Comments on: Can we move a rubber tree plant?

By: Statement of Educational Philosophy | Transformation Teachers Programme

Statement of Educational Philosophy | Transformation Teachers Programme — Sat, 03 May 2008 11:23:26 +0000

[...] I post my Statement of Educational Philosophy now, after reading and posting a comment on Kelly Christopherson’s post, which in turn was inspired by Harold Jarche’s post, which in turn was inspired by [...]

By: kwhobbes

kwhobbes — Wed, 23 May 2007 23:01:02 +0000

Dave, I agree that we need to move the system. However, not all the parents are looking at this with the same insight that you have. Most parents still align themselves with the industrial model, even in the workplace despite what is happening in numerous sectors. When it comes to education, they are comfortable with what they know thus testing and “hunt-and-peck” are things that they can identify with and understand while wikis, podcasts, cross-continent collaborations and teachers “not knowing everything” are very unnerving for them. Consider that, if parents were understanding of the power these tools have for education, they would not stand for the blocking of various tools but would be demanding their use in the classrooms with an expectation that their child’s learning would not be “graded” in a traditional sense but using a rubric to discuss areas of strength and areas where work was needed. Instead, we have many parents who are very worried about their children using the internet and the tools that are found there. So, a clubhouse on brown may be somewhat old but drinking green tea or ice water isn’t necessarily – coffee was the drink of choice for many. “The plain fact of the matter is that I want my kids to become articulate thinkers that can relate to others in meaningful ways. I want them to be empathetic, compassionate, and caring. I want them to be leaders and problem solvers” is what many of us want for our own children and all the rest that come to our schools. Unfortunately, we need to overcome a societal perception that still drives much of what we do in school. btw, I’d rather have a wrap anyway!

By: David Truss

David Truss — Wed, 23 May 2007 08:10:08 +0000

A “clubhouse on brown, please with a tall glass of ice-water” is fine for our generation, but our students want California Rolls and Bubble Tea! The fact is that our model really doesn’t fit, (I keep going back to my Square Peg, Round Hole post – linked to my name above). Check out Christopher D Sessums post: eduspaces.net/csessums/weblog/157243.html
…especially the video!
The plain fact of the matter is that I want my kids to become articulate thinkers that can relate to others in meaningful ways. I want them to be empathetic, compassionate, and caring. I want them to be leaders and problem solvers… and as long as schools choose to measure their ability to hunt-and-peck for the right answer in a standardized test, they are not serving my children’s or our societal needs!

By: Trev

Trev — Wed, 23 May 2007 01:45:10 +0000

I’ve had similar thoughts about the industrial model and subsequent mind set of education/educators. The reality of our present society and its technologies is that it more resembles an organic system and the model that more appropriately explains it is chaos theory. I think this is why our present assembly line models of teaching don’t suit the needs of today’s learners. The anytime/anywhere learning that our 21st century students yearn for does not fit nicely into the 4 walls and 5 periods of conventional schools. I wish I knew more about systems theory and particularly about how it applies to education. I think there are answers in that direction.