Three strategies for fixing education in the developing world.
Schoolchildren used business school skills to build a better trebuchet
This problem-solving technique, which was developed at one of Canada’s most competitive business schools, is being introduced for the first time to students in kindergarten through Grade 8 at Ledbury Park Elementary and Middle School in North York. Five Toronto private schools, including Branksome Hall and Upper Canada College, began integrating the Rotman School of Management’s I-Think program into secondary and middle-school classes in recent years, but the Toronto District School Board is the first to integrate it at the elementary level.
OTTAWA — There are no computers at the Ottawa Waldorf School. No iPads, interactive whiteboards or flat-screen televisions either. Headphone wires don’t dangle from ears and pockets aren’t stuffed with smartphones. Students here don’t even have calculators.
The only apples and blackberries used at this small private school are baked into pies that are cut into pieces as part of a lesson on fractions.
As public schools race to equip classrooms with the latest in technological gadgetry, teachers of the century-old Waldorf model take a different approach. Here, technology is seen as a distraction — something that gets in the way of creativity and saps attention spans. The focus here is on human interaction and on equipping students with analytical and imaginative skills by using basic tools, such as pencils, pens and knitting needles. (via Teaching without distraction (with video))
How Canada Is Closing the Achievement Gap (Education Everywhere Series) (by edutopia)
How Finnish Schools Shine
Teachers are respected, exams are shunned and league tables simply don’t exist – but if the Finnish system is so good why is it so hard to emulate? (via Guardian TeacherNetwork blog).
On the Shoulders of Giants: What Does Bank Street College Know About Preparing Teachers? (VIDEO!)
Ariel Sacks writes about Bank Street College, a teacher education program in New York that “has a unique approach that gets it right for teachers and students.”
Also see: Edutopia’s story and video on Bank Street College.
Christchurch’s earthquake-displaced secondary schools overcame a disruptive year to achieve better academic results than in 2010.
Thousands of pupils at a number of the city’s schools spent most of
last year sharing sites after earthquake damage forced them from their schools.There had been fears pupils’ academic results would be tarnished by the upheaval of having less teaching time each day and travelling to another school site, often across town.
However, statistics released by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority show the displaced schools accomplished even better National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) results last year than they did in 2010.
The number of standardized tests students have to take is about to increase, but the according to a national survey from Scholastic and the Gates Foundation, the nation’s teachers overwhelmingly don’t see the high-stakes exams as essential.
The survey asked more than 10,000 educators about their classrooms, schools, and how student and teacher performances should be measured. A huge majority of teachers believe in measuring student achievement, but they believe it should be measured with a variety of assessments, not just standardized tests. (via Only 7 Percent of Teachers Believe in Standardized Tests - Education - GOOD)
