Key
learnings:
• Celebrate and encourage your student's creativity, their interests and strengths. Challenge barriers to make things happen.
• Be mindful of the stifling and potentially harmful effects of national testing when compliance is the dominant culture of our education system.
The keynote speaker at the EduTech conference was Sir Ken Robinson. He is an inspiring speaker and wonderfully engaging storyteller who reflects deeply on educational issues.In his keynote Robinson put forward the challenge that education systems need to nurture rather than undermine creativity. He advocated that diversity, ecology, fairness and care must be in place in schools in order for education to be effective and his belief is that students learning in a school with a positive culture develop resilience, talent, hope and creativity.Robinson described how children are naturally diverse and have deep reserves of natural talent saying "If you can light the spark of curiosity they will learn". As children are natural learners, curiosity is the engine of achievement. So why are there so many students who disengage from school? because they don't get anything from it and don't enjoy it. Why is this? one reason is standardised testing that focuses on core subjects like English and Mathematics and doesn't recognise the wealth of creativity children have. Robinson believes children prosper most with a broad curriculum that celebrates their various talents therefore a quality education needs to give equal weighting to the Arts, PE and the humanities, not just English and Maths.
• Celebrate and encourage your student's creativity, their interests and strengths. Challenge barriers to make things happen.
• Be mindful of the stifling and potentially harmful effects of national testing when compliance is the dominant culture of our education system.
The keynote speaker at the EduTech conference was Sir Ken Robinson. He is an inspiring speaker and wonderfully engaging storyteller who reflects deeply on educational issues.In his keynote Robinson put forward the challenge that education systems need to nurture rather than undermine creativity. He advocated that diversity, ecology, fairness and care must be in place in schools in order for education to be effective and his belief is that students learning in a school with a positive culture develop resilience, talent, hope and creativity.Robinson described how children are naturally diverse and have deep reserves of natural talent saying "If you can light the spark of curiosity they will learn". As children are natural learners, curiosity is the engine of achievement. So why are there so many students who disengage from school? because they don't get anything from it and don't enjoy it. Why is this? one reason is standardised testing that focuses on core subjects like English and Mathematics and doesn't recognise the wealth of creativity children have. Robinson believes children prosper most with a broad curriculum that celebrates their various talents therefore a quality education needs to give equal weighting to the Arts, PE and the humanities, not just English and Maths.
Robinson went on to say the whole point of teaching is learning and the
role of a teacher is to facilitate learning. No school is better than its
teachers. Teaching is a creative profession but sadly in many countries it is
becoming deprofessionalised. The dominant culture of education has come to
focus on testing, not teaching and learning. While testing is important, it
should support learning not obstruct it. This focus on testing is facilitating
an educational culture of compliance not curiosity.
Robinson gave the example of the education system in Finland. Their
students score highly in Maths, Science and Reading (the only subjects tested).
What can we learn from them? Features of the Finish education system are that
they have a broad curriculum and don’t focus on 'core subjects.’ There is
minimal standardised testing. They also have a very low drop out rate as
students identified as having difficulty are well supported.
In summary, Sir Ken’s message was that high performing education systems
across the world individualise teaching and learning. They engage student’s
curiosity, recognise and encourage individuality and creativity to motivate
them to learn. These countries attribute a high status to the teaching
profession and invest heavily in professional development. They give their
schools the responsibility and discretion to make decisions for their staff and
students.
So, how does this apply to me? While I am not able to change the
education system of New Zealand, I can be mindful of the impact on students
when making decisions around assessment and its impact on teaching and
learning. As a parent, I am still wrestling with Sir Ken's ideas because
the mother in me wants to see my children 'achieve' and 'succeed' while the
educator in me asks "Who is defining what is being valued as important?
and Who is deciding what defines success?' Shouldn't I just celebrate the fact
that my daughter is an amazing artist or that my son has great interpersonal
skills rather than fretting about whether they use fullstops correctly or what
times table they need to memorise?
What I can affect change on is recognising, supporting and encouraging
the creativity, passions and strengths of the students I teach. I can actively
help students find ways to challenge the norms, overcome barriers and make
their dreams happen then encourage them to share and celebrate their successes.
In my role as AP I can model my passion for teaching and learning, making time
to talk with staff about their professional journeys, helping them look for
ways to overcome challenges and frustrations and to share their triumphs. No
small task but certainly a goal worth aiming for!
Link to Sir Ken Robinson’s TED talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_how_to_escape_education_s_death_valley#t-333637
No comments:
Post a Comment