Hi,
Kevin Donnelly here - over the years I have written a couple of books and published hundreds of articles on education. Now its time to start blogging.
I also want to establish a virtual education think-tank: the Education Standards Institute or ESI for short. There is a need for independent and critically minded analysis of education; both locally and internationally.
Best wishes,
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I dont imagine it will be esi, but weve got to begin somewhere.
ReplyDeleteClare Kitson, who spent ten years, from 1989 to 1999, as animation chief of Channel Four in the UK told Jason Di Rosso (abc rn movietime)on friday that the Government funding agencies have no imagination.
This is central to the education problem as youve noted, micromanagement from an unimaginative politically inspired bureaucracy. They dont know what is creative, viable nor essential in the human art of education.
If we want a creative, initiating, responsible, healthy and vital young adult to stride competently and compasionately out of our schools shouldnt we source these qualities in our teachers ? And develop the same in our tertiary institutions?
When Odysseus returns disguised as a begger to his own home where his wife is overwhelmed with evil greedy suitors, his trusty aged lifetime servant/teacher complains, "Zeus takes half the goodness from a person when he becomes a slave!" Even more constrained is todays beleagured educator.
So we see a society where the abundance of the creative human spirit has been displaced by; binge drinking, self harm, the greed of the gfc, physical collapse and fear overwhelming the health system, frauds and charlatans clogging the courts, genetic manipulators tyrranising the nutritional process and governments instead of finding life and solutions in nature, sign our future away to wallstreet and macquarie banks to make the appearance of resolving climate change through the plunderable business of carbon credits and emissions trading... great.
But who amongst the foxtold disneyland democracy wants to entertain the discomfort of imagining such a future or trying to fight such corruptions?
Trying to educate a new generation?
Lets encourage the responsible freedom of our educators to write a healthy future for our children and their society?
Can you provide some links to other Evidence Based Education resources, Kevin?
ReplyDeleteI'm an Adult Educator in Vancouver and have, since I began teaching in this system five years ago, been trying to apply as much Critical Thinking in the classrooms (as EB as I can) from the get go.
I have had considerable luck using the Foundation for Critical Thinking's resources (http://www.criticalthinking.org/) as well Ken Robinson's interests in ensuring there is 'creative' in the 'critical' thinking.
I can check back here or be reached at: wcullen@shaw.ca
Will Cullen