Dear all,
I was sent this video by one of my ex-students this week
because it reminded her of a conversation I had had with her Year group about
the importance of creativity in their lives and not being scared to think
differently from others. What this young man, Logan LePlante, has to say is
without doubt Food for Thought. It raises serious questions about how we
structure our learning, what is important and what we should be teaching.
Watching this, putting it together with other inspirational talks and articles
about education today, raises the question, what is it we should be teaching
our students in preparation for their lives in the 21st century? Our
old model of education based around core subjects, school structures,
authority, discipline, uniformity and regimentation, that has existed for over
150 years as a means of preparing people for a place in an industrial society is clearly outdated. Very few of the students we are teaching will
work on the factory floor, so should we be listening more to what students like
Logan are saying and applying it to what we are doing in our classrooms and
schools?
Here is the link to Dr Roger Walsh’s website as mentioned by
Logan in his talk. I know this will interest quite a few of you. Last week’s
Food for Thought focused on questioning, so here are the questions that have
driven Dr Roger Marsh’s research and investigation into Wellbeing and Happiness
over the past 30 years.
·
What does it mean to live wisely and
well, and what does it take?
·
How can we cultivate qualities such as
love and wisdom, kindness and compassion?
·
What is meant by terms such as
enlightenment and liberation, salvation and satori?
Wouldn’t
we have an amazing school if all students who graduated from ISHCMC could
emerge with the answers or at least an understanding of Dr Walsh’s three
questions built into the way they plan to live their lives?
Networked Classroom
- Resources from Connecting Classrooms Across Continents
(Kim's presentation)
- First
Steps Towards Becoming a 21st Century Educator
- 6 Reasons Students Should Have Their Own Blog
- Connection - The best professional development for
educators (Craig Skinner)
- How educators and schools can make the most of Google Hangouts (Edutopia)
Project Examples:
- The
Google+ Experiment (Merilyn Winslade)
- Famous People of the Civil War+ rubric + reflective blog post (see many more fantastic projects
on YIS Humanities teacher Rebekah Madrid's class blog)
- IB
Lang & Lit Diigo Group (Madeleine Cox)
- Skype a Creator (Madeleine Cox)
Have a great weekend,
Yours
Adrian
I think we’d have prepared our students for the world by exposing them to examples of people who are dedicated to achieving the goals outlined by Dr. Walsh. In my experience, many of these goals are lifelong pursuits for many people.
ReplyDeleteI think in addition to showing them role models such as Nelson Mandela & discussing their achievements, we should also aim to be role models for students as well. Do we practice kindness & compassion in our own lives – with our colleagues & in our daily interactions with others? Our students absorb much more from us than what they get in their lessons. If our message to them is consistent with our own behaviour & attitudes, then I think we’ll have done them a great service to become lifelong learners as they strive to achieve these goals. I love Dr. Walsh’s questions because anyone can achieve them, including us.