I saw this video and while I don't have anything insightful to add to it, I encourage you to take three minutes out of your day to watch. I assure you, it will be worth your while.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
all i know is that i don't know nothing
If you’re not familiar, those are lyrics from the song “Knowledge” by the band Operation Ivy. If you’re interested, you can find it on their 1989 self-titled record, Operation Ivy. Green Day covered this song on one of their records.
It has been twenty years since the release of that record (I was 7 at the time) and I really think they were on to something. Something that we might learn from as individuals who work in education; admitting that we don’t know. It makes me think very strongly about the movement of 21st-century education: preparing students to be “effective citizens, workers and leaders in the 21st-century.” (Partnership for 21st-Century Skills) I think about this because, much like any movement, we need to not only consider the future, but prepare for its arrival. In that preparation, I believe it is essential for us to consider the fact that we really might not know what the world of tomorrow will look like for today’s students. As Nancy Walser puts it in her article Teaching 21st Century Skills: What does it look like in practice?, “You can’t just sprinkle 21st century skills on the 20th century doughnut.”
Now, this is not news. In fact, there has been a lot of attention to this in the media - see this press release about the 21st-Century Skills Incentive Fund, introduced by Senators Rockefeller, Snowe and Kerry. Basically, a bill that would appropriate $100m a year to states that integrate 21st-century skills into education. I am excited by this, because it shows initiative, especially in a time of such potential education reform. [Aside: In 1917, the Smith-Hughes Act, also known as the Vocational Education Act, was passed to help educate Americans for careers in farm work. At that time, over 21% of the American workforce was employed in agriculture, as compared to less than 2% today1. The Act promoted the concept of education for manual or practical activities and would prepare students for a specific occupation or trade.] As I see it, the Smith-Hughes Act was an attempt by the government to respond to a need. Actions like the 21st-Century Skills Incentive Fund can do just that for education today and is a progressive idea.
I have always considered the goal of education to be learning (makes sense, right?), but we are still operating on a very industrial model - imagine a pyramid, similar to the food groups, where at the peak are math and reading, and as you descend you find history, science, the arts, physical education, etc. This model was proficient in its time (which should have long passed), as it was concerned with high-output for low-cost; basically focusing on cohesion rather than craftsmanship. We're simply too far along to function that way anymore.
The Partnership for 21st-Century Skills considers some of the following to be skills for the 21st-century: creativity and innovation; critical thinking and problem solving; communication and collaboration; information literacy; media literacy; ITC (information communication technology) literacy. What are some of the skills you think the students of tomorrow should have?
It has been twenty years since the release of that record (I was 7 at the time) and I really think they were on to something. Something that we might learn from as individuals who work in education; admitting that we don’t know. It makes me think very strongly about the movement of 21st-century education: preparing students to be “effective citizens, workers and leaders in the 21st-century.” (Partnership for 21st-Century Skills) I think about this because, much like any movement, we need to not only consider the future, but prepare for its arrival. In that preparation, I believe it is essential for us to consider the fact that we really might not know what the world of tomorrow will look like for today’s students. As Nancy Walser puts it in her article Teaching 21st Century Skills: What does it look like in practice?
Now, this is not news. In fact, there has been a lot of attention to this in the media - see this press release about the 21st-Century Skills Incentive Fund, introduced by Senators Rockefeller, Snowe and Kerry. Basically, a bill that would appropriate $100m a year to states that integrate 21st-century skills into education. I am excited by this, because it shows initiative, especially in a time of such potential education reform. [Aside: In 1917, the Smith-Hughes Act, also known as the Vocational Education Act, was passed to help educate Americans for careers in farm work. At that time, over 21% of the American workforce was employed in agriculture, as compared to less than 2% today1. The Act promoted the concept of education for manual or practical activities and would prepare students for a specific occupation or trade.] As I see it, the Smith-Hughes Act was an attempt by the government to respond to a need. Actions like the 21st-Century Skills Incentive Fund can do just that for education today and is a progressive idea.
I have always considered the goal of education to be learning (makes sense, right?), but we are still operating on a very industrial model - imagine a pyramid, similar to the food groups, where at the peak are math and reading, and as you descend you find history, science, the arts, physical education, etc. This model was proficient in its time (which should have long passed), as it was concerned with high-output for low-cost; basically focusing on cohesion rather than craftsmanship. We're simply too far along to function that way anymore.
The Partnership for 21st-Century Skills considers some of the following to be skills for the 21st-century: creativity and innovation; critical thinking and problem solving; communication and collaboration; information literacy; media literacy; ITC (information communication technology) literacy. What are some of the skills you think the students of tomorrow should have?
1 http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/EIB3/EIB3.htm#changes
Friday, September 4, 2009
happy friday: some resources
It's the Friday before a three day weekend and I simply can't justify posting something laden with thought right now. To that end, I wanted to share some links for perusal. Some of these sites contain lesson plans and other pertinent information. Enjoy:
Arts and Learning Resources for State Leaders - A site is designed to help arts education leaders and practitioners locate resources relevant to their work.
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development - ASCD is a membership organization that develops programs, products and services essential to the way educators learn, teach and lead.
The Gateway - A Department of Education Web site with many resources, which connects visitors to over 140 other education sites.
The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) - P21 serves as a catalyst to position 21st century skills at the center of U.S. K-12 education by building collaborative partnerships among education, business, community and government leaders.
Teacher Vision - This online resource features quizzes, links and online lesson plans for music-related subjects (Music history, Music in Our Schools Month, National Standards, Jazz, Classroom Management, etc.) and interdisciplinary lessons
Have a great Labor Day weekend.
Arts and Learning Resources for State Leaders - A site is designed to help arts education leaders and practitioners locate resources relevant to their work.
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development - ASCD is a membership organization that develops programs, products and services essential to the way educators learn, teach and lead.
The Gateway - A Department of Education Web site with many resources, which connects visitors to over 140 other education sites.
The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) - P21 serves as a catalyst to position 21st century skills at the center of U.S. K-12 education by building collaborative partnerships among education, business, community and government leaders.
Teacher Vision - This online resource features quizzes, links and online lesson plans for music-related subjects (Music history, Music in Our Schools Month, National Standards, Jazz, Classroom Management, etc.) and interdisciplinary lessons
Have a great Labor Day weekend.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
welcome
Hi there, welcome to teachers with chalk. For those that are visiting for the first time, my name is Evan. Nice to meet you. I wanted this post - being a welcome message and all - to share a little bit about why I decided to create this thing.
I've worked in arts education for about five years. In this half-decade, I've met some incredible individuals, seen some really creative programming and witnessed people's incredible capacity for pushing education (of all forms) to the limit. There are a million other resources out there to learn about these things and I encourage you to visit them as well - ArtsJournal, ASCD, Dewey21C, etc. However, this will be my slice of the pie.
It's worth mentioning that this blog will focus on - although not entirely - arts education. I'll post examples of innovative initiatives, discuss (as best I can) education reform, ask writers to post best practices and interesting stories and, above all, invite discussion about what's going on out there. I come from a family of educators so I suppose ending up in this field was inevitable. My posts will be my own thoughts based on information from the field as I interpret it and should be considered only as such.
About the name: I was in discussion one day with two of my coworkers (for the sake of anonymity, we'll call them Adam and Kevin). It wasn't my idea, but the possibility of an education blog called teachers with chalk was thrown around. I loved the concept because it was a bit counter-intuitive to education in the 21st-century: Instruction and learning are not solely the responsibility of teachers and no one really even uses chalk anymore.
If you want to reach me, you can e-mail Evan@teacherswithchalk.com. That's my story and I'm (hopefully) sticking to it. Stay tuned and thanks for visiting.
I've worked in arts education for about five years. In this half-decade, I've met some incredible individuals, seen some really creative programming and witnessed people's incredible capacity for pushing education (of all forms) to the limit. There are a million other resources out there to learn about these things and I encourage you to visit them as well - ArtsJournal, ASCD, Dewey21C, etc. However, this will be my slice of the pie.
It's worth mentioning that this blog will focus on - although not entirely - arts education. I'll post examples of innovative initiatives, discuss (as best I can) education reform, ask writers to post best practices and interesting stories and, above all, invite discussion about what's going on out there. I come from a family of educators so I suppose ending up in this field was inevitable. My posts will be my own thoughts based on information from the field as I interpret it and should be considered only as such.
About the name: I was in discussion one day with two of my coworkers (for the sake of anonymity, we'll call them Adam and Kevin). It wasn't my idea, but the possibility of an education blog called teachers with chalk was thrown around. I loved the concept because it was a bit counter-intuitive to education in the 21st-century: Instruction and learning are not solely the responsibility of teachers and no one really even uses chalk anymore.
If you want to reach me, you can e-mail Evan@teacherswithchalk.com. That's my story and I'm (hopefully) sticking to it. Stay tuned and thanks for visiting.
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