Such a Punch…

Posted on | May 22, 2010 | by David Warlick | 3 Comments
Category: education, teaching, technology

Cropped from a Flickr Image by Fiona Grant

My last blog post just just shy of 1000 words. Vera B. Hoyle (my senior English teachers) would be proud. But in this day and time of being overwhelmed by information, it’s the short statement that counts.

Gary Stager and I can quibble about a trillionth here and a trillionth there, but he certainly packs a punch and says what’s true in this comment posted on a recent blogging by Will Richardson.

If a human is breathing, he is a “true learner.”

School teaches at best a trillionth of the knowledge available on the planet yet we quibble endlessly over which trillionth of a percent is most important. (short answer – the most trivial and ~~less useful~~ least useful)

Who cares?

If teaching was an actual profession, all curriculum and assessment issues would be resolved internally within that profession, not imposed by committees of anonymous (and amateur) bureaucrats.

What is the “true lesson” of education for students when they see their teachers routinely trampled and become increasingly helpless?

This obsession with measurement of human achievement IN ALL OF ITS FORMS is a form of arrogance at best and psychosis at worst.

No more to be said, but thanks, Gary…

Added later: Also passed along from Gary — http://bit.ly/b93AVh

Comments

Gary Stager

Since Ms. Hoyle may be reading this, I think I should note that less useful be changed to “least useful.”

Thanks for the shout-out!
http://edu.blogs.com Ewan McIntosh

Funny reading this – you’re both absolutely right. But in many countries it has been the case for some time that curriculum (what we teach) is decided by individual schools or even teachers. In emerging practice of the last five years we’ve seen increased use of Active Learning, too, where students themselves lead what is learned, as well as how.

It’s vital, I feel, that those places where this is not the case start citing examples from outside the “country chamber” in which their current thoughts reside. Nothing’s new in this. Nearly every time you’ll find what you’re looking for somewhere. It’s just a question of knowing where.
http://www.theartoflearningproject.org Alyssa

You should check this blog… http://theartoflearningproject.org/educate/category/the-learning-journal/. It discusses this topic thoroughly.

Photo taken by Ewan McIntosh in a Taxi in Shanghai

RSS Subscribe

Search

Admin

Books Written


Cultivating Your Personal Learning Network 2nd Edition (2012)
	Redefining Literacy 2.0 (2008)
	Classroom Blogging (2007) • Lulu • Amazon
	Raw Materials for the Mind (2005)