Education
Readings
This week featuring Sir Ken Robinson
By Allan Alach
I welcome suggested articles, so if you come across a gem, email
it to me at allanalach@inspire.net.nz
Here are some links
to acknowledge Sir Ken Robinson who is currently in New Zealand.
Sir Ken Robinson: creative thought leader in education
Interview on Radio New Zealand on Sunday 4th March.
Summerhill School: learning as students choose
Sir Ken referenced this school in his interview, so here is
an interview with Zoe
Readhead, daughter of A.S. Neill - a must listen.
‘Summerhill is an alternative free school in Suffolk,
England, started by educational leader A.S. Neill in 1921. The pupils are free
to come to lessons as they choose, and students and teachers have an equal
voice in decision making.’
Ken Robinson: Government “Standardization” Blocks
Innovative Education Reform
“I never blame teachers or schools… But there is this
deadly culture of standardizing, that’s being pushed on them, politically. My
core message here is that we have to personalize education, not standardize it.
That all children are different, and we have to find their talents and
cultivate them.”
Do Schools Kill Creativity?
If you’ve never watching Sir Ken Robinson’s Ted Talk from
2006, or if you’ve not seen it for a
while, here it is. Either way, it is a must watch.
Sir Ken Robinson - Can Creativity Be Taught?
Links to many other Sir Ken videos can also be found here.
“Modern ADHD Epidemic is Fiction” – Ken Robinson
‘Our children are living in the most intensive stimulating
period in the history of the earth. They’re being besieged with information and
coerced for attention from every platform: computers, from IPhones, from
advertising hoardings, from hundreds of television channels. And we’re
penalizing them now for getting distracted. From what? Boring stuff. At school,
for the most part. It seems to me not a coincidence, totally, that the instance
of ADHD has risen in parallel with the growth of the standardized testing. Now
these kids are being given Ritalin and Aderol and all manner of things, often
quite dangerous drugs, to get them focused and calm them down… It’s a fictitious
epidemic.'
Moving on:
Does
writing by hand still matter in the digital age?
Technology is having an impact on children’s handwriting ability.
But what does this mean for learning and development?
‘But
what of the role that handwriting plays in learning and development? And with
technology changing how we live and work, what place does handwriting have in
the modern classroom? These were the questions put to the teachers, academics
and specialists in education and technology at the Guardian’s roundtable event
on 27 February.’
But
is there even a correct way to hold a pen?
‘It's
true that handwriting employs our hand muscles differently from the swiping and
tapping motions we use to navigate the online world of today.
But
when it comes to scrawling words on the page, the idea of 'correct' pencil
grasp is actually way older than the iPhone - and science shows that there
appears to be more than one way to correctly hold a pen.'
Arts
integration: Turning teaching on its head
‘Sometimes
the arts are used alongside a lesson being taught – for
Contributed by Bruce Hammonds:
Learning
from one of New Zealand's pioneer teacher - Elwyn Richardson
(Author
of 'In The Early World ' possibly the best book written about education
anywhere. ..)
Bruce’s article here is the perfect follow-on from the Sir Ken
Robinson links and shows a way to Elwyn Richardson took creative primary education to a new
and, I suspect, still unsurpassed level. long before Sir Ken's rise to fame.
‘Elwyn
expressed concern that due to learning becoming over intellectualized ( and
therefore available to be assessed), that intuitive thought was in danger of
being neglected. There was, he felt, a danger of learning becoming too
conceptualized and that this would result in damaging students' intuition and
creativity. That it would result in the neglect or downplaying of the creative
arts.’
Bill Gates Admits His Common Core Experiment Is A Failure
This comes on the heels of New Zealand abandoning their
rather similar national standards. Maybe non-educators should stick to their
knitting…
‘
After spending $400 million on forcing schools around the
country to adopt Common Core, Bill Gates has finally admitted that the
controversial teaching method is a failure, and significantly less effective
than traditional teaching methods.
 |
| Wrong Bill Gates |
Parents and teachers across the nation have been urging
schools to dump the toxic Common Core curriculum, arguing that it
deliberately dumbs down children and creates unnecessary and complicated
methods for working out relatively simple problems.’
Assessment in the early years…
‘A recent story I heard talked about a display that pitted
children against each other in a race to be
From Bruce’s ‘goldie
oldies’ file:
Here’s a collection
of all Bruce’s articles about Sir Ken Robinson.
Out of Our Minds
‘A book to read for all who believe in creative education.
'Out of Our Minds' by Sir Ken Robinson. Introductory keynote speaker at the 07
NZPPF Conference to be held in Auckland.’
Importance of Creativity
'Sir Ken talks about the importance of nurturing
innovative solutions in the classrooms - indeed in every aspect of life. Sir
Ken is now senior adviser to the Paul Getty Trust and was knighted in 2003 for
his commitment to the creative arts and education in the UK. is set to become the 'buzz' word of the
future. Sir Ken sees creativity as essential for students as they seek jobs in
the future.’
‘Creative Schools’ a book by Sir Ken Robinson
‘A must read for anyone who believes in an education system
that aims at developing the gifts and talents of all students. Read this
article about Sir Ken's latest book My plea is for creative teachers,
particularly those in New Zealand, to share this with as many teachers and
schools as they can because the message is so important.’
The need to transform schools – Sir Ken Robinson
‘One writer school leaders could get behind to give
support is Sir Ken Robinson who is well known to many schools. And there are
many others. It is also ironic that while Western countries follow neo liberal
ideology leading to testing, standardization and privatization Asian counties
are working hard to break out of high stake testing and introduce more
creativity into their systems!’
National Standards gone – now it’s time for creativity
says Sir Ken
‘The previous Nationals
Government was right in believing schools should do a lot better. No
Sir Ken Robinson and Tony Wagner
‘While schools are distracted by ensuring they are seen to
do well in achieving / improving their National Standards and NCEA data they
are creating the very hyper-accountability conditions that make it difficult
for creative teachers.’
Time for teachers to escape the National Standards box - time for teachers to be creative!
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