Archive for January, 2009
Narrative Pedagogy
1.I have been researching narrative pedagogy as a means for integrating earth science and literacy education. I am in a doctoral program in environmental studies and am concerned as a parent, teacher of teachers, prior classroom teacher, environmental educator, and gifted and talented coordinator, that many of our children, particularly from grades 4 - 12, are not excited about earth science as a potential career choice. With global environmental and climate change, we have some very intricate problems to solve and new realizations to discover, and we’ll need a future generation of earth scientists and educated citizenry to participate in the solutions.
There is a great deal of research [Read more...]
Nexuses of opportunity
Dear President Obama,
Congratulations! It seems that only in becoming a leader is a person congratulated on suddenly having so many problems to fix. And many of your most firmly entrenched and deeply rooted problems lie in the realm of education, especially considering education is at least a part of the solution for almost any other problem.
I couldn’t resist the opportunity to contribute a few ideas, even in the midst of brainstorms by some famous and very impressive brains. Here is my take on our national education priorites, which is all about addressing root causes and not symptoms:
Find nexuses of family issues and our education system. Absent fathers and other dysfunctional [Read more...]
Career and Technical Education Works Wonders
Strengthen and enhance the funding for career and technical education nationwide. Students learn best through contextual learning. Along the way, the added benefit is learning personal management, problem solving, communication, teamwork, employment foundations and career development skills.
I urge additional funding for Carl Perkins programs nationwide. CTE does work.
Come visit us at the Sabin-Schellenberg Professional Technical Center in Milwaukie, Oregon. Over 3,000 students in the North Clackamas School District take one or more of our classes.
This post was submitted by Deborah Barnes.
Quality and Student Learning Communities: Doing does more
You can’t make a tomato bigger by weighing it and you won’t make kids smarter by constantly measuring a few of the things they may have learned through tests.
Education must do a better job of speaking to the why and how changing our schools and classrooms into QSLC’s – Quality Student Learning Communities through the creation of a positive and student-centered learning environment. This is perhaps more essential now than ever. The educational discussion needs to be about how educators will be encouraged to change their school and classrooms, as well as their own teaching focus. The focus needs to be on the quality of support, type [Read more...]
