drawing, as well as to digital fabrication made possible by computer design
tools, robotics, laser cutters, 3D printers and other tools.’
Why Handwriting Is Still Essential in the Keyboard Age
‘Do children in a keyboard world need to
learn old-fashioned handwriting? There is a tendency to dismiss handwriting as a
nonessential skill, even though researchers have warned that learning to write
may be the key to, well, learning to write. And beyond the emotional connection
adults may feel to the way we learned to write, there is a growing body of
research on what the normally developing brain learns by forming letters on the
page, in printed or manuscript format as well as in cursive.’
How to Design the Perfect Modern Learning Assessment
It seems developing your school as a MLE is the
big thing these days! How does one design the perfect modern learning
assessment?
‘In good modern learning assessment:
•
students gain instant
feedback;
•
they are not penalized for
mistakes, and;
•
they are given a chance to
apply changes as needed.’
From Bruce’s ‘goldie oldies’ file:
Fundamentals in education
The creation of the mind
‘In recent years education has become more and more cognitive or
rational; learning that can be seen and measured so as to prove evidence of
growth. In the process real fundamentals have been overlooked.The creation of
the mind is more than simply cognitive. The mind is a unified, active,
constructive, self creating, and symbol making organ; it feels as well as
thinks – feelings and emotions are a kind of thought. Attitudes are created
from feelings and emotions.’
Bring back the Jesters!
‘The idea is worth spreading throughout all organizations to combat
the blindness created by past success. It is one way to counteract the
conformity which pervades top down management. Telling the truth is difficult
in too many environments and as a result organizations fail to adapt to
changing environments. As Oscar Wilde wrote, ‘Telling the truth makes you
unpopular at the club’”
Tapping into the student's world
‘The stance taken about how children learn is vital. Those who think
they know more than the child work out prescribed curriculums and, as part of
this, develop elaborate systems to see thing as are being learnt - including
National testing. This is the 'jug and mug' theory of learning where the
teacher is the full jug and the teachers job is to pour knowledge from the full
jug to the empty mug.For others the aim is to do everything to keep alive those
innate desire to learn - or to 'recover' it if it has been subverted by prior
experiences.’
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