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ben edwards

Challenging times - magazine article - TES - 1 views

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    integrating citizenship and 'global education' into a school.
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    Integrating citizenship and global education into the culture, policy and practice of a school is a way of encouraging critical thinking and responsible, rational participation in society. Is this an important/appropriate role for our college? I would be interested in hearing opinions on this.
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    This is a good reminder of why we teach. This is exactly what I wrote my Master's thesis on because education has lost it's inherent citizenship component. It seems as though politicians and policy makers think education only exists as a means of market value, or the market feeds off the exchange of knowledge for capital, thereby generating cultural capital, which can be commodified and further traded. I think people forget that the citizen arrived in the nation state only after the French Revolution and the restructuring of Merchantilism, which could be called proto-neoliberalism. The people revolted to create a center in which the citizen held certain entitlements to life and community built on education that challenged the state through reason, or what Immanuel Kant called, "Sapere Aude", that is, the courage to use your own reason. However, this center has been manipulated by education systems to systemize reason without courage, reason with exchange value, and reason for irrational privilege based on ethnocentrism (the creators of the world system) and technocracy (the maintainers of the world system). Finally, to answer your question, I do think this is an appropriate role for our college. I think education must question the possibility of education, and where it fits in the world we choose to live in. We must support our students and ourselves in the continuous investigation of our citizenship; therefore, our education.
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    I just read a quote from H.G Wells- "Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe." (The Outline of History, 1920). The quote is at the top of a paper dealing with the role of education in 'mending broken Britain' and how education can contribute to a more cohesive society. The paper was a summary of a national conference held in response to the anarchic riots of 2011 in England. The conference concluded that educational contributory factors leading to the riots were a lack of moral education, deficiency in the creative curriculum and an insufficient priority given to citizenship education. A sense of alienation and disenfranchisement amongst the youth of disadvantaged communities and a more general feeling that their voice is not being heard were also cited as major factors. The overarching conclusion of 'Mending Broken Britain- Educations' response' is clear- that schools play a central role in shaping our youth and in creating moral, constructive, rational, responsible and active citizens who feel included in our diverse and interdependent society- and that if education fails in this fundamental role, we can expect more (and worse) riots and social breakdown in the future.Prof. Gus John gves an interesting analysis of how our youth have reached this stage and cites 'the grotesque influence of the culture of the street' which has displaced the respect for self and for others and he asks the question: 'How? How have we failed to guide and assist our children in standing for something and in letting that something reflect the basic human values of respect, fairness, justice, interdependence, compassion and integrity?'The conference recognised that schools are not merely the means of transferring knowledge and content, to be absorbed and regurgitated for assessment purposes, but are the key vehicles for the development of values, skills and attitudes.
Kristina (Kris) Peachey (AAS/NZAS)

Educating for Intellectual Character - 2 views

  • Intellectual virtues aim at knowledge and understanding. And they express themselves in intellectual actions like listening, interpreting, analyzing, reflecting, judging, and evaluating. Therefore, educating for intellectual virtues naturally lends itself to an active and critical engagement with academic content and skills.
  • n his recent book Character Compass, Boston University professor Scott Seider tells the story of three successful Boston-area charter schools each with a strong but relatively unique commitment to character education. To capture some of the differences between these character education programs, Seider employs a distinction between moral character, civic character, and “performance character.” Moral character can be thought of as the character of a good neighbor. It includes qualities like trustworthiness, kindness, and compassion. Civic character is the character of a good citizen, including traits like tolerance, respect, and community-mindedness.
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    "Again, intellectual virtues are the character traits required for good thinking and learning. They presuppose no controversial moral commitments. " Yes. This. An important distinction to keep in mind. If we come in to the classroom teaching moral or even civic character directly, then we rightly run the risk of being accused of educational imperialism. But, if the moral and civic values we may hold have any real worth, then the inherent value of them should be revealed through the application of intellectually virtuous learning and thinking actions.
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    and if moral/ethical positions are reached (or deconstructed) either in the classroom, or outside, through the sound application of intellectual actions, they have validity. Anything does not go, not all opinions, values etc... are valid unless we can expose the process by which they were reached and allow that process to be scrutinized.
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    I know this is just a bit of redundancy, but this suggests that not all values are created equal, and they are not. The must have good reason. Good might be defined imperialistically as Jeremy stated, in that a unilateral agency imposes them, but a reciprocal communicative action may prevail, especially within the ideal or virtuous framed by intellectual character. I have been accussed of esoteric comments, but I think this warrants a visit from Habermas: "We can only exercise tolerance towards other people's beliefs if we reject them for subjectively good reasons. We do not need to be tolerant if we are indifferent to other opinions and attitudes anyway or even appreciate the value of such 'otherness'. The expectation of tolerance assumes that we can endure a form of ongoing non-concurrence at the level of social interaction, while we accept the persistence of mutually exclusive validity claims at the cognitive level of existentially relevant beliefs." In other words, Habermas believes you can't just say, "I don't care" or "This doesn't matter" or "This doesn't happen here" and claim tolerance. You must engage to be tolerant, and you must engage in a way that presents your ideas or beliefs in contrast to the other, and that contrast must be relatable, or what Habermas means by "relevant" is communicable in the logical sense that rational ideas are modular, and they may be fitted into intellectual chains of rational arguments and "ongoing non-concurrence" in social interactions. Through this lens, intellectual virtues occupy toleration/tolerance because intellectual virtues "naturally" lend themselves or, as Jeremy stated, display the inherent value of the ideas through engagement and action which must be communicable and reciprocal, i.e. function as tolerant.
ben edwards

Mending Broken Britain- Educations' response - 0 views

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    An interesting paper summarising a conference held in England in response to the 2011 riots. It emphasises the role of education, specifically citizenship education in creating a more cohesive society.
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    I just read a quote from H.G Wells- "Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe." (The Outline of History, 1920). The quote is at the top of a paper dealing with the role of education in 'mending broken Britain' and how education can contribute to a more cohesive society. The paper was a summary of a national conference held in response to the anarchic riots of 2011 in England. The conference concluded that educational contributory factors leading to the riots were a lack of moral education, deficiency in the creative curriculum and an insufficient priority given to citizenship education. A sense of alienation and disenfranchisement amongst the youth of disadvantaged communities and a more general feeling that their voice is not being heard were also cited as major factors. The overarching conclusion of 'Mending Broken Britain- Educations' response' is clear- that schools play a central role in shaping our youth and in creating moral, constructive, rational, responsible and active citizens who feel included in our diverse and interdependent society- and that if education fails in this fundamental role, we can expect more (and worse) riots and social breakdown in the future. Prof. Gus John gves an interesting analysis of how our youth have reached this stage and cites 'the grotesque influence of the culture of the street' which has displaced the respect for self and for others and he asks the question: 'How? How have we failed to guide and assist our children in standing for something and in letting that something reflect the basic human values of respect, fairness, justice, interdependence, compassion and integrity?' The conference recognised that schools are not merely the means of transferring knowledge and content, to be absorbed and regurgitated for assessment purposes, but are the key vehicles for the development of values, skills and attitudes.
Kristina (Kris) Peachey (AAS/NZAS)

Why More Schools Aren't Teaching Web Literacy... | November Learning - 1 views

  • Purposeful search: Using advanced search techniques to narrow the scope and raise the quality of information found on the Web. Effective organization and collaboration: Being able to organize all of this information into a comprehensive and growing library of personal knowledge. Sharing and making sense of information: Sharing what we find and what we learn with the world, and using the knowledge of others to help us make more sense of it all.
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    What do you think of these three pillars of Web literacy? I wonder if this year we can do even better at highlighting the importance of these in IL. The section about the use of Diigo is interesting. We exploited last year as an information sharing site but perhaps we need to approach it more as a personal library???
Kristina (Kris) Peachey (AAS/NZAS)

Intelligent vs. thoughtless use of rubrics and models (Part 1) « Granted, but… - 1 views

  • Without the models I cannot be sure what, precisely and specifically, each of the key criteria – well-developed, strong ideas, clearly-evident organizational plan, engages the reader, etc. – really mean.  I may now know the criteria, but without the models I don’t really know the performance standard; I don’t know how “strong” is strong enough, nor do I know if my ideas are “inappropriate.: There is no way I can know without examples of strong vs. not strong  and appropriate vs. inappropriate (with similar contrasts needed for each key criterion.)
  • This is why the most effective teachers not only purvey models but ask students to study and contrast them so as to better understand the performance standards and criteria in the concrete. In effect, by studying the models, the student simulates the original anchoring process and stands a far better chance of internalizing and thus independently meeting the standard.
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    Discussion of the use of rubrics and the role of models. Wiggins argues these must be used hand in hand.
Kristina (Kris) Peachey (AAS/NZAS)

Campfires in Cyberspace: Primordial Metaphors for Learning in the 21st Century - 4 views

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    I enjoyed how he started, but he lost me when he used Newton under an apple tree and Moses in the wilderness to point out integrated learning. It may have been an homage to myth, but it missed the mark. Also, he conflates the oral tradition with Aristotelian poetics. In general, his interpretation of myth and narrative denies any acknowledge of postmodernity and post-structuralism. It is like he never left his cave after reading Levi-Strauss. I think you could learn more about 21st C. metaphors of cyberspace by skimming a Cory Doctorow novel.
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    Oop! *acknowledgment
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    Hi Troy- Good to meet you here. I haven't reread the article recently but wonder if we approach it in different ways. This reminds me of our conversation about Parker Palmer's writings (in the sense of our different approaches). I found the three metaphors useful in thinking about how/where I find places to develop professionally spurred further reflection. I have no idea who Cory Doctorow is nor can I comment on Aristotelian poetics, postmodernity or post-structuralism. However, I like the images of a campfire, a wateringhole, and a cave. Perhaps someone else can engage with you on the level of deeper discussion ...
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    No worries, Kris. I did enjoy his metaphors, but I think he took a bit of license with his appropriation of Native American oral stories. I get heated about this because it is what I have dedicated my life to, especially narrative theory. I have spent hours upon days with people fighting for their narratives - poststructural/postcolonial movement - and who believe a narrative, and all it tropes or figures of speech, unbinds truth, which allows for not just malleability but multiplicity. Cory Doctorow is the new William Gibson or Ursula Le Guin, so might put him in the same league as Philip K. Dick, but all in all, he is a cyberpunk writer cultivating a community neocyberpunks. His literary website is craphound.com, and he is the co-founder of the tech blog boingboing. He has help redefine narrative fiction in the cyber age.
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    Oop! *has helped
Jeremy Snow

Laos May Bear Cost of Planned Chinese Railroad - NYTimes.com - 3 views

  • China is not particularly interested in sharing much of the wealth the railroad would generate. Most of the benefits, critics say, would flow to China while most of the costs would be borne by the host nation. The price tag of the $7 billion, 260-mile rail project, which Laos will borrow from China, is nearly equal to the tiny $8 billion in annual economic activity in Laos
  • Some Laotians, unhappy with the unmistakable Chinese presence, complain that their country is becoming little more than a province of China or, more slyly, a vassal state.
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    An interesting piece that could be used (carefully) in discussions in either the daytime of evening development classes; particularly in regards to development stakeholders. There's also a brief mention of Ajarn Sombath.
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    "people here recognise money, not people" an interesting quote from the article.
Kristina (Kris) Peachey (AAS/NZAS)

What, exactly, is close reading of the text? | Granted, and... - 0 views

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    I thought this article was interesting in relation to the idea of applying a text to yourself. I don't think our students on the whole have the problem of personalizing too much when they read (at the expense of understanding the writer's point) but I thought it was interesting nonetheless.
Kristina (Kris) Peachey (AAS/NZAS)

How the Brain Learns from Mistakes - Dana Foundation - 2 views

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    Common wisdom holds that we learn best from our mistakes. But researchers at Michigan State University have published a new study that suggests something more is needed: We must be conscious of our mistakes to reap the benefits of improved performance. "Those with traumatic brain injury or other brain injuries that result in impairments in self-awareness suggest that your level of awareness of your own symptoms, for example, actually correlates with the probability that you'll recover from them," he says. "But there is still quite a bit we need to learn about conscious awareness and the role it plays in performance and judgment before we can say for certain." Hmmm. what does this mean in relation to the errors our students make?
Leon Devine

Why we're getting the homework question wrong - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post - 1 views

  • What does all this desk and test time mean for the quality of our kids’ lives, now and for their future?
  • putting in a second shift of homework after seven hours in school does not help my son become a more inquisitive, confident, life-long learner with an intrinsic sense of curiosity and joy in discovery. It does not allow my family to strike a graceful balance between school and home life. It does not leave time for those non-academic pursuits — lying on a blanket under the sky and puzzling out the constellations, peering under rocks, putting a nose in a book for long, lost hours — that can shape a child’s personality, aspirations and dreams.
  • a growing body of scientific data tells us that a brain under chronic stress is a brain that performs less well.
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  • Several years ago, a mother wrote an article in the Boston paper, stating that her twins were in pre-med in college and loved it because they "had so much more free time than in high school." I
  • Why not simply eliminate all homework on non-school nights, including weekends, holidays and school breaks, so that these hours can be filled, instead, with the passions and pursuits of our children’s and families’ choosing?
  • selors. She signed up for all the available AP and honors courses at her high school and performed well. She didn’t flinch when homework meant getting five or six hours of sleep a night before “waking up and repeating the cycle all over again.” Haley used to joke, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” On
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    Still thinking about our daytime programs and our expectations of out of class work. Are we killing the desire and ability to learn?
Kristina (Kris) Peachey (AAS/NZAS)

We've already done Habits of Mind! | Habits of Mind - 1 views

  • When the Habits of Mind are seen as something that can be "covered" then they inevitably are "covered". And once covered they are left behind. To push on with the Habits of Mind in the face of people (students or teachers) seeing them as a topic, is a sure way to build resistance and it will ultimately lead to the Habits being another program that comes through the school. We must approach the Habits of Mind in a similar way as a subject that needs continual development if we are to sustain the work in the classroom.
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    Doing vs. Developing habits of mind...
Kristina (Kris) Peachey (AAS/NZAS)

The_Skillful_Teacher.pdf - 2 views

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    We looked at some of Stephen Brookfield's techniques ADS/NZAS meetings. We have three of his books. This PDF has a good summary highlighting some of the classroom routines he suggests. I also have an ebook of the book these are taken from "The Skillful Teacher" if anyone is interested.
Kristina (Kris) Peachey (AAS/NZAS)

Why Do Americans Stink at Math? - NYTimes.com - 0 views

  • Teachers learn to teach primarily by recalling their memories of having been taught, an average of 13,000 hours of instruction over a typical childhood.
  • Left to their own devices, teachers are once again trying to incorporate new ideas into old scripts, often botching them in the process.
  • how rarely teachers discussed their teaching methods
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  • More distressing to Takahashi was that American teachers had almost no opportunities to watch one another teach.
  • Of all the lessons Japan has to offer the United States, the most important might be the belief in patience and the possibility of change. Japan, after all, was able to shift a country full of teachers to a new approach.
  • Most policies aimed at improving teaching conceive of the job not as a craft that needs to be taught but as a natural-born talent that teachers either decide to muster or don’t possess. Instead of acknowledging that changes like the new math are something teachers must learn over time, we mandate them as “standards” that teachers are expected to simply “adopt.” We shouldn’t be surprised, then, that their students don’t improve.
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    Some interesting thoughts about teachers and change.
Donald P

A history of the modern fact - 2 views

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    Interesting discussion about the evolution of the concept of a fact. I think we all probably claim the authority of a 'fact' sometimes, so it's relevant to understand how they are changing. The psychology behind wanting to believe facts is fascinating.
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    This has some interesting perspectives, but it does little to address belief. The people interviewed seem frustrated by belief, so they take a negative stance. I would like to know more about the experiment where participants had a more open-minded response to climate change after writing an essay about a time they fought for something they believe in. In that case, belief played a constructive role because of their lateral entry. There is a greater thinking level to this issue.
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    Another interesting avenue my mind took while reading this was toward Owen Barfield's early 20th century investigation of history in English words. He shows how thinking develops through language. It is a good read if you can get past some of the antiquated language he uses to categorize his thoughts. It is titled, History in English Words. I have a copy if anyone wants to check it out.
anonymous

Google and the future of search: Amit Singhal and the Knowledge Graph | Technology | Th... - 1 views

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    Google has taken Wittgenstein's theory of language and created a new kind of search engine. Their own presentation of this  'Knowledge Graph' can be found at:  http://www.google.com/insidesearch/features/search/knowledge.html
Kristina (Kris) Peachey (AAS/NZAS)

Escaping Isolation: Twitter and transparency « Granted, but… - 1 views

  • What are we afraid of? Would we rather be alone or better? Now that’s a pair of essential questions.
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    "What are we afraid of? Would we rather be alone or better? Now that's a pair of essential questions."
Troy Babbitt

Teaching Students to Ask Questions Instead of Answering Them by Matthew H. Bowker - 2 views

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    This is pretty direct, and it hits on the point of education as transformative instead of distributive or directive. I think his reference to Winnicot's "holding environment", and it's awkward maternalism could be supplemented by good ol' Vygotsky's ZPD, Zone of Proximal Development, and his general theory of intersubjectivity, which provides us with the common term "scaffolding". Plus, I like that both Vygotsky and Piaget regard this portion of cognitive development as continuous and culturally recursive.
Jeremy Snow

Why Do I Teach? - NYTimes.com - 1 views

  • Overall, college education seems a matter of mastering a complex body of knowledge for a very short time only to rather soon forget everything
  • I’ve concluded that the goal of most college courses should not be knowledge but engaging in certain intellectual exercises.
  • We should judge teaching not by the amount of knowledge it passes on, but by the enduring excitement it generates. Knowledge, when it comes, is a later arrival, flaring up, when the time is right, from the sparks good teachers have implanted in their students’ souls.
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    A nice little essay by a university professor about what he sees as the goals of teaching.
Jeremy Snow

Phonetics: The Sounds of English and Spanish - The University of Iowa - 2 views

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    This is a very useful site for phonetics. For each IPA symbol they play an audio recording plus you get an animated diagram of the mouth position, step by step pronunciation descriptions, and a video clip of someone making the sound. Only available for American English (or German or Spanish).
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    Jeremy ,thanks. Think it could go to students' groups to.
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    that is ,tooo
Kristina (Kris) Peachey (AAS/NZAS)

Why making thinking visible depends on who you are as a learner | Time Space Education - 1 views

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    A good reminder of one of the purposes of using thinking routines.
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