Horizon programme on what intelligence is and where it comes from. Large focus on role of genes and inherited intelligence. Latest thinking suggests that genes are only responsible for only 50% of our intelligence. An interesting test tracked people, those who at 4 could resist eating marshmallows, at 40 had been more succesful at school, healthier and had lower rates of divorce. This seems to highlight the role of nurture.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/x7cb3/
Sunday 8 May 2011
Monday 11 April 2011
An eclectic day in Manchester
It was not only the weather that was varied! Visited Manchester intending to visit the Anish Kapoor Exhibition at the Art Gallery, to find it was closed on Mondays! Doh! Instead visited the Lowry which was a bit of a disappointment. It might have been the fact it started raining as I got there but there wasn't much to the place. I get the impression a lot of money has been thrown at it, possibly with the intention of widening the appeal of the arts but in fact it was an expensive looking theatre. One of the main galleries was closed and all there was to see was a collection of work by the eponymous painter. (Have I used eponymous correctly here?) It was interesting to see how his style had developed and how he had dabbled with Impressionism. Also that he had started working from a white background in answer to his teachers who told him his work was too dark. I found the collection unsettling, as if he was a spectator, watching the crowded scenes of dull monotonous poverty without engaging in them. His later works were even more voyeuristic; 'The Cripples' was particularly insensitive. 
Following this I visited the Imperial War Museum North. The best part of this was the space and the way the gallery was organised into what they called 'Silos'. It was a huge space, divided by floor to ceiling blocks which you walked around and displyed the different themes. It was very dark and the ambience was just right. They then used these huge white blocks to project onto for a show. I didn't feel particularly blown away by anything else, except the one thing was a small collection of items which had belonged to a Japanese POW. and his two belts, one from before, one from after. The later could not have fitted around a size 8 waist. Finally, I visited the Northern Quarter and the Craft Galleries. I was particularly impressed by the ceramic tiles and bought one for Dad. I also bought myself a lovely thing. It is wood veneer which has tiny holes burned into it and thread threaded through to form flower patterns. http://www.janebleasedesign.co.uk/
Following this I visited the Imperial War Museum North. The best part of this was the space and the way the gallery was organised into what they called 'Silos'. It was a huge space, divided by floor to ceiling blocks which you walked around and displyed the different themes. It was very dark and the ambience was just right. They then used these huge white blocks to project onto for a show. I didn't feel particularly blown away by anything else, except the one thing was a small collection of items which had belonged to a Japanese POW. and his two belts, one from before, one from after. The later could not have fitted around a size 8 waist. Finally, I visited the Northern Quarter and the Craft Galleries. I was particularly impressed by the ceramic tiles and bought one for Dad. I also bought myself a lovely thing. It is wood veneer which has tiny holes burned into it and thread threaded through to form flower patterns. http://www.janebleasedesign.co.uk/
Sunday 3 April 2011
Theo Lansen - Strandbeests
Theo Jansen "The walls between engineering and arts exist only in our minds." Great for a P4C session on What is Life? etc. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/lang/eng//id/162 http://www.strandbeest.com/index.php
WHERE GOOD IDEAS COME FROM by Steven Johnson
Focuses on the importance of collaboration and the chances which the internet creates to allow 'hunches to collide', i.e. different ideas to come together to bring about something innovative. I like the example of the creator of the internet who was working on 2 separate projects and it was only when these ideas came together that he came up with it and this took time.
Saturday 2 April 2011
What is Innovation?
For my MA module, I have been asked to consider this question using the following prompts. How do I define and understand this term? Am I uneasy or uncertain about using it? Is innovation always a positive thing? What other interpretations am I aware of either in the group or from literature?
Within my context, innovation is most usually used when decribing making changes to the curriculum or incorporating new technologies into the classroom. In fact curriculum innovation is detailed within the Ofsted cireria for 'Outstanding' curriculum. However, with both there are caveats. You can't simply change your curriculum for it to be decribed as innovative and you can't simply start using a new piece of technology for it's use to be described as innovation. Particurly for the ICT, it seems that is is about the way you use it! People describe innovative uses of technology, suggesting that the technology itself doesn't need to be state of the art. Examples might include using mobile phones in the classroom or simply about using features of widely used programs such as Smartboard software. It is about how they are used, for effect and appropriately to do something positive. Similarly, with curriculum innovation it is not about the changes you make to the curriculum necessarily but how you rearrange the way things are taught in order to make best use of time, to ignite the children's interest, to make links more meaningful.
The idea of curriculum innovation being necessitated by the need to 'fit so much in' and of time being such a premium makes me wonder if innovation is often brought about by lack of resources, in this case time. There isn't enough time to fit in everything which needs to be taught in separate chunks so we are forced to find a different way. You could extend this to the use of ICT. The children are so used to technologically rich environment that in order to maintain their interest we have to find a new way - innovate. I don't feel it fits as well here though. Watching Charles Leadbetter on TED http://www.charlesleadbeater.net/home.aspx,
seems to back up this idea though. He has examined how schools/ education cope in extreme circumstances such as in slums with very limited resources. He believes that the innovative practices they develop could teach us a lot. I'm thinking of that quote "Necessity is the mother of invention."
The concerns I have over using the term innovation is how it relates to other terms. Is innovation the same as creation? In the literal sense, no. Innovation suggests a change to existing practice whereas creation suggests something completely new. And yet being innovative is probably very similar to being creative. Both involve coming up with new ideas, imagination, thinking differently. However, we would never talk about how we had seen excellent curriculum creation in a particular school!
I'm also interested in what counts as innovation. Is it only innovative if you are the first ever person to do it? Or can it be an innovation if it is new to you? When we ask teachers to make changes to their practice we are not asking them to innovate because we are telling them what to do. I think there is more ownership involved in innovation, the ovator has to have come up with the idea in oder to make the innovation, or at least recognise the merit in the change. This might be why we talk about 'adopting' innovation. That way, even if it wasn't your idea in the first place you have taken it on as if it were.
Monday 28 March 2011
Michael Pawlyn: Using nature's genius in architecture | Video on TED.com
Michael Pawlyn: Using nature's genius in architecture Video on TED.com Not quite growing buildings but using ideas from nature to solve problems we face.
Charles Leadbeater on innovation | Video on TED.com
Charles Leadbeater on innovation Video on TED.com Main points to consider: - Is innovation the same as creativity? The terms were used simultaneously in this talk. - Leadbeater is arguing that innovation is no longer going to be a 'top down' imposition but will be created by the end users. How does this relate to education? Is it as much bas involving children in developing their own education? Is there more to it than this? http://www.ted.com/conversations/1481/how_can_we_empower_kids_to_res.html
Sunday 13 March 2011
In Doubt We Trust
Interesting programme from Radio 4. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00z2sl8
Considers how important some level of doubt or unknowing is in all areas of life but that in modern life how it is becoming less acceptable to have doubts.
The presenter tells a story about how Socrates told about a friend who went to see the Oracle and asked who was the wisest person in all of Athens. The Oracle told him that this was Socrates himself. Socrates was surprised when he heard this as all he knew is that the more that he discovered and found out, the more he realised he didn't know. He then realised that what the Oracle was saying is that to be wise is a realisation that you will never know everything. As described on philosophy pages, "Socrates concluded that he had a kind of wisdom that the other philosphers lacked: namely an open awareness of his own ignorance".
This made me thought aboutthe discussion I had with my MA tutor before I handed in my first assessed piece of work. I was telling him that as I had studied the subject, I had found that I was less and less sure of why I had decided to study it, what I was trying to write about or find out. My tutor laughted at this and told me to bascially get used to that feeling and that many PhD students go through a similar stage when writing their Thesis when they hardly know why they started writing it!
As a teacher, the challenge is to develop this understanding of wisdom within a system which values absolutes in knowledge.
Considers how important some level of doubt or unknowing is in all areas of life but that in modern life how it is becoming less acceptable to have doubts.
The presenter tells a story about how Socrates told about a friend who went to see the Oracle and asked who was the wisest person in all of Athens. The Oracle told him that this was Socrates himself. Socrates was surprised when he heard this as all he knew is that the more that he discovered and found out, the more he realised he didn't know. He then realised that what the Oracle was saying is that to be wise is a realisation that you will never know everything. As described on philosophy pages, "Socrates concluded that he had a kind of wisdom that the other philosphers lacked: namely an open awareness of his own ignorance".
This made me thought aboutthe discussion I had with my MA tutor before I handed in my first assessed piece of work. I was telling him that as I had studied the subject, I had found that I was less and less sure of why I had decided to study it, what I was trying to write about or find out. My tutor laughted at this and told me to bascially get used to that feeling and that many PhD students go through a similar stage when writing their Thesis when they hardly know why they started writing it!
As a teacher, the challenge is to develop this understanding of wisdom within a system which values absolutes in knowledge.
Wednesday 9 March 2011
The Way Forward
Interesting course today led by Trevor Hawes, he of all the Neuro-science stuff of which I am so sceptical.
He did a great synopsis of the challenges currently facing us in Primary education but also painted a fairly positive picture of how we can make the most of the situation. Whatever we think of the political situation, we can get along in the system and do the best as we see it.
As always there are many changes facing us and may of these are still in their embryonic phase and changing all the time. For example, the plans to get rid of Schools Sports Partnerships ended up being scrapped. I was made more aware than ever of the very difficult position we find ourselves in as educators, between government policy, educational research and our own aims based on the children in front of us. I am somewhat heartened by Gove's focus on the 'Importance of teaching', particularly as it seems to go hand-in-hand with a slackening of 'top-down' control. Of course I can see the link between good teaching and good outcomes for children. So, as always the focus is on improving teaching. We need to have a look at how we can tweak our CPD so that we are putting teachers more in control of their own learning. More emphasis on action research and coaching.
As far as the curriculum is concerned, I have no problem with the focus on Lit, maths and science and I can also see the importance of PE and music. History? Not entirely sure that I see that it should have status over Geography, DT, Arts? It looks like there will be enough freedom within whatever curriculum is devised for us to develop what we need.
One of the main things I took away is that I need to look beyond the news headlines about changes to education. In most of the cases outlined, the actual policy allows much more freedom and is much less scary than the news would have us believe.
Still not sure about the neuro-science though...
He did a great synopsis of the challenges currently facing us in Primary education but also painted a fairly positive picture of how we can make the most of the situation. Whatever we think of the political situation, we can get along in the system and do the best as we see it.
As always there are many changes facing us and may of these are still in their embryonic phase and changing all the time. For example, the plans to get rid of Schools Sports Partnerships ended up being scrapped. I was made more aware than ever of the very difficult position we find ourselves in as educators, between government policy, educational research and our own aims based on the children in front of us. I am somewhat heartened by Gove's focus on the 'Importance of teaching', particularly as it seems to go hand-in-hand with a slackening of 'top-down' control. Of course I can see the link between good teaching and good outcomes for children. So, as always the focus is on improving teaching. We need to have a look at how we can tweak our CPD so that we are putting teachers more in control of their own learning. More emphasis on action research and coaching.
As far as the curriculum is concerned, I have no problem with the focus on Lit, maths and science and I can also see the importance of PE and music. History? Not entirely sure that I see that it should have status over Geography, DT, Arts? It looks like there will be enough freedom within whatever curriculum is devised for us to develop what we need.
One of the main things I took away is that I need to look beyond the news headlines about changes to education. In most of the cases outlined, the actual policy allows much more freedom and is much less scary than the news would have us believe.
Still not sure about the neuro-science though...
Sunday 6 March 2011
The Urge to Lead
It has been uncanny reading Dickens' 'A Tale of Two Cities' whilst revolution has been sweeping the Middle East. Dickens was writing in the 19th century about the 17th Century and yet there are certainly similarities between what he writes about and what is happening now. In both Pre-revolutionary France and the states of the Middle East, rulers have imposed strict controls on their subjects, limited their autonomy and enjoyed wealth that their people did not. The desire to rule seems very strong. Even military leaders, overthrowing a dictator, often seem to take their place and go onto to take power themselves. Dickens comments on this in Tale of Two Cities with the Revolutionary Leaders taking the place of the Monarchy. Similarly, in Libya, Gaddafi went from overthrowing Monarchy to himself taking power and the honorary title of "Brotherly Leader and Guide of the first September Great Revolution of the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya". Now he is the longest "serving" ruler. Even though he thinks Queen Elizabeth II has been in 'power' longer! What is it about being in control that makes people want to cling on so much?
Monday 28 February 2011
Everybody can run a school!
First it was Gareth Malone with his 'Extraordinary School for Boys'.
Then, Jamie with his 'Dream School', and now I see that the military are also getting in on the act with the Troops to Teachers program.
My initial reaction, particularly to the 'celebrities' who want to offer their solutions to all problems educational is one of immense irritation. It's not like I go and give advice on running a Choir or a restaurant!
Their motives for wanting to innovate, and their expertise in the area seem to be based on their own experiences of school. In Gareth's blog, he describes his own positive experiences of school and how he uses these and 'research' to develop methods which will improve schools for boys. Jamie describes in the trailer for his Dream School project how his own less positive experiences of school have motivated him to offer more inspiration to children. Something he aims to do by employing teacher 'experts'.
Maybe I need to accept that those outside the field of education can have something to say, after all, education effects all areas of society. Also, they may have something to add by helping us to imagine things in different ways, think differently and look at different solutions.
The cynic in me though can't help but seeing some of this altruistic 'do-gooding' as a bit of a show. In Gareth's program, the teachers he worked alongside seem to be particularly stuck in their ways, boring and contrasting heavily with Gareth's dynamic style. In Jamie's program teachers in the 'Dream School' appear to have been chosen for their status as celebrities rather than any particular teaching abilities. Apparently, David Starkey, chosen for his expertise in historical knowledge, his ability to bring the subject alive for students, etc, can't control the class and ends up being disrespectful towards them.
Undoubtably, questions need to be asked, everyone has a right to ask them and we have a responsibility to look at things in different ways. However, I resent the profession being cast as 'stuck in the mud', boring, and unquestioning. We may not know Daley Thompson, but we are innovating all the time, trialling new ways of doing things whilst working within very tight constraints. I welcome opinion but use the expertise which we have too please!
Sunday 27 February 2011
Inside Job Trailer 2010 HD
Saw this film last night. Was not expecting to find it as interesting as I did.
Interesting points:
- The effect of the culture on educated, clever people's perceptions of what is right/ what they see.
- Seeing some of these people squirm trying to justify what they had done.
- Really good explanation of what had caused the crash.
- To see Iceland as a mini-Case study of the wider problems.
Friday 25 February 2011
Living Bridges of Meghalaya
Definitely one for assembly. These bridges are grown over many generations' lifetimes from special vine roots to withstand serious river flooding.
Reminds me of the art work of Andy Goldsworthy but also of ideas I have had in the past of how plantlife could be used in this way to overcome lack of resources for building.
Like Andy Goldworthy's work, these seem more asthetic than funtionary.
Will we one day be able to grow our homes?
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