Teaching Through The Arts

An interesting piece from Good Education on using alternative education models for all students. You can read the entire piece here . Something to really think about. "Research shows that alternative education—small learning communities, individualized, personalized instruction, a low student-teacher ratio, and support for pregnant or parenting students—works to get dropouts back on track. But ironically, notes creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson , current education reform efforts like the federal No Child Left Behind Act are "rooted in standardization" even though we know that a quality education should "be about personalization." Robinson, whose lecture on  how schools kill creativity  is the most watched TEDTalk of all time, was part of a forum on dropout prevention hosted last week by the  HeART Project , a Los Angeles-based arts education nonprofit. If what we now call "alternative education" methods became mainstream, said Robin...

Sir Ken Robinson elaborates on many of his earlier points in this conversation at Penn State with  Patty Satalia . Many things resonate with me here, but one thing that stands out is he uses the term "teacher-proofing" and says that the teachers are being told basically how to teach and it's "stripping them of their professional skills and integrity." He also comments on how teaching to the test is not only stifling to students but to teachers as well. A fact that comes up in every course we teach. Some interesting things to think about here- give it a shot. From the Penn State Conversations website: Education innovation expert Sir Ken Robinson is changing the way people think about creativity and talent. Hear him detail what the world needs to change about its educational systems and find out what it means to find your “element.” Sir Ken Robinson  is a “creativity expert.” He has dedicated his life’s work to examining how children are educated. He champions...

Millions have downloaded Sir Ken Robinson's talk "Schools Kill Creativity" from the 2006 TED conference. Now he has come out with another entitled "Bring on the Learning Revolution." Check it out and spend a little time on his website; it'll be well worth your time. From Sir Ken Robinson: "In 2006 I spoke at TED about developing children’s natural powers of creativity and imagination. Returning to TED in 2010 I wanted to focus on the need for a radical shift in education more generally. Reforming education is rightly seen as one of the biggest challenges of our times. In my view, reform is not enough: the real challenge is to transform education from a 19th century industrial model into a 21st century process based on different principles. Current systems of education are based on the manufacturing principles of linearity, conformity and standardization. The evidence is everywhere that they are failing too many students and teachers alike. A pr...

Sir Ken Robinson says that Creativity is as important in education as literacy and should be treated with the same status on Ted.com. You really need to watch this and see what you think. Here's some information on him from Ted.com. Why don't we get the best out of people? Sir Ken Robinson argues that it's because we've been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers. Students with restless minds and bodies -- far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity -- are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible consequences. "We are educating people out of their creativity," Robinson says. It's a message with deep resonance. Robinson's TEDTalk has been distributed widely around the Web since its release in June 2006. The most popular words framing blog posts on his talk? "Everyone should watch this." A visionary cultural leader, Sir Ken led the British government's 1998 advisory committee on creative and cultur...