Education Readings - fighting for creative education in the face of politically imposed standardisation.

By Allan Alach

I welcome suggested articles, so if you come across a gem, email it to me at allanalach@inspire.net.nz

 Why America’s obsession with STEM education is dangerous

 Steve Jobs: Technology alone is not enough

Other countries who are being sucked into STEM need to take note.

“A broad general education helps foster critical thinking and creativity. Exposure to a variety of fields produces synergy and cross fertilization. Yes, science and technology are crucial components of this education, but so are English and philosophy. When unveiling a new edition of the iPad, Steve Jobs explained that “it’s in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough — that it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the result that makes our hearts sing.”’

http://wapo.st/1Ei8rIT

Weapons of maths destruction: are calculators killing our ability to work it out in our head?

It’s not the calculators that is the problem…

“Sadly, the potential for calculators to transform school mathematics and enhance our facility with mental arithmetic is not being achieved. We are not being provided with opportunities to solve real and interesting mathematical problems in the most effective ways”

http://bit.ly/1TbUBE0

How The Ballpoint Pen Killed Cursive

Interesting.

“Sassoon’s analysis of how we’re taught to hold pens makes a much stronger case for the role of the ballpoint in the decline of cursive. She explains that the type of pen grip taught in contemporary grade school is the same grip that’s been used for generations, long before everyone wrote with ballpoints. However, writing with ballpoints and other modern pens requires that they be placed at a greater, more upright angle to the paper—a position that’s generally uncomfortable with a traditional pen hold.”

http://theatln.tc/1MUTKSO

A New Kind of Social Anxiety in the Classroom

“Kids who constantly use phones and computers tend to be more nervous in face-to-face conversations. What can teachers do to help?”

http://theatln.tc/1JDSYIR

Making and the Reggio Emilia Approach: Making the Connection

“The Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education places among the children an atelierista with two primary responsibilities: to conduct deep observation of the patterns in each child’s growth and use these observations to lead children into the process of the artist. Atelieristas often refer to this process as the “aesthetic dimension,” full of desire for meaning, curiosity and wonder.”

http://stanford.io/1LEEiZv

Alfie Kohn

Four Reasons to Worry About “Personalized Learning”

Alfie Kohn deconstructing the corporate view of “Personalized Learning”:

“Certain forms of technology can be used to support progressive education, but meaningful (and truly personal) learning never requires technology. Therefore, if an idea like personalization is presented from the start as entailing software or a screen, we ought to be extremely skeptical about who really benefits”

http://bit.ly/1KvV3sQ

This week’s contributions from Bruce Hammonds:

Putting the Passion in Project-Based Learning

“How do we as teachers get our students to define their own driving questions? One way is by pairing design thinking with project-based learning. If you want students to develop leadership, confidence, and solid core content knowledge, then this is a strategy that works “learning miracles.”Students crave assignments that are relevant to them. That’s why project-based learning is the best way to get students to take control of their learning. Here are some keys to getting the most out of project-based learning.”

http://bit.ly/1V5CvBk

Most Likely to Succeed,’ by Tony Wagner and Ted Dintersmith

New York Times review of Tony Wagner’s excellent book  is well worth a read

Tony Wagner

‘“Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era,” by Tony Wagner and Ted Dintersmith — argues that the only way to ensure any kind of future security for our children is to totally upend the education system and rethink what school is for.Many of the disruptions the authors suggest — an interdisciplinary approach; hands-on, project-based learning; student-directed curriculums — are already in place in some of the country’s best schools. Less convincing is the assumption that undergirds this whole tract: that every person can — or should — be molded into an entrepreneur.’

http://nyti.ms/1JR1kPk

Why Ed Tech Is Not Transforming How Teachers Teach

“A mountain of evidence indicates that teachers have been painfully slow to transform the ways they teach, despite that massive influx of new technology into their classrooms. The student-centered, hands-on, personalized instruction envisioned by ed-tech proponents remains the exception to the rule.”

http://bit.ly/1MSwtTa

Golden Rules for Engaging Students in Learning Activities

“Research suggests that considering the following interrelated elements when designing and implementing learning activities can increase student engagement behaviourally, emotionally, and cognitively, thereby positively affecting academic achievement.”

http://bit.ly/1htKauQ

Igniting Student Engagement: A Roadmap for Learning

More good advice on engaging students.

“Here are three practices that, when incorporated by teachers, offer entry points for students to invest in their learning.”

http://bit.ly/1PCvl4j

Know that you have it: Keys to self-driven, self-loving, self-supporting education

“In life and learning, sometimes it isn’t what we know, but knowing that we have it that makes the difference. How can we cultivate an education system that values both how we feel and behave, as much as what we “know?” Imagine if you went into school every day and learned, along side your core studies, how to listen, communicate, and collaborate; how to honor each other; how to see the best in each other. The possibilities are endless.”

http://bit.ly/1UQWc30

From Bruce’s ‘goldie oldies’ file:

Negotiating the Curriculum

“In the Australian book 'Negotiating the Curriculum, edited by Garth Boomer,  four steps are suggested to negotiate a study with students applicable for any level of schooling. Essentially it is an inquiry model that emphasizes valuing the 'voice' of students in the their own learning. It is very much in line with the 'co- constructivist' teaching philosophy.The four steps outlined below are premised that the study has not yet been widely accepted by the students. In this situation the teacher and the learners should ask four questions and together negotiate the answers. This is essentially about power sharing leaving the agency for learning in the hands of the students.”

http://bit.ly/1Kc8Kd3

And further ideas:

How to engage students - advice from the experts!

“Engaging students at the year 7 to 10 year age groups seems to be a growing challenge worldwide as non 'academic' students are finding their learning boring or irrelevant. The obvious answer would seem to be to ask the experts themselves - the students!

This is what was done by the innovative Australian project 'Negotiating the Curriculum' of the early 80s edited by Garth Boomer.”

http://bit.ly/1KmYPmk

Transform schools or exclude students

Either we transform schools or exclude disengaged students.

“On Sunday night TV One a play, 'Ahead of the Class', based on the true story of how Lady Marie

A scene from the play

Stubbs turned around a notorious school in South London was shown; this school, no doubt, had more than it's fair share of suspended students; the previous principal had been murdered by a pupil! The play faced up to the challenge of ‘turned off’ learners that face too many of our secondary schools. And it also faced up to a staff who had accepted that the problem lay with the students.”

http://bit.ly/1KPzEeo

Inquiry driven classrooms - worth fighting for in this era of standardized teaching.

Looking back the majority of 'our' blogs are about education generally but in my experience the blogs that are really appreciated by classroom teachers are the practical inquiry ones; ones with their genesis in real class programmes.

I am not sure in recent years  if New Zealand primary classrooms have made  grounds  making inquiry central to their classrooms, particularly  since the introduction of National Standards.

The standards have been a regressive influence in schools resulting in a a greater emphasis on literacy and numeracy, all too often disconnected from the inquiry programme and that this emphasis has all but sidelined the potentially exciting 2007 New Zealand Curriculum. 

It seems that one result of the the Standards has been to greater emphasis  on  ability grouping and in some cases setting or grouping students across classrooms - both with well researched negative consequences.  of negative attitudes for students in the 'lower' groups.

National Standards

I ,however,  do know of a number individual teachers who still make inquiry central to all they do and am even aware of a few schools who develop inquiry programmes across all their classes. One such school is Mt Eden Normal another is Opunake Primary School.

As one educationalist says 'inquiry is a disposition' - one  at risk in our increasingly  standardized formulaic system. Children are born with a disposition to question , inquire and make sense of their experiences. That s many students lose this disposition is to a large degree the fault of schooling.

Sir Paul Callahan

Recently I listened to a secondary student on National Radio  who had won the recent Paul Callahan science prize for her work researching neurology. The late Paul Calllahan believed that developing the talents of all New Zealanders the key to the future success of New Zealand.

The student interviewed outlined the inquiry/research process she made use of .I thought , as I was listening, that her process was one that would apply to any level of education.

 I would see the process as:

Get the children to list or mindmap areas they would like to research. What things concern them? What things do they want to learn more about? What interests do they want to learn more about? This is essentially the process outlined by American Middle School educator James Beane.

From such ideas a class could select theme to explore and then break into small groups to research. 

Maybe this would be a good idea for the first project to model the inquiry/research process and following this individual or small group research studies. The ideas are outlined in this link about a Space Study.

This is essentially Problem Based Learning. It is the same process as developing an exhibit for a science, maths or technology project. It is also a similar model to the NZ Learning in Science Model.

It is also personalized learning or talent based learning (and covers the ideas of multiple intelligences)

Students would need to present their research proposal to the class/teacher for their input/approval.

The secondary student mentioned her fellow students used ‘flipped learning’  ( using sites such as  the Kahn Academy  and by the critical use of Google. Her success was based on  the way she  questioned and added her personal ideas to what she discovered.

Such skills ideally would be developed during the literacy programmes.

The students in her class then had to present their ideas using whatever ICT media they thought best.

One again such ICT skills could well be developed through the literacy programme.

Their final work was presented to outside experts where students had to' defend' and explain their findings  

Final work  could be added to their digital portfolios 

The process the secondary student outlines was essentially the process creative primary teachers used for decades. Such teachers developed their rooms as communities of scientists and artists who explore ideas of interests in the process integrating appropriate Learning Areas. 

This education as outlined by educationalist John Dewey and put into practice by such teachers as New Zealand's Elwyn Richardson. Such teaching is now at risk of being lost by the focus on National Standards and the proposed heavy handed politically inspired Ministry Communities of Schools unless  of course they focused on developing true inquiry based learning focusing developing the gifts and talents of all students.

Post script

Here is an excellent link to developing an inquiry based classroom.

Elwyn Richardson developed his class as a community of scientists and artists

  

Education Readings - for creative teachers who want to fight back

By Allan Alach

I welcome suggested articles, so if you come across a gem, email it to me at allanalach@inspire.net.nz

When Knowledge Is Unforgettable: Adults remember more of what they learned in school than they think they do.

“Education-policy debates tend to focus on structural issues—things like teacher quality, licensure requirements, and laws governing charter schools. But research on human memory indicates that academic content and the way it is sequenced—i.e., curriculum—are vital determinants of educational outcomes, and they’re aspects that receive insufficient attention. In other words, perhaps what matters most after all isn’t mental exercise.”

http://theatln.tc/1NcNIyi

Bedtime Stories for Young Brains

“The different levels of brain activation, he said, suggest that children who have more practice in developing those visual images, as they look at picture books and listen to stories, may develop skills that will help them make images and stories out of words later on.”

http://nyti.ms/1MuWFS4

Taking Notes: Is The Pen Still Mightier Than the Keyboard?

This topic has been covered in earlier readings but is worth revisiting, especially as it ends up discussing the use of images in note taking - the obvious connection being Tony Buzan’s Mind Maps.

“While unconventional, drawing as note-taking makes sense based on memory research, which shows that if multiple ideas can be condensed into an image, the brain stores all those related ideas as one. The image acts as a zip drive for multiple ideas, helping to fit more into the limited short term memory.”

http://bit.ly/1gVAqst

Want to Reform Education? Let Teachers Teach.

Not rocket science, is it?

“Tinkering with assessments is just rearranging the deck furniture on the titanic failure of education reform. Real education reform will come when, and only when, we address poverty, fund schools properly and honor the teaching profession with good pay and the respect teachers deserve.”

http://huff.to/1Dypz2t

Why young kids need less class time — and more play time — at school

The importance of play has been covered in a number of previous readings - here’s another excellent article.

“It seems counter-intuitive to think that less classroom time and more outdoor play would lead to a better education for kids. But longer time on task doesn’t equate to better results, only greater burnout. For years, educators have tried different unsuccessful strategies – more testing, more instruction– to reverse these trends. The answer, however, is not more class time. It’s more play.”

http://wapo.st/1WIPHO7

What do Students Lose by Being Perfect? Valuable Failure

Teachers know this, but do parents and wider community?

“Many educators already know this, but what to do about it? Educators can play a crucial part in

helping kids to get comfortable with failure, which Lahey calls “autonomy-supportive teaching” and goes hand-in-hand with “autonomy-supportive parenting.” She says there are ways educators can encourage parents to let go, and here are a few.”

http://bit.ly/1HQ6Jig

How a Moveable Space Can Ignite Creativity in the Classroom

“Rethinking learning environments will play an important role in education in the years to come. Are you rehashing old models or covering new ground? Everyone who cares deeply about education wants to find creative ways to engage the next generation of learners. The thinking about these

spaces will continue to evolve and change as we try them out and learn from these experiences. This is the design-thinking process for creating the next generation of learning environments.”

http://bit.ly/1Jyzszk

Why You Shouldn't Waste Your Time With 'Learning Styles’

This topic has been covered several times in previous lists, but it’s worth highlighting it again.

“In the future, someone may prove that learning style practices are effective. In the meantime, learning is too important to gamble with something that might work. Use methods that we know do work.”

http://bit.ly/1hB2UZq

This week’s contributions from Bruce Hammonds:

Inquiry-Based Learning in the Science Classroom 

“Beginning with a central question and driven by curiosity and personal passions, science students at Casey Middle seek answers through research, experimentation, and data analysis.”

http://bit.ly/1Kwra5H

When Educators Make Space For Play and Passion, Students Develop Purpose

“Harvard education specialist Tony Wagner has been advocating that we reinvent the education system to promote innovation for years. He’s clear that content should no longer be at the centre of school. Instead, he says a teacher’s main job should be to help

students develop key skills necessary for when they leave school. Take 15 minutes to watch his TED Talk – it would make a great staff  or parent meeting.”

http://bit.ly/1OAkI12

Employers’ Challenge to Educators: Make School Relevant to Students’ Lives

“Business leaders and economic thinkers are worried that today’s students aren’t leaving school with the skills they’ll need to succeed in the workplace. They are looking for applicants who show individuality, confidence in their abilities, ability to identify and communicate their strengths, and who are capable of thinking on their feet.”

http://bit.ly/1KaPbTP

From Bruce’s ‘goldie oldies’ file:

'Crap detecting’

The need for a ‘crap detector’ – good advice from Ernest Hemingway.

“An interviewer once asked the late Ernest Hemingway to identify the characteristics of a great writer. The interviewer asked, ‘Isn’t there any one essential ingredient that you can identify?’ Hemingway replied, ‘Yes there is. In order to be a great writer a person must have a built in, shockproof ‘crap detector’.Hemingway identified the essential future survival strategy and the essential function of schools today. New ideas have only ever been developed when people have challenged faulty assumptions and ideas.”

http://bit.ly/1WDbCGv

Tapping into the student's world

Value students ideas

“Every student brings with them memories and ideas gained from the experiences they have had. All too often this personal form of motivation is overlooked by teachers who seem to think they have better ideas to use - their own. It is as if students come to school as blank slates ( tabula rosa) when instead they come with a wealth of ideas to share but to do their ideas need to be valued.”

http://bit.ly/1LwCrc8

Creating conditions to 'invite' growth

Create conditiopns for growth

“If teachers really thought hard about the conditions that students, as living being, need to develop their learning potential then we wouldn’t have so many disenchanted or, worse still, alienated students.We spent too much time wishing some students were different and not enough on making learning 'inviting'.According to Carol Anne Tomlinson, an American Educator, expert in differentiating learning, students care about learning when their teachers ‘invite them to learn’ by meeting their students’ needs for:‘affirmation, contribution, purpose, power and challenge in the classroom’.”

http://bit.ly/1WRrHsn

Education is about playing the whole game

“'Making Learning Whole', written by David Perkins is a book all schools ought to acquire  because it will certainty help them focus their teaching to integrate skills to ensure all their students are equipped with the dispositions to thrive in an unknown future.It is certainly aligned with the intent of the 'new' New Zealand Curriculum and provides practical ideas to implement it.”

http://bit.ly/1PxqsZB

Kowhai and Whitebait mini integrated units

Get students to observational drawing

Research the Tui

Graph average number of seeds in pods

When I was a school science adviser helping teachers make use of the immediate natural environment was and important aspect of my job. Then as  a teacher making use of the immediate environment was a feature of my classroom.

 In later years ( still a long time ago) ,as a school principal, I used to pass out to teachers ideas for environmental studies.

One  of the most valuable handouts were ideas to make use of the spring flowering of the Kowhai one of New Zealand's iconic trees. 

What would be others?

As it is in full flower at present there may be New Zealand teachers who might find the ideas useful

An adult iuanga - whitebait

Another useful idea was studying whitebait.

As it is  currently the whitebait season and they make a relevant natural science and sustainability study.

An interesting life cycle

Be interesting to research other animal with interesting life cycles - eels for example.

Be interesting to do an  environmental audit of your school  to note possible  studies.

Spring bulbs and flowers are other good study ideas.

Such studies  were once a common feature of New Zealand schools.

Education Readings for creative teachers - Carol Dweck and the 'growth mindset' and banana theory.

By Allan Alach

I welcome suggested articles, so if you come across a gem, email it to me at allanalach@inspire.net.nz

I know what I like

Self determined learners

Here’s your new word for the week: heutagogy.

'We live in a rapidly changing world that requires people to have the ability to adapt much more quickly than in previous times, where events moved much more slowly. Education is not immune from these changes even though it is an inherently conservative system. In the face of significant innovation in educational practice and as espoused in self-determined learning (heutagogy) and other perspectives, there are new skills to adopted by learners and learning leaders alike.' 

http://bit.ly/1Pqq5AK

Learning spaces: The subconscious teacher

Space to explore

“The spaces we inhabit have a profound effect on how we inhabit them. Space induces a particular way of feeling, of being. What are we saying to our children with we line them up in 5×8 rows facing the same direction toward a voice of authority? What do we say about desks that lock us in place, where the majority of movement within our gaze is eyes forward, eyes down?”

http://bit.ly/1LcKvhW

“Sit Still and Face Forward”: How the Myth of Teacher Control Undermines Classroom Management

Good article on that essential teacher attribute - helping children manage their behaviour.

“Because teachers are responsible for the behavior in their classrooms, we fall into the trap of believing that they (we) can control the behavior in their (our) classrooms. The reality is that no human being can control the behavior of any other human being. We can attempt to influence it, certainly. Offers of rewards or threat of punishment might influence people’s choices, as do respect, trust, and good relationships. But even young children are still able to make choices about their behavior.”

http://bit.ly/1IRyubY

The Common Core Can't Speed Up Child Development

This article is about the USA; however it’s transferable to all countries using a standards based education system.

“Educational attainment is part of human development, and fundamentally this is

Common core doesn't suit all

a biological process that cannot be sped up. We cannot wish away our biological limitations because we find them inconvenient. Children will learn crawling, walking, listening, talking and toilet training, all in succession at developmentally appropriate ages.

Once in school, for skills that require performing a physical task, that are in what

Bloom's Taxonomy classifies as the "psychomotor domain," it is understood that

children will only learn when they are physically and developmentally ready.”

http://bit.ly/1HN1kbE

The “Mindset” Mindset

This is a must read - Alfie Kohn’s observations on Carol Dweck’s ‘growth mindset.”

“Even when a growth mindset doesn’t make things worse, it can help only so much if students have been led — by things like grades, tests, and, worst of all, competition — to become more focused on achievement than on the learning itself. Training them to think about effort more than ability does nothing to address the fact, confirmed by several educational psychologists, that too much emphasis on performance undermines intellectual engagement. Just as with praise, betting everything on a shift from ability to effort may miss what matters most.”

http://bit.ly/1MvZ5Bp

Carol Dweck

No Clarity Around Growth Mindset…Yet

Following on.

“So – is growth mindset the one concept in psychology which throws up gigantic effect sizes and always works? Or did Carol Dweck really, honest-to-goodness, make a pact with the Devil in which she offered her eternal soul in exchange for spectacular study results?

I don’t know. But here are a few things that predispose me towards the latter explanation. A warning – I am way out of my league here and post this only hoping it will spark further discussion.”

http://bit.ly/1Ewp0B4

Affirmative Testing Blog: What Students Do With Feedback

On the other hand, here’s Annie Murphy Paul’s observations on growth mindset.

“A passing acquaintance with the notion of mindset—though an excellent start—doesn’t fully convey the richness of Dweck’s idea, however. The influence of mindset shows up in students’ thinking and behavior in so many ways, one of which I want to focus on today. That is the effect of mindset on how students handle feedback.”

http://bit.ly/1I0jy9I

Sugata Mitra and the Hole in the Research

Some weeks back Mitra published research which showed that children, using the internet, could teach themselves at a level several years above their ages.

Well, not quite …

“You’ll forgive me for not being particularly impressed by hand-picked students taking part in a test where they’re made to feel special, given a thin slice of a syllabus to work on, and then tested for that exact piece of syllabus…and then scaling up that work into a magic GCSE grade. Give me a page of quantum physics to memorise, then ask me about it. Can I have a PhD?”

http://bit.ly/1hhnoGv

This week’s contributions from Bruce Hammonds:

Start the School Year by "Awakening Your Dreamers”

Something to start the year but good for any time – awakening student dreams

“When your students return to the classroom this fall, how many will bring along the interests, talents, and dreams that inspired or delighted them over the summer months? Will they see any connection between school assignments and their own passions?”

http://bit.ly/1J5gJ9c

Kids Speak Out on Student Engagement

‘A while back, I was asked, "What engages students?" Sure, I could respond, sharing anecdotes about what I believed to be engaging, but I thought it would be so much better to lob that question to my own eighth graders. The responses I received from all 220 of them seemed to fall under 10 categories, representing reoccurring themes that appeared again and again. So, from the mouths of babes, here are my students' answers to the question: "What engages students?”’

http://bit.ly/1JtX9c5

Growth Mindset: How to Normalize Mistake Making and Struggle in Class

Is there anyone out there who hasn’t heard of Carol Dweck and the idea of ‘mindsets’?

“Carol Dweck’s research on growth mindset has become essential knowledge in education circles. The Stanford psychologist found that children who understand that their brains are malleable and can change when working through challenging problems can do better in school.”

    http://bit.ly/1ERVkOW

From Bruce’s ‘goldie oldies’ file:

Developing real literacy: Margaret Mahy

“Margaret Mahy, one of New Zealand’s most accomplished children’s writers says we are not changed by experiences as common wisdom has it. What changes us are the stories we tell about our experiences. ‘Unless we have formed our lives into story, structured it with words, we can’t contemplate the meaning of our lived experience’ This is done by turning the raw material of our life into stories, and in the process, ‘it can be creatively transformed and given meaning’.”

http://bit.ly/1PnOLKg

Developing natural learners

Natural born learners – before the word the experience . Have we forgotten this in our schools?

“Literacy is built out of, and from, the emotional or felt experiences children have as they play and explore their environments – preferably in the company of others and, even better, a perceptive adult.This understanding was the basis for the language arts experience that was as once such a feature of New Zealand Primary schools. The idea that early literacy should arise from children’s own thoughts from exploring their environment (and their own personal life experiences) was developed early in New Zealand.”

http://bit.ly/1TOyr5Y

Tomorrows Schools had their day?

“Good people poor system' it was said when the Labour Government introduced 'Tomorrows Schools' in the mid eighties. These changes were part of the transformation of the New Zealand's

economy under an ideology that came to be known as 'Market Forces'.School changes were 'sold' to the public as a means to develop greater community democratic control and authority over schools. In reality there was no real dissatisfaction or desire to change things at the time. It was later to be seen as part of the above ideology; all about the advantages of efficiency and competition.”

http://bit.ly/1IZCzL7

Don't touch the bananas!!!!

The power of culture – learning not to touch the bananas!

“It is always amazing to see how exposure to an environment, or culture, can change how we think without us even knowing – I guess this is called conditioning. New ideas always rely on those individuals who can see reality without the blinkers.”

http://bit.ly/1hLoV7C