The #blimage challenge spreads

It is barely a week since the fabulous Amy Burvall and I started the #blimage challenge, and we are both just a little breathless as we watch how rapidly it is catching on. The challenge was just a little fun between the two of us at first. We didn't plan for it to become a global movement, but that seems to be the way #blimage is heading. In just 6 days, almost 100 edubloggers have taken up the challenge, and have then paid it forward to their colleagues and friends. There is now a Dutch language version called #blimageNL and a Spanish version (#blimageES set up by Juan Domingo) and other language versions will also follow. Who will be the first to set up a Japanese version #blimageJP or a German version #blimageDE or a French version #blimageFR?

We anticipate that #blimage will grow even wider in its influence, because it has an appeal for everyone who is thinking about education and learning. Ultimately, it's great to see how people are enjoying blogging about education, sharing their ideas, having fun with images, discussing their interpretations and generally connecting with each other in new ways. It has spread across all sectors of professional practice, from primary, secondary and tertiary education, into the workplace learning sector.

Here's the video Amy created to explain the #blimage challenge:



As Amy says, #blimage 'makes your brain dance with metaphorical thinking', it compels you to think more creatively, and I might add, it gets you involved in dialogue and connections with your personal learning network. Some educators are now blogging for the first time. Others have returned to sharing their ideas after a time away from blogging. Still others (like me) have discovered new and fascinating education blogs for the first time. The #blimage challenge exposes new ideas, new resources, and new people you really should get to know. It's about learning through storytelling, and this is lucidly explained by H J deWaard in an insightful post entitled Stories and Spaces within a #blimage Challenge. I would argue that this is learning technology at its very best.

Here are just a small selection of #blimage posts:

Space to make ideas your own by Jeff Merrell
Organic Growth by Andrew Jacobs
The #blimage challenge by Jane Bozarth
Fortunate Learning and Learning Fortunes by Sue Beckingham
Desks of Doom by David Hopkins
Taking up the #blimage challenge by Ignatia de Waard
Not just a waiting room by Rachel Challen
Human Writes by Simon Finch
It's only a jigsaw puzzle by Sandra Sinfield
Playing chess with the enemy by Steve Wheeler
Learning while wandering by Tracy Parish
The #blimage challenge by Charles Jennings
Learning in limbo by Wayne Barry
Time for a fresh perspective by Sukh Pabial
The colours of active learning by Anna Wood
Breaking bread with Steve Wheeler by Amy Burvall
The joy of learning #blimage by Jane Hart
The Web: Network, dreamcatcher, patterns by Whitney Kilgore
The #blimage challenge by Sheila MacNeill

You can see the diverse range of topics these bloggers have written about, inspired by the images they were sent. I'm looking forward now to seeing what the #blimage challenge will unearth next. Do visit the collection of #blimage posts and artefacts that are being collected on a Pinterest Board and a Flipboard, both set up by the marvellous Simon Ensor.  So please do take up the #blimage challenge yourself - and use the image above to inspire your next blog post. You never know where it might lead you!

Photo by Steve Wheeler


The #blimage challenge spreads by Steve Wheeler was written in Plymouth, England and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Playing chess with the enemy #blimage

Here's my latest contribution in the series of #blimage challenges. (Someone sends you an image and you write a blog post about learning based on it - that's the game of #blimage). This image was sent to me by Australian educator Aaron Davis (@mrkrndvs). So what do I make of it? How can I frame this image in an educational context?

It looks as though Bart Simpson is having a cup of coffee with Darth Vader (how surreal is that?). Maybe they have been playing a game of chess ala Seventh Seal (the film directed by Ingmar Bergman in which a medieval knight plays a game of chess with Death), and are now taking a break. Coffee or chess anyone?

Drinking coffee with the enemy is less risky than playing chess with him. Generally it's not as formal, and the rules assume less importance. Strategy is still involved in conversation, but its a different kind of strategy, low stakes. Playing chess with the enemy can be very dangerous because ultimately, it results in a winner and a loser. Chess could be a metaphor for formal education where testing separates those who are 'bright' from those who are 'not so bright'. Testing naturally promotes success, but it can also generate failure and stigma. Personally, I prefer the coffee drinking analogy, where everyone participates, and where there are no winners and losers, just a community of people, all interested in the same end. To learn as much as they can, and to share their ideas together, simply for the joy of learning. To me, this is the kind of learning you will see in schools where teachers take a back seat, and where students are assessed on a continuous and formative basis. There is plenty of latitude for improvement, and plenty of opportunities to learn better next time.

Drinking coffee with your enemy may also bring its own rewards. You get to know them better, and the more you discover, the more you are prepared to meet future challenges. That quite easily relates to he deployment (or not) of technology in schools. We should be preparing our students for challenges that are unpredictable, so exposing them to technologies such as the Web or social media at an early age, and in the safe environment of school has to make more sense than banning them completely.

...and what if you don't like coffee? Well you can always eat Bart's shorts.

Photo by Justlego101 on Flickr


Playing chess with the enemy by Steve Wheeler was written in Plymouth, England and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Real Education Still Matters: Exposing the Limits and Myths of 'Market Forces' Education.

I came across the below article recently and it seemed to me to sum up the situation we are increasingly finding ourselves in in New Zealand as we follow down  the United States and the United Kingdom 'market forces' ideology pathway.

I thought it worth sharing.

Progressive New Zealand educationalist Kelvin Smythe has long been a voice warning New Zealand teachers that humanistic purpose of education has been captured by a Neo- Liberal ( 'Market Forces'/ privatization) agenda

Kelvin recently wrote a couple of articles sharing his insights. In one he writes of a point in the 80s when education came to what he called 'point dot'( a bifurcation point)  when politicians took us down an anti education route.

In an early blog I shared ideas about a corporate takeover of education that has proved to be one of my most downloaded blogs. It is well worth a read.

 It worries me that too many schools/teachers seem to have learnt to live with this neo-liberal//corporate takeover - and far too many seem to simply accept  the situation and busy themselves looking after their own school's reputation - the competitive model in action.

This focusing on their own school's success has led them ignoring greater issues and worse still not being able to see through the myths underlying the imposed ideology and , even worse, have not taken leadership roles to promote a humanistic /creative education. Teachers and schools huddle in an intellectual Plato's cave admiring the shadows  without  having the courage to move out into the light.

The below article by Peter W. Cookson Jr  might throw more light on the subject. 

The author explores the origins and myths of neo-liberal educational policies ( 'educational instrumentalism') and suggests positive alternatives.

(Cite This Article as: Teachers College Record, Date Published: July 13, 2015

http://www.tcrecord.org ID Number: 18025, Date Accessed: 7/17/2015 7:00:08 PM)

The rise of instrumentalism in education.

In the last three decades, the dominant narrative concerning the purposes of education has become increasingly narrowed and instrumental (Apple, 1995; Anyon, 2005). Those of us who believe in the intrinsic value of education, experiential learning, and free inquiry are facing a historical transition from a tradition that values

Michael Apple

education as transformation and enlightenment to a new conceptualization that conceives of learning as serving the market with little regard for freedom of thought or originality (Cookson, 1992). 

I call this movement educational instrumentalism because it elevates the quantifiable “products” of education such as paper credentials and time spent in school above the complex, adventurous, and rebellious processes that characterize transformative education (Greene, 1988). Traditionally, education has been seen as a vocation or a calling. Educational instrumentalism takes a different view—education’s purpose is preparation for employment and little else (Tucker, 2014).

In this commentary, it is argued that educational instrumentalism can cause a turning away from the deeper democratic and transformative purposes of education. Like those imprisoned in Plato’s Cave, learners who do not have the opportunity to experience free inquiry are vulnerable to the one-dimensional images and stereotypes produced by much of the media and publishing world. The learner is hobbled, even crippled, as she or he travels the developmental

Time to see the light!

path of self-discovery and critical consciousness. This disempowering of mind produces tunnel social vision (Dewey, 1910/1991; Freire, 1970/1993; Berlin, 1996).

Educational instrumentalism is the background metaphor and rationale of much of contemporary educational policy discussions whether we look at much of the standards movement, the education “any-time, any-place” movement, or the top down reform movement embraced by many influential policy makers (Engel, 2000; Berliner & Biddle, 1995).

Thus, the demystification of the assumptions behind educational instrumentalism is not solely academic, it is essential if the deeper purposes of education are to be preserved. Below, I examine the assumptions and contradictions underlying educational instrumentalism, demystify some of its assumptions about learning, and conclude with an alternative argument—real education still matters. 

The roots and contradictions of educational instrumentalism.  

The indispensable assumptions upon which educational instrumentalism rests are possessive individualism, and the conviction that the maximization of marketable talents in service to personal accumulation is education’s most important purpose.

Possessive individualism is the assertion that the individual is the sole proprietor of his or her

Escaping the box

talents and skills and owes nothing to society for them (Macpherson, 1962). Moreover, following the speculative assumptions concerning human nature found in the works of John Locke and others, an individual’s talents and skills are seen as a commodity to be bought and sold on the open market. Possessive individualism envisions a society of autonomous, competitive individuals struggling against each other for material dominance without regard to the larger social consequences.

This Hobbesian thesis about the nature of the social contract has attracted criticism. However, it has been indirectly affirmed by free market economists such as Milton Freidman (1962) who claim human freedom is best served by unrestricted market competition. If it is true that each of us is an independent agent bent on the protection and promotion of our self-interest, as the proponents of possessive individualism suggest, it is a short step to conceiving of education as primarily, if not exclusively, a preparation for the employment.

The tendency of policymakers to frame educational reform in terms of employment, global competition and national defense is an indication of their conviction that the primary, if not sole, value of education is success in the marketplace (Klein & Rice, 2012).

I would argue, given these assumptions, that the ethical and intellectual horizons of educational instrumentalism tend to dull the curiosity and sense of reality required for free inquiry (Berlin, 1996).

 Yet, while appearing to be self-confident in its convictions, educational instrumentalism suffers from conceptual fragility and internal contradiction—the publicly stated manifest purpose of increasing human capital runs counter to the latent, seldom acknowledged, requirement that human capital be defined in limited and exclusory terms.

The hidden flaw in educational instrumentalism is that it undermines the very thing it seeks to promote—the application of talent to problem solving. By reducing learning to purely

instrumental and vocational ends, instrumentally-inclined policymakers undermine the very nature of learning and elevate its pale imitation—rote learning and the fear of failure.

The mystification of learning.

Justifying these internal contradictions leads to a number of myths about the nature of learning: Briefly, some of these learning myths include: a) learning is the result of routine and imitation; b) learning is linear; and c) learning is quantifiable.

Howard Gardner

Generally, policymakers who ascribe to the principles underlying educational instrumentalism embrace theories of learning that are empirically weak and open to question. Instrumentalism leads to theories of learning that are as an excel sheet is to a Rembrandt portrait. Simplistic theories of learning result in a diminishing of learning by definition; research tells us that learning is complex,multilayered, paradoxical, and reflexive (Gardner, 1999; Sternberg, 2003).

Over reliance on testing is a form of tracking that bears only a faint relationship to actual merit and Learning has no identifiable beginning or end. We are learning every millisecond we are alive on this earth and the sources of learning are too complex to be measured arithmetically alone. It follows from this that learning is not linear. And, it is not linear in several senses. Learning takes place over time and not everyone learns in the same time sequence. Learning is relational, all of us learn from others in ways that we remember and ways we don’t remember. Learning is also collective; the singular autonomous learner posited by possessive individualism is an artifact of the philosopher’s imagination (Cookson, 2013).

achievement.

Lasting learning is experiential. Our brains react to stimuli, and our minds translate stimuli into coherent patterns of thought. Educational instrumentalism tends to focus solely on the cognitive aspects of learning, and adopts what Paulo Freire (1970/1993) referred to as the banking

model of education where “knowledge” is poured into the heads of students by teachers.

In short, the learning myths that give educational instrumentalism an air of legitimacy are little more than unsupported statements that might be harmless, if it were not for the fact that they are shaping educational policy—and, in doing so affecting the lives and learning of millions of American students.

There must be a better way.

Real education still matters.

Since the time of Socrates, free inquiry has been seen as the path to enlightenment. To be able to think in an organized, empirical, and reflexive manner is the hallmark of the mature mind. And the mature mind is more that an individual possession, it is part of a larger collective of minds that identifies problems, weighs options, and arrives at solutions.

Progressive education in the tradition of John Dewey is characterized by a strong belief in experiential learning, experimentation, collective intelligence, and freedom of thought. It is a

broad and generous vision of learning that stands in dramatic contrast to educational instrumentalism (Dewey, 1916).

This perspective is desperately needed today. Not only because it is based on ethical principles of freedom that are essential for the preservation of democracy, but expressive, progressive education is the only educational philosophy that can actually prepare today’s students for tomorrow(Popper, 1945; Cremin, 1957; Gutmann, 1987). The rates of change in the world today are so fast and so steep that only the most creative, flexible, and innovative people will thrive.

By opening up learning to discovery and invention, society as a whole benefits and education serves its historic role of transformation and the foundation for freedom of thought. Without real education, a society withers and exits from history forgotten, a mere ghost of what it could have been (Counts, 1932).

Blimey, it's #blimage!

I'm always looking for new ideas to promote blogging for teachers. For me and countless others, blogging is a very important part of professional practice, and I have written extensively about its benefits for teachers in articles such as 7 reasons teachers should blog and The truth about blogging.

In conversations recently with members of my PLN including Amy Burvall (USA @amyburvall) and Simon Ensor (France @sensor63) another method began to emerge. It's a challenge/game that Amy called #blimage - a confection of Blog-Image. (Yes, we are now in the age of blim!) You send an image or photograph to a colleague with the challenge that they have to write a learning related blog post based on it. Just make sure the images aren't too rude. The permutations are blimmin' endless.

My first challenge came from Amy and my response was published under the title of 'Off the rails'. It made me think hard, because I incorporated the 3 images she sent me into one blog post. Following on from that, Simon sent me another #blimage challenge, which became the post 'Piece by piece.' Subsequently, other bloggers took up the same challenge, and Simon set up a Pinterest board to capture their efforts and aggregate them in one place. The discussion on the blogs and on Twitter is just beginning around these efforts. It's a very creative way to encourage teachers to think about their practice, and get them blogging about these thoughts. So, if you're up to the challenge, and you're at a loose end, let me start you off.

The challenge is this: Use the image above (or another of your own choice), incorporate it into your blog, and write a post about learning based on it. It's OK - the photo is mine and it's licensed under Creative Commons so you can use it with attribution. See what you can make of it! (Then pass an image of your choice on to someone else so they can do their own #blimage challenge).

Photo by Steve Wheeler


Blimey, it's #blimage! by Steve Wheeler was written in Plymouth, England and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Piece by piece

I'm continuing the challenge that was featured in my last post Off the Rails. The #blimage challenge is where people send me an image/photograph and I have to write a (reasonably intelligent) learning related blog post about it. This image was sent to me by Simon Ensor, (his blog Touches of Sense is well worth reading by the way) and here is my response:

The is a photo of jigsaw puzzle pieces, which brings three things to mind about education that are key to our understanding of good pedagogy. Firstly, all learning has the characteristics of an incomplete jigsaw. You don't really know exactly how you're going to get to the end (if there ever is an 'end'), or how long it will take, but you do have a an image on the front of the box that contains the pieces, as a reference point to what it should look like when completed. The box top image is a little like a curriculum map in education, where the subjects or the schemes of work are described, and teachers are expected to use it as guidelines to deliver content and facilitate experiences that help the students to achieve their learning outcomes. Testing is then applied to measure whether the students have indeed reached the ideal standard. This ultimately represents a product based approach to education.

Secondly, the means by which an individual successfully completes a jigsaw can be almost infinite. There are methods that people adhere to. Many people start a jigsaw off by finding and assembling all the edges. Others are more prescriptive in their approach to a jigsaw puzzle, preferring to gather together all the colours or shapes that match, and then assembling the jigsaw on the basis of similarity and pattern. Still others adopt a more random approach. Who is to say which method is a) more effective and b) more enjoyable? Whatever methods are employed, it is likely that each of us would complete a jigsaw in a different sequence, which of course is also true for most learning processes. Individuality is a key component of all learning.  Wouldn't it be sad (and very boring) if each of us had to complete a jigsaw in the same sequence, piece by piece? This is a very idiosyncractic approach to education, where the student is central to the process, and where the teacher acts as one resource amongst many.

Thirdly and finally, we could accept that the image above is quite an eye catching image in its own right. Abstractly, it has a beauty and a form that derives entirely from its incompleteness. The discussion then can turn to the question of whether all jigsaw puzzles should be completed. Ostensibly this is the intention of the jigsaw manufacturer. But should it always be the intention of the person who builds the jigsaw? What if the jigsaw is more aesthetically pleasing when only partially complete, or not complete at all? What about the value of missing pieces? Do they not also add some appeal? What about the beauty that is inherent in the chaos and uncertainty of the jigsaw? Isn't the process by which you put together the pieces more enjoyable than the ultimate satisfaction of completing the puzzle? And... what would happen if we threw away the box cover image and there were no guidelines as to what the jigsaw should look like? These questions are reminiscent of a postmodern perspective on education - where learning is random and chaotic, has multiple layers and diverse possibilities, and where the rules might just as easily be thrown out of the window. Ultimately, we know that not everything that is taught is learnt, and not everything that is learnt is taught.

I'm sure there are many other messages that could emerge from the image above, but I'm going to stop at this point to give someone else (perhaps even Simon himself?) a chance to interpret it in a pedagogical context. So what are your ideas? (And what image will you send me that will present a challenge for me to interpret?)

Photo by Simon Ensor


Piece by piece by Steve Wheeler was written in Plymouth, England and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Off the rails?

It so happens that my friend, colleague and fellow Edupunk from two oceans away has set me a little challenge. Amy Burvall has sent me three images, and my task is to create a learning related blog post using one of them. She calls it the #blimage challenge. I'm not one to shy away from any challenge, so I hereby present a post that incorporates all three images.

The state education system can easily be compared to a railway network. Trains arrive and depart from designated stations, passengers embark and disembark, and somehow, the train delivers everyone to their destinations. There is no deviation from the track (unless there is a disaster and there is a derailment - trains run on the rails), and generally there is a prescribed timetable that dictates the schedule of arrivals and departures of all trains in the network. This is a great metaphor for school systems, which generally operate on the same principles. There is a timetable that all school lessons and schemes of work run to. A bell divides activities, and everything is scheduled for a specific part of the school calendar. This is the easiest and most cost effective way to manage the delivery of a curriculum, but is it the most helpful for learners? It doesn't suit all students, just as a railway timetable doesn't suit all travellers. But we comply with them, because there is no alternative. Or is there?

Some prefer to travel in a taxi, or even by using their own personal transport. This transport will depart at the time the traveller decides and hopefully get them to their destination. This is a metaphor for personalised learning, with the personal learning environment supporting an individual's learning. There is plenty of opportunity to deviate from prescribed educational processes, which leads to endless possibilities for personal research and digressions into uncharted territory. Furthermore, unlike traditional formalised education, the personal learner determines his or her own destination. To learn at this level of individualisation, the learner requires several things. Firstly, they need a set of tools they can use to access knowledge, and to communicate with others. In other words, they need technologies that are networked. They need to be able to connect with experts, peers and content.

One of my tasks as an academic working in the field of teacher education over the last few years, has been to develop and promote this kind of alternative, off the rails education. Now and then I deviate into some alternative practices, which have been documented on this blog and elsewhere. Things can happen that are not planned, or may not appear to have a clear purpose. You might say these are 'strainge sessions' (I love the alternative spelling) in the sense that they don't comply with conventional educational practice. In one of my recent sessions I asked my students to use their cameras to create a 'story without words'. They not only had to create the videos or image sets, but determine what exactly the learning outcomes were. It goes without saying that each decided their own learning outcomes, and each got something different from their participation. Each had to solve their own idiosyncratic problems, and each had to think critically and creatively to successfully complete their task (the success criteria were also decided by them). Some teachers might consider this to be completely off the rails. For me it's a necessary, creative approach to support and promote personalised and critical learning.

How's that Amy? Anyone else want to set me an image/blog challenge?

All images by Amy Burvall


Off the rails? by Steve Wheeler was written in Plymouth, England and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Creative teaching - educational readings

By Allan Alach

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

Please pass on readings to other creative teachers

Go to the most recent blog

This week’s homework!

No Escape: A Brief Examination into the No Excuses Philosophy of Education

Read this nightmarish description of life in a US charter school. Can things get any worse than this?

“Teachers handed out paychecks every Wednesday. The school designed these paychecks to resemble actual pay stubs, making sure every child understood that the end goal of every class was to maximize individual profit. The idea was to familiarize children with the trappings of a capitalist society. Different paycheck totals resulted in various privileges or punishments. Students who struggled to follow rules had to attend Wednesday Extension, a three-hour block of detention spent copying down the school’s code of conduct by hand.”

http://bit.ly/1GcMomn

John Dewey on the True Purpose of Education and How to Harness the Power of Our Natural Curiosity

This article is a complete contrast to the previous nightmare. Where are the John Deweys of today? Where are the educational visionaries?

“John Dewey, one of the most influential minds of the twentieth century, distills the purpose and ideals of education with remarkable clarity and conviction. The enactment of these ideals today would produce nothing less than a radical, sorely needed transformation of our broken education system.”

http://bit.ly/1R0NL3d

Is the American School System Damaging Our Kids?

Peter Gray

An article by Peter Gray that is applicable in many countries.

“Schools as we know them today are a product of history, not of research. The blueprint for them was developed during the Protestant Reformation, when schools were created to teach children to read the Bible, to believe Scripture without questioning it, and to obey authority figures without questioning them. When schools were taken over by the state, made compulsory, and directed toward secular ends, the basic structure and methods of teaching remained unchanged. Subsequent attempts at reform have failed because they haven’t altered the basic blueprint.”

http://bit.ly/1By2hZ4

What’s the Real Purpose of Classroom Management?

Another Alfie Kohn gem:

“Thus, control, and the disproportionate focus on “managing” classrooms, should be understood as an issue in its own right rather than just as something intended to facilitate academic instruction. That recognition, in turn, makes it possible to consider that the ideal isn’t just less control but an affirmative promotion of students’ autonomy — a concerted commitment to support their status as deciders, active learners, and members of a democratic community.”

http://bit.ly/1LzbliV

What are You Doing to Encourage Curiosity in Your TEACHERS?

Bill Ferriter:

“Why would teachers who are rarely encouraged to take intellectual risks make intellectual risk-taking a priority in their classrooms?  How can we expect teachers who spend their careers learning to follow paths created by others to design learning experiences that facilitate multiple paths to mastery?”

http://bit.ly/1BDNo7P

What Stealing Cookies Teaches Us About Young Children and Empathy

This is an interesting article.

“Toddlers can throw their fair share of tantrums, especially when you don’t yield to their will. But by age 3, it turns out, the little rug rats actually have a burgeoning sense of fairness and are inclined to right a wrong.”

http://bit.ly/1BUhUL0

How to thank teachers in tough schools? Government answer: punish themThe teacher/school bashing in England gathers pace… ‘coasting schools’…

“We’re voting with our feet, and schools are struggling to recruit staff as a result. With fewer people chasing positions as the number of teachers entering the profession falls rapidly, “coasting schools” will find it even harder to fill posts.”

http://bit.ly/1KCPIPF

True pedagogy

Another Steve Wheeler article:

“In its absolute form, pedagogy is not just about teaching. It does not simply concern itself with the 'delivery' of education or content. In the truest sense, teaching is just one element of pedagogy and not the entire story. Pedagogy focuses on the learner and what they are capable of achieving.”

http://bit.ly/1HGkEvZ

This week’s contributions from Bruce Hammonds:

15 Characteristics of a 21st-Century Teacher

‘Recent technological advances have affected many areas of our lives: the way we communicate,

collaborate, learn, and, of course, teach. Along with that, those advances necessitated an expansion of our vocabulary, producing definitions such as digital natives, digital immigrants, and, the topic of this post -- "21st-century teacher.”’

http://bit.ly/1J1vYne

Creativity in the Classroom

“One of the things that I hear teachers worrying about is the disappearance of creativity in the curriculum.More and more districts are ramping up the standardized exams to prepare students for the bigger standardized exams they will take later in the year. The beauty of creativity is slowly being phased out and replaced by worksheets. Standardized tests are a reality where I teach, but I still find creativity time for my students. I feel that it helps strengthen their other skills and is needed to develop well-rounded people. Here are some things that can add a creative spark into your class and still prepare them for those exams.”

http://bit.ly/1GnbOxN

7 Tenets of Creative Thinking

“In school, we learn about geniuses and their ideas, but how did they get those ideas? What are the mental processes, attitudes, work habits, behaviours, and beliefs that enable creative geniuses to view the same things as the rest of us, yet see something different? The following are seven principles that creativity expert Michael Michalko has learnt during his lifetime of work in the field of creative thinking -- things that I wish I'd been taught as a student.”

http://bit.ly/1HP3GqV

National testing of primary school students is political not educational

A distressed mother writes a letter to UK Prime Minister David Cameron:

“There’s a part of me that barely has the energy to write this. To ask you why you insist on putting 10 and 11 year olds through a system that takes nothing of child development or good pedagogy in to account, or why you put relentless pressure on schools to up their expectations, so what was once seen as good progress is suddenly a failure. But why bother? Why bore you with analogies of weighing pigs that nobody fed? You won’t listen to highly qualified education experts, or even people who, you know, actually teach. So I’m under no illusion that you will listen to me.”

http://bit.ly/1Hz8QYF

From Bruce’s ‘goldie oldies’ file:

Reclaiming the lost art of pedagogy

Back to John Dewey.

“The conservative nature of schools makes changing teaching practice difficult. New ideas are also opposed by even more conservative parents and the media. The impossible curriculum and accountability demands, that have been placed on teachers the past decades, have diverted teachers from placing an emphasis on pedagogy.”

http://bit.ly/1R0OelQ

Creative teaching

The creative mindset of pioneer NZ creative teacher Elwyn Richardson

 “'Normal' teaching, Elwyn believes, results in a loose commitment to teacher tasks and, as a result, many students develop a low level of achievement and personal satisfaction. A 'good' classroom should develop in students a personal commitment to their learning.”

http://bit.ly/1GMqaxl

What's your 'mental model' about teaching?

The battle of educational mindsets! Where you stand?

“It is important for teachers and schools to be able to articulate what they believe so that they can provide consistent learning for their students. There are two basic ‘mindsets’ to consider, each with extreme versions, and all too often they are either seen to be in conflict with each other, or teachers unconsciously ‘pick and mix’.”

http://bit.ly/1MbuQ2g

Tapping the wisdom of people.“Change is often imposed pushed on an organisation by 'leaders' who either haven't the time to involve everyone, or believe that such an involvement isn't worth the time and effort, or, worse still,because those in charge know best.James Surowiecki in his book 'Wisdom of Crowds' writes that it is only by tapping the 'wisdom of crowds' that real change is possible.”

http://bit.ly/1TEfg0d