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Time to refresh your energy. 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 Arriving at a Definition of Learning 'Personalized and blended learning and differentiated instruction should be viewed as interrelated supports for deep learning.’ https://edut.to/2IzXTPm Play based learning ‘ However, the play environment is only one part of the puzzle in supporting and observing how children learn through pla y.   Much of the critical work is unseen to the 'naked eye' by visitors intent on seeing how schools 'do' play in their environment.’ http://bit.ly/2yeX7Cw Why an education in visual arts is the key to arming students for the future ' Visual skills are essential  for a sophisticated workforce , yet we offer so little education in the vital sk...

Returning to the early world of creative education Elwyn Richardson 1925-2012 He toi whakairo he mana tangata – where there is artistic excellence there is human dignity . Back to the future There was a time when New Zealand  primary education was internationally recognised for placing the learner at the centre of learning . When education was driven by a belief in the creative power of the learners themselves; when learning was based on the internal and external lives of the children. But sinceTomorrows Schools things have changed .   Today schools have been distracted by assessment, achievement data and measurement by standards.   The evidence is becoming clear in our rush to towards achieving measurable results children’s curiosity has been eroded. As part of this change educational decision making has shifted from innovative teachers to political imperatives and their non-teaching policy makers . Today ‘flexible learning environments’ and access to modern information ...

Teachers and principals need to find their collective voice and fight back against the current destruction of the public education system - a system  once based on the centrality of education as a common good. At the New Zealand Primary Principals Federation's Annual meeting the warnings about the negative future scenarios  couldn't have been made more clear. .   One after the other  highly respected international educators made it very clear - do not follow the failed reforms that have been been imposed in their countries as part of a neo-liberal 'market forces' agenda/ideology. Unfortunately,  since the introduction of Tomorrows Schools,  we are well on the way to making the same mistakes .    Tomorrows Schools, introduced by the then Labour Government, held out a promise of  democratic neighborhood schools. Schools  were to...