Author Archives: @jrradney

Blank page
Naked, wretched, uninviting,
Mocking, inviting scorn and ridicule
Failure. Period.
…
Finished page
Emperor’s mind uncovered
Naked, wretched, uninviting
Mocking, inviting scorn and ridicule
Failure?
What importance, the question
Marks?

Will: Redefine “Better”:

willrichardson:

I’m constantly provoked by Umair Haque’s essays in the Harvard Business Review, and his bit on “Declare Your Radicalness” is no exception. The whole essay is definitely worth the read, as are many of the comments, but as is often the case, there was one line that really jumped out:

“…We…

The notion from Haque’s essay quoted by Richardson about restoring to the state of the past caused me to reflect on our current situation in education. One thing that seems unstated about the need for education reform is that we cannot go back specifically BECAUSE a recaptured dynamic from the past would not work in the present we find ourselves in and the future we seek to prepare our students for. It is very important for us to recognise that we are not about restoration of some formerly-held ideal, but about
ressing forward into unexplored territory we are, most emphatically, NOT re-forming education to what it was (or even should be). We are casting something brand new; perhaps we should not even call it education. In that we are talking about that thing we do that prepares people for full and satisfying participation in society, we are obviously educating, but the break we need to make with authority, standard core, and assessment is so radical, we should consider whether even to keep the former label. Perhaps our given task is so disruptive, so subversive, that we need a name change.

I’m talking to Corwin about a 4th Ed, but it wouldn’t come out until next spring I think. If you have any suggestions for additions/deletions, I would love to hear them. I’ll probably add a Tumblr section, but I’m pretty sure I would keep Blogger in there…more ways to administrate who sees what.

Have you thought of going more interactive with the ideas? What if you set it up as an interactive wiki (my suggestion would be via wikieducator.org, but that’s mainly because I am trying to work solely in open education resources)?

Will: Someone’s Getting It:

willrichardson:

According to Marc Tucker, education leaders at the 2nd International Summit on the Teaching Profession are telling a much different narrative of learning than here in the States.

Singapore:

They reminded themselves that what they do in education is for the learner, their needs, their…

I think it could be a mantra well used: I want to prepare students for the test of life, not a life of tests.

Will: The Real Shift is Not Technology:

willrichardson:

From the “I Know I Keep Saying This But I Just Can’t Stop Dept.” comes yet another example of how out of whack our language is when talking about what student learning should be. In this long, celebratory piece from the Las Vegas Sun today we learn that students at a Nevada charter school have…

I so agree, Will. It’s like I’m in a china shop (with really disgusting pieces that the public, for some bizarre reason is ‘oohing’ and ‘aahing’ over), and I just want to grab an available baseball bat and ‘swing away’ till it’s all gone and we can start anew.
Then I remember that it’s really people’s lives and not just china, and I travel on, trying to make the system change from within…