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| Time to value creative teaches |
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
Shifting Needs in a Digital World
‘Our kids need to learn the responsible and safe use of digital
devices. They need to learn not only balance but also boundaries. And as
parents and educators that means modeling limits and responsible use. What
message do we send our kids when we ourselves are not present but instead
distracted by the device in our hands, instead of focusing on them? Technology
is a tool, and with it comes a means to powerful connectivity and knowledge,
but in the end, it does not replace the importance of human interaction, face
to face conversations and personal relationships.’
Thirty Minutes Tops
A nice little satire.
‘As a parent, I really cannot cover everything I want my kids to
learn from me in the four hours I have them at home. I really like my kids
teachers and I really appreciate all the work they do during the day, but due
to the short amount of time I have my kids at home, I’m going to have to send
some work back to school with my kids to complete during the seven hours they
spend in the classroom. I apologize for the negative impact this work might
have on the teachers and the rest of the class.’
Preaching the Value of Social Studies, in a Second Career
‘While spending anywhere from several weeks t o half a year on a
topic might seem excessive, she said, students are really learning not just
about that particular topic, but about how to study something. They’re learning
that, when studying a culture, they need to look at a variety of features, like
religious beliefs, economy and gender roles. When studying a system or an
organization, they need to look, as Ms. Switzer often says, at “the tools, the
rules, the consumers, and the workers.”’
Is it okay for children to count on their fingers?
‘Is it OK for children to count on their fingers? Generations of
pupils have been discouraged by their teachers from using their hands when
learning maths. But a new research article shows using fingers may be a much
more important part of maths learning than previously thought.’
7 reasons why 'marking' sucks
‘Inside the Black Box by Black &Wiliam, should be compulsory reading
for all teachers, trainers and lecturer, so it was a delight to see him give a
masterclass in assessment with solid, evidence-based advice that you can apply
straight from the hip in teaching. Marking may do more damage than most
educators realise. It is a summative assessment technique, all too often
wrongly used in formative assessment.’
Contributed by Bruce Hammonds:
The need to place creativity central to
all learning.
Bruce’s latest article.
‘Existing
research has recognised that successful/creative people in any discipline use
creativity to enhance their thinking but until now this has not been applied to
exemplary teachers. The study focussed on how exceptional teachers use
creativity in the classroom and was based on in-depth interviews with highly
accomplished teachers.’
Sir Ken Robinson: How to Create a Culture
For Valuable Learning
‘“If you design a system to do something,
don’t be surprised if it does it,” Robinson said at the annual Big Picture
Learning conference called Big Bang. He went on to describe the two pillars of
the current system — conformity and compliance — which undermine the sincere
efforts of educators and parents to equip children with the confidence to enter
the world on their own terms.’
How Silicon Valley Pushed Coding Into
American Classrooms
Not just an American issue:
‘Last year, Microsoft and Code.org helped
push for a career-education bill that, education researchers warned, could
prioritize industry demands over students’ interests. Among other things, t
There's an essential skill not being
taught enough in classrooms today
‘That skill is thinking. “Most teachers
never really ask students to think very deeply…. Most of what is assigned and
tested are things we ask students...“Most teachers never really ask students to
think very deeply…. Most of what is assigned and tested are things we ask
students to memorize,” ., a common underlying problem is this “dearth of
critical thinking skills.”’
Personalized Learning Is NOT Inclusion!
‘Personalized learning must not be
mistaken for inclusion. The reality is that it’s student
isolation!Inclusion is
generally defined as the action or state of including or of being included
within a group or structure. Doing schoolwork on a digital device by yourself
is not inclusion. It’s ability grouping for one.’
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| An ability group of one |
Alarm raised over principals' burnout
rate
I can really relate to this.
‘Rural school principals are struggling
to cope with the demands of their job and the Educational Institute says it
wants more help for them. The problem was highlighted at a recent meeting of
principals who ran schools so small that they had to teach in the classroom as
well as manage the school, the institute said.’
From Bruce’s ‘goldie oldies’ file:
Guy Claxton - building learning power.
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| Great book |
“We need, says Claxton, 'to provide our students with the emotional
and cognitive resources to become the 'confident, connected, life long learners' ; the vision of the NZ Curriculum . To achieve this is all about
powerful pedagogy.The important thing, he said, was to infuse the Key
competencies into every thing that happens at school and not see them as a 'bolt
on’.”
Write Now Read Later
‘These days reading, or better still the language arts ( now called
by a more technocratic title 'literacy') seems to have been taken over by
academics who are pushing a phonemic approach onto schools - 'P' Pushers! This
is an approach that distorts the organic relationship between experience, oral
language, writing and reading - all premised on a need to make meaning and to
communicate.’
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