Still following the mental thread from my last post. I’m feeling restless in my professional position at the moment, a mini crisis which is usually a part of preventing stagnation and breaking through to a better flow. I’m not sure if I can adequately explain it (feeling unwell) so what I’ll do instead is share talks and articles which have resonated.
First off, I revisited Charles Leadbeater’s old TED talk. This article reminded me of this.
[ted id=892 width=560 height=315]
And Charles’ more recent TED talk. The man can talk. If only I could communicate so well.
[ted id=63 width=560 height=315]
The piece by Richard Elmore has a standout phrase for me which is that ‘a progressive dissociation between learning and schooling’. This is very disturbing, particularly if you believe it. It makes me question everything we do in school. It makes me think that whatever assessment we have for teaching is ineffective. Do our compulsory self-evaluations for renewed registration mean anything? Isn’t it relatively easy to justify what we do using the relevant terminology? Isn’t it really about the students? When are we going to assess our teaching based on what our students really need in life? I can’t recall that conversation in any staff meeting or curriculum day program.
A ship in the harbour is safe but that’s not what ships are for – photo by Joel Robinson
You might think I’m being negative but I’m just breaking things up a little, thinking about what I could do, in my free space as teacher librarian, unfettered by marking and curriculum guidelines, to create wonderful, surprising, fun learning opportunities. Anyone join me?
I leave you with this.
[ted id=949 width=560 height=315]
Wait, another one. Many voices and much sense here.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quYDkuD4dMU&w=560&h=315]