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| To develop the gifts and talents of ALL students. |
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
Why the tablets in schools debacle is over
I’ll leave it to you to form your own
opinions…. however I know I couldn’t
handle my life using just my iPad.
‘To be exact, 88.5% of teachers and 74% of grade 7-12 students
wanted laptops, not iPads. The observations were clear, that while iPads may be
appropriate for young children, they are not suitable for older children who
need to acquire writing and other more sophisticated skills using tools that
don’t work on iPads.’
Overlapping arguments: Why we love to hate technology
On the other hand…
‘So there you have it. Those who say technology doesn’t work are
right. And so are those who say it does.’
Is ‘pedagogical love’ the secret to Finland’s educational success?
Finland, again…
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| The author |
‘Teachers and teacher educators in Finland are well aware that
Finnish schoolchildren perform well in academic metrics such as PISA, but they
seem much more concerned that their children are happy. It was something that
impressed me immensely when I visited the country.
The wellbeing of children is central to Finnish society and culture
and underpins their approach to education. Relationships between students,
teachers, parents and even educational administrators are based on trust, which
I believe is their defining motivation.’
Wild things: how ditching the classroom boosts children's mental
health
Not rocket science, is it?
‘Importantly, students are encouraged to take ownership of their own
learning during outdoor learning sessions and teachers ask the children to set
personal targets such as improving resilience, problem solving and working with
others.’
Contributed by Bruce Hammonds:
The empty
brain: Your brain does not process information, retrieve knowledge or store
memories. In short: your brain is not a computer.
What are the
implications of this in the classroom?
‘But here is
what we are not born with: information, data, rules, software, knowledge,
lexicons,
representations, algorithms, programs, models, memories, images,
processors, subroutines, encoders, decoders, symbols, or buffers – design elements
that allow digital computers to behave somewhat intelligently. Not only are we
not born with such things, we also don’t develop them – ever.’
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| The empty brain |
The “Official” Theory of
Learning
Will Richardson interpreting Frank Smith’s ‘The
Book of Learning and Forgetting’ (an excellent read, by the way):
‘Smith
counters that, however, with what he calls the “official” view of
learning, which he calls “preeminent, coercive, manipulative,
discriminatory — and wrong.”’
Reading with
intention can change your life
‘A random
sampling of the world’s most successful people will show one common trait: a
love of reading. Reading is the easiest way to continue the learning process,
increase empathy, boost creativity, and even just unwind from a long day. But
books can also change the way we think and live.’
How the Power
of Interest Drives Learning
Annie Murphy Paul:
‘In recent
years researchers have begun to build a science of interest, investigating what
interest is, how interest develops, what makes things interesting, and how we
can cultivate interest in ourselves and others. They are finding that interest
can help us think more clearly, understand more deeply, and remember more
accurately. Interest has the power to transform struggling performers, and to
lift high achievers to a new plane.’
Thriving in a
modern world
Derek Weymouth’s
blog : Five human skills for the future. Great must see short video
‘These five
things Curiosity, Creativity, Initiative, Multi-disciplinary thinking and
Empathy have been the engine of innovation and survival since the beginning of
civilisation.
We're at a point in history where our human skills are just as important as our knowledge. The challenge for schools and educators is to maintain a focus on these things amidst the pressure to also ensure we are addressing those fundamental pre-requisites of literacy and numeracy
We're
fortunate in NZ that our National Curriculum has at its primary focus the Key
Competencies around which the curriculum in our schools should be designed. New
Zealand schools have the scope, flexibility, and authority they need to design
and shape their curriculum so that teaching and learning is meaningful and
beneficial to their particular communities of students. So one would imagine
that in such an environment we'd see amazing things happening in terms of the
development of 'an adaptable mind' as this clip celebrates – and we do, but
often in pockets rather than in a systemic way.
The constant pressure to recognise and measure achievement in terms of the traditional subject areas can mitigate against efforts to develop a curriculum that will truly inspire and develop things like curiosity, creativity and initiative among our students.’
We're at a point in history where our human skills are just as important as our knowledge. The challenge for schools and educators is to maintain a focus on these things amidst the pressure to also ensure we are addressing those fundamental pre-requisites of literacy and numeracy
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| Thanks to Derek Weymouth |
The constant pressure to recognise and measure achievement in terms of the traditional subject areas can mitigate against efforts to develop a curriculum that will truly inspire and develop things like curiosity, creativity and initiative among our students.’
From Bruce’s ‘goldie oldies’ file:
Power through reading!
‘Reading, and writing, are not just processes to be 'achieved' but
are all about power - power of the imagination, power of gaining messages
through literature, and power to gain and share ideas that can change how you
think. Unless students, particularly those from from families who lack
'cultural capital', appreciate this power why would they bother to read or
write?’
Standardization of America and democratic Finland.
‘Rigor in the American scene is cutting recess and replace with
instruction. Cut the frills., cut art, cut music, cut everything except reading
and math. And then turn the school day into a reading and maths drill and
reading and math exercises, and get those scores up.’
Five Minds for the Future
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| Howard Gardner |
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