Hi,
Welcome to the EDLD 700 class blog! This is where you will write your responses to the TED talk prompts and react to the postings of your classmates. A couple of protocol issues for clarity sake. Whenever you post something here, please start with your name and the nature of the post. For example.
Charlie -- Re Directions for the blog on TED posts
And then write or cut and paste what you want to say. Please do not fret about perfect posts or typos or the like. The point here is to write down stuff and interact with the materials and the class. If I were reacting to another post I'd write:
Charlie -- Reacting to Barbara's post on International education
This is really to help all of us keep the conversations straight. Conversation, in virtual reality, is what the interactive part of this work is all about. It is not unusual for students and I to get into a discussion/debate in the blog that others also can add to as they would like.
This will be fun. I'm looking forward to your ideas and the discussions.
Charlie
Hi This is Michelle. I am testing this post to see if I can see my responses.
ReplyDeleteAnne Johnson responding to Robinson/Creativity
ReplyDeleteRobin believes creativity is killed because we do not value it. Internationally, education is designed to meet industry's need for a particular skill set in its workers. Those skill sets are primarily reading, writing, and mathematics. He notes that education prioritizes and values skill sets in the following hierarchy:
1) Mathematics, writing, reading
2) Humanities
3) Arts (Visual and Music prioritized higher in this category than Drama or Dance)
In this process, he feels IQ or ability is defined as academic ability that schools value, students with other talents or skills are disenfranchised and left to cope with the sense that they are not "smart or successful."
He talks about the unpredictability of the future and preparing a generation for that uncertainty. The "conservation" of knowledge is not sufficient to meet an uncertain or unknown future. He feels more time should be invested in nurturing creativity, innovation, and originality. "Creativity should be as important as literacy."
I have a couple of questions regarding Robinson's views. While I have often heard the thought that industry has impacted the way we deliver education, I have not generally seen it viewed from the standpoint of education being created by industry. While my background in history is limited, it seems to me that Thomas Jefferson felt that education had to become available because a democracy could not prevail without an educated populace. Plato certainly preceded the industrial era . . . Schools and/or education has been accomplished in many forms throughout time. Seems that education can have a variety of purposes from "finishing schools from young women" in years gone by to technical colleges to Universities. I am not entirely certain that what remains is representative of industrialization as it is about efficiency in delivering information. I think the value cultures place on the arts have far more impact on its presence in education.
The interesting part of Robinson's views on creativity comes from my graduate program exposure to E. Paul Torrance's work in creativity. Creativity requires a base in knowledge . . . it is one of the reasons creativity can be so effective in increasing rigor. When students create an original picture book in a mathematics classroom, they are using their understanding of a math concept, ability to create an effective story, understanding of illustration and what part it plays in supporting the concept being presented, publishing skills, etc. Their product may be original without all of these components, but will it serve its purpose?
Joe Renzulli's approach to talent development would seem to marry nicely with Ken Robinson's view. Joe asked us to consider education through the lens of talent development. ESA has certainly adopted his views in using the SEM model. Lafayette's schools of choices are an example of a system that is offering choice to match talents and interests of students to their educational offerings. I have more questions than answers on this . . .
Since we know the "judgement" centers of the brain do not develop until the mid to late 20's, is it appropriate to allow students to make choices that will set pathways in place too early for later changes in interests or abilities?
Is their a combined or base body of knowledge that should be acquired in conjunction with an opportunity for talent development?
At what point should specialization occur?
While Robinson views the education system as the limiting agent in change, I am wondering whether or not we (the parents) are not the greater limiters. What influence do we have on these ideas?
Anne