The conference welcome by Susan Mann reinforced my view that teachers are important but we are facing quite different and complex issues for which we can rely on the past, but we must not resist the new ways of today’s world
David Puttnam reminded us, based on his experience, that 95% of students have poor experiences at school. Einstein said there is no reason why we should solve problems with the same tools that caused them
He said that the average age of teachers receiving awards for teaching was 24 years in the UK. He then asked’ How long will they remain in the-profession where change agents are not supported’?
He said that the challenge was not about technology but how technology can be used to assist students to understand their complex and interconnected world.This is the world of the digital native
He talked about how games can be used across a wide area of the curriculum. He said we most not let the disconnect between informal and formal education become a chasm.
So why is this message not getting across? Conservative media, lack of debate in community, self-servicing profession, 19th century assessment.
3 Comments
I think the ‘19th century assessment’ line is a little dramatic. It is an easy call to say that assessment is holding back educational reform, but one that I am not convinced is entirely true.
Sure there is scope for assessment reform, but there is also plenty of very good work underway in this area at present.
Hi Garry
I was interested to read your comments as we were obviously at the same conference. I’ve added a couple of posts to my blog at http://pryorcommitment.com/lips2 which have been prompted by reflections on the Curriculum Corporation Conference.
Roger
Hi Stephen and Roger,
Thanks for your responses. It’s true that assessment is not the only thing holding back educational reform, but having been a teacher, a parent and now someone who watches with interest from afar, I am convinced that we are now required to measure a much broader set of learning outcomes, some more challenging (eg collaboration), but relevant to the lives of our children today.
I recommend that you have a look at podcast from my last post on Lawrence Lessig who makes the point that even our laws which were crafted some many years ago, simply don’t make sense in today’s world (eg copyright). I think we can say the same about certain assessment practices which are well entrenched in our schools.
Don’t get me wrong…there are some wonderful examples of excellent learning and assessment practices in our schools, but they are not mainstreamed by any means.
Garry
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