Skip to main content

Home/ Diigo In Education/ Group items tagged childhood education

Rss Feed Group items tagged

Filter: All | Bookmarks | Topics Simple Middle
Andrew McCluskey

Occupy Your Brain - 111 views

schoolingtheworld.org/...occupy

education education reform education system schooling pedagogy indigenous indigenous pedagogies knowledge alternative education standardization state standards national standards global standards power authority intellect

shared by Andrew McCluskey on 11 Feb 13 - No Cached
Ant Heald liked it
  • One of the most profound changes that occurs when modern schooling is introduced into traditional societies around the world is a radical shift in the locus of power and control over learning from children, families, and communities to ever more centralized systems of authority.
  • Once learning is institutionalized under a central authority, both freedom for the individual and respect for the local are radically curtailed.  The child in a classroom generally finds herself in a situation where she may not move, speak, laugh, sing, eat, drink, read, think her own thoughts, or even  use the toilet without explicit permission from an authority figure.
  • In what should be considered a chilling development, there are murmurings of the idea of creating global standards for education – in other words, the creation of a single centralized authority dictating what every child on the planet must learn.
  • ...26 more annotations...
  • In “developed” societies, we are so accustomed to centralized control over learning that it has become functionally invisible to us, and most people accept it as natural, inevitable, and consistent with the principles of freedom and democracy.   We assume that this central authority, because it is associated with something that seems like an unequivocal good – “education” – must itself be fundamentally good, a sort of benevolent dictatorship of the intellect. 
  • We endorse strict legal codes which render this process compulsory, and in a truly Orwellian twist, many of us now view it as a fundamental human right to be legally compelled to learn what a higher authority tells us to learn.
  • And yet the idea of centrally-controlled education is as problematic as the idea of centrally-controlled media – and for exactly the same reasons.
  • The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was designed to protect all forms of communication, information-sharing, knowledge, opinion and belief – what the Supreme Court has termed “the sphere of intellect and spirit” – from government control.
  • by the mid-19th century, with Indians still to conquer and waves of immigrants to assimilate, the temptation to find a way to manage the minds of an increasingly diverse and independent-minded population became too great to resist, and the idea of the Common School was born.
  • We would keep our freedom of speech and press, but first we would all be well-schooled by those in power.
  • A deeply democratic idea — the free and equal education of every child — was wedded to a deeply anti-democratic idea — that this education would be controlled from the top down by state-appointed educrats.
  • The fundamental point of the Occupy Wall Street movement is that the apparatus of democratic government has been completely bought and paid for by a tiny number of grotesquely wealthy individuals, corporations, and lobbying groups.  Our votes no longer matter.  Our wishes no longer count.  Our power as citizens has been sold to the highest bidder.
  • Our kids are so drowned in disconnected information that it becomes quite random what they do and don’t remember, and they’re so overburdened with endless homework and tests that they have little time or energy to pay attention to what’s happening in the world around them.
  • If in ten years we can create Wikipedia out of thin air, what could we create if we trusted our children, our teachers, our parents, our neighbors, to generate community learning webs that are open, alive, and responsive to individual needs and aspirations?  What could we create if instead of trying to “scale up” every innovation into a monolithic bureaucracy we “scaled down” to allow local and individual control, freedom, experimentation, and diversity?
  • The most academically “gifted” students excel at obedience, instinctively shaping their thinking to the prescribed curriculum and unconsciously framing out of their awareness ideas that won’t earn the praise of their superiors.  Those who resist sitting still for this process are marginalized, labeled as less intelligent or even as mildly brain-damaged, and, increasingly, drugged into compliance.
  • the very root, the very essence, of any theory of democratic liberty is a basic trust in the fundamental intelligence of the ordinary person.   Democracy rests on the premise that the ordinary person — the waitress, the carpenter, the shopkeeper — is competent to make her own judgments about matters of domestic policy, international affairs, taxes, justice, peace, and war, and that the government must abide by the decisions of ordinary people, not vice versa.  Of course that’s not the way our system really works, and never has been.   But most of us recall at some deep level of our beings that any vision of a just world relies on this fundamental respect for the common sense of the ordinary human being.
  • This is what we spend our childhood in school unlearning. 
  • If before we reach the age of majority we must submit our brains for twelve years of evaluation and control by government experts, are we then truly free to exercise our vote according to the dictates of our own common sense and conscience?  Do we even know what our own common sense is anymore?
  • We live in a country where a serious candidate for the Presidency is unaware that China has nuclear weapons, where half the population does not understand that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11, where nobody pays attention as Congress dismantles the securities regulations that limit the power of the banks, where 45% of American high school students graduate without knowing that the First Amendment of the Constitution guarantees freedom of the press.   At what point do we begin to ask ourselves if we are trying to control quality in the wrong way?
  • Human beings, collaborating with one another in voluntary relationships, communicating and checking and counter-checking and elaborating and expanding on one another’s knowledge and intelligence, have created a collective public resource more vast and more alive than anything that has ever existed on the planet.
  • But this is not a paeon to technology; this is about what human intelligence is capable of when people are free to interact in open, horizontal, non-hierarchical networks of communication and collaboration.
  • Positive social change has occurred not through top-down, hierarchically controlled organizations, but through what the Berkana Institute calls “emergence,” where people begin networking and forming voluntary communities of practice. When the goal is to maximize the functioning of human intelligence, you need to activate the unique skills, talents, and knowledge bases of diverse individuals, not put everybody through a uniform mill to produce uniform results. 
  • You need a non-punitive structure that encourages collaboration rather than competition, risk-taking rather than mistake-avoidance, and innovation rather than repetition of known quantities.
  • if we really want to return power to the 99% in a lasting, stable, sustainable way, we need to begin the work of creating open, egalitarian, horizontal networks of learning in our communities.
  • They are taught to focus on competing with each other and gaming the system rather than on gaining a deep understanding of the way power flows through their world.
  • And what could we create, what ecological problems could we solve, what despair might we alleviate, if instead of imposing our rigid curriculum and the destructive economy it serves on the entire world, we embraced as part of our vast collective intelligence the wisdom and knowledge of the world’s thousands of sustainable indigenous cultures?
  • They knew this about their situation: nobody was on their side.  Certainly not the moneyed classes and the economic system, and not the government, either.  So if they were going to change anything, it had to come out of themselves.
  • As our climate heats up, as mountaintops are removed from Orissa to West Virginia, as the oceans fill with plastic and soils become too contaminated to grow food, as the economy crumbles and children go hungry and the 0.001% grows so concentrated, so powerful, so wealthy that democracy becomes impossible, it’s time to ask ourselves; who’s educating us?  To what end?  The Adivasis are occupying their forests and mountains as our children are occupying our cities and parks.  But they understand that the first thing they must take back is their common sense. 
  • They must occupy their brains.
  • Isn’t it time for us to do the same?
  • Andrew McCluskey on 11 Feb 13
     
    Carol Black, creator of the documentary, "Schooling the World" discusses the conflicting ideas of centralized control of education and standardization against the so-called freedom to think independently--"what the Supreme Court has termed 'the sphere of intellect and spirit" (Black, 2012). Root questions: "who's educating us? to what end?" (Black, 2012).
  • Andrew McCluskey on 11 Feb 13
     
    This is a must read. Carol Black echoes here many of the ideas of Paulo Freire, John Taylor Gatto and the like.
Martin Burrett

Self-concepts of ability in maths and reading predict later attainment - 13 views

ukedchat.com/...self-concepts-ability

research maths math reading

shared by Martin Burrett on 20 Sep 17 - No Cached
  • Martin Burrett on 20 Sep 17
     
    "Educational and developmental psychologists have tried to understand how skills and motivation are linked to academic achievement. While research supports ties between individuals' concepts of their abilities and their achievement, we lack a complete picture of how these relations develop from childhood to adolescence. A new longitudinal study looked at how youths' self-concepts are linked to their actual academic achievement in maths and reading from middle childhood to adolescence. The study found that students' self-concepts of their abilities in these two academic domains play an important role in motivating their achievements over time and across levels of achievement."
Donna Baumbach

Poor Scholar's Soliloquy « Performance X Design - 31 views

performancexdesign.wordpress.com/...or-scholar%e2%80%99s-soliloquy

teaching learning education

shared by Donna Baumbach on 22 Nov 09 - Cached
  • Donna Baumbach on 22 Nov 09
     
    "Here's an article written in 1944 by Stephan M. Cory (University of Chicago January 1944 edition of Childhood Education). It is a classic satire written in the first person of a seventh grade student discussing his experiences in elementary school. I think it's a great example of the contrast of learning in rigid formal environments and learning in the context of meaningful problems and authentic tasks. The focus is public education but it's not a stretch to extend to classroom training in the workplace."
Marc Patton

Curriculum Associates - 0 views

curriculumassociates.com

Teacher_Resources Language_Arts RTI Mathematics

shared by Marc Patton on 26 Jun 12 - No Cached
  • Marc Patton on 26 Jun 12
     
    We offer research-based, classroom-proven programs that help educators effectively address the diverse needs of every student. Our award-winning products include reading, mathematics, intervention, language arts, test prep, special education, early childhood, and more.
Andrew Williamson

DEECD Teachers Who Use Twitter - 23 views

spreadsheets.google.com/viewform

DEECD Teachers Victorian DEECD Teachers Twitter

shared by Andrew Williamson on 24 Oct 09 - Cached
  • Andrew Williamson on 24 Oct 09
     
    Starting up a directory for Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) teachers who use twitter.
Martin Burrett

Research: Teens who were severely bullied as children at higher risk of suicidal though... - 3 views

ukedchat.com/...bullied-children-risk-suicide

bullying health mental health

shared by Martin Burrett on 15 Jan 18 - No Cached
  • Martin Burrett on 15 Jan 18
     
    "Teens who were severely bullied as children by peers are at higher risk of mental health issues, including suicidal thoughts and behaviours, according to new research in CMAJ(Canadian Medical Association Journal). "Our findings showed a general tendency, in about 15% of the children, of being exposed to the most severe levels of victimization from the beginning of their education until the transition to high school," writes Dr. Marie-Claude Geoffroy, McGill Group for Suicide Studies, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec, with coauthors. "Those children were at greater risk of debilitating depressive/dysthymic symptoms or anxiety and of suicidality in adolescence than less severely victimised children, even after we accounted for a plethora of confounders assessed throughout childhood.""
Martin Burrett

Reading to therapy dogs improves literacy attitudes in second-grade students - 8 views

ukedchat.com/...reading-therapy-dogs

shared by Martin Burrett on 13 Nov 17 - No Cached
  • Martin Burrett on 13 Nov 17
     
    "Second-grade students who read aloud to dogs in an after-school program demonstrated improved attitudes about reading, according to researchers at Tufts Institute for Human-Animal Interaction at Tufts University. Their research appears online in advance of print in the Early Childhood Education Journal. Reading skills are often associated with improved academic performance and positive attitudes about school in children. Researchers wanted to learn if animal-assisted intervention in the form of reading aloud to dogs in a classroom setting could contribute to improved skills and attitudes."
Peter Beens

Intentionally unvaccinated students putting other children at risk - 8 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...120822181234.htm

vaccinations education issues parents

shared by Peter Beens on 31 Aug 12 - No Cached
  • Peter Beens on 31 Aug 12
     
    Parents nervous about the safety of vaccinations for their children may be causing a new problem: the comeback of their grandparents' childhood diseases, reports a new study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.
Roland Gesthuizen

Any human heart - feature - TES - 4 views

www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx

education school studentwelfare arts

shared by Roland Gesthuizen on 21 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • the majority of adults with mental-health problems first experienced them in childhood
  • the majority of adults with mental-health problems first experienced them in childhood
  • Roland Gesthuizen on 21 Nov 11
     
    What to do when children use creativity to reveal horrors at home.
Nigel Coutts

Asking Why and Why and Why - The Learner's Way - 16 views

thelearnersway.net/...asking-why-and-why-and-why

education teaching learning questioning

shared by Nigel Coutts on 13 Aug 17 - No Cached
  • Nigel Coutts on 13 Aug 17
     
    As children, we ask "Why?" a lot. It is a part of childhood, that special time when the many forces acting upon our cognitive development converge around a singular desire to ask "Why". It becomes the central focus of our conversational style, an incessant exclamation into the void which tests the patience of any nearby adult. But asking "Why" offers so much more.
Roland Gesthuizen

Innovative Learning Environments Expos - Leading Practice and Design - Department of Ed... - 41 views

www.education.vic.gov.au/...expo.htm

review resources learning innovative education learningspaces facilities

shared by Roland Gesthuizen on 24 Feb 11 - No Cached
  • Roland Gesthuizen on 24 Feb 11
     
    A series of four ILE Expos held across Victoria in 2010 focused on exemplary practice in new or modified spaces at different ages and stages of learning.
Joanna Seymour

Classroom Ideas for Learning with an iPad - iPads for Learning - Department of Educatio... - 217 views

www.education.vic.gov.au/...classroom.htm

iPad classroom education 'mobile devices'

shared by Joanna Seymour on 11 Oct 11 - No Cached
  • Joanna Seymour on 11 Oct 11
     
    iPads for learning
Kate Pok

100 Apps for Tech-Savvy Teachers - 198 views

www.rasmussen.edu/...100-apps-for-teachers

shared by Kate Pok on 09 Nov 10 - Cached
  • Kathy Malsbenden on 09 Nov 10
     
    eachers have one of the most difficult jobs out there. As an educator, you have to manage a classroom of boisterous students, organize heaps of data, stay up-to-date with current events and plan lessons day in and day out. In today's technologically linked world, the ability to use web applications is at your advantage as an educator, and we are here to tell you the best tools to use. From Early Childhood Education apps to Business Management apps, here is a collection of 100 web and iPhone tools that make the grade for tech-savvy teachers:
Ian Jenkinson

Learning and Teaching Support - Geography Domain - Department of Education and Early Ch... - 8 views

www.education.vic.gov.au/...support.htm

geography resources

shared by Ian Jenkinson on 15 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • Ian Jenkinson on 15 Nov 11
     
    Geography resource sites for teachers.
Kate Pok

FinAid | Loans | Public Service Loan Forgiveness - 67 views

www.finaid.org/...publicservice.phtml

student loans money

shared by Kate Pok on 13 Feb 12 - Cached
  • Employment: The borrower must be employed full-time in a public service job for each of the 120 monthly payments. Public service jobs include, among other positions, emergency management, government (excluding time served as a member of Congress), military service, public safety and law enforcement (police and fire), public health (including nurses, nurse practitioners, nurses in a clinical setting, and full-time professionals engaged in health care practitioner occupations and health care support occupations), public education, early childhood education (including licensed or regulated childcare, Head Start, and State-funded prekindergarten), social work in a public child or family service agency, public services for individuals with disabilities or the elderly, public interest legal services (including prosecutors, public defenders and legal advocacy on behalf of low-income communities at a nonprofit organization), public librarians, school librarians and other school-based services, and employees of tax exempt 501(c)(3) organizations. Full-time faculty at tribal colleges and universities, as well as faculty teaching in high-need subject areas and shortage areas (including nurse faculty, foreign language faculty, and part-time faculty at community colleges), also qualify.
  • Kate Pok on 13 Feb 12
     
    FYI
Casey Finnerty

Wired Up: Tuned out | Scholastic.com - 0 views

www2.scholastic.com/...article.jsp

education

shared by Casey Finnerty on 24 Aug 09 - No Cached
  • Compared to us, I believe their brains have developed differently," says Sheehy. "If we teach them the way we were taught, we're not serving them well."
    • Tony Baldasaro
      Tony Baldasaro on 24 Aug 09
       
      Whether their brains have developed differently or not, we still need to teach our students differently than we were taught. They are living in different times with different demands and expectations. If we teach to the demands and expectations of our childhood would not meet our students needs.
  • children were much more likely to have connections between brain regions close together while older subjects were more likely to feature links between parts of the brain that are physically farther apart.
  • "media multi-tasking."
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • Recent reports from the Pew Internet and American Life Project show that 93 percent of youth ages 12 to 17 go online. Of those kids, 55 percent use social-networking sites (like Facebook and MySpace), and 64 percent are creating their own original content (such as blogs and wikis)
    • Tony Baldasaro
      Tony Baldasaro on 24 Aug 09
       
      Is this all happening outside of the classroom?
  • Unlike watching television, using the Internet allows young people to take an active role; this move from consumption to participation affects the way they construct knowledge, develop their identity, and communicate with others.
  • "It's a shift from how to memorize and retrieve data in one's mind to how to search for and evaluate information out in the world
  • "Computers give you different ways to solve problems, the opportunity to run and test simulations, and a way to offload processing. . . . We need kids to think about problems in innovative and creative ways. We need to change the emphasis of education to focus on higher-order kinds of thinking."
  • Even if we're duplicating a real-life scenario in a virtual environment, the fact that students are engaged with technology and performing through a semblance of anonymity lends itself to a deeper level of discourse.
    • Tony Baldasaro
      Tony Baldasaro on 24 Aug 09
       
      Why do we need anonymity to get to a deeper level of discourse?
  • "If we fail to do so, our kids are going to look at what they're learning in schools and see that it is irrelevant to the future they see before them."
  • Davis says today's teachers are seeking information when they need it instead of waiting for more formal professional development workshops.
    • Casey Finnerty
      Casey Finnerty on 25 Aug 09
       
      Sounds like a quick learner. Does this 15 minute approach really work?
  • Tony Baldasaro on 24 Aug 09
     
    acob is your average American 11-year-old. He has a television and a Nintendo DS in his bedroom; his family also has two computers, a wireless Internet connection, and a PlayStation 3. His parents rely on e-mail, instant messaging, and Skype for daily communication, and they're avid users of Tivo and Netflix. Jacob has asked for a Wii for his upcoming birthday. His selling point? "Mom and Dad, we can use the Wii Fit and race Mario Karts together!"
Roland Gesthuizen

Student Acceptable Use Agreement - Consent Forms and Templates - Learning On Line - Dep... - 103 views

www.education.vic.gov.au/...aua.htm

DEECD AUP netiquette policy template student

shared by Roland Gesthuizen on 04 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • Roland Gesthuizen on 04 Apr 12
     
    "The Department has provided these templates to assist school communities to develop agreements as to what constitutes acceptable use of internet, Ultranet, netbooks and other online and digital technologies in their communities. These agreement are templates. Schools can add and/or delete information where necessary to make them relevant to their school environment."
1 - 20 of 27 Next ›
Showing 20▼ items per page