National Standards - patching the Titanic!!!

The difficult times we are going through are not the time for timid or reactionary thinking - now is the time for new ideas, structures and transformational ways of thinking. If all we do is bail out failing structures nothing really will change. The Titanic sinking marked the beginning of the end for sea liners but they were finished off when big planes took over.I was recently sent an article about the US Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, making one of his top priorities national standards to replace the hodgepodge of benchmark testing of the various states.And this on top of the failing No Child Left Behind testing! He wants better tests to replace the current bad ones!More recently I listened to Sir Ken Robinson, a international expert...

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Posted in: Big Picture,change,Creative teaching Educationalists,Leadership,national standards,Personalized Learning,Rants and Raves,teaching and learning

We want the 'wow factor'( back)!

Illustration from a Guardian article 26th May 09 showing the teacher with her class cooking Chinese food as part of a literacy lesson based on a Chinese story.It seemed , for a while, that New Zealand, with its 'new' 07 curriculum, was a leader in the creative educational field. That vision has been put on hold by the new government's plan to impose National Standards on primary schools. The imposition of National Standards , a concept already shown to be failing in the UK and the US, will have the effect of distracting teacher energy away from implementing the 'new ' curriculum and, more disturbing, could lead to the development of 'league tables'. We are becoming followers of failed imported ideas again!Ironically, in the UK, a new creative...

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Posted in: Big Picture,Creative teaching,Personalized Learning,Rants and Raves,teaching and learning

The killing of creativity by the technocrats.

John Hattie, professor of education Auckland University, confidante of the present Minister of Education. Is his influence undermining the creativity of our teachers?Kelvin Smythe thinks so and, after visiting a number of classrooms, I have to agree with him. Read Kelvin's full article on his site.As I visit classrooms I have become increasingly concerned about the use of a number of strategies as defined by John Hattie and promulgated by the contracted advisers spreading the word about his 'best practices'.Somehow, just because Hattie has amalgamated every piece of 'school effectiveness' research available ( mainly it seems from the USA) his findings, it seems, ought to be taken for read. The opposite ought to be the case - we need to be...

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Posted in: Assessment,Big Picture,Leadership,Ministry NZCurric,national standards,Rants and Raves,teaching and learning

Tapping into the student's world

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.The idea of school that many people have, unfortunately including many teachers, a place where students come to learn. Such people see children as not knowing much and school is the place where they will learn what is required as defined by adults who presume to know.There are those of course who have the opposite view that from birth children are programmed...

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Posted in: Creative teaching,Personalized Learning,teaching and learning

Written in 76 - so what is new?

A display featuring work from students studying the symbolism of Churches. After visiting local churches students researched famous churches from around the world. This was typical of the teachers I worked with in 1976. The background made up of potato prints. Teacher John Cunningham.I was visiting a school recently and while looking at their teacher resource shelf I came across an NZEI Yearbook No 6 published in 1976.I remembered that one of the writers ( John Clough) had included some words from me in his article so it was interesting to read what I was saying in 1976.As is aways the case the author was commenting on the need for schools to change to cope with the future that lay ahead of the students. After reading the artice, full of exiting...

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Posted in: Creative teaching,Rants and Raves,teaching and learning

Fundamentals in education

Ask most people what they would consider fundamental in education and they would probably say 'the three Rs' or, in,today's, speak literacy and numeracy. Certainly this is the view of our current conservatist government. But , like most simplistic answers , if people give the question more thought, more enlightened answers come to mind. Learning to interpret and express ideas about ones experiences is the basis of all learning from the moment one is born. As in the illustration we all see and interpret our world idiosyncratically - that is until we get to school! Loss of identify is the cause of school failure as much as is lack of ability in literacy and numeracy - identity is developed out of the experiences we have for better or worse....

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Posted in: Big Picture,change,Creative teaching,Creativity,Rants and Raves,teaching and learning

Artistry versus conformity in teaching.

Over the decades I have had the privilege of working alongside several very creative teachers. Teachers who had the wit and skill ( or artistry) to take advantage of teachable moments and use them to enlarge their students' awareness, skill and knowledge. One such teacher was Bill Guild, long since retired but still learning! A dead (and smelly) wasp nest provides opportunity for observation , investigation and inference as well as creative language and art.Creativity is at risk in our schools today. Not that it was ever valued much by those whose natural inclination is to stick to the tried and true.Today 'best practice' rules supreme as teachers follow suggestions to try to direct their students' learning by the use of defining intentions,...

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Posted in: Big Picture,Creative Schools,Creative teaching,Creativity,national standards,Personalized Learning,Rants and Raves,teaching and learning

Whose learning is it?

This painting, featured on the cover of Elwyn Richardson's wonderful book 'In The Early World', is a good example of expression based of the real life experience of the student involved. Such personal paintings are no longer common in our schools; even personal writing about felt experiences no longer feature. The curriculum of the school now seems to belong to the teacher but this begs the question: whose education is it? Elwyn's inspirational book is still available from the NZCER.My regular visits to classrooms over the years has brought to my attention that the default mode of most teachers centres around ensuring their students can show evidence of achievement in literacy and numeracy. Nothing wrong with this except that there are other...

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Posted in: Big Picture,Creative teaching,inquiry learning,Integrated Learning,Personalized Learning,School Vision,teaching and learning