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| A good time in NZ for creative thinking |
Education
Readings
By Allan Alach
The demise of national standards in New Zealand schools opens the
door to a return to more progressive, child centred learning. In the first
article, Bruce Hammonds gives his take on the possibilities in the post
national standards classroom. All progressive teachers should read this.
I welcome suggested articles, so if you come across a gem, email
it to me at allanalach@inspire.net.nz
Organising
the school day for 21st Century Teaching - the Craft of Teaching
Bruce Hammonds:
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| Class management |
‘What
‘message’ does the
timetable, or the day’s organisation, in your classroom give? Does it reflect
past expectations or future thinking? Which learning areas are given the most
prominence? Which areas are neglected? With the termination of the reactionary
National Standards the time is right for progressive thinking re classroom
organisations to be considered.’
Progressive
Education Is Not Just Child’s Play
‘Despite
the incontestable evidence of what is best for young children, our society
continues to tolerate – often celebrate – schools and educational methods that
directly contradict several hundred years of evolving knowledge. At least among
sensible educators, the importance of play and discovery for young children is
a consensus belief, despite policies that often make it hard to teach that
way.’
The
importance of keeping a beat: Researchers link ability to keep a beat to
reading, language skills
Anyone want to have a go at trying this in their classroom?
‘Because
hearing sounds of speech and associating them with the letters comprising
written words is crucial to learning to read, the Northwestern researchers
reasoned that the association between reading and beat synchronization likely
has a common basis in the auditory system.’
Why
Art And Creativity Are Important For Kids
Schools
that eliminate art programs are doing so at their peril. No one questions
foundation
The
importance is paramount. Arts and creativity nurture well-being and assist
learners in creating connections between subjects.’
Always
asking questions
‘Hopefully,
in most cases, the entire experience is about asking questions. But the
curriculum often militates against good question times. It is so stuffed full
of unnecessary content, there is far too little time left for teachers to help
children to frame their questions. They must make time, because the bloated
curriculum shows no signs of going away just yet. Questioning is far too
important to gloss over or push into a corner. Give the kids time to ask
questions.’
Contributed by Bruce Hammonds:
Creative
by Nature
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist
once we grow up.” ―Pablo
'All
human beings are creative by nature. Young children know this in their hearts,
but as we grow older most of us begin to have doubts. We live in a
culture that discourages creative thought and wants us to believe
that artistic ability is rare. Over time, most of us learn
not to color (or think) outside the box.
What
Should Schools Teach?
‘In
the UK, decades of political meddling in the curriculum have resulted in
endless lists
prescribing what – and how – teachers should teach. How refreshing
then, that unlike many educational policy prescriptions, What Should Schools
Teach? does not offer a dazzling list of innovative academic hybrids, along
with an interactively inspirational flowchart of how to deliver them.’
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| Enuf lists!!! |
Genius
Hour in Elementary School
‘Educators
know a good idea when we see one (even if Google eventually ended the program).
We want that vibrant creativity pulsing through our classrooms. We can
visualize the end, filled with projects in which our students have connected
with experts, filled journals with intelligent thinking, and explored with
curiosity. How do we get from this euphoric idea to a classroom reality.'
Have
we forgotten that children are still just children?
‘We
seem to be so desperate to jump on the next bandwagon, to shape our classrooms
for the future, to teach these supposedly 'different' learners, who are so
'different' to how we were, in progressive ways. But what is it that has made
them so different? My thinking has now meandered to this point....children are
no different to how we were....they are still just children.’
Here’s
How to Apply the 4P Approach to Building a Creative Classroom
‘What
is a creative classroom? Creative learners are not linear thinkers. Contrary to
popular belief,
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| P for Passion |
while others have a plan from the beginning, creative learners
are different. They might need to play first and experience the medium before
they begin to com
e up with ideas of their own. That’s why the students in a
creative classroom strive for innovative solutions to unexpected problems.’
From Bruce’s ‘goldie
oldies’ file:
Learning is about constructing meaning.
Marie Clay was more than about reading
‘Marie Clay was 'constructivist' or more accurately a
'co-constructivist' believing, like such researchers as Jerome Bruner, Piaget
and Vygotsky that students create their own meanings and that this is best
achieved by sensitive teacher interaction, always leaving the responsibility of
learning in the child's hands.'
John Holt quotes on learning - more pertinent than ever
‘The freedom and anti-authoritarianism movement of the 60s
challenged traditional views in all
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