Education Readings
By Allan Alach
I welcome suggested articles, so if you come
across a gem, email it to me at allanalach@inspire.net.nz
The education system would fall over without many hours of teacher
overtime. How long until this goodwill is withdrawn?
This article is from the UK; however it sure
applies to New Zealand, and, I suspect, to many
other countries as well.
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| Colin Harris - former primary principal |
‘There is no doubt that the vast majority of teachers do far more
work than they are either contracted or paid to do. Recent BBC research showed
that the average primary class teacher, if there is such a thing, worked 59
hours per week. If we consider that only 20 hours of this time is actually in
front of a class, then it means a phenomenal amount of time is spent on
preparation or marking or taking on the many additional responsibilities a
class teacher now has.’
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| Author Ron Ritchart |
How Clear Expectations Can Inhibit Genuine Thinking in Students
Time to rethink WALTs, learning outcomes, etc?
‘Karen did have very clear expectations, communicated effectively
and upheld relentlessly in an admirable fashion. But somehow these
expectations, the clearest manifestation of what Karen’s classroom was like, seemed
to be standing in the way of creating a culture of thinking. How could that be?
Why would having such clear expectations for students’ behavior and performance
inhibit their development as thinkers?’
The Bonus Effect
One Kind of Interest that Rewards Don’t Kill
Alfie Kohn:
‘Alas, too many parents, teachers, and
managers persist in treating people like pets, offering the equivalent of a
doggie biscuit to children, students, and employees in an effort to get them to
jump through hoops. (Rewards are tools used by people with more power on those
with less.) The more familiar you are with the mountain of research on this
topic, the more depressed you’ll be to find, for example, that schools continue
to rely on Skinnerian programs such as PBIS, Class Dojo, Accelerated Reader,
and the like. It’s not just that they’re manipulative, or
even that they’re ultimately unsuccessful. It’s that they’re actively harmful.’
Virtual Classrooms Can Be as Unequal as Real Ones
Online courses are praised for their potential to make education
accessible to everyone—but they’re leaving students behind.
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| Think harder Hekia |
So much for the latest brainwave from New
Zealand’s Minister of Education …
“The same factors that have held back low-income or minority
students in physical classrooms also plague virtual ones. Studies have found
that online-learning resources had trouble attracting low-income students—or,
in the case of school-age children, their parents—and that those who did
participate in online classes performed more poorly than their peers.”
Educational Malpractice – The Child Manufacturing Process
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| An educational 'product' |
‘Over the last decades, research in education and child development
indicates that the factory model is based on several faulty
assumptions. It assumes that learning can be measured by standardized tests,
and that all children will learn at the same rate and in the same manner. This
is just not true. The fact that children learn best when something is
meaningful, enjoyable and interesting for them is ignored. The importance of
learning in groups and from slightly older children is also not
considered relevant.’
Contributed by Bruce Hammonds:
Building Students' Cognitive Flexibility
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| Develop cognitive flexibility |
‘In today's world, the skillsets of cognitive flexibility are more
critical and valuable than ever before. These skillsets include:Open-minded
evaluation of different opinions, perspectives, and points of view.Willingness
to risk mistakes.Consideration of multiple ways to solve problems.Engagement in
learning, discovery, and problem solving with innovative creativity.’
Why Are Some People Better at Drawing than Others?
‘Since the dawn of human art-making, the divide has been clear:
There are people who can effortlessly sketch an object's likeness, and people
who struggle for hours just to get the angles and proportions right (by which
point the picture is scarred by eraser marks, anyway). What separates the
drawers from the drawer-nots?’
7 Simple Ways To Teach Creativity In The Classroom
‘In the 20th century creativity as valued in society as it is
today.It wasn’t important for landing a job, nor was it crucial for building a
successful business; the industrial revolution did emerge thanks to some
creative out-of-the-box thinking, but it was hard graft and monotonous work
that kept it alive and thriving.Skip forward to 2016 and creativity is a highly
prized trait. No longer can you depend on conventional thinking to get you by
in life; modern society demands ever more creative and innovation solutions —
and you’re students can be the ones to provide them.’
Our children aren't ready for class, so we are 'worldschooling' them
instead
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| 'Worldschooling' |
From Bruce’s ‘goldie oldies’ file:
Beautiful minds - 'in a world of their own’
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| Russell Crowe as John Nash |
Finding a real curriculum
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| My cat - as good as Picasso? |
Why are schools not implementing authentic inquiry learning? By Allan Alach
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| I wish I had a magic wand |
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