In my presentation and workshop last week at the BC Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils spring conference, I provided the list below of Personalized Learning Resources. The list is aligned with the categories I provided in my previous two entries:• John Holt resources [unschooling] (johnholtgws.com)• Dr. Maurice Gibbons (selfdirectedlearning.com)• Reggio Emilia [child-centred] – see Wikipedia […]
It’s a DIY / MAKERS’ World! (i.e. Learn Your Way!)
Everywhere I look today I’m being drawn into a secretive, seductive world: DIY. Be a Maker. Build a Treehouse, or a pair of snow goggles, or a solar theramin (I had to look that up). Learn how to identify animal tracks in the snow, or mushrooms in your neighbourhood. Get your bike or your […]
Shortage of Male Teachers? Here’s another reason …
CBC’s ‘The Current‘ (radio) show aired a feature today focusing on the reasons why there are shortages of male teachers in (Ontario) schools and why enrolment by males in teacher training faculties is declining. The panel interviewed by the show’s host talked about some potential for males to be profiled and suspected of pedophilia as […]
Groundhog Day Redux: Standardized Testing casts long shadow over education
Each year Groundhog Day reflects to me equal parts optimism and ennui. Optimism because, well, a soothsaying celebrity rodent seems refreshingly naive and pagan. If only life could always be that simple. We could be taking our cues from gerbils and garden slugs, even the lowly paramecium. I figure we’d be off the hook for […]
Still Fresh & Compelling – The Children’s Machine by Seymour Papert
The Vancouver Sun is running an Op-Ed essay of mine (found here) today, a 20-year retrospective of Seymour Papert‘s visionary book, The Children’s Machine, Rethinking Schooling in the Age of the Computer. Sy Papert, an MIT professor who trained under Jean Piaget in France and then forged his own path developing LOGO computer language (for children) […]
Dr. Daniel Siegel, Interpersonal Neurobiology & SelfDesign
I recently completed four (online) “Mindsight” courses with Dr. Daniel Siegel, the pioneering psychiatrist who helped launch the UCLA-based Mindsight Insight with colleagues several years ago. Daniel is a leading researcher in the field of Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) through which he is helping remake Psychiatry as a therapeutic profession with far less emphasis on the prescription pad than that for […]
(Authentically) “Flipping” the Classroom
It’s all the rage: Teachers from coast to coast are “flipping classrooms“. To wit, they are directing student to complete core learning via online resources (e.g. videos) at home or outside of class time. What’s happening during class time? That’s for reviewing assignments and homework before teeing up the next “flipped” assignment. According to proponents, […]
Missing from “21st C Fluencies”: Self-Directed Learning
I attended the CUE-BC (Computer-Using Educators) conference a week ago on the occasion of a PD day. First up was keynote speaker Ian Jukes, a self-proclaimed evangelist for adapting schools to the “21st Century Fluencies”. You can learn more about the 21stC Fluencies here but suffice to say Jukes pitched them as “critical thinking skills […]
Grateful for Diversity of BC Education System
Thanksgiving has come and gone. But in its wake I’ve given myself some time to reflect on an important, fundamental aspect of BC’s K-12 education system for which I feel grateful though you aren’t likely to hear the pundits speak to this. At the same time I am a committed advocate for innovation and […]
“Generation Flux” report: Youth need more help
I just finished reading “Generation Flux” a report on youth (15-24 years) produced by the Community Foundations of Canada as part of their annual “Vital Signs” report series. Well worth the read, the report (found here) highlights many trends though I consider the following most pertinent: – youth are quick adapters to our changing world […]
Michael’s book, Learn Your Way! SelfDesigning the Life You Really Want, Starting Now is an ERAC-approved middle and high school textbook for career planning and health education courses (British Columbia), and it has received many endorsements. Contact Michael directly to obtain a pdf copy of the book.