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| Time to escape standardisation, compliance and conformity |
Education
Readings
By Allan Alach
As we settle in to the post national standards era, it pays us to
be mindful that we need to make the most of this opportunity. For a start, it
could only take a change of government in 2020 for national standards to
reappear, along with the stifling restrictions on teachers and schools.
The recent news item featuring a Christchurch principal
complaining that schools now have no way to measure children’s progress is a
case in point. I have my suspicions that this was a set up by those opposed to
the current government’s education policies; however the warning is very clear.
Teachers need to make hay while the sun shines, to show how primary schooling
can be. The more the boundaries are pushed now, the harder it will be for a
future government to revert to the education desert of the past nine years.
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| Available NZCER |
Seek inspiration and guidance from Bruce Hammonds and Kelvin
Smythe, and especially go back into the past to Elwyn Richardson and the other
great teachers of those enlightened years. The opportunity is here for the next
Elwyn Richardson to make his/her mark!
Kelvin Smythe is publishing a folder called ‘The File’
which includes a wide range of articles that explore what he terms ‘holistic
education.’ I recommend it to you. For further information contact Kelvin on
kelvin.smythe@mail.com
I welcome suggested articles, so if you come across a gem, email
it to me at allanalach@inspire.net.nz
Find
Your Marigold: The One Essential Rule for New Teachers
‘Surround
yourself with good people.
By
finding the positive, supportive, energetic teachers in your school and
sticking close to them, you can improve your job satisfaction more than with
any other strategy. And your chances of excelling in this field will skyrocket.
Just like a young seedling growing in a garden, thriving in your first year
depends largely on who you plant yourself next to.’
We
are born creative geniuses and the education system dumbs us down, according to
NASA scientists
‘The
scientists then gave the test to 1,600 children between the ages of 4 and 5.
What they found shocked them. This is a test that looks at the ability to come
up with new, different and innovative ideas to problems. What percentage of
those children do you think fell in the genius category of imagination? A full
98 percent!’
Contributed by Bruce Hammonds:
Summer has arrived - time to go outdoors. Some ideas to
consider
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| Cicada - sounds of summer |
‘The sooner students develop an awareness of their
environment , and in the process learn to love and respect it, the sooner they
will see the need to sustain and protect it. As the future generation they will
need to see it as the number one world problem.’
The Feynman Technique: The Best Way to Learn Anything
How can you adapt this for your classroom?
When Success Leads to Failure
The pressure to achieve academically is a crime against
learning.
‘The truth—for this parent and so many others—is this: Her
child has sacrificed her natural curiosity and love of learning at the altar of
achievement, and it’s our fault. Marianna’s parents, her teachers, society at
large—we are all implicated in this crime against learning. From her first day
of school, we pointed her toward that altar and trained her to measure her
progress by means of points, scores, and awards.’
'Too much control': Pasi Sahlberg on what Finland can
teach Australian schools
Pasi Sahlberg from Finland gives advice to Australia (applies
to NZ as well ?)
“Maybe the key for Australia is loosening up a little bit,
less top down control and a bit more professional autonomy for teachers,” he
says. Maybe the problem is that things
are tied up in a system that is not able to be flexible enough for teachers. “Maybe
there is not enough trust in Australia in good teachers.”
After 100 Years of the Same Teaching Model It’s Time to
Throw Out the Playbook
‘The transmission model of education is still the
name of the game, although in some circles there are signs of its erosion.
I would like to take you on a journey in this post,
starting from the 1950s banking model (Freire, 1968) of instructional design,
before comparing it to my own schooling experiences as a digital native at the
turn of the century. Then, finally, I would like to share my vision for C21
learning, and propose some ways that we can move forward so that we are meeting
the needs of today.’
It’s OK to Say No
For those of you starting off in a new school:
'Because the first year in a new role is a whirlwind, it’s
easy to lose track of why you decided to take on the challenging role of
educator. It’s easy to get discouraged with the many tasks and the overall
state of being busy. I’ve learned to take time to center myself and remember
why I’m doing the work I’m doing. Some might do more formal mediation or even
reflective journaling.
Sometimes teachers take on so much work that they lose
their sense of purpose. Here are a few steps you can take to avoid that.’
Students Share The Downside Of Being Labeled ‘Gifted’
‘When growth mindset was still a fairly new concept in the
education world, many teachers of gifted children saw its potential with that
population, who often feel they’ve gained a special status for being smart. It’s
not uncommon for gifted students to fear failure more than other students
because they feel they have more to lose.’
From Bruce’s ‘goldie
oldies’ file:
Placing in depth inquiry learning first!
‘Creative teachers have always placed developing authentic
realistic and first hand experiences followed by creative expression through
the arts central to their programmes .Important to such teachers was the need
to provide opportunities to develop all the innate gifts and talents of their
students.’
What the modern world has forgotten about children and
teaching, and solutions to ensure all students learn
‘Modern Western learning and teaching based on 'collecting
data on human learning of children's behaviour in school is like collecting
data on killer whales based on their behaviour at Sea World.’
The rise and fall and rise again of teacher expertise
‘To see changes sometimes you to have to stand back at a
distance and look for patterns. It is the same as with the difference between
the weather and a storm – when you are in the middle of a storm it is hard to
work out what is the weather pattern is. The same applies in education. Many
people think major educational changes started in 1986 with Tomorrow’s Schools.
This of course it not true. It was more just another nail in the coffin of
creative teachers.’
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