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
To Help Students Learn, Engage the Emotions
‘Emotion is essential to learning, Dr. Immordino-Yang said, and
should not be underestimated or misunderstood as a trend, or as merely the “E”
in “SEL,” or social-emotional learning. Emotion is where learning begins,
or, as is often the case, where it ends. Put simply, “It is literally
neurobiologically impossible to think deeply about things that you don’t care
about,” she said.’
Let’s Stop With The Worksheets And Create Engaged Readers
‘Picture a classroom full of youngsters. They could be darling,
chubby-cheeked kindergartners or swaggering, confident high school seniors – or
anything in between. Can you see them? Now, picture this class engrossed in
reading. What does being engrossed in reading look like? What does it
sound like? What evidence exists that true, engaged reading is taking place?’
Children need to be in the right mental state to learn effectively
Taking
action early enables vulnerable children to rebuild their self-esteem and take
responsibility for their emotions, behaviour and learning. The outcome will be
that they re-engage with education, perform well and are confident and happy
young people.
Montessori Was the Original Personalized Learning. Now, 100 Years
Later, Wildflower Is Reinventing the Model
‘Students guiding their own learning with minimal teacher direction
— it’s a personalized learning dream. But this is a Montessori school,
following a century-old model that has been doing personalized learning since
before it even had a name. That model was the creation of physician and
innovator Maria Montessori, who opened her first school in Rome in 1907 and built
educational materials around her belief in children’s natural desire to explore
their world.’
Saying ‘No’ To Best Practices
‘The worst best practice is to adhere to, or go searching for, best practices.
I have been in countless rooms with teachers, technologists, instructional
designers, and administrators calling for recommendations or a list of tools
they should use, strategies that work, practices that cannot fail to produce
results in the classroom. But digital tools, strategies, and best practices are
a red herring in digital learning.’
A Brief History of the "Testocracy," Standardized Testing
and Test-Defying
‘Who are these testocrats who would replace teaching with testing?
The testocracy, in my view, does not only refer to the testing
conglomerates—most notably the multibillion-dollar Pearson testing and textbook
corporation—that directly profit from the sale of standardized exams. The
testocracy is also the elite stratum of society that finances and promotes
competition and privatization in public education rather than collaboration,
critical thinking, and the public good.’
Contributed by Bruce Hammonds:
Measuring What Matters: A Framework
Review
‘Good habits are at least as important as
basic skills when it comes to success in college and work. The ability to self-manage,
interact successfully, and make good decisions (often called social emotional
learning) pays big life dividends. The ability to apply creative know how in
new situations is at least as important as historical and technical knowledge.
This post reviews several whole-student
outcome frameworks, particularly those that attempt to describe and measure
productive dispositions and habits.’
On Teaching Well: Five Lessons from Long
Experience
‘Today I turned 70 years old. I have no
idea how this happened. I was going along, struggling to do the best I could
and then suddenly I woke up and this old guy was staring back at me from the
mirror. Turning 70 I wanted to celebrate with you, my esteemed readers.
And so I share five lessons I have learned from a career in education spanning
nearly 50 years.’
The 5 Biggest Reasons Why Teachers Quit
the Profession
‘Recently on our Facebook page, WeAreTeachers
posted an infographic from the Learning Policy Institute which addressed many
of the frustrations and issues teachers are dealing with in today’s education
culture. The infographic illustrated the top reasons cited as to why teachers
quit the profession.The topic definitely struck a chord with our readers. We
received an overwhelming amount of feedback to the post, with teachers sounding
off on issues from challenging physical and emotional work conditions to health
and personal reasons.’
‘I wake at 2am worrying about the
children’: the headteachers leaving Britain's schools
 |
| Leaving after 30 years |
Why are head teachers leaving British
schools? Coming soon to NZ!
‘On 31 August, after 29 years and 43 days
first as a teacher, then a deputy, then a head, Sandell will be standing down
in protest at what she sees as a crisis in education. “We are short-changing
our children, and by that we are short-changing the nation,” she says.’
From Bruce’s ‘goldie oldies’ file:
Straightjackets for creative teachers.
‘It is no fun being a creative teacher in what is essentially a
conformist education system - the more so as you move up the levels of
schooling. It is to creative teachers however we need to look to if we are ever
to change the current focus from achievement to realizing the diverse talents
of all students.’
The da Vinci Code
‘Leonardo was a man for his time and for our own. Indeed some people
call our current era the beginning of the 'second Renaissance' – or the 'new
era of ideas and creativity’. We need to follow his example if we are to
capitalize on the new understandings about learning and the immense power of
information technology we now have available to us. Imagine if we could design
schools that could tap into the questing intelligences of the young people who
enter our schools today so full of hope and imagination.’
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