Not for the first time ...
Again , and not for the first time, I am indebted to my friend Ewan for posting a truly inspirational link on his blog ... this time to Kathy Sierra's post on Death by risk aversion.
For me the whole post emphasises in my mind what is wrong with the way we are going about the process of compulsory education. It is all a leveling process ... take the tops of the mountains and fill up the valleys so that we have a nice plateau !!
Have a read about the Roomba process then hold the light sabre in your hand close your eyes and the force will be with you ... and you will feel in control and be happier. All teachers should know about this and take onboard the ideas!
Innovation needs risk ... no risk no gain. There has never been anything truly great founded by being in the middle ... look at the fringes, listen to the whispers, read this blog !!
Labels: education
posted by Doug @ 14:53
2 Comments
2 Comments:
I like your analogy of the mountain tops and valleys; not heard that one before.
The interesting thing for me is that my post was the conclusion on a talk about leadership, in which I was imploring the future leaders to lead from behind, not 'manage' their teachers' expectations, but let them excel.
This is not stuff that's "nice to talk about"; it's the kind of leadership we're seeing more and more throughout the best schools in our country, and in Authorities like East Lothian it's permeating throughout the whole ethos of the Education Service thanks to the steps of the Head of Education and the desires of his team and all the teaching and support staff.
Hi Doug,
you and Ewan are, as usual, correct. If I could add my own bit (having been involved in a lot of BSF recently) conservative and risk averse is mostly the order of the day. Plus we still seem wedded to a victorian industrial model of education. While industry moves toward small units we're still building schools for a thousand pupils that we will be stuck with for another fifty years. There are elements of light around the edges but the main thrust remains the same. I have young children, as a parent and an educator I am not happy with the environment offered them in most secondary settings.
Post a Comment
<< Home