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
Do Our Expectations of Kids Aim Too High or Too Low?
By Alfie Kohn
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| Alfie Kohn |
‘My premise is that it makes sense to
adopt what might be called a “working with” — as opposed to a “doing to” —
approach with children. That means relying on love and reason, seeing kids as
more than bundles of behaviors to be managed and manipulated, and treating
troublesome actions as problems to be solved (or, if you like, teachable
moments) rather than as infractions to be punished.’
Students are not hard-wired to learn in different ways – we need to
stop using unproven, harmful methods
School ‘reform’ movement - take note.
‘In health there are well-established protocols that govern the
introduction of any new drug or treatment. Of major consideration is the notion
of doing no harm. In education there are no such controls and plenty of vested
interests keen to see the adoption of new strategies and resources for a
variety of ideological and financial reasons.’
Screens In Schools Are a $60 Billion Hoax
Something to reflect on - do you agree or
disagree?
‘Tech in the classroom not only leads to worse educational outcomes
for kids, which I will explain shortly, it can also clinically hurt them. I’ve
worked with over a thousand teens in the past 15 years and have observed that
students who have been raised on a high-tech diet not only appear to struggle
more with attention and focus, but also seem to suffer from an adolescent
malaise that appears to be a direct byproduct of their digital immersion.’
Teaching ‘grit’ is bad for children, and bad for democracy
Debunking another educational ‘gimmick?
‘Duckworth celebrates educational models such as Beast at West Point
that weed out people who
don’t obey orders. That is a disastrous model for
education in a democracy. US schools ought to protect dreamers, inventors,
rebels and entrepreneurs – not crush them in the name of grit.’
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| Grit? |
Disrupt Assessment
It’s like the 21st century never happened
‘The notion that the assessment tail wags the dog of learning seems
so illogical and yet it drives the entire process of educating our children as
they get
Contributed by Bruce Hammonds:
What I Worry About When I Worry About STEM
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| The author |
Are we training our future employees, or are we
educating our present and future citizens?
‘Education’s fundamental purpose is to improve our capacity to
question and develop our ability to build bridges (metaphorical and physical)
between theories and applications. So why do we allow the discourse to focus on
pushing people into STEM for the fulfilment of the needs of industry (even when
we know the industry needs are more complex), especially when it’s sold back to
us as a national mission to “beat” other countries at math?’
What is Creativity in Education Really All About?
Sir Ken: What is creativity in education all
about? Short and sweet.
‘So we all want to become more creative teachers. But what does
creativity in education really mean? Is it about making worksheets look
prettier? Is it about teachers standing on tables and being more exuberant? Is
it about loosening things up and rethinking organizational structures and
curricula? Or is it about finding and using more unusual ideas in the
classroom?Creativity in education is none of these things.’
Attention artists: the new key to remembering things might be your
drawing pencil
‘With the increased popularity of coloring books for adults, we’ve
all been busting out the colored pencils and getting our inner artist out. Now,
there’s new science that suggests your artistic talents could help improve your
memory.A new study suggests that if you want to remember something, you should
draw it.’
To improve quality in education, reconsider true definition of 'good
teacher’
‘It is assumed, therefore, that teachers and the actions they take
in the classroom fundamentally impact students and what they learn. Often we,
as a community of education stakeholders, take this
From Bruce’s ‘goldie oldies’ file:
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| Anne Murphy |
The transformative Power of Interest: Annie Murphy Paul - Dan Pink
and Carol Dweck
“‘If there is just one message I could share with parents,
educators, and managers, it would be about the transformative power of interest’.
Annie Murphy Paul. The development of every student’s unique set of talents and
gifts is the challenge for a 21stC of education and so far few schools have yet
to appreciate this challenge.”
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| Steve Wheeler |
We have lost so much over the past 50 years. We need to return
leadership back to creative teachers.
‘The rise and fall, and possible rise again of the leadership of
creative teachers. It was in the sixties when creative classroom teachers
working within a shared educational philosophy were the real leaders.’
What should a parent expect from a teacher in the 21stC?
‘Apart from the surge in technology use, and the new skills teachers
need to adopt, implement and harness new digital media and tools (a subject for
another blogpost), I would argue that little has changed in our expectations of
good educators.’
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