School Design

Overschooled but Undereducated: How the crisis in education is jeopardizing our adolescents

Fri, 11/20/2009 - 15:33 -- admin
The basic function of education in all societies and at all times is to prepare the younger generation for the kind of adult life which that society values, and wishes to perpetuate.

By misunderstanding teenagers’ instinctive need to do things for themselves, isn’t society in danger of creating a system of schooling that so goes against the natural grain of the adolescent brain, that formal education ends up trivializing the very young people it claims to be supporting?


What Did You Do in School Today?: Transforming Canadian Classrooms Through Social, Academic and Intellectual Engagement

Through What did you do in school today?: Transforming Classrooms through Social, Academic and Intellectual Engagement, the Canadian Education Association, in partnership with the Canadian Council on Learning and school districts across Canada, are bringing life to the idea of student engagement in the classroom, and exploring its powerful relationship with adolescent learning, student achievement, and effective teaching.

A first look at the initiative’s results are presented in the initiative’s first national report – _What did you do in school today?: Transforming Classrooms thro



Consider the often-heard lament, “some students are just not cut out for school.” The statement -Michael Wesch

Wed, 04/23/2008 - 18:11 -- admin
Consider the often-heard lament, “some students are just not cut out for school.” The statement passes without question or even a hint of protest, yet think about what the statement says when we replace “school” with what school should be all about: “learning.” Some students are just not cut out for learning?


I have come to the conclusion that “teaching” can actually be a hindrance to learning, especiall-Michael WeschWed, 04/23/2008 - 18:07 -- adminI have come to the conclusion that “teaching” can actually be a hindrance to learning, especially when it is assumed that learning requires it.

I decided to get to work creating a learning environment more conducive to producing the types of qu-Michael WeschWed, 04/23/2008 - 18:06 -- adminI decided to get to work creating a learning environment more conducive to producing the types of questions that create lifelong learners rather than savvy test-takers.

A View of Education Past, Present and FutureThu, 03/13/2008 - 14:31 -- admin
This video is a playful exploration of the disconnect between current educational thinking and the reality for today’s students.



Imagine a School: Students Describe What Schools Would Look Like If We Got It RightImagine a School was a dramatic performance created by high school students from Halifax, Toronto and Vancouver that opened CEA’s symposium “Getting it Right for Adolescent Learners” in 2006. Find out what adolescents are saying about their experiences in high schools and what schools would look like if we “got it right”.

Read more about/order the DVD of this student performance, or read an article by Kathy Gould Lundy exploring the creative process of the actors and teachers involved in the project



The Case Against Adolescence: Rediscovering the Adult in Every TeenMon, 02/11/2008 - 12:10 -- adminRobert Epstein, former editor in chief of Psychology Today, shows that teen turmoil is caused by outmoded systems put in place a century ago which destroyed the continuum between childhood and adulthood. Where this continuum still exists in other countries, there is no adolescence.



Heather MacTaggart Speaks About Students Losing the Love of LearningMon, 01/28/2008 - 17:57 -- admin
Heather McTaggart speaks about the fact that although human beings are inquisitive by nature, for many children learning becomes something that is viewed as ‘not fun’.

Featured in this video:
Heather MacTaggart is the Executive Director of [[http://classroomconnections.ca/|Classroom Connections]], a Canadian non-profit educational organization dedicated to optimizing student learning.



John Abbott Challenges Faulty Assumptions About KidsMon, 01/28/2008 - 17:02 -- admin
John Abbott speaks about the fact that children are innately inquisitive and insists that schools need to capitalize on this fact.

Featured in this video:
John Abbott is the President of the [[http://www.21learn.org/|21st Century Learning Initiative]], an initiative to facilitate the emergence of new approaches to learning in the United Kingdom.


Tell Them From Me: Canadian Students Speak About Their SchoolsTell Them From Me is an assessment system that measures a wide variety of indicators of student engagement and wellness, and classroom and school climate that are known to affect learning outcomes. The anonymous survey covers areas including: perceptions of testing, involvement in sports teams and clubs, attendance, hours spent watching TV, a sense of belonging, post-graduation goals, bullying, self esteem, student anxiety and depression.



Small is Beautiful: Relationships are Central to Program for Young OffendersSince closing its large juvenile training schools 20 years ago, Missouri has become a model for the nation in juvenile corrections. The small scale and therapeutic, family-oriented atmosphere distinguish Missouri’s juvenile facilities from the training schools common throughout most of America.



-William BoyceFri, 01/18/2008 - 12:37 -- adminIn Grade 6, 28% of youth report liking school, whereas only 17% of Grade 10 students (and only 14% of Grade 10 boys) say the same.

-The McCreary Centre SocietyFri, 01/18/2008 - 12:37 -- adminIn Grade 7, 23% of students report a high level of school connectedness, while a mere 7% report a high level by Grade 10.

can the learning species fit into schools?Education critic John Abbott quotes Bill Gates who states unequivocally; “High schools are obsolete… by that, I mean that even when they are working exactly as designed (they) cannot teach our kids what they need to know today”. Abbott explores what we know about our species that might help us understand better how humans learn and how to provide young people with the learning experiences they need. 
(This paper was delivered to The Campaign for Learning, 10th June 2005, Kensington Town Hall, UK.)



Crazy By Design: Adolescence, a Critical Evolutionary AdaptationThe latest research and theories from evolutionary psychology, neurobiology and cognitive science demonstrate the various ways that humans have evolved over time to be extremely effective learners. John Abbott discusses what current research from various fields can tell us about how the adolescent brain works and how educators can work with adolescent learners to maximize their potential.



signs of troubleCanada has a strong history of investment (both philosophical and financial) in public education.



Youth Speak: Life as Student in the 21st CenturyMon, 01/07/2008 - 13:30 -- admin
This short video summarizes some of the most important characteristics of students today – how they learn, what they need to learn, their goals, hopes, dreams, what their lives will be like, and what kinds of changes they will experience in their lifetime. Created by Michael Wesch in collaboration with 200 students at Kansas State University.
(Runtime 04:44)



educational reseachers promote whole child approach to learningHow do we equip today’s students with 21st century skills necessary for success? The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) proposes a new whole child approach, supported by research, to provide the foundation for success in school, the workplace, the community, and life. ASCDalso proposes a broader definition of achievement and accountability that promotes the development of children who are healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.



Do Grades Really Matter?: Mounting Evidence Suggests Grades Don't Predict SuccessA growing body of evidence suggests that grades don’t predict success. It turns out that C+ students are the ones who end up running the world. This article challenges the idea that grades tell us who we are or what we are capable of.

Read the full text of this article on the Macleans magazine website: [[http://www.macleans.ca/education/postsecondary/article.jsp?content=20070910_109139_109139| Do Grades Really Matter?]]


Mindset: The New Psychology of SuccessThu, 12/27/2007 - 14:45 -- adminA leading expert in motivation and personality psychology, Carol Dweck has discovered in more than twenty years of research that our mindset is not a minor personality quirk: it creates our whole mental world. It explains how we become optimistic or pessimistic. It shapes our goals, our attitude toward work and relationships, and how we raise our kids, ultimately predicting whether or not we will fulfill our potential. Dweck has found that everyone has one of two basic mindsets.



Students' View of Intelligence Can Help GradesIf you teach students that their intelligence can grow and increase, they do better in school says a 2007 study by psychologist Carol Dweck from Stanford University.

Related items
[[http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2007/february7/dweck-020707.html| Read a brief report]] from the Stanford University news service on the implications of Carol Dweck’s research in this area.

View [[http://changelearning.trevortwining.com/books/mindset-new-psychology-success|Mindset: the New Psychology of Success]],Dweck’s book on the topic.



Students' View of Intelligence Can Help Grades: Carol Dweck SpeaksThu, 12/27/2007 - 14:15 -- admin
A 2007 study by psychologist Carol Dweck from Stanford University shows that if you teach students that their intelligence can grow and increase, they do better in school.

This video captures a conversation between Stanford Report writer Lisa Trei and psychologist Carol Dweck about the ways in which people’s self-theories about intelligence have a profound influence on their motivation to learn.

Related items

[[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7406521| Listen to an interview]] with study author psychologist Carol Dweck on the National Public Radio website.



The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the WorldThu, 12/27/2007 - 10:04 -- adminThe Freedom Writers Diary is the amazing true story of strength, courage, and achievement in the face of adversity. In the fall of 1994, in Room 203 at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California, an idealistic twenty-four-year-old teacher named Erin Gruwell faced her first group of students, dubbed by the administration as “unteachable, at-risk” teenagers. This group was unlike any she had ever interacted with.



Do Schools Kill Creativity?: Ken Robinson speaksThu, 12/20/2007 - 19:28 -- admin
Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining (and profoundly moving) case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, rather than undermining it. With ample anecdotes and witty asides, Robinson points out the many ways our schools fail to recognize — much less cultivate — the talents of many brilliant people. “We are educating people out of their creativity,” Robinson says. The universality of his message is evidenced by its rampant popularity online. Watch it now. 
(Description from ted.com)
(Runtime: 19:29)



Learning Adventures Promote Personal And Social ResponsibilityThe centre: 
The Saturna Ecological Education Centre (SEEC) is an experiential, place-based ecological learning centre on beautiful Saturna Island, British Columbia.

Our programs: 
We provide Southern Gulf Islands students with elementary Eco-Adventures and high school Environmental Studies programs.

Curriculum Connections: 
Our programs connect to the BC education curriculum, while encouraging learners to go deeper, immersing themselves in the natural world to feel, understand and act for the environment.



Cooperation and Service at Heart of Community SchoolA high school in New Hampshire, USA, has developed a curriculum that revolves around working with the local community, as students carry out 150 hours of community service a year.

The service includes stacking wood or clearing leaves, and taking part in projects with local conservation and historical societies, such as protecting wildlife habitats and mapping early graves.



The Need for ChangeOver 40 billion dollars a year is spent in Canada getting our children from Kindergarten to Grade 12,[i], yet over 40% of our youth fail to meet expected performance levels for basic subjects[ii] and almost one quarter of our children fail to graduate with their peers.[iii]. Students are disengaging grade by grade[iv], a trend illustrated by their increasing dislike for school[v], declining academic achievement[vi] and rising rates of teenage depression[vii] and suicide[viii]. Contrary to Canada’s most fundamental democratic tenets, minority and low-income children are the hardest hit[ix].



what's the problem?Canada has a lot to be proud of when it comes to education. We rank well internationally, our schools are filled with intelligent, passionate educators, access is free and the majority of our youth graduate from high school to join a diverse and primarily peaceful, well-functioning society. Many of us, however, have a niggling suspicion that something isn’t quite right. When you can’t think of a single teenager who enjoys school and is excited to learn – something is wrong.
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