A loose sally of the mind; an irregular undigested piece; not a regularly and orderly composition December 7, 2009

In an interesting review of a book by David Shields, Zadie Smith discusses definitions of the term ‘essay’ and why novelists write them. It set me thinking about the whole blogging process, and the resonances between blogging and essay writing.
Smith calls Shield’s book of essays ‘an engaging form of bricolage without obvious authorial structure … [...]

To be of importance to others is to be alive. T S Eliot November 14, 2009

I wrote here about the debilitaing effects of a set mindset; one that ensures that learners ultimately become paralysed by the need to ‘be clever’ at all costs. People with fixed beliefs in their own abilities can all too easily become stuck in rigid patterns of behaviour as a result of too much emphasis on [...]

Children See and Children Do: Let’s be the Change! October 16, 2009

I found this video very disturbing but extremely pertinent the day after a parent is jailed for encouraging and filming a 3 year old smoking.
Social constuctivism works both ways.
 

Can ICT applications help young people engage with literature? August 27, 2009

 

I went to another interesting hour at the Book Festival this week called Technology and Literacy, with Bill Boyd (whose contribution he includes here along with his terrific new alphabet for the 21st century reproduced above),  Lili Wilkinson, and Judy Robertson.
Lili, an Australian cyber-journalist, spoke first and introduced us to the site, ‘inside a dog’ [...]

“We should always be disposed to believe that that which appears white is really black, if the hierarchy of the Church so decides” (Saint Ignatius of Loyola) June 15, 2009

John Connell’s superb dissection of The Delusion of Status-Conferred Authority has prompted me to write this piece:
Imagine this.
A teacher who, like many others, spends much of her non-working life reading, thinking, breathing education, is denied permission to attend an event not unlike the one described here. Denied, because she does not have a strategic role [...]

We know the truth, not only by the reason, but also by the heart. (Blaise Pascal) June 2, 2009

On TV last week there were two programmes set in hospitals and focusing on brain tumours: real doctors performing a live operation and the final episodes of ER. One was considerably more engaging than the other. Surprisingly it was the fictional account of the death of a favourite character, Mark Greene, that caused me to [...]

Industrial vs Information Age? May 20, 2009

My, was I grumpy when I wrote my last post.
I realise that my tirade about digital technologies was sparked by insecurity after reading lots of stuff for the Education2020 unconference.  (I was definitely in the Anger mode of the Grief/Change cycle and am now moving on to Bargaining!).
I fully embrace the notion of [...]

Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd (Voltaire) May 18, 2009

Sometimes the assumption amongst those who think about 21st century education is that the so-called ‘digital natives’  know it all and that we teachers have to stand on the sidelines helplessly watching young people develop in ways we cannot grasp. After all, as the SF writer William Gibson put it, the future is already here. It’s [...]

Storybooks, puzzles and laptops: how do children learn? May 14, 2009

Picture this. A 2 year-old child is tucked up in bed, and his mum sits next to him reading a bedtime story. They look at the book together and the 2 year-old lifts the flaps to reveal the pictures, asks questions about what’s happening, and helps turn the pages. When the story is finished, the [...]

Who’s asking the questions? April 16, 2009

A strange thing used to happen once a child started school: suddenly the person asking the questions was the one who already knew ‘the answer’ (and there was only one). The ever-curious child had to sit still and listen. Teachers now tend to use their skills to direct learning with the children’s interests as drivers. [...]