An Interview With Lisa Delpit on Educating 'Other People's Children' Share In her groundbreaking 1988 essay “The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People’s Children,” the elementary school teacher cum theorist Lisa Delpit dismantled some of the pieties of progressive education. Deliberately unstructured teaching strategies like “whole language,” “open classrooms,” and “process, not product” were putting poor, non-white children at an even greater disadvantage in school and beyond, Delpit argued. Instead, she suggested teachers should explicitly “decode” white, middle-class culture for their low-income students, teaching them Standard English almost as if it were a foreign language, for example, and introducing math concepts through problems with cultural resonance for disadvantaged kids, such as calculating the probability that the police will stop-and-frisk a black male, as compared to a white male. It is definitely true that children of non-college-educated parents are likely to have less school-based vocabulary. Everything!
Blackboard Guide for Tutors A while ago I posted about a guide to Moodle that Joyce Seitzinger had created – “Moodle Tool Guide for Teachers“, and I am pleased to say it was well received and gained quite a lot of re-tweets and hits, both on my website and even more importantly on Joyce’s. At the time I said I was working on a version (copy?) for Blackboard and I am pleased to say I have completed the first draft. I am not as comfortable with Bloom’s Taxonomy as Joyce so therefore have not included the information in the version below, but I hope that with continued time and effort to become familiar with it I can incorporate it into version 2, and any new/updates. The Academic Culture and the IT Culture: Their Effect on Teachin © 2004 Edward L. Ayers EDUCAUSE Review, vol. 39, no. 6 (November/December 2004): 48–62. Edward L. Edward L. A year ago, my colleague Charles Grisham and I wrote an EDUCAUSE Review article entitled "Why IT Has Not Paid Off As We Hoped (Yet)." The Invisible Success of IT Those of us who have been involved for a while in the long courtship between higher education and information technology can recall many ups and downs in the last thirty years or so.2 We remember when we first saw Mosaic, Netscape, and the World Wide Web. In particular, we waited for the time when the very heart of education—the classroom and the scholarship taught in that classroom—would be transformed. Very real technological accomplishments have tended to become invisible because they have been so successful. Similarly, college and university IT professionals have done more than anyone has asked them to do. The Academic and IT Cultures Nobody seems to like the word academic. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Teaching, Scholarship, and IT
mentoring Elizabeth Holmes looks at how to ensure that the professional learning potential of mentoring is maximised for both mentor and mentee, in particular through the informal processes of good mentoring ‘A mentor is someone who sees more talent and ability within you than you see in yourself, and helps bring it out of you.’Bob Proctor This is the time of year when mentor/mentee relationships are often being developed, and ways of working together effectively are being established Mentoring can significantly improve practice in both the mentor and the mentee The mentor/mentee relationship is a rich source of professional learning for all involved. Focus points for mentors If you are mentoring this year, or supporting mentors, the suggestions below may help you to get the most out of the experience. Make time for personal reflection Great mentoring is reliant, in part, on personal reflection. Encourage ongoing discussion Plan ahead Make sure that sessions are well planned, ideally collaboratively.
Howard Gardner: ‘Multiple intelligences’ are not ‘learning styles’ The fields of psychology and education were revolutionized 30 years ago when the now world-renowned psychologist Howard Gardner published his 1983 book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences,” which detailed a new model of human intelligence that went beyond the traditional view that there was a single kind that could be measured by standardized tests. (You can read his account of how he came up with the theory here.) Gardner’s theory initially listed seven intelligences which work together: linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal and intrapersonal; he later added an eighth, naturalist intelligence and says there may be a few more. The theory became highly popular with K-12 educators around the world seeking ways to reach students who did not respond to traditional approaches, but over time, “multiple intelligences” somehow became synonymous with the concept of “learning styles.” By Howard Gardner Two problems. Problem #2. 1.
Mindset Training 5 tips for a Growth Mindset : Mindsetmax You have the potential to be the best you can be, and if you’re still closing the distance – it’s partly because of the continuous attention grabbers that are a part of your every day life in this expanding global society. The truth is, however, that you’re the one that let’s these attention grabbers like TV, internet, social media, extra long working hours etc. get the hours and days of your life – until you STOP IT and start with some invaluable Mindset Training Steps ! The first rule of Mindset Training is to look at what you’re doing right, which sustains your short or long term goals, and also what you’re doing “wrong” that removes your focus from where you really want to be or what you want to have. Mindset Training begins with a change (a decision) and ultimately produces change in the direction that you want. Mindset Training has a second rule, which is all about focus focus focus. 1. Get out of your comfort zone – and into your living zone!
Blog Archive » Viral Professional Development Lately, I have been posting in other forums about Viral Professional Development (VPD). I have been speaking to folks responsible for PD in both K-12 and higher-ed about the inherent frustrations in transitioning faculty to eLearning. We all have unique programs, challenges and strategies. I am not a scientific researcher, but I have found a strategy that is working well and keeping pace with my goals, expectations and work load. I call my strategy, “Viral Professional Development,” or “VPD,” because it is based on the popular definition of “viral,” that refers to a technology, tool, or teaching strategy that is quickly spread from one person to another. Characteristics of VPD: The most important characteristic of VPD is that the instructors learn to use the technology largely on their own and with support from each other as the enthusiasm spreads through the institution. How to get started: Attribution:
Chapter 6. The Psychology of Learning Environments Chapter 6. The Psychology of Learning Environments Ken A. Graetz Winona State University He emerged into the strangest-looking classroom he had ever seen. The Environmental Psychology of Teaching and Learning This enchanting description of a classroom at the fictitious Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry captures three fundamental ideas from the environmental psychology of teaching and learning. Second, students do not touch, see, or hear passively; they feel, look, and listen actively. Third, the physical characteristics of learning environments can affect learners emotionally, with important cognitive and behavioral consequences. The areas of psychology that relate most directly to classroom design and learning environments are environmental, educational, human factors (engineering), and social psychology. Research on the impact of information technology on learning environments is not as voluminous. Devices and Distraction in College Classrooms Figure 1. Figure 2. Endnotes J.