I am at the ACEL conference in Sydney today listening to Pete Senge, Senior Lecturer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The conference theme is about re-imaginging schooling.
From Wikipedia
School education occurs at a very important time…when kids are very open and transformative. However, the current insitutionalised learning, based on the industrial model very quickly transforms students into conforming students. He spoke of the internet being as revolutionary as the assembly line in the 1900’s on which current school models are based. So his argument is that we have the opportunity to transform the prevailing model of schooling as the assembly line is increasingly irrelevant. He said that schools based on the indutsrialised model were not about learning and when public education is under pressure, they go back to standards.
21st century schooling must be about change. If we don’t learn about climate change, what might the future look like? Problems like water are global and profoundly impacts on kids. Peter’s three principles of learning are:
- learning is what the learner wants to learn
- learning occurs in the lives of the learner
- learning is about thinking and doing
Schools will never radically re-invent schools…the press won’t let you. We the people need to radically change schools.
3 Comments
Very good points. This is why I am currently investigating home schooling. Schools teach children to hate learning, which is tragic. There are almost no schools around who are prepared to challenge the status quo, in spite of the governments claims that funding “independent school” increases choice. In fact there is very, very little difference in the education offered.
After listening to Dr Senge at the ACEL Conference via video link, I have begun to take time on a regular basis to reflect on my role as an instructional leader and to pay more attention on how the learner learns rather than how to teach the learner.
I agree with you all; very good points! Yes, Australian culture is changing; thank god!
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