The education world – or, the thinkers and writers that dominate it – appears to be desperate to maintain an illusion that it knows what it is doing. The fact is, we know very little about those things that would make up a theory of education: mechanisms for learning new things, how best to activate them, how institutions interact with individuals, how societies impact educational outcomes, how all the variables add up to an educated adult.
What educators really need to understand is that psychology and cognitive science really can have a big impact on the profession of teaching. It is disturbing how disparate evidence-based theory and jargon-based practice are. Read about “new” (actually, old) studies that contradict perceived wisdom in education.
As teachers prepare their kids for high stakes tests (such as the IB exams that start in a couple of weeks) they would be wise to consider the findings of neuroscientists like Jonah Lehrer. How students approach a test could have a big impact on their performance.
Teachers are important influences in children’s lives. Duh. Interesting research has been conducted on the need to intelligently give praise, to tailor rewards such that they don’t interfere with intrinsic motivation to learn and take risks, and now that even the suggestion of gender bias can influence people’s performance on assessments.
Writing well is as important as… good food? Well, it’s important, anyway. Teaching it effectively is difficult, but as William Zussner says, sometimes it boils down to clarity, simplicity, brevity and humanity. Get the lowdown on awesome books like “Telling Writing”, “Letters to a Young Poet” and “On Writing”.
Lots of talk lately about the quality of a good teacher. But what
Exit exams for high school students in some states in the US will mean that many students will fail to graduate. What’s the logical response to such a fear? Well, lower the standards for success, of course! Part 2 of the NCLB = Lower Standards “mini-series”.
Follow the exploits of Eliot Schrefer as he submits an SAT essay that is morally repugnant yet has excellent structure, language and syntax. Can you defend Naziism in a well-written, 5 paragraph essay? How does the SAT handle that?
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