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
'One of the most frustrating things I’ve ever been forced
to do as a teacher is to ignore my students
and concentrate instead on the data'
Teachers Don’t Want All This Useless Data
‘One of the most frustrating things I’ve ever been forced to do as a
teacher is to ignore my students and concentrate instead on the data.’
Is teacher burnout contagious?
‘Burnout among young teachers appears to be contagious, indicates a
new study. It found a significant link between burnout among early-career
teachers and exposure to both a school-wide culture of burnout and burnout
among the young teachers' closest circle of colleagues.’
Making
Cyberschool Creepier
Looking forward to the ‘digital curriculum’?
Maybe you should read this.
‘Do you think that cyber-education is just kind of creepy, with
students sitting alone in the glow of a computer screen, navigating hundreds of
little standardized quizlets and activities, their every keystroke and answer
compiled in an undying data file that will follow those students around
forever. Do you find it hard to imagine how it could be worse? Well, a company called
LCA Learning has found a way.’
Reading With Your Children: Proper Books Vs Tablets
‘Increasing screen use is a reality, but does it contribute to a
loss of interest in reading, and does reading from a screen provide the same
experience as the feel of reading on paper?
We looked at this in our research on shared reading. This has been a
neglected topic even though it is clearly a common context for children when
they read at home. It might be their regular homework reading of a book from
school, or a parent reading them a favourite bedtime story.’
Being Busy Is Killing Our Ability to Think Creatively
This article is targeted at adults but is easily
adapted to the classroom situation.
Some unpopular thoughts on teacher evaluation
‘I’ve been working on teacher evaluation for
most of my career as a teacher, administrator, and teacher educator; first
being evaluated, then doing the evaluation as an assistant principal and
subject area coordinator, then helping design a state-wide beginning teacher
evaluation initiative. After nearly 40 years in education, all I can say is
that the current system is the worst I’ve ever seen.’
Contributed by Bruce Hammonds:
Here's Einstein's Advice to His Son on
How to Accelerate Learning
‘Geniuses might be distinguished by their
ability to grasp incredible complexity, but that doesn't
mean if you somehow
managed to corner one the greatest minds in history for a chat you'd be perplexed
by what they had to say. According to Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman, the true
hallmark of genius is the ability to explain things simply.’
Why ‘Unlearning’ Old Habits Is An
Essential Step For Innovation
‘Teachers are increasingly being asked to
embrace new ideas and styles of teaching, but schools don’t always give their
educators time or the mental space to absorb and apply those concepts.
That’s why the idea of “unlearning” was worth exploring for Beaver Country
Day School, a private 6-12 school in Massachusetts, which serves as something
of a lab for unlearning in practice.’
No classrooms, lessons or homework: New
Zealand school where children are free to roam
 |
| Headteacher Deep Green School |
From Bruce’s ‘goldie oldies’ file:
Messages about education.
What messages are students getting from their
schooling?
‘I have been reading an article on the web about the pressures being
placed on young children and their teachers in the United States to achieve
expectations set by standardized tests. In the process teachers have had to
narrow their curriculum to ensure their school does well when results are
published. Another article described a young student who has been held
back twice and now is three years older than her classmates because she
obviously hadn't passed appropriate tests. This is what happens when
politicians impose simplistic solutions to complex problems.What ‘messages’ about
learning, and American culture, are being given by such an education?’
On Knowing - Jerome Bruner
“The themes Jerome Bruner covers in his book concern the process of
knowing, how knowing is shaped and how it in turn gives form to language
science, literature and art. The symbolism of the left hand is that of the
dreamer - the right that of the practical doer.The areas of hunches and
intuition, Bruner writes, has been all too often overwhelmed by an 'imposed
fetish of objectivity'...'The lock step of learning theory in this country has
been broken, though it is still the standard village dance'. Today we still
have those ( usually politicians) who wish to test for learning ignoring,
according to Bruner, that 'it is difficult to catch and record, no less
understand, the swift flight of man's mind operating at its best.’"
Fundamentals in education
‘If we are concerned with the education the full potential of all
students then how we 'see' the mind, how we imagine we learn, is important. We
are, hopefully, well past the 'blank slate' or the 'filling the jug' metaphors,
long the basis of traditional 'one size fits all' schooling.’
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