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Snagfilms is an incredible web site that has a bunch of really excellent films -- "Supersize Me", "The Future of Food", and so on. Here's Supersize Me:
Saturday, July 19, 2008
The Disadvantages of an Elite Education
One of the best pieces of writing on elite education. Read it here. I have little to say that could add to the power of the article, so I won't even try.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Intellectual Character
Schools aren't always exactly centers of intellectualism. My own high school was pretty anti-intellectual, truth be told. Ron Ritcheart's "Intellectual Character" is an attempt to foster a true love of learning. The whole concept of "intellectual character" is an interesting one and he defines it more as a set of practiced dispositions and habits of mind in tune with the life of the mind. As such, it is not a mere list of skills or "core knowledge". Intellectual character becomes a way of approaching knowledge. This stands in direct contradistinction to the way many schools currently educate the young.
The book is largely a series of six interconnected case studies that examines ways to engage student's intellectual character. The text ranges from the very theoretical to some very practical advice such as tips on setting the stage for inquiry on the very first day of class. There are suggestions for curriculum development to decorating your classroom and so on. All of this sounds fairly pedestrian, but in fact there are some great suggestions here.
I cannot say that "Intellectual Character" is a great read but it is an important read for educators who worry that we're underselling our kids with a mediocre pedagogy that fills them with facts and sterile "skills". All of this is a tough road and there will be skeptics. None of this is really contained within a measurable series of metrics, but giving students intellectual purpose and direction seems more important to me.
The book is largely a series of six interconnected case studies that examines ways to engage student's intellectual character. The text ranges from the very theoretical to some very practical advice such as tips on setting the stage for inquiry on the very first day of class. There are suggestions for curriculum development to decorating your classroom and so on. All of this sounds fairly pedestrian, but in fact there are some great suggestions here.
I cannot say that "Intellectual Character" is a great read but it is an important read for educators who worry that we're underselling our kids with a mediocre pedagogy that fills them with facts and sterile "skills". All of this is a tough road and there will be skeptics. None of this is really contained within a measurable series of metrics, but giving students intellectual purpose and direction seems more important to me.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Education Debate
I thought Bob Compton's film 2 Million Minutes is an interesting comparison between U.S. education and the systems in India and China. CNBC recently had a debate between Compton and Washington Post education correspondent Jay Matthews on which systems are most effective. Both people make some pretty interesting points. Take a look here.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Techno-Ennui?
There's all this talk about whether or not all of these new technologies are making us all dumber than we've ever been. If you've read this blog or just browse through my archives, you'll see that I don't believe this to be the case. What I'm starting to wonder, however, is if all of this information is going to make us bored. We can find out pretty much anything we want with a few keystrokes. We can communicate with people from around the world. We can connect with people who share our interests. Does this ever start to become boring?
I remember as a kid sitting at home paging through an old World Book Encyclopedia and reading about the Roman Empire. I spent hours imagining what else was out there. My access to other information was limited to a pretty miserable public library. When I was very young, my grandmother let me order some sort of cheap plastic Greek toy soldiers out of the back of a comic book and when they arrived I was in heaven. Occasionally my aunt, who worked in Manhattan, would pick something up for me. The anticipation of reading these books was incredible and I'd spend hours imagining what would be inside those books. Ordering Strat-O-Matic baseball cards was in an entirely different universe of expectations. But I digress...
Now I can pretty much get anything I want, whenever I want it. And sometimes I find it boring. There's no challenge, no frustration in having to wait, no delayed gratification. Sometimes I feel like I used to feel the day after Christmas -- I got everything I wanted -- now what?
One part of me says that this instant access should allow me to free up my creativity and pursue personal fulfillment. And that's entirely true. I wouldn't want to go back to the limited and limiting world I inhabited as a boy. But some of the mystery does seem gone. Weber discussed the Entzauberung der Welt (The Dis-Enchantment of the World) long before we had an internet, so it's nothing new. Perhaps it's just a natural result of getting older, I don't know.
But I do sometimes feel like we're at the end of an age that's spent itself out. If people like Ken Robinson are correct, then we have the potential to unleash an incredible age of creativity. And I think that more than anything else keeps me going. This outcome is by no means certain and in the end that's what I still find interesting. The movement from potentiality to actuality, the possibilities of the age, this is what gives our age its distinctiveness.
I remember as a kid sitting at home paging through an old World Book Encyclopedia and reading about the Roman Empire. I spent hours imagining what else was out there. My access to other information was limited to a pretty miserable public library. When I was very young, my grandmother let me order some sort of cheap plastic Greek toy soldiers out of the back of a comic book and when they arrived I was in heaven. Occasionally my aunt, who worked in Manhattan, would pick something up for me. The anticipation of reading these books was incredible and I'd spend hours imagining what would be inside those books. Ordering Strat-O-Matic baseball cards was in an entirely different universe of expectations. But I digress...
Now I can pretty much get anything I want, whenever I want it. And sometimes I find it boring. There's no challenge, no frustration in having to wait, no delayed gratification. Sometimes I feel like I used to feel the day after Christmas -- I got everything I wanted -- now what?
One part of me says that this instant access should allow me to free up my creativity and pursue personal fulfillment. And that's entirely true. I wouldn't want to go back to the limited and limiting world I inhabited as a boy. But some of the mystery does seem gone. Weber discussed the Entzauberung der Welt (The Dis-Enchantment of the World) long before we had an internet, so it's nothing new. Perhaps it's just a natural result of getting older, I don't know.
But I do sometimes feel like we're at the end of an age that's spent itself out. If people like Ken Robinson are correct, then we have the potential to unleash an incredible age of creativity. And I think that more than anything else keeps me going. This outcome is by no means certain and in the end that's what I still find interesting. The movement from potentiality to actuality, the possibilities of the age, this is what gives our age its distinctiveness.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Intellectual Character
Book Review: Intellectual Character: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How to Get It (Jossey-Bass Education)… by Ron Ritchhart
Schools aren't always exactly centers of intellectualism. My own high school was pretty anti-intellectual, truth be told. Ron Ritcheart's "Intellectual Character" is an attempt to foster a true love of learning. The whole concept of "intellectual character" is an interesting one and he defines it more as a set of practiced dispositions and habits of mind in tune with the life of the mind. As such, it is not a mere list of skills or "core knowledge". Intellectual character becomes a way of approaching knowledge. This stands in direct contradistinction to the way many schools currently educate the young.
The book is largely a series of six interconnected case studies that examines ways to engage student's intellectual character. The text ranges from the very theoretical to some very practical advice such as tips on setting the stage for inquiry on the very first day of class. There are suggestions for curriculum development to decorating your classroom and so on. All of this sounds fairly pedestrian, but in fact there are some great suggestions here.
I cannot say that "Intellectual Character" is a great read but it is an important read for educators who worry that we're underselling our kids with a mediocre pedagogy that fills them with facts and sterile "skills". All of this is a tough road and there will be skeptics. None of this is really contained within a measurable series of metrics, but giving students intellectual purpose and direction seems more important to me.
Schools aren't always exactly centers of intellectualism. My own high school was pretty anti-intellectual, truth be told. Ron Ritcheart's "Intellectual Character" is an attempt to foster a true love of learning. The whole concept of "intellectual character" is an interesting one and he defines it more as a set of practiced dispositions and habits of mind in tune with the life of the mind. As such, it is not a mere list of skills or "core knowledge". Intellectual character becomes a way of approaching knowledge. This stands in direct contradistinction to the way many schools currently educate the young.
The book is largely a series of six interconnected case studies that examines ways to engage student's intellectual character. The text ranges from the very theoretical to some very practical advice such as tips on setting the stage for inquiry on the very first day of class. There are suggestions for curriculum development to decorating your classroom and so on. All of this sounds fairly pedestrian, but in fact there are some great suggestions here.
I cannot say that "Intellectual Character" is a great read but it is an important read for educators who worry that we're underselling our kids with a mediocre pedagogy that fills them with facts and sterile "skills". All of this is a tough road and there will be skeptics. None of this is really contained within a measurable series of metrics, but giving students intellectual purpose and direction seems more important to me.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Should We Let Kids Graduate High School Early?
Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts is proposing that students who demonstrate mastery of the necessary skills.
Read the entire article here. I'd heard Heidi Hayes Jacobs talk about this, but it all seemed rather fantastic and not terribly realistic. And yet here it is.
I find the idea really interesting. Having taught high school seniors for a number of years and about to teach them again), I've often wondered if we keep the kids in secondary education longer than we should. I don't know how this experiment will turn out, but I think it'll be interesting to watch.
"We’re moving to a mastery-based system, where you move not by banking seat-time, but by virtue of your mastery of the skills and knowledge needed for the next phase of your education," the official said.
"Some children are ready to move on to a higher level, deeper challenges earlier than others. We should have a vehicle for them," the official said
Read the entire article here. I'd heard Heidi Hayes Jacobs talk about this, but it all seemed rather fantastic and not terribly realistic. And yet here it is.
I find the idea really interesting. Having taught high school seniors for a number of years and about to teach them again), I've often wondered if we keep the kids in secondary education longer than we should. I don't know how this experiment will turn out, but I think it'll be interesting to watch.
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