Stop giving mindless homework – a neutral, research-based view
Which would you prefer: Richard Feynman’s mum asking him “What did you ask at school today?” or “What homework have you got to do tonight? Can you get it done before supper.” I am not pro-homework for its own sake. By and large I think much of it is a total waste of time and […]
Saccharine playgrounds don’t help anyone
From: Can a Playground Be Too Safe? – NYTimes.com “Children need to encounter risks and overcome fears on the playground,” said Ellen Sandseter, a professor of psychology at Queen Maud University in Norway. “I think monkey bars and tall slides are great. As playgrounds become more and more boring, these are some of the few...
Doesn’t bode well for next year’s examinees
Sparrow’s research reveals that we forget things we are confident we can find on the Internet. We are more likely to remember things we think are not available online. And we are better able to remember where to find something on the Internet than we are at remembering the information itself. via 3quarksdaily And i […]
If Steve Jobs designed a school …
Steve Jobs, as I probably don’t need to say, was an unemployed college dropout who became, well, Steve Jobs. I’ve been thinking about setting up schools, free schools and the like and thought it might be an idea to do a mental exercise. If I had Steve Jobs on the phone, what would he recommend? […]
One in the Eye for Health & Safety
via Gever Tulley (the founder of the original Tinkering School) Tinkering School Austin
Hard to compare this with an INSET day
The Reform Symposium starts in 8 days time. It runs from Friday, July 29 to Sunday, July 31, 2011. For those who don’t know what it is, it’s an international online conference for everyone concerned with education. There are more than 65 presentations and 12 keynote speakers. (The schedule is here. Some reasons for taking...
I can’t create the future with the tools of your past.
Old, but not irrelevant.
Humanities in the 21st Century
Eloquently put I thought. What can the humanities offer students in the twenty-first century? Merely the possibility of teaching them to pay attention, to contemplate, to appreciate beauty, to experience awe and wonder, to think with depth and sensitivity about life, and to know there are values beyond profit and self-interest. The...
“Mickey mouse” courses
Thousands of non-academic courses in subjects such as cookery, horse grooming and food processing are set to be scrapped from league tables in a major crackdown on schools playing the system. from: ‘Bonfire of Mickey Mouse courses’ expected in school league table overhaul Mixed feelings. Yes to trying to stop people playing...