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Teachers Without Borders

UPDATED: Keeping Cultural Ties Helps Mexican-American Pupils Succeed - Learning the Lan... - 1 views

blogs.edweek.org/...ing_in_touch_with_culture.html

ELLs immigration education Mexico minorities

shared by Teachers Without Borders on 09 Oct 11 - No Cached
  • A new study from the University of Missouri suggests that Mexican-Americans in U.S. schools fare better when they maintain a connection to their heritage. "Culture Predicts Mexican Americans' College Self-Efficacy and College Performance," published in the journal Culture and College Outcomes, shows that Mexican-Americans who continued to speak Spanish and remained attached to their cultural heritage had higher GPAs and were more successful in college.
  • He spoke about the importance of educators understanding cultural differences: "Educators need to be aware of students' home lives," Aguayo said. "Immigrant parents, in particular, tend to put more trust in educators, rather than being involved in the child's education like we normally see in the U.S. If educators can take the time to learn about the parents' culture, the educators can have a positive impact on the students' future."
  • The study adds another voice to the conversation about best practices for teaching ELLs. Arayo says that his results indicate that English-only education may hurt some students: "I understand the reasons behind English-only efforts, but the research shows that if we don't accept the cultural identity of these students in our schools, such as tolerating their native language, Mexican-Americans may not succeed."
Teachers Without Borders

The School Leader as Bricoleur: Developing Scholarly Practitioners for Our Schools - 0 views

cnx.org/latest

bricoleur pd practitioner inquiry professional identity leadership scholarship

shared by Teachers Without Borders on 21 Aug 09 - No Cached
  • Bricoleur, as presented herein, is used metaphorically and in a postmodern or post-formal (Kincheloe & Steinberg, 1999) sense to represent methods, practices and cultural materials that the scholar-practitioner uses as s/he interacts in the complex web of relationships among knowledge, inquiry, practice, and learning
  • The result of the bricoleur’s methods of practice is a bricolage (Denzin & Lincoln, 2000), a construction that arises from the reflexive interactions of different types of knowledge, mediating artifacts, and methods in relation to the social contexts, cultural patterns, and social actions and activities that comprise the daily events of the school.
  • First, the construct of scholar-practitioner leadership is examined, providing a background for exploring the intricacies of scholarly practice through the metaphor of bricoleur.
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  • alternative epistemology of inquiry as practice, wherein the leader as scholar and his or her leadership practice are inseparable from scholarly and critically oriented inquiry.
  • not that of an aloof official imposing, authoritatively, educational ends and methods. He will be on the lookout for ways to give others intellectual and moral responsibilities, not just for ways of setting tasks for them . . .
  • More recently, efforts have been undertaken to reexamine the meaning of “scholar” within the context of educational leadership2 preparation and practice (Anderson & Jones, 2000; Jenlink, 2001b, 2001c; Riehl, et al., 2000). Preparing educational leaders as scholars invests largely in understanding a “scholar” as someone who values inquiry.
  • Relatedly, scholar-practitioner leadership, as a construct, represents a complex set of relationships among inquiry, knowledge, practice, and theory. These relationships have a critical intersect of the core value for and understanding of a “new scholarship”.3 This “new scholarship” defines practice, knowledge, and inquiry within the practice-based world of teachers and administrators, acknowledging the value of “local theory” and “knowledge-of-practice.” Also shaping the conceptual and practical meaning of scholar-practitioner leadership is a dimension of criticality that transforms leadership practice into leadership praxis.
  • In contrast, learning to lead for the scholar-practitioner is concerned less with transitional orientations of knowledge and inquiry and more with engaging in a “new epistemology” of knowledge and practice articulated through the inquiry as praxis.
  • A central element in scholar-practitioner leadership is criticality, which, depending on the degree of criticality, transforms inquiry, knowledge and practice.
  • The ideal degree of scholarly practice for school leaders seeking to create democratic learning communities would exist at a point along the primary axis, moving outward to a level of inquiry and/or knowledge-of-practice.
  • The criticalist “attempts to use his/her work as a form of social or cultural criticism” (Kincheloe & McLaren, 1994, p. 139). As a criticalist, the school leader engages in his or her work through leadership praxis5 guided by inquiry that is reflective, ethical, critical, and intentional. Praxis-oriented scholarly practice refers to “activities that combat dominance and move toward self-organization and that push toward thoroughgoing change in the practices of . . . the social formation” (Benson, 1983, p. 338).
  • A critical leadership praxis is also concerned with inequity and injustice that surface within the curricula and instructional systems of schools, as well as asymmetrical power relations that all too shape student and teacher identities along ideological lines that work to control and disadvantage some while advantaging others
  • leadership praxis is emancipatory, “grounded in a critical consciousness, which will manifest itself in action that will always be becoming emancipatory” (Grundy, 1993, p. 174). For the educational leader as criticalist, the question is not “Am I emancipated and how can I emancipate my staff?” but rather ”How can I engage in forms of critical, self-reflective and collaborative work which will create conditions so that the people with whom I work can come to control their knowledge and practice?” (p. 174).
  • The word bricoleur and its cognate bricolage come from bricole, a corruption of which is the English term brick wall. The root word of bricole means rebound. Bricoleur, as Levi-Strauss (1966) has noted, is “used with references to some extraneous movement” (p. 16)—movement in physical terms such as a ball rebounding off a wall, in sociological terms the social interaction in activities, and in psychological terms the interacting and cognitive rebounding of ideas, concepts, and feelings experienced as one individual works in relationship to others.
  • Noting the association with Baudelaire, bricolage, as Norris (1987) suggests, is a French word that refers to the “ad hoc assemblage of miscellaneous materials and signifying structures” (Levi-Strauss, quoted in Norris, p. 134). The bricoleur works in association with his or her culture and the material practices and artifacts available in the culture. Spivak (1976) says “the bricoleur makes do with things that were meant perhaps for other ends” (p. xix). Weinstein and Weinstein (1991) explain the bricoleur as a person who is “practical and gets things done” (p. 161). As Norris (1987) notes of the bricoleur, s/he is “happy to exploit the most diverse assortment of mythemes—or random combinartory elements” (p. 134).
Jeff Johnson

Fellowships @ The Wilson Center 2009-2010 (WilsonCenter.org) - 0 views

www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm

fellowships humanities projects residential sciences social social_sciences wilsoncenter wilsoncenter.org

shared by Jeff Johnson on 22 Jul 08 - Cached
  • Jeff Johnson on 22 Jul 08
     
    The Center awards approximately 20-25 residential fellowships annually to individuals with outstanding project proposals in a broad range of the social sciences and humanities on national and/or international issues. Topics and scholarship should relate to key public policy challenges or provide the historical and/or cultural framework to illuminate policy issues of contemporary importance.
Teachers Without Borders

"Teacher training in climate change education is in its infancy" | Education | United N... - 0 views

www.unesco.org/...ge_education_is_in_its_infancy

teacher education teachers teacher development climate environment

shared by Teachers Without Borders on 10 Aug 11 - No Cached
  • UNESCO is launching a Teacher Education Course on Climate Change Education for Sustainable Development (CCESD) in late 2011
  • In a nutshell, the course is designed to give teachers confidence in facilitating  CCESD inside and outside the classroom so that they can help young people understand the causes and consequences of climate change, bring about changes in attitudes and behaviors to reduce the severity of future climate change, and build resilience  in the face of climate change that are already present.
  • First, it helps teachers to understand the causes, dynamics and impacts of climate change through a holistic lens. Second, teachers are exposed to a range of pedagogical approaches that they can use in their own school environment. This includes engagement in whole school and school-in-community approaches. Third, teachers can develop their capacities to facilitate students’ community based learning.  Fourth, teachers can develop future oriented and transformative capacities in facilitating climate change mitigation, adaptation, and disaster risk reduction learning..    
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  • The course is needed precisely because teaching about climate change is such a demanding task. Teachers need to understand what and how to teach about the forces driving climate change as well as its impacts on culture, security, well-being and development prospects. Their role is to show young people how they and their communities can respond to the threat.
  • Teachers Without Borders on 10 Aug 11
     
    "Teacher training in climate change education is in its infancy" ©Fumiyo Kagawa In advance of the tenth anniversary of the Rio Earth Summit (Rio+20), UNESCO is launching a Teacher Education Course on Climate Change Education for Sustainable Development (CCESD) in late 2011.
Teachers Without Borders

Three Questions to Begin Transformation to Teacher Leadership - Leading From the Classr... - 3 views

blogs.edweek.org/...ion_to_teacher_leadership.html

teachers teacher development leadership

shared by Teachers Without Borders on 27 Mar 12 - No Cached
  • One theme that resonated with me was discussing the knowledge and skill sets needed for teachers beginning to explore their leadership potential. While many schools and districts offer new teacher mentoring programs, there is a lack of formal programs or supports for emerging teacher leaders.
  • Effective teachers develop a range of knowledge and skills from managing a classroom community and helping students learn. But beyond the competence of subject matter knowledge, teachers may also develop skillsets in pedagogy and other areas.
  • teacher leaders need to work collaboratively with administration in order for teacher leadership to be the norm throughout a school.
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  • This normalization of a teacher leadership culture requires administrators dedicated to a distributed school leadership model, but also requires teacher leaders who are able to critically analyze and problem solve school wide issues.
  • "Teacher leaders need to turn around every now and then and look, if no one if following, they are not leading. And knowing a lot about topic is not helpful if it can't be explained in a way that encourages the right people to listen." There is a critical difference between being an "expert" and "leader." Experts know a lot about their area of expertise. But teacher leaders in formal roles are responsible for the direction of a group of people, and apply themselves in a way that allows them to constructively meet the challenges of that responsibility.
  • Teachers Without Borders on 27 Mar 12
     
    Teacher Leader Model Standards
Teachers Without Borders

Ken Robinson: Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative - Shelfari - 0 views

www.shelfari.com/...-Minds-Learning-to-be-Creative

creativity ken robinson learning shelfari

shared by Teachers Without Borders on 30 Mar 08 - Cached
  • 'Ken Robinson writes brilliantly about the different ways in which creativity is undervalued and ignored in Western culture and especially in our educational systems.' JOHN CLEESE
Emily Vickery

willrichardson a web of connections - 0 views

willrichardson.wikispaces.com/

presentation willrichardson culture pd pln

shared by Emily Vickery on 16 Nov 08 - No Cached
  • A Web of Connections: Why the Read/Write Web Changes Everything
  • Emily Vickery on 16 Nov 08
     
    Will's presentation on Why the Read/Write Web Changes Everything
  • Emily Vickery on 16 Nov 08
     
    Will's presentation on Why the Read/Write Web Changes Everything
Teachers Without Borders

middleclassgirl.com » The concept - 0 views

middleclassgirl.com/?p=73

virtualclassroomproject VCP sleducation second life

shared by Teachers Without Borders on 17 Feb 09 - Cached
  • One of the reasons I think I became a little disengaged at the end of last year with Second Life was because I had reached a ‘now what?’ stage. Having been part of the community of learners on the Islands of Jokaydia was great, but personally I felt I had plateaued in what I could offer or do.
  • ut what I began to obsess over was this: if anyone came to my plot .. why would they? Why would they come into Second Life merely to click on a few urls that would take them to the internet? To me, that wasn;t a good use of the platform.
  • How could Second Life compliment some of the traditional practices that exist at the moment? These are characteristics of the space I would like to create: Low skill level required for a new user or visitor to the space. Basic knowledge of moving, collecting and navigation required. One of the biggest obstacles is *time* - I don’t want visitors first experiences to be one of frustration or pitched at a level that they won’t be able to enjoy the experience. I want it to be ‘interactive’ by which, of course, I don’t want it to be merely a space where someone clicks on a scripted board merely to be taken to a 2D URL. Documents may be a feature, not necessarily the primary feature of the build. I would hope the space could interactive for whomever visited it. Invite collaboration, strategizing and provide points for debate.
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  • However, considering the knowledge that I have on Australian History and the fact that this is one area of history that students find ‘boring’, I have decided to make this a space for Australian History. Particularly focusing on Frontier Life.
  • My idea is that when someone first visited the site they would be faced with a simulation of the Australian bush either as it appeared pre settlement. Uncleared. Perhaps with evidence of Indigenous inhabitants. Features of the natural Landscape.
  • Once armed with some of this foreknowledge, visitors would be invited to clear the land themselves taking into account the topography, geography and physical elements of the landscape. Provided with a ‘box’ visitors would be invited to build their own hut, or settlement. Here is where the strategizing and foreknowledge will come into play. Some of the objects provided in the box will not be historically accurate, so first the visitor will have to discern which objects are a)historically representative of the period and b) whether those objects are going to be of any use.
  • I think that there is room for, later on, for another ‘box of stuff’ which would include material and cultural objects of indigenous people. What aspects of their lives changed? What was the impact of European settlement on their land?
  • When people change or clear the land (if this is possible) they will do it differently. If anything, apart from being immersed in the new learning space, we want to show that historical inquiry is often open ended – sometimes there is not one neat story that has all of the loose ends tied up.
Emily Vickery

The Virtual Campfire, by Jenny Ryan - 0 views

thevirtualcampfire.org

social networks pd future trends culture

shared by Emily Vickery on 13 Jan 09 - Cached
  • Emily Vickery on 13 Jan 09
     
    Ethnography of online social networking
Teachers Without Borders

Educational Leadership:Promoting Respectful Schools: Creating a Climate of Respect - 0 views

www.ascd.org/...ting-a-Climate-of-Respect.aspx

respect school culture peace curriculum schools

shared by Teachers Without Borders on 30 Sep 11 - No Cached
  • Teachers Without Borders on 30 Sep 11
     
    "School climate reform means measuring the level of respect and then using that information to improve the quality of school life."
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