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Education Readings By Allan Alach Every week Bruce Hammonds and I collect articles to share with teachers to encourage a creative approach to teaching and learning. I welcome suggested articles, so if you come across a gem, email it to me at allanalach@inspire.net.nz   This edition will be the last one for 2018 . We appreciate it a busy time with political action, end of term activities, and school reports but suggest you save readings to cherry pick mid Janua ry Sir Ken Robinson: What makes a teacher great? ‘Education innovator Sir Ken Robinson, School News deliberated over misconceptions about great teaching. “ It’s assumed, I think, that to be a good teacher essentially all you need is to have a good degree in whatever it is you’re being paid to teach,” Sir Ken noted. “It’s simply not true, it was never true.’ http://bit.ly/2RgDvGl Rewards Are Still Bad News (25 Years Later) By A lfie Koh n ‘It’s not just that these two are different but that the first tends to undermine the se...

Education Readings   By Allan Alach Happy birthday to John Dewey, visionary educator, social reformer, psychologist, and philosophe r. Dewey was central to the development of the so-called progressive movement in education, which emphasizes the importance of student participation and meaningful activity in the classroom . Dewey began his career as a classroom teacher. After becoming a professor of philosophy, he shifted much of his attention to education, founding the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and writing School and Society, which argued for the need for collaborative practical experimentation in the classroom . His emphasis on practical skills and learning by doing upended the inherited wisdom of the time, which valued obedience and rote memorization. John Dewey died in 1952. Over the course of his long career, he published 40 books and 700 articles on a wide variety of topics, and indelibly influenced the world’s classrooms with his meaning-oriented, democrati...

Education Readings   By Allan Alach Sad news this week. One of New Zealand’s premier educators, Kelvin Smythe, lost his battle against prostate cancer last Saturday .  Kelvin was one of the very best educators in New Zealand’s history and his passing is a tragedy for primary school education. Over the past decade from 2009, Kelvin led the battle against the then government’s imposition of national standards (not too dissimilar to common core standards in the USA) and I think it’s fair to say that his efforts contributed to the removal of these when the government changed a year ago. He was indeed an educational warrior who fought to the end to protect holistic /creative /democratic teaching from current technocratic formulaic approach es . Our condolences to Kelvin’s family , who devoted themselves to his care over the last few weeks . Every week Bruce Hammonds and I collect articles to share with teachers to encourage a creative approach to teaching and learning. I welcome ...

Mural assisted by n ex Art Adviser Education Readings   By Allan Alach Every week Bruce Hammonds and I collect articles to share with teachers to encourage a creative approach to teaching and learning. I welcome suggested articles, so if you come across a gem, email it to me at allanalach@inspire.net.nz Bruce went to visit a school. Here are two articles reflecting on what he saw: A walk around a creative school - the senior school ‘Years ago, before Tomorrow ’ s Schools, I belonged to a group of teachers who believed it was important to develop classrooms that featured student inquiry and creative work . My walk showed that, at least in this school, the idea of the importance of stimulating classrooms still continues.’ http://bit.ly/2LymyUa A walk around a creative school - the juniors ‘It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to walk around a school ’ s junior classrooms . From the impression one gets you might have thought all you might see is literacy and numeracy work but my...