newteacher

The War on Kids

There is some buzz around this film coming out and it would be great to see some discussion of these general ideas ....apparently, there are more clips on YouTube. The "War on Kids" phrase was popular about six years ago by some scholars but it got dropped pretty quickly.  I do think that what a lot of the rhetoric (and now policy) serves to do is blame the victim; we end up blaming kids for our own system that alienates and derides them.  thoughts?

Not Ready to Make Nice

A powerful music video showing how indigenous youth are playing with new media and historical representations.  The artist here is hip hop writer Wahwahtay Benais from the Anishinabe tribe from the Great Lakes region and he's sampling the Dixie Chicks.  What's so interesting to me is to see that he clearly adopts some components of hip hop culture and just as intentionally leaves some behind--a poweruful example of contemporary identity work (new media, mashup, new perspectives, voice to the voiceless, etc...).  There is some thoughtful commentary on In Media Res as well.  Seems like Critical Pedagogy to me.....Thoughts?

Charter Schools & Special Needs

Posted from the Indy Star, a different view of a possibilities for charter schools.  Of course the underlying premise is that traditional, public schools can't (or won't) provide services for these children.  Perhaps naively, I am still not ready to give up that ghost.  These children and their parents have all of the rights of a "sound, basic education" of any citizen and one might wonder about the implications of deciding that these needs are only met in separate places.  There are a lot of issue that I might be missing so....your turn.

Special Schools for Special Children

I was pleased to read the Sept. 16 article about the proposed, much-needed charter schools. One of the schools would serve autistic children. Although I was erroneously identified as a founder of the school, I agree there is a need for schools that serve children on the autism spectrum who need learning strategies that traditional educational settings are not able to provide.

Children with Asperger syndrome are at particular risk. These students are on the high end of the autism spectrum intellectually and yet have cognitive and social needs that are poorly dealt with in most schools. I have the good fortune to be the head of a small, private school that is very successful with these students. Small classes, compassionate, skilled teachers, and a structure that is clear and predictable yet flexible for students' needs help them succeed. Parents need to know that there are positive alternatives for their children with Asperger syndrome.

Edy Stoughon

Midwest Academy of Indiana, Carmel

High-Stakes v. Poverty

Trying to branch out into video here, so bear with me.

An interesting student-produced video on the costs of poverty and the choices of high-stakes testing in public education. This seems like an innovative way to get the message out there. I wonder what kind of video would come out of IUPUI....

Certainly a far cry from the local voices here in Indy that lay the blame for all of urban education's troubles on hip-hop. It reminds me of just how silly that is.

Teaching for Student Voice

Friends,

  A colleague recently asked me for some good resources on teaching strategies that provide opportunities for student voice.  She specifically asked about structuring "roundtable" activities at the secondary  level that highlight issues of race, class, sexuality and other controversial, social justice type issues. She is interested in finding information in the area of "how to get started" and how to facilitate the difficult questions. I'm wondering if folks have resources that they can share.  We often talk about things like "student voice" and democratic teaching practices but I can't easily put my hand on work that helps teachers actually structure these activities.   Watcha got???

International Democratic Ed

www.learningalternatives.net
International Democratic Education Conference
The 14th International Democratic Education Conference (IDEC) was held this past July in Sydney, Australia. 250-300 people from 15 countries attended. The event is relevant to today’s debate on education because governments, including Australia, are dealing with the issue of how to prevent students from disengaging, IDEC contributes positively by highlighting models that have successfully put students at the center of the learning process.

High-Stakes & Social Studies

Recent news tells us that high-stakes testing may come to social studies education in Indiana. This opens up a very complicated conversation about the role of testing and the curriculum but also about the role of social studies itself. A way to start thinking abou this comes from a recent story on NPR. I'm still not sure that most folks really know the impact of these major changes in education policy. Thoughts?

National Public Radio: Social Studies Goes to the Back of the Class

Weekend Edition Sunday, September 17, 2006 · Schools are emphasizing the importance of math and reading,
leaving other subjects behind. Fred Risinger, former coordinator of
Social Studies Education at the School of Education at Indiana
University, discusses the problem with Liane Hansen

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6092000

The problem of geography

This type of story seems more and more prevelant... or is it just me? Rocky Mountain News

URL: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/education/article/0,1299,DRMN_957_4940787,00.html

Teacher in trouble over flag displays

Geography instructor refused to take down foreign banners at school

By Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News
August 24, 2006

A seventh-grade geography teacher at Carmody Middle School in Lakewood was suspended with pay Wednesday after he refused to take down foreign flags displayed in his classroom.

Eric Hamlin, 36, said the flags of China, Mexico and the United Nations were relevant to the unit on the fundamentals of geography he teaches in the first six weeks of the semester.

He's used the same display for most of the nine years he's taught in Jefferson County, Hamlin said.

The 3-foot-by-5-foot nylon flags are in addition to the U.S. flag found in all classrooms.

"Since flags are symbols of a nation and the people who live in that nation, if a flag of a foreign nation in a geography class can't be displayed, and only the U.S. flag can be displayed, we're sending the message that America is number one, everything else is below that," Hamlin said.

Hamlin received a written reprimand Tuesday. Principal John Schalk escorted Hamlin from the building when the flags were still up on Wednesday morning.

Democracy & Difference

Our intrepid crusader for more democratic schools is out at the Internaional Conference for Democratic Education and has been reporting back. Here's his summary of the final keynote address. Of course, I wasn't there but I've been thinking about difference lately and will I certainly take the point, I think we have to value difference while, at the same time, valuing how and when we come together. For us to have a politics we have to share some "truths" and work together towards them. Hmm....

Yacov Hecht, director of the Institute for Democratic Education, gave his final talk of the conference. He discussed IDE's goal: take what is learned in democratic schools and turn it into tools for innovative educational and learning systems.

He predicted that the democratic school movement of the late 90s and early 21st century will create a democratic culture in society. Using Maslow's hierarchy of needs, he noted that only around 20% of the population self-actualizes. This lead to his definition of a democratic culture: one that guards the equal right of every individual for self-actualization.



To have a democratic culture we must
1. recognize the fact of "the different"--difference is beautiful
2. accept the fact that we do not own the truth
3. recognize that "the different" is also a part of the establishment
4. recognize the importance of self-criticism ad a constructive tool for growth
5. disburse democratic education outside school borders--to businesses, govt
agencies, civic organizations.

The problem is we don't know how to deal with difference. He noted that he sees the goal of education for sustainability is to reduce the aggressive impulse. This can be accomplished by:

1. a democratic culture in schools--this would foster closer relationships between
adults and children
2. looking for the uniqueness of every child
3. providing a place for it to develop
4 binging this to the attention of the community and celebrating

john