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| Goodbye National Standards. A opportunity for creativity in schools |
Education
Readings
By Allan Alach
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| Time for new thinking |
The New Zealand school year is about to begin, so Bruce Hammonds
and I are back again with our education readings. Hopefully New Zealand schools
are well prepared to make the most of the opportunities provided by the dumping
of national standards, although we have our concerns that too many principals
and teachers will struggle to break their mindsets free from the raising
achievement focused dictates of the the previous nine years.
I welcome suggested articles, so if you come across a gem, email
it to me at allanalach@inspire.net.nz
Assessment
too often fails to prioritise learning – let's change that
‘By
relying less on data and more on teachers’ judgment, schools can give student
assessment greater meaning while also cutting workload.
Often
the focus is on what tracked data tells us about student progress, but I know
of no large-scale study that demonstrates the positive impact of data-tracking
systems on learning. My hunch is that you could delete all this data and the
students would never notice the difference in terms of the education they
receive. The majority of teachers have excellent knowledge of their students,
with or without the data.'
IXL: Caveat Emptor & Personalized Misery
NZ may have been saved from this by the change of government, but …
NZ may have been saved from this by the change of government, but …
This
is the one skill your child needs for the jobs of the future
‘Every
child begins their journey through life with an incredible potential: a
creative mindset that approaches the world with curiosity, with questions, and
with a desire to learn about the world and themselves through play.
However,
this mindset is often eroded or even erased by conventional educational
practices when young children enter school.’
Contributed by Bruce Hammonds:
'A World of Difference': the philosophy of a Taranaki
pioneer creative teacher - Bill Guild
‘
In 2003 Bill Guild attended the Frankley Road 150th
Jubilee, a school he had been principal of for 28 years from 1959 to 1986. An
accomplished photographer,
Bill complied a book ‘A World of Difference’ of the experiences
and creativity of the students he taught to share with past students attending.
Later an edited booklet was shared widely with teachers throughout New Zealand
who knew of the quality of teaching he was well known for. Maybe it’s time to
share his ideas again?’
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| Bill's room environment |
Creative teaching:Learning from the past - John Cunningham
teacher 1970s
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| Creativity not conformity |
Uncovering ideas worth sharing
‘The other day I was visiting my old friend John
Cunningham. He had been recently sorting through old notes ( John is a bit of a
hoarder) and had found some photos from his 1970 classroom and I suggested they
might make an interesting blog. In all areas of life we need to look
backwards to move into the future; ' Those who do not learn from history are
doomed to repeat it' (Santana).’
Starting
the year right – building learning-focused relationships
'If
we want students who are confident, connected, actively involved, lifelong
learners, how do we
Why
Are Kids Impatient, Bored, Friendless, And Entitled?
Teachers
celebrate the end of National Standards
‘Primary
teachers sound excited after the sudden announcement of the dropping of
National Standards, and their New Year’s resolutions for teaching in 2018 are
about re-discovering the New Zealand Curriculum, and locally relevant learning.
They’re talking about passion-based projects, vision, and innovation; about
drones and gardens, marine reserves and whakapapa. The romance has been
re-ignited.’
Ken Robinson – How Schools Kill Creativity
Now that national standards have been dumped in the rubbish bin
of history, it’s timely to bring back Sir Ken Robinson.
‘And
the third part of this is that we’ve all agreed, nonetheless, on the
really extraordinary capacities that children have — their capacities for innovation… And
my contention is, all kids have tremendous talents. And we squander them, pretty
ruthlessly. So I want to talk about education and I want to talk
about creativity. My contention is that creativity now is as important in
education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status… ‘
Who
should learn most about White Privilege—Māori children or Pākehā children?
Ann Milne:
‘Although,
internationally, there is a significant body of research on Whiteness and White
privilege (for example, see here, here, and here), in Aotearoa New
Zealand we have been largely silent about White spaces in our “Whitestream” schools.
The racist backdrop that is pervasive in our education system creates and
perpetuates the White spaces that marginalise and alienate our Māori learners,
yet it is a backdrop that we rarely name as being a problem.’
Secret
Teacher: why can't my school just trust us to do our job?
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| Time to trust |
‘When
I started my career in teaching, I was encouraged to be creative and
experiment. I loved that freedom and I think it helped to make me a good
teacher. I got used to reading around my subject and trying out different
ideas. I made some mistakes, but I was always thinking, always learning, always
trying to do better with my students. I got good results. I enjoyed my work.
Contrast that with the situation I and many of my colleagues face today. My job
and so much of what happens in my classroom is being controlled and my teaching
hindered by excessive micromanagement.’
From Bruce’s ‘goldie
oldies’ file:
What messages does your school pass on to students?
‘It is important if students are to become active learners
for them to tell their own stories, to pose their own questions and to make
their own interpretations of what they experience. If their ‘voices’ are not
recognised there will be many who will continue to disengage from their
learning.’
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