Thursday, April 16, 2015

How Will You #MakeSchoolDifferent

Earlier this week Scott McLeod pushed our thinking with a post titled We Have to Stop Pretending…..#MakeSchoolDifferent.  Please be sure to check out his post and the many thought-provoking comments.  My colleague and friend Jackie Gerstein tagged me so here are my additions:

When it comes to education, we have to stop pretending…

  • that just because kids are engaged they are always learning
  • that technology is a silver bullet that will transform education
  • that the only leaders in a school or district have a specific title
  • that the best schools are so because they work well for the adults
  • that instruction has to be delivered in a uniform fashion.


Image credit: http://www.islandbreath.org/2013Year/04/130417nietzsche.jpg

So what do you feel needs to change in education in order to make school different?

2 comments:

  1. Hi Eric,

    As a newbie in the education blogging world -- and still trying to find my 'niche' -- I like when I come across posts like this, posts that ask for open discussion and talk about interesting issues. It comes across as very personal and non-generic.

    One of my education professors (when I was in teachers' College, not long ago actually) said that learning happens ALL of the time. It happens even when we don't teach. Empty space, empty time can actually be quite productive for students. We need not feel that we have to 'fill' up every single crevice of time with teaching / learning. In fact, too MUCH teaching / learning can often be exhausting for students. An example of social justice: students may learn about social justice through organic and guided class experiments, discussions and debates... I often find that allowing students the freedom to explore a particular topic--rather than 'cramming it down their throats'--leads to better engagement.

    About the technology bit: I think if used appropriately and productively, technology can be great. But with computers acting as memories, calculators, spell checks, students risk a kind of 'over-dependence' on devices. The use (amount, type, etc...) of technology always depends on the grade, school environment, maturity of students, student engagement, etc... so many factors to be considered.

    I also have a blog in education I've recently created. I would appreciate it if you took a look!
    Thanks :)

    - Anna
    http://annaseducationresources.blogspot.com

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  2. Eric, thanks so much for participating and sharing out the challenge. Love your list!

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