Really? Is it truly possible that 50% of Harvard undergrads are “excellent”. That’s what the grades say. Today half or more of Harvard undergrads receive a grade of “A”, while fifty years ago that figure was closer to 30%. Harvard prof Harvey Mansfield spoke about this not long ago. He describes grade inflation within Ivy League [...]
Archive for January, 2011
50% Excellence?
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged education, evaluation, flourishing, future, grades, grading, learning, science, student, success, teaching, testing on January 31, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Education for Work
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged change, creativity, education, evaluation, exploration, flourishing, future, grades, imagination, innovation, learning, montessori, optimal development, outcomes, preparatory, school, success, teaching, testing, thought, whole child on January 29, 2011 | 1 Comment »
In The Social Network then-Harvard President, Larry Summers, tells the twin students who are complaining about having their million-dollar idea stolen: “every Harvard undergrad thinks that he’ll make his own job, not get one – so come up with another idea”. This echoes what Dan Pink relates in A Whole New Mind – that today, [...]
Computers and Change in Education
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged change, education, flourishing, innovation, learning, outcomes, reform, school, teaching, technology, thought on January 27, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Listen, if anyone tells you that the “way out” of our present crisis in traditional education is “computers” – just run away. Computers are no more going to solve any educational problems than changing the color off the paint in the rooms of classrooms. Going back to the 1980s “computers” were tooted as the savior [...]
The Education Revolution
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged change, creativity, development, education, flourishing, future, knowledge, learning, life, optimal development, preparatory, school, school 2.0, students, success, teaching, thought, whole child on January 24, 2011 | 3 Comments »
There’s been great lively interest in getting this going. So, how do we ensure that all the words spilled here, and elsewhere, don’t end up as just words on the electronic page? How do we take it to the streets and bring about the change? Here’s my plan. Create a series of playful/funky youtube videos [...]
Change what? (more on school 2.0)
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged change, children, development, education, engagement, flourishing, learning, life, optimal development, psychology, reform, school, students, success, teaching on January 21, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Okay, we need specifics on what “fundamental” change/innovation means here. If the present system of traditional education is simply flawed, then what’s it to look like in an ideal form (do not read “ideal” as “impossible). A few basics. Living things, like green bean plants, trees, and penguins…. okay, people too (we’re “living things” after [...]
school 2.0
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged 21st century, change, creativity, education, flourishing, future, innovation, knowledge, learning, outcomes, psychology, reform, school, success, teaching on January 20, 2011 | 4 Comments »
Thank you for all of your comments yesterday. Clearly much to discuss. Let me straighten out a few general points: I do not place ANY “blame” on teachers (for the state of education in this country) I do not criticize without having solutions This blog began nearly a year ago to do one thing: stir [...]
School is so “20th Century”
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged change, children, creativity, development, Dr. Hughes, education, experience, flourishing, future, imagination, innovation, knowledge, learning, NCLB, optimal development, outcomes, psychology, reform, school, science, students, success, teaching, whole child on January 19, 2011 | 97 Comments »
How long before we begin to hear this refrain? Maybe from students, maybe from “experts”. Given developments in today’s world, and they keep coming, it’s not far-fetched to think that the present traditional model is simply not up to the task, is outdated, and out-of-sync with the needs to modern life. We have to get [...]
Outcomes-Based Education
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged creativity, development, education, engagement, evaluation, flourishing, future, imagination, knowledge, life, montessori, optimal development, outcomes, reform, science, students, success, teaching, testing, thought, whole child on January 17, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Isn’t it all the rage? Who’s NOT interested in outcomes, right? Outcomes are good – they provide a goal to aim for, a set of expectations, an “end” to determine the means. The question is what the outcomes are, of course. How do we decide how to define those outcomes? Today this mostly has lead [...]
More on Grades and Learning
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged academia, education, evaluation, grades, grading, knowledge, learning, NCLB, outcomes, school, teaching, test scores, testing, thought on January 5, 2011 | 1 Comment »
So this story has been around some news circles of late: The Shadow Scholar. Heard of him/her? This person earns decent money working full time as a writer for students’ college papers. That’s right. Paid to help students cheat. Grad courses too, in ALL disciplines. But why? Because school/college isn’t about learning, it’s about grades. [...]
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