Today's question of the day has to do with vision-thinking this thing we do called education.
There has been a lot of talk over past few years about the changes necessary to make education relevant in the 21st century. Seems like the basic dichotomy comes down to: do we fix/rebuild/re-work the present system or do we have a revolution and start something new?
Well, the former position has had its fair share of commentary over the years; so just for the sake of today's question, I'd like to concentrate on the latter.
Say we did have a total revolution in education; say we could start anew. What would be your vision for education and schools if given the chance to start fresh right now? (Think big).
Sun in Capricorn I
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Capricorn I — The Headless Body, according to Austin Coppock‘s system —
begins on December 21 2024 at 4:20 am EST, and continues until 30 December
2024 at ...
My vision:
ReplyDelete1. No standardized tests
2. Project Based Learning - if they can complete the project, they learned the material.
3. Technology is everywhere, but not noticed. It's just like notebooks and pencils.
4. Projects are relevant to the community, school, or world.
5. Interdisciplinary - projects (and real world jobs) require more than just that class subject, so projects stretch across classes and subjects.
6. Students all have equal access to information and resources
7. Teachers are trained and supported
8. Teachers are respected
9. Learning goes beyond the "school day"
10. The community and local businesses have a stake in the schools and help out.
My vision as a parent:
ReplyDelete1.) Resources for teachers so they can help my child do well.
2.) Teaching the love of learning, not learning in itself. Constant stewards of education.
3.) Teachers being respected for all the work they do behind the scenes. I remember my mom preparing lesson plans over the summer and countless hours of thought on how to make the lesson exciting for kids.
4.) Teaching kids responsible usage of technology not banning it.
5.) Administrators not afraid of change.
6.) Parents engaged in their kids' education. Engaged, not involved. Engaged.
7.) Global Education and tolerance for different perspectives. Opening our mind to thoughts/ideas different than ours is the whole point of getting an education. We might not agree, but we can agree to disagree respectfully.
My vision is that schools will help children develop a love of learning and when that's done, they can start teaching students topics that matters to them.
ReplyDeleteI'd create a community-based school with flexible schedules. Students would learn with a mix of PBL and independent study. Eveeyone would maintain digital portfolios. Some work would be publicly shared and celebrated. Hands on learning activities would predominate. Community members would serve as project mentors for students. Work would focus on content creation, collaboration, and sharing. Good food would be readily accessible in and close to school. The school would have a stage for small performances and webcasts. It would also host and moderate a community news portal. Student work would be showcased there as well. Regular field trips into the community would be offered, led by community learning mentors.
ReplyDeleteMost of the comments above are not really a revolution. The concept of school remains in them all.
ReplyDeleteYou cannot have a revolution without a rebellion. A rebellion just says no to the status quo. We won't do it this way anymore. A Revolution follows that. It grows out the ashes of the rebellion. A revolution says here is what we do instead. Revolution is impossible without rebellion.
These are all great ideas. I think as educators whose job it is to instill all the necessary skills & strategies to develop life long learners, we need to say NO MORE TESTING. this is the biggest step we could take to reminding people thy children are PEOPLE & allow us to "take back" our classrooms.
ReplyDeleteour vision:
ReplyDeletehttp://voicethread.com/share/988528/
and just ran across this today: http://www.seeducation.org/
makes me wonder if we don't need to just separate from public and politics to actualize the revolution.
I dream of a school where teachers truly are model learners and embrace change. I dream of a school where students' tools include mobile devices and social networking sites; of classrooms that are always available; of an administration that models the change they want, of a curriculum that honours creativity; and especially of a community that collaborates willingly.
ReplyDeleteMy vision: student-centered, PBL, 100% differentiated, and community driven. More details at http://learningfromeachother.blogspot.com/2010/06/my-vision-for-education.html
ReplyDelete