Here's a cool video by John Spencer on Personalized Learning and the kinds of shifts we need to make from our traditional, industrialized model of School.
I definitely agree with these ideas. If there was a teaching force full of Joe Bower's, this would solve all education problems. However, we must face the reality that this is not the case. Can you comment (or write a blog post :) ) on how to actually implement these ideas? It would require massive amount of re-training for existing teachers, which costs massive amounts of money, which we all know is not available. Furthermore, the "worst" (read "most") current teachers surely would not be enthusiastic enough to implement things like this properly even if they were trained. It takes someone who really cares about students learning to do these things right, and unfortunately I don't think a very high percentage of teachers fit into that category.
The answer is complicated. Coaching, better PD, better teacher, change in school culture all need to happen. But ultimately, it's about a change in paradigms. And before we ask, "How will we do this?" we have to ask, "Is this what's best for children?"
I definitely agree with these ideas. If there was a teaching force full of Joe Bower's, this would solve all education problems. However, we must face the reality that this is not the case. Can you comment (or write a blog post :) ) on how to actually implement these ideas? It would require massive amount of re-training for existing teachers, which costs massive amounts of money, which we all know is not available. Furthermore, the "worst" (read "most") current teachers surely would not be enthusiastic enough to implement things like this properly even if they were trained. It takes someone who really cares about students learning to do these things right, and unfortunately I don't think a very high percentage of teachers fit into that category.
ReplyDeleteThe answer is complicated. Coaching, better PD, better teacher, change in school culture all need to happen. But ultimately, it's about a change in paradigms. And before we ask, "How will we do this?" we have to ask, "Is this what's best for children?"
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