ESCUELAS QUE PIENSAN, NACION QUE APRENDE

Yong Zhao in Conversation: Education Should Liberate, Not Indoctrinate

Yong Zhao in Conversation: Education Should Liberate, Not Indoctrinate

May 23, 2012  

I am honored to have the opportunity to interview Dr. Yong Zhao, Presidential Chair and Associate Dean for Global Education, College of Education at the University of Oregon. He is a fellow for the International Academy for Education. Zhao was born in China’s Sichuan Province and is author of Catching Up or Leading the Way (ASCD, 2009), a book I highly recommend others to read. He has a new book coming out next month: World Class Learners: Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students. For more information about Dr. Yong Zhao go here.

YSR: Thank you, Dr. Zhao for allowing me to interview you.
YZ: My pleasure and thank you for this opportunity.

YSR: I am going to jump right in. Here is my first question. What do you think is the most pressing problems in American Education today?
Obsession with standardized tests distorts and confuses.

YZ: I think the most pressing problems in American education today are:

(1) obsession with standardized tests of a few subjects;

(2) using simplistic accountability measures, instead of real investment in education such as professional development for educators, improving student living conditions, and stimulating innovation, to improve education; and

(3) lack of faith in public education and public school educators.

YSR: Why do you think this is a huge problem?

YZ: This is what people need to understand. Using standardized tests to measure student performance in a few subjects distorts the whole picture of education, confuses test scores with real education that prepares competent and responsible citizens, and reduces education to test preparation. These simplistic accountability measures distract policy makers, educators, parents, and students from addressing what really matters in education, waste precious political and financial assets, and unfairly blames educators for societal problems. The lack of faith in public education could lead to the demise of the great American tradition–a decentralized public education system that strives to educate all children in their local context.

YSR: I agree with what you said. So, why is our government so stuck on high stakes testing?

High-Stakes Testing does more harm than good.

YZ: I am not exactly sure because research from both within the United States and other countries suggest clearly that high stakes testing does more harm than good.

YSR: I understand. I have seen children crying, teachers frustrated, and parents worried. We have also learned that when the stakes are high and punishment is used, there is cheating going on. I don’t think cheating to raise test scores is healthy. So my question is: What can we educators do, if anything, to stop this lunacy?

Educators need to advocate, educate, and act.

YZ: Good question. I think educators have to shoulder the responsibilities of public intellectuals–we need to advocate, educate, and act. We need to advocate what makes a good education for children, educate our students and the public about the true value of education, and act to provide an education agenda that serves all children and help them to realize their own potentials.

YSR: But, how can we move forward and provide an education agenda that serves all children and help them to realize their own potentials, when we are fraught with money being poured down the testing companies coffers?
Abandon the idea of test-based accountability via high-stakes testing.

YZ: To begin with, we should completely abandon the idea of test-based accountability, that is, get high stakes standardized testing out of education, do not use it to evaluate schools or teachers. Second, we need to return autonomy to local schools and teachers. Let educators do their job and provide support. The government, both federal and state, should work on providing equal funding for schools and eradicate poverty, instead of interfering with teaching and learning, and adding bureaucratic burden on educators and students. Finally, we should invest in education innovations to encourage educators and local schools to seek creative ways to deliver an education for the future.

Zhao’s comments on the Common Core State Standards and education: It’s an expensive and futile exercise that will likely cause more damages in terms of narrowing the curriculum and leading to more teaching to the test.

YSR: You are suggesting that educators and local schools must find inventive ways to educate our young to live in an ever-changing unknown world. Do you think that the Common Core State Standards can accomplish this? I just read the piece in Ed Week where Anthony Cody featured you entitled, “Yong Zhao Interview: Will the Common Core Create World-Class Learners?” In this interview you question the value of the Common Core State Standards. Why? Many think that this will help to solve the issues of inequities in our schools.

YZ: Well, I don’t. I think the best analysis of why the Common Core Standards Initiative won’t make a difference is done by Tom Loveless of the Brookings Institute in the 2012 Brown Center Report on American Education, which you can find at this link. It is based on sound research and shows the Common Core won’t improve performance, reduce the achievement gap, or increase efficiency, as the proponents have suggested.

I have written quite a lot about this initiative. The simple message is that they will not improve education. It is an expensive but futile exercise.

YSR: I know implementing the Common Core State Standards is and will continue to be expensive, but why do you think it is a futile exercise?

YZ: It is futile exercise that will likely cause more damages in terms of narrowing the curriculum and leading to more teaching to the tests.
Parents’ Roles in the Education of Their Children: Be more concerned about the well-being of your children than their test scores on standardized tests.

YSR: I know there is a ground swell of parents who are choosing to opt out their children from taking the tests. Is this good for the child? I mean, do you think parents should opt out their children from taking high-stakes tests?

YZ: If parents feel that high-stakes standardized testing is hurting their children’s education, they should opt out.

YSR: I know that you have two children. Your son is in college now, and your daughter is still in high school. What does your daughter think about high stakes testing?

YZ: My daughter told me she does not pay attention to the testing.

YSR: But doesn’t this bother you? Don’t you want her to get a high score?

YZ: Not really. I am more concerned about her well being in schools than test scores on standardized tests. I trust her teachers’ assessment more. I am more interested in her real education–now she is really into debate so we talk about space programs, social Darwinism, and transportation and infrastructure. I have not considered opting her out but I am not one who wants to make sure she takes them either.
Dr. Zhao’s work abroad: He spends most of the time working with schools interested in moving away from high-stakes testing and have a desire to provide an education that help their students succeed in the age of globalization.

YSR: I know that you go back to China frequently. What kind of work are you doing in China and why?

YZ: I do some research there, but spend most of the time working with schools–some international schools that are interested in moving away from high-stakes testing and have a desire to provide an education that help their students succeed in the age of globalization. I also spend lots of time working with educators in Australia and other places.

YSR: Wow…cool! I am glad that you are helping some international schools move away from high-stakes testing. But how will moving away from testing, help students succeed in the age of globalization?

YZ: Well, as I have said elsewhere in my writings and presentations, we educators have to truly recognize the negative impact or collateral damages of high-stakes testing and take actions to provide an education that matters in the future.
Dr. Zhao’s closing thoughts: A good education is one that liberates, empowers, and enhances individuals, not one that imposes and instills what external agencies believe individuals should learn. Education is different from indoctrination.

YSR: Thank you, Dr. Zhao. Once you told me a great idiom from China called, “Yin Zhen Zhi Ke: Drinking poison to quench thirst.” Would you please explain why you used this Chinese idiom when speaking about American education?

YZ: Well, the Chinese saying is to warn people not to take measures that may appear to solve an urgent problem in the short term but in effect the solution is more damaging than the problem.

YSR: I read the story about this proverb and it does make sense. Thanks, Dr. Zhao, for taking the time to do this interview. Is there anything else you would like to say to your readers? What would you say to teachers, parents, and students?

YZ: Education is much broader and longer than what can be measured with a single test at a given time. Life is long and children are different. A good education is one that liberates, empowers, and enhances individuals, not one that imposes and instills what external agencies believe individuals should learn. Education is different from indoctrination.
YSR: I think that what you just said is important for us to remember. A good education is indeed one that liberates, empowers and enhances individuals and we know in the end society would benefit. I also agree with when you say that “Education is different from indoctrination.” Okay, any final words?

YZ: Thank you for the opportunity and what you do for education.

YSR: And thank you, too. It’s been a total pleasure.

Twenty Tips for Developing Positive Relationships with Parents

Teacher Leadership Subscribe to RSS

Twenty Tips for Developing Positive Relationships with Parents

September 23, 2011

In honor of Edutopia's 20th anniversary, we're producing a series of Top 20 lists, from the practical to the sublime.

Twenty Tips for Developing Positive Relationships with Parents

In our busy day of juggling papers, lesson planning and managing sometimes more than a hundred students, we can easily forget the group that could lend significant support in our charge as teachers -- parents and families. Consider these tips for improving connections with this valuable group:

1. Smile When You See Parents
Greet them. Most parents only occasionally interact with teachers so make sure that at least 90 percent of your encounters with them are positive, warm, and friendly. The impressions left from fleeting encounters in the hallway last a long time.

2. Learn Their Names
(If you have a self-contained class.) Learn how they like to be addressed (Mr. ____? Señora? By their first name?) and how to pronounce them correctly.

3. Declare Your Intention
Tell them that you want to partner with them, that you appreciate their support, and look forward to working together.

4. Communicate Often and in Various Forms
Provide information about what's going on in your class (weekly would be ideal): what students are learning, what they've accomplished, what you're excited about, what they're excited about, and the learning and growth you're seeing. Suggest things that they might ask their child about: "Ask them to tell you about what they learned last week about meal worms," or "Ask them to read you the haiku they wrote."

5. Make a Positive Phone Call Home
If you have a self-contained class, call all homes within the first couple of weeks and then at regular intervals throughout the year. If you teach many students, identify those students who perhaps need a positive call home.

6. Lead with the Good News
Give positive praise first when calling parents or meeting with them to discuss a concern. Every kid has something good about him/her. Find it. Share it. Then share your concern. Adhere strictly to this rule.

7. Find a Translator
If you can't speak their language, seek a translator for at least one parent conference and/or phone call. (For obscure languages, you can sometimes find a refugee center or other public agency that can help). Reach out to those parents as well; do whatever you can to connect.

8. Your Language is Powerful
It communicates an awareness that there are many different kinds of families. Be careful not to assume a mother is, or isn't married, or even that if she is married, she's married to a man. Learn to ask open-ended questions and understand that sometimes parents/guardians might not want to share some information.

9. Ask Questions about the Child
"What kinds of things does he enjoy doing outside of school? Who are the special people in her life -- family or family friends? What do you think are her best characteristics? What was he like as a little boy?" Demonstrate an interest in knowing your student.

10. Listen to Parents
Really listen. They know a whole lot about their kid.

11. Smile at the Child When talking to a parent in front of a child, smile and make eye contact with the student to demonstrate that you care about him/her. Recognize what he/she has done well in your class in front of the parents. Then share a concern, if you have one.

12. Invite Parents to Share
Distribute a survey at the beginning of the year (if parents don't read/write in English, students can interview them and relay their answers). Find out what parents know about and what skills they have. Invite them in especially if it connects the curriculum and content. Let them share with you their cultural traditions, interests, passions, skills, knowledge.

13. Let Parents Know How They Can Help
Many want to help but especially as kids get older, parents aren't asked for help as often and don't know what to do. There's always some way they can help in the classroom.

14. Be Very Specific
Provide ways parents can support their child at home: "You can help your child with her math homework by asking her to explain how she got an answer," or "As you're reading stories at night, ask your child to make predictions. This strengthens reading comprehension."

15. Be a Broker of Resources
If they share a concern, be prepared to point them to a direction where they can find help. If you share a concern ("Your daughter spaces out and doesn't pay attention") be prepared to suggest what the parents can do.

16. Explain Your Instructional Decisions
Take the time to do this and help them learn about the education system if they're not familiar with it. Help them understand what you're doing and why.

17. Invite Parents to Participate in Making Some Decisions
Invite their input, give them information that will help them form an opinion, and listen to their conclusions.

18. Thank Parents
Both individually and publicly for their support, perhaps in your weekly newsletter. Recognize what they do to help your class and how it's impacting students.

19. Share Every Success
Let parents know what their child is doing well, what academic skills, social skills or knowledge he's mastered.

20. Invite Parents to Celebrate and Break Bread Together
Communities are strengthened when people come together in celebration. Start the year with a potluck. Share food and stories about food. We all bond over food.

• Elena Aguilar's Blog

One Size Does Not Fit All: Engaging Families Next Year by Soliciting Feedback Now

Education Trends Subscribe to RSS

One Size Does Not Fit All: Engaging Families Next Year by Soliciting Feedback Now

May 9, 2013

Photo credit: seandreilinger via flickr

As we near the end of the school year, it's time to take stock of our efforts in teaching, learning and leadership, and how well they’ve worked. We should also be looking at what has or has not worked in regards to engaging all of the families in our school community.

How to Engage Parents

Recently, Kansas City parents completed a comprehensive survey, with two key points made throughout the data collected:

• Parents have different visions and priorities when it comes to being an "involved parent."
• School leaders must tailor their approaches to more effectively engage parents in school improvement.

School leaders nationwide say that engaging parents and the community is one of the top challenges they face, according to this year's MetLife Survey of the American Teacher. To more effectively engage parents, school and district leaders will have to align their approaches to the distinct priorities, concerns and strengths of different parents. Below are some concrete recommendations from the report to help leaders do so:

1. Two-way communication should be the default. Clear communication from educators on academic expectations, school policies and resources is important, but parents must also have the opportunity to bring their perspectives to the table.
2. Start by listening to and addressing key concerns. School leaders should identify the pressing concerns of parents to gain an understanding of how they think and talk about them. When parents know their chief concerns are being addressed, they are the most open to constructive involvement.
3. Approach parents with a clear request. Nearly one-quarter of parents surveyed say they haven't been asked to volunteer or help out at their children's schools in the past year. If school leaders want parent help, they should ask for it directly.
4. Provide many and varied opportunities to engage. When school leaders provide diverse opportunities for parental involvement, they have a greater chance of attracting parents of differing views and readiness.

Consider the Data

While the research, underwritten by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, explores the views of Kansas City parents, it also echoes findings from a previous Public Agenda national study and raises important questions for education leaders nationwide.

Just over half (51%) of the Kansas City region's parents acknowledge that they could be more involved at their child's school if they tried harder, though parents are divided on how they prefer to be involved. Many parents (27%) say they could help out more in traditional ways at the schools their children attend, and nearly a third (31%) seem ready to embrace broader roles in shaping how schools operate and advocating for policy reform. Some parents (19%) are primarily looking for more guidance from their schools on how to help their own children succeed.

"This collection of data suggests that most parents are still an untapped resource for improving and reimagining public schools. School leaders are missing the mark in their efforts to engage parents if they don't focus on parents' distinct priorities, concerns and unique strengths," says Carolin Hagelskamp, director of research at Public Agenda. "We believe school leaders can improve their success in this area by tailoring their approaches more effectively."

Overall, parents surveyed are supportive of their principals and teachers. Over three quarters (77%) say the principals and teachers at their child's school are connected to the community and have a good feel for what's going on there. Almost two thirds (64%) say their school goes out of its way to encourage parents to get involved.

Many parents surveyed lack knowledge about important school issues. Nearly four in ten (37%) do not feel well-informed about where their child's school ranks academically compared to other area schools. Only 40% of parents say they know "a lot" about their children's teachers, and one quarter are unsure whether or not their child's school made "adequate yearly progress" the year before.

Transformers, Helpers and Help-Seekers

The study identified three distinct groups of parents:

• Potential Transformers are poised for deeper action on education policy, though still on the sidelines. These parents say they would feel "very comfortable" serving on committees to decide school policies and advocating for school improvements by contacting public officials and the media. However, very few have been involved in these ways. Of parents surveyed, 31% fall into this group.
• School Helpers are willing to get more involved in traditional ways. These parents are less comfortable with advocacy roles but say they could be more involved helping out directly at their children's schools. School helpers say they feel "very comfortable" participating in traditional involvement activities, including volunteering for school trips, bake sales or sporting events, or attending PTA meetings. This group includes 27% of parents surveyed.
• Help-Seekers are concerned about their children's learning and are primarily looking for more guidance from their schools. These parents are unlikely advocates, as they feel they are already doing as much as they possibly can at their children's school. Yet all help-seekers feel they still haven't succeeded in helping their children to do their best in school. At the same time, this group is more critical than other parents of their teachers and schools, and more skeptical about most initiatives to improve parental involvement. Of parents surveyed, 19% fall in this group.

Kansas City Schools have taken a very important step in soliciting comprehensive feedback from their families about how they are currently engaged and how they would like to be engaged in their children's schooling. Now comes the most important part in the process: how much of this feedback will be used to reform family engagement efforts, and most importantly training, professional development and university coursework in the area of engaging families?

screenshot of parent survey from Knapp Elementary

Credit: Joe Mazza

Next Steps

Looking for a comprehensive survey tool to use with your families before the school year is up? Check out this new PreK-12 Harvard Graduate School of Education Survey Monkey Template. We recently sent it out to our 600 families at Knapp Elementary for a one-month data collection process. Once the results are in from online and hard copy offerings, parents and teachers from our family engagement team will sit down this summer to identify strengths and weaknesses prior to drafting our 2013-14 school year family engagement goals. Finally, our first Home & School Meeting will detail the findings and goals put in place.

• Joe Mazza's Blog

Positive, Not Punitive, Classroom Management Tips

New-Teacher Support Subscribe to RSS

Positive, Not Punitive, Classroom Management Tips

April 16, 2013

Photo credit: audiolucistore via flickr

This article is adapted from Larry's new book, Self-Driven Learning: Teaching Strategies for Student Motivation.

Let's start with a question I've been asked on more than one occasion.

"I know my content and like my students, but sometimes it's hard to get them under control so I can teach my lesson. What tips for classroom management can you give me?"

My general answer is that you can never have too many positive, not punitive, classroom management strategies in your toolbox.

Obviously, there are serious student transgressions, including violence, where some kind of punishment is an appropriate response. However, in many other instances, punishment may work only temporarily, may not work at all, or may only make the problem worse. Research suggests that punishment often primarily teaches the student that he or she just has to be more careful next time to avoid getting caught.

Public Versus Private Relationship

Community organizers try to help people understand the difference between public and private relationships (I was an organizer for 19 years prior to becoming a teacher). Often, those in power will try to blur that division when it suits their purposes (for example, politicians kissing babies).

Here is another example: I have spent time over the years working with many organizations, including religious congregations, organizing for community improvements. The political decision makers with whom we would have to negotiate for those neighborhood changes were sometimes members of those congregations, and they would often try to privately influence pastors or congregation leaders to take a different public position. The religious leaders, in turn, would point out that when it came time to participating in public life, it was a public relationship and public dialogue -- and when it came time to a personal issue, it was a private relationship and a private dialogue. In public life, the relationship was conditional, based on negotiation and reciprocity. In private life, the relationship was often based on love and friendship. This distinction was particularly important to demonstrate in public settings.

And we carried this distinction over to how members needed to act in the context of the organization -- at our meetings, with the media, and whenever they were in the public eye.

I apply this concept in the classroom by helping students understand the difference between public behavior and private behavior. When students are in the classroom, it is a public space with certain expectations. One small example is a student shouting out "I'm bored" or some other inappropriate comment.

One possible response to that kind of remark is a sharp admonishment from the teacher. Instead, though, what I generally do, either right then or at the next available opportunity, is to go over the student, put my arm around his or her shoulders, and have this kind of quick dialogue, with a smile:

Me: "Johnny, is it okay for you to think what you said?"
Johnny: "Yes."
Me: "Johnny, is it okay for you to tell your friends after class what you just said?"
Johnny: "Yes."
Me: "Johnny, is it okay for you to say what you just said out loud in the classroom?"
Johnny: "No."

And with both of us smiling, it's over.

I sometimes will have done it enough times with a student that when I go over, he or she will recite all of the lines. Notice that the dialogue leads with what students can do, instead of what they can't.

These kinds of inappropriate comments seem to decrease as the school year goes on, because at least some students gain a greater understanding of the differences between public and private, an understanding that should serve them well for years to come.

"What Would Be the Long-Term Effect of Doing That?"

Educator and positive classroom management consultant Marvin Marshall recommends a simple strategy of asking a disruptive student a simple question, either in the moment or afterward: "What would be the long-term effect of doing that?" As he suggests, asking can be far more effective than telling.

Alternatives to Collective Punishment

I suspect many teachers have had an experience like this:

A paper airplane, ball of paper, or pencil flies through the air, or somebody makes an obnoxious noise. The object is probably aimed at another student, and it may or may not hit the intended target. The noise is just meant to be funny.

You can tell the general area it came from, but you don't really know who the culprit is. It's frustrating because that kind of behavior does not contribute to a learning community.

What do you do?

It's not uncommon for teachers to first yell something like, "Who threw it?" No one admits to it, and then the teacher will punish the entire group.

Here's a definition of collective punishment:

Collective punishment is the punishment of a group of people as a result of the behavior of one or more other individuals or groups. The punished group may often have no direct association with the other individuals or groups, or direct control over their actions.

I'm not convinced that this behavior is one we want to model for our students.

If collective punishment is out, then what are the alternatives?

This kind of misbehavior does not happen that often in my classes, thankfully, but it certainly does occur. What I usually do is go over to the area where I suspect the noise or projectile originated and quietly explain that I don't feel respected when this kind of thing happens. And, since I feel like I show that I respect students at all times, I would hope they would want me to feel respected. I then explain that I don't know who actually did it, but that I would like each of them to commit that they will not throw something (or make a noise, etc.), and we shake on it. I tell them that I'm sure they are people of their word, and the matter is closed.

Nine times out of ten, that is the end of things, and there is no repetition.

However, if it does happen again, I go to the next step. For example, somebody in my class was occasionally making an obnoxious noise. I knew it was one of two students. I did the first step with them, and that went fine. Then, two days later, one of them made the noise again.

I asked them both to come outside with me, and I explained that I was disappointed that one of them was not keeping their word. I knew that one was trustworthy, but I didn't know which one. So I said that I couldn't trust the word of either of them and didn't like feeling that way. I suggested that the person who was making the noise might want to think about how his or her actions were now affecting the other student. Then, I gave them a few minutes to talk about it privately (I left the door open and asked them to stay in front of it so I could observe their actions, but not overhear what they said).

We didn't hear that obnoxious noise again.

So in other words, the second step, when necessary, is to ask students to consider the impact their actions have on others, and ask them to try to work out problems among themselves. In my teaching career, this has almost always resulted in stopping the inappropriate behavior and, I hope, students gaining some added maturity.

Of course, one of the most common situations where the specter of collective punishment is raised is after a difficult time with a substitute teacher. One preventative strategy is the use of something like the Attitude and Behavior With A Substitute Teacher grading rubric. Early in the year, the teacher shows the simple rubric to students and explains that a substitute will use it with them. Five minutes prior to the end of class with the sub, he or she will distribute the rubrics, and students will write down their names and grade themselves. The sub will then go around, give what grade he or she believes the student has earned, and collect the sheets (this process means the sub does not have to worry about remembering individual names and can base the evaluation on student faces).

This can be a very effective strategy to reduce teacher temptation to inflict collective punishment on a class, enhance the likelihood of a class with a sub being somewhat productive, and dramatically reduce stress for the sub.

After a class has shown that it understands and respects the expected behavior, a teacher can experiment with not using the grading rubric and explaining to students that he or she trusts that they will act appropriately.

In Part Two of this excerpt, I'll offer additional positive classroom management strategies. In the meantime, please share your own in the comments section below.

---

This article was adapted and excerpted with permission from Larry Ferlazzo's Self-Driven Learning: Teaching Strategies for Student Motivation, © 2013 Eye On Education, Inc. Larchmont, NY. All rights reserved. www.eyeoneducation.com. More information about this title is available here.

• Larry Ferlazzo's Blog

 

712Share on printShare on email5

Comments (5)

Comment RSS
Sign in or register to post comments

Chantell Smith

Special Education Teacher from Kansas City, Missouri

Posted on 5/8/2013 10:36am

Great Ideas

Sign in to vote!

0

First, the rubrics with the substitue has to be one of the best ideas for managment while you are away. As a student teacher, I have seen many instances where the students can be unruly while their regular teacher is away. I think that this really an interesting and accurate way to find out how classroom behavior was in you absence and it is also a great way to hold students accountable for their actions. One o f the concerns with substitutes is usually that students view their presence as an opportunity to do whatever they wish with no accountability.

Also, I think you made a great point in saying that the classroom managemnet should be positive. Throughout my coursework in my behavioral management classes, I have learned that explicit instructions is most effective. As opposed to telling students what they cannot do, providing them with options for what they can do is a much more proactive approach to problem behavior.

Elizabeth Bettenc...

Instructional Coach

Posted on 4/29/2013 10:15am

Great tips!

Sign in to vote!

0

Thanks for the ideas. I completely agree that a positive approach to classroom management works wonders. I have coached several teachers in my district regarding this concept.
I also think our instruction itself (the pacing of the lesson, for example) factors greatly into how many (or how few) classroom management issues we encounter.

meta-pedagogy.blogspot.com

Luria Learning

3rd Grade Teacher and Founder of Luria Learning

Posted on 4/17/2013 11:08am

Mangement is so much more than control

Sign in to vote!

0

Thank you for sharing these tips. I have, over the years, done a lot of talking with my students about thoughts versus words. It is ok to have just about any thought in your head. It is not ok to say whatever is on your mind at any time.

Is it ok to think that you don't like the assignment? Yes! I don't like everything I have to do either.
Is it ok to shout out in class that you don't like the assignment? No. But, if this is an ongoing problem you can talk privately with me.

I teach my students to say, "May I talk with you please?" in private if they have a concern they want to share. This phrasing lets me know that I really need to listen, and that the student is going to disagree with me. We roll play how to do this in a respectful manner.

Thanks for this great post!
Sacha
www.luria-learning.blogspot.com

Kelly

3rd Grade Teacher in Ohio

Posted on 4/16/2013 5:44pm

I have been teaching the same

Sign in to vote!

0

I have been teaching the same grade for over 7 years now. I like to think of myself of having great classroom management. I know there are full moons =), but I like to use humor in my classroom. I always remind them that I am here to have fun and teach, and I expect them to have fun and learn. Kenscore, I can totally relate to you and lose patients at times, but I always take a step back and tell myself that I don't know what they are dealing with at home. Since I have become a parent myself, I find that I try to put my son in that students position and what would I want his teacher to say to him. I think that when you put yourself into your teaching, you will always come out ahead. When you share your life, your students will respect and you will build great rapport with each and every one of them!

kenscore

Posted on 4/16/2013 2:30pm

As a second year teacher, I

Sign in to vote!

0

As a second year teacher, I find using positive classroom management strategies makes for a happier and more comfortable classroom. I want my students to feel respected and valued, so I strive to treat them all in positive ways, even when there is a behavior issue. At times I'll find myself less patient than other times, so I try to step back and take a break.

New-Teacher Support

Larry Ferlazzo I teach English & Social Studies at inner-city high school in Sacramento,CA

Cynicism Is Contagious; So Is Hope

Teacher Leadership Subscribe to RSS

Cynicism Is Contagious; So Is Hope

April 17, 2013

Photo credit: vandenbussche_wim via flickr

In my last post, I promised readers a special post on a topic of great importance to me. Fighting cynicism is that topic. It is one of the most important issues for me and needs to be one of the most important goals for all schools. Cynicism can rot out a school the way termites rot out a wooden home. A cynic is someone who has given up hope that things can better. They are not realists or skeptics, who often ask hard questions or demonstrate care before accepting the first new thing that comes along. Cynicism is a plague that kills dreams. It sucks the life out of teachers and robs students of hope. No student deserves to have a teacher who has given up hope.

I once gave a speech to a large number of educators in the Chicago area at an event that required attendance of the district's teachers. A minute into my presentation, a teacher from the back of the auditorium shouted out a question. "What is the meaning of professionalism?" he asked. Before I could gather my thoughts to answer, he yelled, "I mean, is it professional to make me waste my time and come to this stupid conference?" That opened to door for me to answer his first question. "No, it's not professional to make you waste your time doing anything," I said, "but real professionals will listen because, even if they learn only one insight that might help their students, it is worth it." After he walked out a minute later, I thanked God that my children never had a teacher like that.

Six Symptoms of Serious Cynicism

I've found six ways to tell if an educator is dangerously close to hopeless cynicism. If you are a teacher or administrator and see a colleague with these symptoms, try to help that teacher regain hope by using the strategies that follow this list. Don't worry If you find yourself behaving in these ways occasionally -- we all have rough days. However, if you find yourself doing the following on a regular basis, then try the suggestions yourself.

First, the symptoms:

1. You check your watch before your first cup of coffee or before nine AM to see how much longer until you can go home.
2. What you teach becomes more important than who you teach.
3. You begin believing that nothing works with "these" kids, that they are beyond hope.
4. Every day feels the same.
5. You often wonder why no one is doing anything to make life better for you.
6. You have lost your own love of learning. Tedium has replaced wonder.

Five Strategies to Help Teachers Stop Cynical Feelings

Here are five powerful strategies that can help when you feel cynical or that you can use to help another teacher if you are a colleague, administrator or school consultant.

1. Remember why you became a teacher and why you stay a teacher. It obviously wasn't for money, glory, respect or power. Teachers don't get those things. It was and is to help children. Remind yourself or others of this frequently.
2. Adopt a hopeless student. Find a student who has given up and appears lost. He doesn't have to be one of your own students; in fact, it might be better if he isn't. Start by saying hello everyday and begin to ask him how school is going. Gradually build up to a big brother or sister relationship. It is hard to be cynical when someone depends on you, especially a child. You can help another teacher by asking for the same kind of assistance with another student. While it is not necessary for you to be a big brother to set up a teacher you wish to help, it is better to be involved yourself.
3. Adopt a cynical teacher. In the same way a child can benefit from a big brother or sister, so can a colleague who has forgotten why they became a teacher. Ask for help, offer suggestions, be cheery, truthfully compliment them on something related to teaching. Become an ally in the fight against hopelessness. You can also ask a cynical teacher to help another cynical teacher break the cycle of hopelessness. Both can be rehabilitated by this method.
4. Communicate with those who affect you in school. Most cynical teachers complain to others about those who affect them without attempting direct communication. So many problems can be solved or improved by talking with another instead of about him or her.
5. Feel good about what you can control. When I ask teachers what makes them feel good about teaching, most of the answers involve things they cannot control. So many things that we can't control affect us, such as salary, the school facility, who our colleagues are, our students' family lives, and what the school board mandates. More importantly, teachers want the respect of others, recognition and administrative encouragement. Because others control each of these things, we feel hurt and helpless when we don't get them, especially when we deserve them. This leads to cynicism. We need to recognize the things we can control and feel good about them, because when we give others the power to make us feel good, we put ourselves at emotional risk. Here are some examples of what we can control:
   • Being prepared
   • Designing great lessons (see my previous post)
   • Helping colleagues
   • Doing things to make the school a better place
   • Organizing events that bring joy to colleagues, like a bagel and coffee morning before classes start (donuts and bear claws are better left in the bakery)
   Reclaiming the power to make ourselves feel good minimizes the emotional risk that leads to disappointment and cynicism.

Cynicism can spread through the school and destroy the atmosphere, the learning and, in some cases, a teacher’s career. Fight back. The antidote is hope for all.

• Dr. Richard Curwin's Blog

 

Comments (5)

Comment RSS
Sign in or register to post comments

Love

1st grade teacher - Texas

Posted on 4/24/2013 8:04pm

Thank you for your advice, Dr. Curwin!

Sign in to vote!

+1

Sometimes an outsider's perspective is just what you need. Hope is hard to find in my own circle. (They feel the same way I do.)
Will definitely work on your suggestions.
I'll also keep in mind what you said about Texas. A move might also be worth considering.

Warm Regards,

1st grade teacher - Texas

Dr. Richard Curwin

Director, Graduate program in behavior disorder, David Yellin College

Posted on 4/22/2013 1:55am

Dear first grade teacher from

Sign in to vote!

+1

Dear first grade teacher from Texas,

I could say change states. Texas gives less freedom to teachers than any state in America. Or I could sympathize with you and try to tell you it's not all that bad. Or maybe say suck it up and just do your job. But I won't say any of these things. I hear in your letter a genuine desire to be a great teacher and are frustrated by so many things that you really don't know how to deal with. So let me start by saying you raise many very difficult questions and some that I need more information to give you the best answer. Also I want to answer in a way that other readers might also benefit. I'm a terrible salesperson, but I wrote two books that might be very helpful. The first is REDISCOVERING HOPE: OUR GREATEST TEACHING STRATEGY and the second and more recent is MEETING STUDENTS WHERE THEY LIVE: MOTIVATION IN URBAN SCHOOLS. They can be found at
http://tlc-sems.com/Training-Resources.aspx

Now, I'll try to answer your questions as best I can.
1. If you are too afraid of an administrator to talk honestly then change that relationship. Say good morning in a pleasant way each morning. Do something that makes her job easier. All administrators appreciate that. Ask for help in solving a problem, then use her advice. This will develop within her an investment in you. She will really like knowing she helped you find an answer that works. Your relationship should become less fearful in time so you can talk to her in an honest way. And remember your administrators are under the same. if not more. pressure than you are.
2. If you can't send students to the office, develop a team of other teachers and you can send really rough students to each other when necessary. I believe you must solve your own problems with students without the interference of the administrator, but I know you sometimes teachers need a break from a kid for a time. By the way, kids almost never act out in other teachers' classes. Help each other out without formal referrals.
3. Most schools tell teachers what to teach but not how. Use what ever space you can find to be creative and innovative. If none exists, and this is rare, then change the timing of what you cover to give you more time to be the kind of teacher you want to be. Instead of spending 20 minutes on encoding letters, spend 15 and over the course of the day, you'll find time to do things you want. If you can't even do this, then my only answer is to do whatever you are asked, the best you can and feel proud of that.
4. New programs come and go. Some are disastrous, like Direct Instruction. There is a lot of money involved, as you have noticed. But continue to focus on helping children grow and prosper. You can't change the programs that are bought and the money spent, but you can focus on all the wonderful things you can do to improve the lives of children. Nothing is as important as that.
I hope I have been helpful. Your questions really require that I write a new book., but I have already done that.

Never let your hope die. If it does you will die, too, along with your students.

R.C.

Love

1st grade teacher - Texas

Posted on 4/21/2013 2:39pm

Thank you for taking the time

Sign in to vote!

0

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I would greatly appreciate your reply.
1) You suggested several ways to help with cynicism in education, such as communicating with those who affect you. However, what can you do when you are deadly afraid of that person? You must have read about Texas teachers walking out in droves due to the treatment they get from administrators, work overload, and difficult students (that the administrators don't want you to refer to the office, because it makes the school look bad).
2) What about the lack of autonomy that teachers have these days? The administrators expect you to teach using "research-proven strategies" and not your own creative devices. Year after year they command us "you must teach like this, for this long, at these intervals, etc." In Finland (where students thrive), it's the opposite. Teachers get to choose their textbooks and how to teach their subject matter. Plus, they get more time to plan their lessons.
How can one keep from being cynical, Dr. Curwin, when half of all the things I see are done for money and not for the benefit of the kids... new program this, new strategy this, new test this...$$$?
I would love to hear your thoughts on this, if you have a chance.

Most sincerely,

1st Grade Teacher

Latoya James

Research and Marketing Specialist at AlphaBEST Education, Inc.

Posted on 4/18/2013 12:01pm

Cynicism is the enemy of hope

Sign in to vote!

0

This piece articulates one of the many culprits of a "failing" school. Teachers are the heart of a school and her students are the pulse. Each teacher must be alive with hope to keep the students beating strong and optimistic. Cynicism slows learning and dulls the luminosity of our children and must be plucked before it begins to take root.

Melanie Link Taylor

Educational Consultant/Author, Southern California

Posted on 4/18/2013 9:15am

Hope deferred...

Sign in to vote!

0

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life. Porverbs 13:12

LA ESCUELA ES CONSERVADORA, SEGÚN MARINA

LA ESCUELA ES CONSERVADORA, SEGÚN MARINA

“En España no premiamos a los que tienen buenas ideas”

El próximo libro de Marina se publicará este mes y está escrito junto a Álvaro Pombo.

Héctor G. Barnés 08/05/2013 

 

La prolongada carrera de José Antonio Marina (Toledo, 1939) le ha permitido alumbrar una nutrida producción bibliográfica que aborda cuestiones tan diferentes como la ética, la filosofía de la religión, la neurología o el amor. El escritor retorna ahora junto a Eva Marina para abordar los problemas de la creatividad (y las soluciones que nos puede proporcionar esta) en El aprendizaje de la creatividad (Ariel), un didáctico volumen destinado a docentes y padres que se prolongará en una colección de libros que recibirán el nombre de Generación Creativa y cuyo primer volumen, La creatividad literaria, reunirá al autor con su viejo compañero Álvaro Pombo.

“La creatividad, en último término, es el talento para solucionar problemas de los que no tenemos receta”, indica el filósofo en las oficinas madrileñas de Planeta, donde recibe a El Confidencial. “Luego hay otro tipo de creatividad más específica, como puede ser la económica”. Marina utiliza este ejemplo para recordar que la creatividad no se trata únicamente de tener muchas ideas, sino de ser capaz de evaluarlas correctamente para que estas tengan novedades valiosas. “La crisis económica ha sido creada por una serie de innovaciones que se le ocurrieron a unos ingenieros financieros, que no calcularon sus efectos y nos han metido en un lío tremendo. No se trata únicamente de la innovación por la innovación”.

Crear es un hábito, y como todos los hábitos, se adquiere por entrenamiento“Si sólo te centras en la novedad, como por ejemplo hace una parte importante del arte contemporáneo, no puedes distinguir la novedad de la extravagancia. Te quedas con cosas muy poco valiosas”. Por eso, Marina propone en su nuevo trabajo una serie de aplicaciones procedentes del mundo de la neurología (“que es muy optimista, ya que dice que la capacidad de aprendizaje del ser humano es mucho mayor de lo que pensamos”) para el mundo de la escuela, ya que como el escritor mantiene, la creatividad se aprende, trabaja y desarrolla.

La creatividad aplicada a la escuela

“Durante siglos se ha hablado de la inspiración, que era ese sentimiento del artista de que no podía explicar cómo se le habían ocurrido las ideas. Lo que dice la neurología es que las ocurrencias proceden del cerebro del artista, pero este actúa fuera del nivel de la conciencia, aunque esté trabajando continuamente. Nuestro cerebro consume el 20% de nuestra energía. ¿En qué? En estar continuamente organizando información. Es la inteligencia generadora, que actúa en el nivel inferior”, explica José Antonio Marina sobre esa primera parte del proceso creativo a la que, no obstante, ha de seguirle una actuación de la parte consciente que desestimará las malas ideas y conservará las buenas.

“El piso de arriba, la conciencia, tiene que evaluar esas ocurrencias. Desde arriba damos órdenes vagas a la inteligencia de abajo: oye, ¿qué se me podría ocurrir para solucionar esto? Se te ocurren muchas cosas, unas buenas, otras malas. Estamos progresando a la hora de educar a los chicos y las chicas para que tengan ideas, que estas sean buenas y que sepan distinguir las unas de las otras. Aunque suene raro, crear es un hábito, y como todos los hábitos, se adquiere por entrenamiento”. Para averiguar este tipo de procedimientos, Marina conformó un grupo de trabajo que tenía como objetivo “analizar qué procesos se producen en todos los hechos creativos, y ver si se podían aprender o aplicar a la escuela”.

Uno de estos descubrimientos, por ejemplo, es el del funcionamiento de la memoria por redes semánticas. “Lo que tenemos que hacer es ampliar la capacidad de la persona para que active una red semántica muy amplia. ¿De qué se encarga eso? La memoria de trabajo. ¿Se puede entrenar? Sí. Pues ahí tenemos un procedimiento aplicable”.

Hay que tener paciencia y disciplina, porque si no caemos en un ‘todo vale mientras sea nuevo’Sin embargo, como Marina recuerda, eso requiere esfuerzo y trabajo, y dejar atrás la pereza, algo muy complicado. “A todos los que nos hemos dedicado a la docencia nos indigna lo poco que aprovechan su memoria los alumnos. ‘Fulano, dime algo de Argentina’. ‘No sé nada’. Pero saben que es una nación, que está en América… Están acostumbrados a que saber una cosa es que se te ocurra una respuesta justo después de la pregunta. Sabes cosas pero te cuesta trabajo organizar el montón de cosas que todos sabemos”.

Una de las diferencias que distinguen a los grandes creadores es, precisamente, esa “memoria de elefante” en los campos que les interesan. “Mozart escuchó de niño una composición de Bach y la repitió de arriba a abajo cuando llegó a casa. Francisco Umbral era muy perspicaz. Él decía que cuando se ponía a escribir ‘la gigantesca maquinaria que el idioma castellano ha creado durante 2.000 años’ estaba en su cabeza, y por eso podía utilizar recursos que quizá se le habían ocurrido a Francisco de Quevedo”. El primer paso de la creatividad es la memoria creadora.

A partir de ahí, los hábitos (creativos) hacen su entrada en escena. Marina contrapone a pintores como Diego Velázquez y Jackson Pollock a la hora de definir su acercamiento a la creatividad. El primero comenzó a pintar en el taller de Francisco Pacheco cuando era niño, y como indica el escritor, “tuvo que estar muchos años machacando las pinturas, retocando fondos, que su maestro le advirtiese que el aceite fluido goteaba aunque luego lo utilizase en sus propios cuadros... Cuando tuvo la soltura técnica, pudo ponerse a inventar”. El ejemplo contrario sería el de Pollock y su dripping, que Marina define como “una corrupción del arte”: “es una creatividad fácil que nos ha gustado pero que ha introducido una monotonía. Estamos hartos de ocurrencias”. Marina describe a estos artistas como “artistas apresurados, al minuto”, y recuerda que “hay que tener paciencia y disciplina, porque si no caemos en un ‘todo vale mientras sea nuevo’”.

Las dificultades de la creatividad

El aprendizaje de la creatividad expone de manera sistemática los mecanismos que afectan de manera positiva a la hora de sacar el máximo partido a la creatividad. Pero Marina tiene claro qué factores acaban con esta. “Por ejemplo, el miedo a la novedad. O no recibir los premios adecuados. Por eso hay entornos más creativos que otros, porque reconocen y premian la creatividad. Por el contrario, hay culturas en las que el precio de la tradición es el gran valor, en las que todo lo que sea separarse de eso es malo, como ocurre con las culturas orientales”.

“En España hemos tenido una tradición de miedo a la novedad. En el diccionario de Covarrubias “novedad” se define como “cosa peligrosa por ser contraria al uso antiguo”. Pensamos que Unamuno es un intelectual, pero cuando dijo aquello de “que inventen ellos”, parecía que no iba con nosotros, que lo nuestro es lo eterno. También el dogmatismo: esta es la verdad, no la cambies”. Uno de los grandes represores de la creatividad puede ser, precisamente, la escuela, que en su modelo tradicional conduce a pensar que “las cosas sólo tienen una solución”. Marina desarrolla esta problemática de la escuela, relacionada con la función que ha adoptado tradicionalmente.

“Como la educación tiene que reproducir conocimientos estructurados, transmite únicamente las buenas respuestas. No inventes en la tabla de multiplicar, apréndetela. Pero los alumnos también tienen que enfrentarse a los problemas para los que no hay respuesta, como saber cómo hacer satisfactorias las relaciones de pareja. La escuela siempre ha sido muy conservadora, porque su función era transmitir lo que la sociedad pensaba que debía reproducirse”. Sin embargo, eso ha cambiado actualmente, ya que “la sociedad ya no sabe bien lo que tiene que transmitir aunque tiene una conciencia clara de la aceleración de las cosas”.

La creatividad, a pie de calle

¿De qué manera se está implementando este tipo de habilidades, como la creatividad, en la escuela española y europea? El proyecto de educación por competencias, reconoce Marina, “iba en este sentido”, aunque sospecha que “en España va a fracasar”: “Se quiso introducir en una misma ley dos sistemas contradictorios: la educación por asignaturas, que es vertical, con las competencias, que son transversales. Es difícil hacer las dos cosas al mismo tiempo. No consiste en dar una asignatura de creatividad, como aprender a pensar, sino que cada profesor vea cómo se puede dar en cada materia. No se ha hecho y las competencias han quedado como un residuo burocrático a cumplir. Por ejemplo, la competencia digital consiste simplemente en que estudien con un ordenador”.

Los alumnos del Plan Bolonia van a salir mucho peor preparados“Se hizo demasiado precipitadamente, porque requiere una revolución didáctica total y una adaptación del profesorado, que está acostumbrado a otras cosas”, añade Marina. No sólo eso, sino también una fuerte inversión económica que se sitúa en la dirección opuesta de lo que está ocurriendo con la institución educativa española. “En la Universidad española, salvo en algunas carreras, Bolonia es un engaño. Mi mujer es profesora titular de Derecho Civil y sus grupos son de 200 alumnos. Un tipo de educación basado en los tutoriales ingleses, con grupos pequeños, da buenos resultados, pero no con 200 alumnos. Se reduce la duración de la asignatura a cuatro meses pero la relación con el alumno es la de siempre. Van a salir mucho peor preparados”.

Marina advierte de otra peligrosa tendencia de la educación superior, como es la pérdida de categoría de los grados (antiguas licenciaturas y diplomaturas) frente a los másteres. “Se va a producir una secundarización de los grados. Lo que va a importar va a ser el máster, que hay que ver cómo se dan y lo que cuestan. Se bajará la formación de los grados apuntando a los másteres, que van a ser caros, por lo que mucha gente no los va a poder pagar. Eso es más grave que el aumento de las tasas. Si tienes un grado, no tienes nada”.   

Un mundo de creatividad (y cómo cada país aborda este tema)

La amplia experiencia de Marina le permite conocer en profundidad qué rol juega la creatividad en países muy diferentes, aunque, como recuerda, “no todos los países son creativos en todas las cosas”. El profesor utiliza el ejemplo de Estados Unidos como uno de los más claros en “creatividad científica, tecnológica y de algún tipo de arte”, pero también en la manera de captar talento. “Cada vez va asimilando más otros tipos de arte, porque se convierte en generador de tendencias. Están pendientes de dónde hay cosas interesantes y las traen. En España, si seguimos así, vamos a ser creativos en fútbol, porque estamos aplicando en fútbol lo mismo que hace Estados Unidos en otros ámbitos. ¿Dónde están los mejores talentos en física? Me los traigo. ¿Dónde están los mejores profesores? Me los traigo. Eso es lo que hacemos en España con el fútbol. Pero lo que pasa es que los Estados Unidos traen eso para fomentar su propia cantera, nosotros gastamos mucho dinero en jugadores pero no en técnicos, profesores o investigadores. Y luego no tenemos una tradición que premie a los mejores, a los que les ocurre buenas ideas. No hay grandes viveros de ideas”.

Barcelona y el País Vasco fomentan la creatividadA pesar de ello, Marina cree que hay zonas de España donde sí se fomenta más la creatividad. “¿Por qué el País Vasco está afrontando mejor la crisis? Porque premia la innovación tecnológica, con unas instituciones muy buenas. En San Sebastián se ha fundado el Instituto de Física del Estado Sólido que con poquísimo dinero se ha convertido en un punto de referencia en todo el mundo”. Otro lugar que Marina destaca es Barcelona, “una ciudad que ha protegido mucho la creatividad cultural, artística y editorial. Es una referencia”. Es lo que el autor califica en el libro como “el efecto Médici”, refiriéndose a la Florencia del Renacimiento: “La gente iba allí porque los pagaban, los ponían a competir, los valoraban…” Un equivalente moderno sería Silicon Valley, “un sitio perdido donde empieza a surgir una concentración de talento que funciona como imán para la gente, que acude allí para aprender y porque sabe que se le va a valorar”.

Los políticos y economistas también deben crear

Vivimos en un momento en el que este tipo de sinergias parecen encontrarse en peligro debido al conservadurismo que suele ocasionar toda situación de crisis, ya que “el miedo paraliza la creatividad”, aunque en opinión de Marina, “es precisamente ahora cuando hay que buscar nuevas soluciones”.  Por ejemplo, en el campo de la economía. “Lo de arriba cambia de manera acelerada, pero el marco dogmático no cambia. Parece que las soluciones sólo pueden venir del mercado, pero eso no soluciona por ejemplo la mala distribución de la riqueza”. Sin embargo, Marina reconoce que aunque “el sistema de mercado no tiene capacidad para resolver este problema”, ha hecho cosas bien. “Hay que mantener lo que ha funcionado pero ampliarlo, porque el mercado no resuelve todos los problemas. El movimiento de los indignados va por ahí, pero no tenemos la creatividad suficiente para dar respuesta a esto. Necesitamos creatividad económica”.

Los jóvenes con preocupaciones sociales van a una ONG, no a la política, porque esta es un desastreY, por supuesto, creatividad política. “Vivimos con formas políticas que dan muestras de agotamiento. Cuando el sistema se hizo en España había razones para ello, como no había tradición de partidos, estos tenían que ser muy fuertes. Ahora resulta que los partidos se han convertido en una rémora a la creatividad social, han creado una lógica partidista que aunque funcionase en un momento dado, ya no funciona. No se nos ha ocurrido mejor cosa que la democracia participativa, pero no puede haber una brecha entre los representantes y representados, que ya no se reconocen mutuamente”. ¿Qué nos espera en el futuro? “Algo habrá que cambiar, porque este desprecio y rechazo hacia la política es muy grave. El hecho de que ahora un joven con preocupaciones sociales se vaya a una ONG porque la política es un desastre hace que vayan a esta los que no tienen esa motivación”.

Así será la escuela del futuro (si no desaparece antes)

LAS TENDENCIAS QUE CAMBIARÁN LA EDUCACIÓN

Así será la escuela del futuro (si no desaparece antes)

La realidad aumentada jugará un papel fundamental en el futuro de la educación. (Corbis)

Héctor G. Barnés 18/02/2013   (06:00)

 

“Las nuevas tecnologías ofrecen una personalización que el antiguo sistema –todo el mundo leyendo a la vez el mismo libro– no era capaz de ofrecer”. Fue el escritor futurista Alvin Toffler el que pronunció dicha aseveración la pasada década, en una entrevista para la revista Edutopia. Toffler iba aún más allá y aseguraba que las formas de aprendizaje están condenadas a la evolución si no queremos que el hombre sea superado por la tecnología que él mismo ha creado. El autor de La revolución de la riqueza (Debate) apostaba por el “cierre de la escuela pública” en Estados Unidos y la proliferación de las charter schools (algo así como centros concertados) que, financiadas por dinero público, gozan de una amplia independencia en sus decisiones y programas educativos.

Toffler enunciaba en su intervención algunas de las características que los expertos en educación aseguran que marcarán el futuro inmediato de la educación y que, obviamente, se topan a diario con muchos problemas logísticos y de financiación. Escuelas abiertas las 24 horas del día, compatibilidad del trabajo de los profesores con otras dedicaciones, programas educativos integrados en diferentes disciplinas, experiencias educativas personalizadas…. En definitiva, una flexibilidad que caracteriza a esas charter schools y que, señala el escritor, ya no responde, como en el pasado, a las necesidades de una sociedad industrial que había perfilado la escuela tradicional, sino a las de la sociedad del conocimiento en que vivimos.

Innovación tecnológica y educación personalizada son seguramente los dos grandes pilares de la que será la educación del futuro, en la medida en que la situación financiera actual permita introducir estos cambios. Pero al mismo tiempo, se están produciendo ciertos movimientos de carácter mundial que cambiarán para siempre la forma que tenemos de adquirir conocimiento. Si no somos capaces de adaptarnos a los nuevos retos, alerta Toffler utilizando su habitual retórica apocalíptica, “estamos abocados a la catástrofe”. Quizá sea decir mucho, pero de lo que no cabe duda es que el panorama de la educación se está redibujando. ¿En qué sentido?

• La globalización de las universidades. La tecnología puede ser la forma más sencilla de conectar lugares muy distantes entre sí, pero también se puede recurrir a la vieja estrategia de abrir una sucursal de los centros educativos más importantes en otros países. Es lo que hizo la Harvard Business School al ofrecer diferentes programas educativos en la India basados en innovación o management estratégico, con el objetivo de captar a los que serán los grandes emprendedores de esos países emergentes. Como señalaba Ben Wildavsky en The Great Brain Race: How Global Universities Are Reshaping the World (Princeton University Press), no solo hay tres millones de alumnos que cursan su educación superior fuera de sus países de origen, sino que en urbes como Abu Dhabi o Singapur están abriendo sus puertas nuevos centros educativos que pronto competirán con las universidades anglosajonas más importantes.

• La realidad aumentada, el arma definitiva. No hace falta volver a incidir en el papel clave que la tecnología puede jugar a la hora de conseguir que una nueva generación de nativos digitales se interese por los contenidos de cada materia, así como para que sus padres mantengan una relación con los cuerpos docentes. Es decir: adiós a los libros físicos, hola a los ejercicios online, a las tutorías con los padres a través de la red, a los videojuegos sobre los contenidos impartidos, a las simulaciones virtuales… A todo ello hay que añadir el concepto de “realidad aumentada”, una tecnología que cada vez aparece con más frecuencia en los centros educativos y que ya no sustituye el mundo real por otro virtual, sino que complementa la percepción del primero. Por ejemplo, a través de la reconstrucción en tres dimensiones de escenarios históricos o de simulaciones que permitan a los alumnos llevar a cabo determinadas actividades peligrosas –por ejemplo, relacionadas con la tecnologías– sin poner en riesgo su integridad física.

• Una educación online gratuita. En los últimos años han proliferado iniciativas que, a un bajo precio o incluso de forma totalmente gratuita, permiten a los alumnos acceder a contenidos y clases magistrales de profesores de primera fila que en el pasado sólo unos pocos podrían haber disfrutado. Uno de los ejemplos más llamativos de esta tendencia que se ha dado en llamar MOOC (Massive Online Open Courses), es el de Coursera, que ofrece cursos de universidades como la de Princeton o Stanford de manera totalmente gratuita. ¿La contrapartida? Que sus títulos aún no tienen validez, lo que abre la puerta en el futuro al fin de la llamada “titulitis”, donde lo importante ya no es tanto dónde se ha estudiado o la titulación que se posee como las capacidades que uno haya sido capaz de obtener durante su formación.

• Francia, la gran apuesta universitaria occidental. En un momento en el que las universidades inglesas se encuentran en el punto de mira después de aumentar sensiblemente el precio de sus matrículas, provocando que sólo las clases más adineradas puedan acceder a ellas, quizá el viejo sueño de Nicolas Sarkozy de convertir a Francia en la gran referencia educativa se cumpla. Bajo el nombre de Initiatives d’Excellence (Idex), el ambicioso proyecto se ha propuesto crear “de cinco a diez centros multidisciplinares” en Francia que se constituyan como el principal conjunto de universidades del Viejo Continente, la contrapartida europea a la Ivy League americana. Una inversión de alrededor de 7,7 mil millones de euros apoyará los ocho proyectos ganadores, anunciados entre 2011 y el pasado mes de febrero de 2012: A*MIDEX (Marsella), IPS (Isla de Francia en París), IDEX BOURDEAUX (Burdeos), PSL (París), USPC (París), SUPER (París), UNITY (Toulouse) y UNISTRA (Estrasburgo). François Hollande, por su parte, parece dispuesto a apoyar el proyecto, que ha sido criticado por partidos de izquierda como el Frente de Izquierda.

• ¿El final del abandono escolar o su aumento exponencial? La educación online es un arma de doble filo en lo referente al abandono escolar. Los partidarios de la misma defienden que el acceso directo a la información sin salir de casa y el atractivo que esta puede tener para los niños más proclives al fracaso pueden provocar que sea la solución definitiva al creciente aumento del abandono educativo en primera en países como Estados Unidos. Sin embargo, está demostrado que la educación online favorece el abandono mucho más que la presencial, ya que no genera lazos psicológicos que sí aparecen cuando se conoce en persona al docente, se hacen amigos entre los compañeros o se genera una rutina diaria en la que se acude al centro educativo.

• El retorno de la educación en el campo. ¿Nos espera una sociedad en la que los niños se encontrarán aislados en su casa, comunicados por una red infinita de ordenadores? Muchos educadores han reaccionado ante tal peligro apostando por el viejo concepto de la educación en el campo, especialmente en países con una gran tradición en este aspecto como Estados Unidos, Inglaterra, Australia o Nueva Zelanda, influidos por las ideas de pensadores como Henry David Thoreau o John Locke. En muchos casos, este tipo de salidas tienen como objetivo la concienciación sobre el medio ambiente, pero no únicamente: un estudio publicado en 1997 en el Review of Educational Research puso de manifiesto que este tipo de programas tenían efectos positivos muy evidentes en el desarrollo de las habilidades comunicativas, la capacidad de liderazgo y el autoconcepto de los alumnos.

• La neurociencia nos dirá cómo aprender. Los avances en el terreno de la neurociencia resultan prometedores para el mundo de la educación, ya que cada vez sabemos de manera más concreto cómo funciona nuestro cerebro. Diversos centros se han puesto en marcha en todo el planeta para averiguar cuáles son los métodos más útiles de aprendizaje, como son el Centre for Educational Neuroscience en el Reino Unido o diversas iniciativas de la National Academy of Science americana. Se han llegado a diversas conclusiones en todos los ámbitos de la educación, pero en términos generales, se ha puesto de relieve la importancia de las emociones en el aprendizaje, el papel que ambos hemisferios del cerebro juegan a la hora de adquirir conocimiento y la existencia de modelos muy distintos de inteligencia.

• El final del bullying. Hasta que a comienzos de los años noventa el psicólogo Dan Olweus utilizó el concepto de bullying para dar nombre a las conductas de agresión, física o psicológica, entre escolares, pocos se habían preocupado por las consecuencias que estos casos, muchas veces calificados como “meras chiquilladas”, podían tener en el desarrollo del niño. La concienciación de la sociedad sobre este problema ha provocado que gran parte de los países occidentales gocen de una mayor legislación sobre este aspecto, y los profesores gozan de una mejor preparación para afrontar estas situaciones. La virtualización de la enseñanza provocará que las agresiones físicas disminuyan, pero al mismo tiempo, que aumente el tan preocupante –por difícil de identificar– cyberbullying.  

• Una educación definida por las empresas. El proceso ya ha comenzado. Ante la constante queja de que el mundo educativo y el mundo laboral recorren caminos separados, el liberalismo económico ha defendido la idea de que la educación ha de adaptarse a la empresa, tanto para garantizar el futuro laboral de los estudiantes (dicen sus partidarios), como para obtener trabajadores ya adaptados a cada perfil demandado (dicen sus críticos). En ese sentido, leyes españolas como la de la Formación Profesional Dual, que favorece la participación de las empresas en la educación a través de convenios con cada centro, o diversas directivas de la Comunidad Europea, suponen un importante salto a la hora de que el modelo formativo se adapte al mercado.

• La desaparición de la escuela. En última instancia, cabe la posibilidad de que el colegio, tal y como lo conocemos hoy en día, desaparezca. Algunos afirman que porque el centro escolar como tal desaparecerá, y la educación se trasladará a la esfera privada de cada hogar. Otros, porque anticipan la aparición de nuevos centros que no se destinarán únicamente a impartir clases, sino donde también los niños podrán realizar deporte, jugar con sus compañeros, comer, cenar, pasar su tiempo libre… En cualquier caso, lo que está claro es que, en un sentido u otro, los horarios de nueve a tres están mucho más cerca de extinguirse de lo que pensamos.

Education at a crossroad - while many teachers seem confused in educational no mans' land

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Education at a crossroad - while many teachers seem confused in educational no mans' land

 

There is a battle being fought for the minds of our future citizens between those who see education as a means to achieve narrow political or economic ends and those who see education as developing the full potential, or gifts and talents, of all students.  In the centre of this battle are teachers distracted by defending the status quo.

The situation however,  if faced intelligently, could clarify the challenges ahead for teachers. 

  

Education is at an important  crossroad. The politicians view teachers as the problem and  see the solution as introducing their National Standards providing information to provide choice, if somewhat limited, for parents,. Charter schools take the choice further and introduce the  possibility of the privatisation of schooling.  Schools respond seeing the problematic ‘achievement tail’ as the result of difficult home circumstances and wider social issues which, of course is true,  but schooling often worsens the problem by destructive ability grouping , streaming and fragmented subject orientated teaching.



The genisis of mass education

The government has its minds firmly fixed on past orientated industrial aged solutions with their belief of  standardisation, efficiency and the measuring of a narrow set of targets published as league tables to allow school comparison.. The government, by  pushing this populist point of view, is tapping into the insecurity of parents and their need for reassurance in these difficult times.

  

On the other side stand  visionary educators and politicians who see the need for a new mindset for a new age. These visionaries see the traditional school structures and culture as part of the problem, unable to develop the full potential of all students.



teachers need to make up their minds

As result of these conflicting agendas many teachers find themselves in an educational ‘no mans land’ ; at a crossroad, facing both the past and the future -  uncertain of which direction to face.  The excitement sparked by the 2007 New Zealand Curriculum has been clouded by the confusion created by the political standards agenda.  Schools are being pressurised by the Ministry to follow the government’s stance, placing their personal integrity and professionalism at real risk.  Hardly the best position for schools to be in to ensure their students are equipped to face up to the very real challenges the future holds; challenges that will require citizens with confidence and creativity.

The first requirement when standing at a crossroad is to decide what direction to take .

  




Education at a crossroads

The choice is clear. either the dull ‘certainties’ of the past or the excitement and 'unknown-ability' of the future.  However the necessary courage to make an informed choice requires teachers to reflect on the assumptions that underpin traditional school organisation and also to appreciate that the standards agenda has failed wherever it has been implemented.  There is solid evidence from the UK and the US that the standards agenda there has subverted education principles and distorted the curriculum, resulting in teaching to the tests as the favoured school survival tactic.  Worse still, during the process, the creative arts and the sciences have been sidelined.  Surely we don’t want to follow that path of such destruction of the creative spirit.  And isn’t itparticularly ironic that we do better than both countries in internationaltesting comparisons?

American educationalist Eliot Eisner, long a voice for creative education, comes down firmly on the side of educational transformation.  Eisner writes powerfully about the importance of valuing imagination and creativity and how this approach cuts across thegrain of traditional beliefs about reforming (rather than transforming)education.

Eliot Eisner

Eisner writes that the traditional field of education has predicated its practice on a platform of scientific thinking.  He writes that when formal schooling was established, ‘schools were to become effective and efficient manufacturing plants…students were to be the raw material to be processed according to specifications’.  He believes we must get way beyond the language of: ‘delivering the curriculum’; imposing ‘best practices’ (which soon become ‘fixed practices’); ‘inputs’; ‘outcomes’; ‘targets’ and ‘standards’.  ‘We can’t afford a future’, he writes, ‘where schools become sidetracked measuring what is easy to measure rather than what matters most’.

In times of uncertainty it is not hard to see why  ideas  above appeals to populist politicians acutely aware of public anxiety – an anxiety that they capitalise on to suit their own agenda.  As a result a Victorian’ Age obsession with tracking literacy and numeracy achievement has become the ‘default’ curriculum of many schools and formulaic ‘best practice evidence based’ teaching the means.  Consequently other vital attributes and talents are being overlooked.  All this so called ‘scientific management’, Eisner reminds us, has little to do with modern science.  Scientists are involved in a creative endeavor to challenge current beliefs and develop new ideas.  This enlightened trial and error is the basis of both scientists and very young children.

As a result of scientific management, Eisner tells us, we are, creating an industrial culture in our schools, one whose values are brittle and whose conception of what is important narrow.  What is troublesome is the push towards uniformity, uniformity in aims, uniformity in content, uniformity in assessment, uniformity in expectations.’  This is the world of accountants, technicians, simplistic politicians and anxious parents; people who find comfort in statistics – who believe it is important to define measurable standards for students to achieve.

As a result of all this ‘scientific management’ teachers’ ability to exercise professional discretion is being constrained.  Teachers are becoming accountants of students’ achievement.  Parents are being encouraged to request ‘evidence of progress’ and the next probability of ‘league tables’ providing school comparison (on misleading narrow data) is on the horizon.

The very youngare born with innate abilities, are equipped with the means to learn, and with the capability to learn off others.  They are true scientists but, according to Daniel Pink in his book Drive this innate ‘default mode’ is unfortunately soon flipped by formal school experiences where students soon learn they are no longer in control their own learning.  And there lies the genesis of the ‘achievement tail’.

Eisner believes we need to generate an alternative vision of education, one premised on the importance of the arts and of creativity generally.  And he is the first to admit that such a vision is not new.  The rcurrently sidelined 2007 New Zealand Curriculum provides such a guideline seeing  students as ‘seekers, users and creators of their own knowledge’.  This curriculum, if implemented, provides the means to escape from ‘no mans land’.

To realise such a vision, Eisner believes, requires the replacement of the current failing ‘machine metaphor’ with a creative ‘living system metaphor.’  A living metaphor would encourage those involved to act and learn, as the very young, artists or scientists, at the same time.  ‘For those,’ he writes, ‘who like tidiness and efficiency it would provide a problem because it is very difficult to measure progress in a continually evolving learning situation.  Anybody,’ he continues, ‘involved in creating something new can relate to how destructive the rush to judgment early in the life cycle of a project can be.  How toxic to whatever they were trying too create’.  The current drive in New Zealand to gain instant results, through standards, is simplistic and will inevitably encourage a surveillance culture and a risk-averse mentality.

The struggle for teachers is to find a way out of the mechanistic status quo and to reach for that unknown future.  If we are to realise, what some perceptive futurists call, a Second Renaissance or Age of Creativity we urgently require our students to develop new competencies, allowing them to thrive in uncertain times.

Until the situation is resolved creative teachers find themselves locked in a power struggle for the shape of the future minds of our students.  There is plenty of ingenuity or creativity to call on but far too much teacher energy is being wasted by those in authority (including principals) who want to keep things exactly as the way they are.  The power struggle is never easy for any innovator trying out new ideas.  The status quo is a comfortable place to be and those who inhabit it are loath to give up their positions and the security they provide.  The philosopher Schopenhauer when remarking about the life cycle of ideas said, “firstly they are ridiculed, secondly they are violently apposed, and finally they are treated as self-evident.”

Positive learning attitudes come from students completing work of personal excellence in the arts and the sciences – or indeed in any area of purposeful endeavor.  When students are engrossed in such activities they often lose any sense of time and this is the power of engagement, of fully living.  One has to wonder why, when, and where the emotional intensity and curiosity to learn of the very young is lost.

Teachers who have succeeded in developing such powerful learners have encouraged their students to slow the pace of their work, to do fewer things well (in depth) and in the process have helped students savour and appreciate each learning experience for its own sake. When such a level of involvement is achieved the work and the worker become as one, lost in satisfaction of real learning.

Eisner is only one of many educators who can lead us out of ‘no mans land’ we are in.  Many names come to mind: Sir Ken Robinson, Guy Claxton, Diane Ravitch, Maxine Greene, John Dewey, Howard Gardner, David Perkins, Art Costa, Dennis Litky, Linda Darling-Hammond, William Glasser, Daniel Pink , Carol Dweck , Jo Boaler  and Pasi Salberg ( Finland) .  Along with creative teachers and schools their ideas provide a true alternative to the current highly rationalised and standardised approach that schools currently suffer under.

Who exactly does the Minister rely on for educational advice?

Eisner, and the like, are asking teachers to makes choices and judgments rather than meekly complying, or ‘going along to get along’, or to live in perpetual ‘no mans land’.

Eisner writes that the new vision requires the creation of a new culture of schooling.  He is asking of us to create an education culture that values surprise over control, uniqueness rather than standardisation.  He envisions an education culture that has greater focus on becoming than on being, places more value on then imagination than on the factual, assigns greater priority on the quality of the journey as more significant than the speed at which the destination is reached.

Up until now the current structures of education have all but destroyed this capacity to imagine by attempts to standardise and measure learning.  .

‘The future’, Daniel Pink writes in his book Whole New Mind, ‘belongs to a very different person with a very different kind of mind – creators, and empathisers, pattern recognisers and meaning makers. These people, artists, inventors, designers, story tellers, caregivers, councilors, big picture thinkers – will reap society’s richest rewards and share its greatest joys.’

It will be shame if we are led ‘Back to the Future’ by our current Minister and her technocrats - educating children for a world young learners have already left behind. 

 We need to escape from this ‘no mans land’.  We are at a crossroad. We need to take Sir KenRobinson’s advice and develop an education that engages and amplifies student’s talents and passions.

If want more on the topic read Kelvin Smythe's latest

Posted by Bruce at 1:51 pm

Labels: Big Picture, Creative teaching, Creative teaching Educationalists, Early Education, Ministry of Education, project based learning, Rants and Raves, Talent Development, teaching and learning

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think you are right Bruce - teachers are just too busy complying to requirements to think about the purpose of education in these times of change and uncertainty.

9:03 pm

Bruce said...

I was probably being a bit dramatic saying many teachers are confused. The truth probably is that the majority of teachers just simply get on with what they have always done and what is expected of them. I am not sure many teachers have the time or energy to be too critical of what is expected of them. Teachers, or rather school systems, are naturally conservative.

10:00 am

Teacher as Transformer said...

Bruce, you are not being too dramatic. Many teachers, perhaps most of us, are unaware of the dilemma faced in education, particularly public education. There is little support within the system. It is all about someone's agenda as opposed to making sure teachers are healthy and able to help students become healthy and able adults. Universally, public education is in a real bind that needs to be addressed in a mindful manner.

12:22 pm

Bruce said...

Greetings Teacher as Trnsformer.

I would lke to think education, or society, is at a crossroads but so far it is all one way traffic - the wrong way. Educationalists, or those who want to change the current power structure, have been sudelined over the past decades. Things will change perhaps when the majority of people find themselves in the 'losers' group?

Equity will eventually become the most important issue unless 'we' believe the few rich should determine the future of our country. The so called 'achievement gap' applies not just to school students!

The 'me first' individualistic society needs to change to a 'we first' cooperative democratic one.

Building Social and Emotional Skills in Elementary Students: Empathy

Social and Emotional Learning Subscribe to RSS

Building Social and Emotional Skills in Elementary Students: Empathy

April 26, 2013

Image credit: iStockphoto

This is part seven of the nine-part series from the Project Happiness curriculum. We are looking at important factors that influence the happiness and social and emotional learning of elementary school age children, helping students learn life skills, manage emotions, and increase empathy. Each blog post features one letter of the acronym HAPPINESS:

1. H = Happiness
2. A = Appreciation
3. P = Passions and Strengths
4. P = Perspective
5. I = Inner Meanie/Inner Friend
6. N = Ninja Mastery
7. E = Empathy
8. S = So Similar
9. S = Share Your Gifts

In this post, we will explore Empathy.

Why is it important to "walk in someone else's shoes?" According to a study by the Brookings Institution, "Higher curriculum standards don't correlate to higher student achievement; empathy does." Empathy is also gaining attention as an important component of emotional intelligence and as a way to reduce bullying. When a person learns to understand and share the feelings of another, the pro-social behavior that results shows up in better relationships, closer friendships and stronger communities -- it's that important!

Here are five steps to cultivate empathy:

1. Watch & Listen: What is the other person saying, and what is his or her body language?
2. Remember: When did you feel the same way?
3. Imagine: How does the other person feel? And how would you feel in that situation?
4. Ask: Ask what the person is feeling.
5. Show You Care: Let him or her know that you care through your words and actions.

(Click the image to download a PDF of the lesson plan, and find additional resources at projecthappiness.org.)

Click to download the PDF of this lesson plan. (559.44 KB)

Credit: Randy Taran

How is Empathy Being Developed in Schools?

There are many approaches to teaching empathy. Here are ten interesting ways that aspects of empathy are being introduced:

1. Start with Teachers: At a recent EduCon Conference, an important issue came up. Teacher burnout increases when teachers are expected to be supportive but receive no emotional support at all. One teacher summarized it well: "How can I have empathy for my students when no one will have empathy for me?" The solution one school adopted was to have regular staff meetings in which everyone sat in a circle and shared how things were going. Teachers felt closer to one another in creating a more supportive environment where others cared about how everyone was feeling.
2. Infants as Educators: Roots of Empathy is a program that brings a neighborhood infant and parent to visit the classroom every three weeks over the school year. Students are taught to observe the baby's development and discuss his or her feelings, which opens the door to students identifying their own feelings and advocating kindness for the baby and for each other.
3. Validation and Trust: Making sure students have a voice -- and that all voices are heard -- is a building block for empathy. One teacher states:

   The students learn that I trust them to be kind, loving and intelligent. And they are learning to trust that I will think of them that way. We learn to trust each other . . . help each other if we fall . . . and use our voices to make change. When children first start to use their voices in the classroom, it provides for a test as to how they may be received. Will they be listened to? Will they be laughed at? Are they important?

4. Power of Teamwork: Working in teams to affect the greater good is a great way to creating a culture of empathy. At AXL Academy, each child is assigned to a "crew" for two years. Inspired by Outward Bound founder Kurt Hahn's quote, "We are not passengers in life, we are crew," students learn to work together and create close bonds with one another and their teacher.
5. Grading on Character: The school also grades students on character, with big questions like, "What makes a good friend?" broken down into learning outcomes; and with performance targets, which teachers and students use to collaboratively evaluate students' progress.
6. Practice Emotional Literacy: Having students learn what feelings are (including reading people's faces and body language) as well as how to name those feelings are necessary steps to empathy. If they can learn how to express their feelings and how to interpret when others express feelings, they have important tools for life.
7. Befriending the "Other": To teach empathy, one school is helping students learn to initiate relationships by becoming friends with students who are different, have a disability, or are new. The motivation is friendship and better relationships.
8. Students as "Changemakers": When teachers guided students to identify school problems and encouraged them to work together to come up with solutions, this caused a shift in the school culture. In one fourth grade class, the oldest grade in the school decided to create reminders for the younger grades about how to treat each other well. Because of the project, the older students began to see themselves as role models and empathic leaders for the younger kids.
9. Service-Learning: In Georgetown Elementary Day School, students do grade-wide service-learning projects. In pre-school and first grade, for example, students made sandwiches for a local nonprofit's family support programs. By the fifth grade, students could choose their own service project culminating in four days of service and advocacy.
10. Encourage Empathy at Home: Empathy is reinforced at home when parents model it. When parents positively demonstrate sharing their feelings in authentic, engaged and non-judgmental ways, kids (influenced by mirror neurons) tend to imitate or mirror the intention and emotional state of what they see. Empathy is a family affair!

Do you see this as an important issue? In what ways have you cultivated empathy in your classroom?

• Randy Taran's Blog

• previous post
• next post

 

337Share on printShare on email4

Comments (4)

Comment RSS
Sign in or register to post comments

jaycrehak

Honors English teacher at Whitney M. Young Magnet High School in Chicago

Posted on 4/30/2013 2:59pm

30 Days to Empathy

Sign in to vote!

0

I agree with the article whole heartedly. My students and I just published a novel entitled 30 Days to Empathy about a high school senior who learns to empathize with each of his classmates after spending one day with each of them. The novel contains teen themes, but is appropriate for 8th graders. I am attaching links so people can view the book online and also purchase it at a discount. Please spread the word to other teachers.

CNN i report http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-940750

Teachers and students (and others) can buy the book at:

https://www.createspace.com/4150460 Teachers and students who use this website to order 30 Days to Empathy can get $3.50 off per book by using the discount code we created. Here's the code: NKT3GLD9

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Official30Days

Amazon page for 30 Days to Empathy:
http://www.amazon.com/30-Days-Empathy-The-31/dp/0615770053/ref=sr_1_1?ie...

Novel Changes: A crowd sourced novel any student or classroom in the world can participate in creating: http://novelchanges.blogspot.com

Rey Carr

CEO at Peer Reources

Posted on 4/30/2013 10:53am

Learning Empathy Skills

Sign in to vote!

0

While a couple of the suggested options touch on how students can learn and practice empathy with other students, the peer assistance strategy (formerly called peer counselling, peer helping or peer mentoring) teaches the students the ingredients of empathy and assists them to use those empathy skills to help peers in a variety of ways. It's sad that this wasn't mentioned in the article since thousands of students have been trained using this approach and it has been going for such a long time that hundreds of these students have gone on to train thousands of others at colleges, universities and communities.

klogan15

Third grade math and science teacher from Baltimore, MD.

Posted on 4/28/2013 11:49am

Staff-based empathy

Sign in to vote!

0

I think the school that brought empathy lessons to their staff meeting is on the right track-- teachers need just as much support as students given how challenging our work is. I teach in an urban public school, and we struggle with empathy and morale on a staff level. I'm looking for additional strategies that schools have used to build community on a staff level. Any suggestions or ideas that have worked in other schools?

Building Social and Emotional Skills in Elementary Students: Emotional Management

Social and Emotional Learning Subscribe to RSS

Building Social and Emotional Skills in Elementary Students: Emotional Management

March 12, 2013

Image credit: iStockphoto

In this nine-part series, we will look at important factors that influence the happiness and social and emotional learning of elementary school age children. These are very useful in helping students learn, manage emotions better and increase empathy. Each blog features one letter of the acronym HAPPINESS:

1. H = Happiness
2. A = Appreciation
3. P = Passions and Strengths
4. P = Perspective
5. I = Inner Meanie/Inner Friend
6. N = Ninja Mastery
7. E = Empathy
8. S = So Similar
9. S = Share Your Gifts

In this post, we will explore Ninja Mastery, a.k.a. learning emotional management.

What if your kids could learn that managing their emotions gives them a real advantage in school, in relationships and in life in general? Like ninja masters, they can train themselves to harness their inner resources and redirect their energy to successfully deal with the challenges that come their way. In this article we’ll explore some approaches that can help.

When Emotions Take Over

Most people would agree that emotions are a tricky thing. On one hand, they are guideposts to let us know how we are feeling. They direct our attention, and we rely on them to help us make good decisions. When emotions are in gear, "Upstairs Brain" the pre-frontal cortex, the more evolved part of the brain that helps with good decision-making and emotional management, hums along. On the other hand, when emotions escalate, the "Downstairs Brain," the amygdala, the more primitive part of the brain, surges into action, especially when its alarm bell senses danger. During those episodes, the pre-frontal cortex doesn't even have a chance. It can feel like our emotions (and amygdala) are taking over our bodies and hijacking our minds. What to do?

Recognize That Emotions Come and Go

The great thing about emotions is that they are fleeting. Feelings are temporary states rather than permanent traits (I feel really upset, mad, glad or sad right now -- not forever more). Like clouds, some feelings are wispy, while others are dark and gusty. But even the intense feelings do pass. Neuroscientist Dan Siegel recommends that kids "let the clouds of emotions roll by."

Remember the Ocean, Not Just the Waves

Another analogy is that emotions can be like turbulent waves thrashing about on the surface of the ocean. It's good to know that, although it may be a stormy day on top, there is a huge calm reservoir in the ocean below. Ninja masters learn to use their powers to tap into those calm depths even if there are challenges at the surface.

Six Ninja Strategies

Here are some ways that may help to deal with a strong emotion, like sadness:

1. Focus your mind on something more positive that helps you connect with happier feelings.
2. Take ten deep breaths.
3. Run, jump, sing or dance your way into a better mood.
4. Appreciate something good about yourself and your life. A gratitude journal is a great tool.
5. Reach out to someone who cares about you, and talk about what's going on.
6. Remember you are in charge of how you respond; your emotions do not have to run the show.

The Trouble with Anger

Depending on the situation, some emotions can be more challenging than others. Anger can be daunting! Though feelings of anger are natural, okay and part of being human, when anger takes control of the mind, it can make us react in ways we may regret. To deal with this emotion, it’s important to:

• Understand your anger
• Work through your anger
• Resolve your anger

(Click the image to download a PDF of the lesson plan, and find additional resources at projecthappiness.org.)

Click to download the PDF of this lesson plan. (202.68 KB)

Credit: Randy Taran

Understanding What Causes Anger

One way to help students understand anger is by listing on the board circumstances that may cause it. Examples could include when someone hurts you physically, when someone puts you down, when you cannot say how you feel, when you believe someone wasn't fair, if someone breaks something of yours, or if you did not get your way. Poll students and list which ones affect them the most.

Working Through Anger

Anger is a powerful force, and we must learn to disengage when it wants to hijack our mind. As students learn to recognize that they are getting angry, they can either continue to interact and let the emotions escalate, or separate from the situation and talk about it later. By physically removing themselves from the anger trigger, they create an opportunity to come back to a calmer place.

How You Deal with Anger is a Choice

Consider starting a discussion about ways to resolve anger. (Download the PDF of the lesson plan to learn more about this.) Some examples might be: talking and listening to the person you feel angry with, talk to a friend or an adult you trust, accept that you can't change things, apologize, etc. You can also have the class come up with some negative examples like hitting, blaming, arguing back even harder or breaking something. Engage students to discuss the consequences for both positive and negative choices. All ninja masters know that you have the power to choose how to respond to any situation.

Have you noticed that emotional outbursts or conflicts are on the rise? How do you deal with an escalation of emotion in the classroom?