Authentic learning

What’s high school for?

Posted by kima ⋅ May 6, 2011 ⋅ 3 Comments

I don’t always agree with Seth Godin, but I usually find his thoughts valuable beyond the world of marketing and entrepreneurship he usually writes about. I was so glad he decided to venture into the question of “what value could (or should) high school bring?” in today’s blog post, he suggests we should teach the future generations … Continue reading »

Rewards: motivating compliance or learning?

Posted by kima ⋅ April 21, 2011 ⋅ 12 Comments

I sometimes pretend and say ‘Yay!’ – my 7 y/o daughter explaining how she learned to ‘comply’ in her school Incentive schemes, which are supposed to encourage desired behavior through the use of rewards, or discourage undesirable ones through punishments, are all too familiar to all of us. Probably similarly familiar are the findings that … Continue reading »

I learn for a living!

Posted by kima ⋅ April 18, 2011 ⋅ 18 Comments

Recently, a blogger friend commented on my personal blog: ”It is hard to imagine myself as a once great curious and academically thriving student!” When I read that I had hard time thinking of a meaningful answer, but I think I have one after attending http://edcampvancouver.org yesterday! Bunch of educators gathered together to discuss various topics, among … Continue reading »

Attention please! I just stopped paying attention – to you!

Posted by kima ⋅ March 24, 2011 ⋅ 11 Comments

This is a repost from my personal blog. I wrote this almost four months ago but it still resonates with me when people take someone’s attention for granted. I hope posting it here may prompt additional feedback from the people reading this blog. No, you’re not annoying, just boring! Attention is the new currency in … Continue reading »

Magical Forests, Growth Models, and School Reform

Posted by Jamie Steckart ⋅ March 5, 2011 ⋅ 3 Comments

I sit watching the educational debate unfold in front of my eyes and the current tenor of the debate has focused on prescribing a method that will achieve the end result of high test scores. There are some that believe if we create a uniform set of procedures, scripts and decision-making trees; giving them to … Continue reading »

Rural School Districts, Design Flaws, and the Need for Change:

Posted by Jamie Steckart ⋅ March 4, 2011 ⋅ 3 Comments

As a child of the late 60’s, I grew up watching Little House on the Prairie. The idea of a small one-room classroom where all ages of children learned appealed to me then and now. I happen to live in a small community on the South Shore of Lake Superior. Some of you may have … Continue reading »

Lessons Learned from MAAP 2011

Posted by Jamie Steckart ⋅ March 2, 2011 ⋅ 9 Comments

Prior to the Industrial Revolution, people in the America lived on small farms in a self-sustaining fashion. They rose in the morning struggled for existence and made their way through life. But best evidence points that over 90% of the population was highly literate. Compulsory school laws were few and non-existent. The first U.S. law was enacted in 1852 … Continue reading »

Adora Svitak on the “big” changes in education

Posted by kima ⋅ February 25, 2011 ⋅ 14 Comments

In order to make anything a reality, you have to dream about it first! The goal is not to turn kids into your kinds of adults, but rather better adults than you have been! – Adora Svitak, 13 years old writer, poet and humanitarian speaking to adult audience at TED 2010 Editor’s note: Ever since I joined … Continue reading »

Authentic Literacy

Posted by Paula White ⋅ February 20, 2011 ⋅ 6 Comments

Time to Read and Write–and Discuss My fourth grade literacy group right now contains many kids I have not worked with a lot in the past, because our teachers differentiate well students’ levels in literacy. I work with a core group of kids 4 days a week and others who only come in for the … Continue reading »

Learning? Yes, of course. Education? No, thanks.

Posted by kima ⋅ February 17, 2011 ⋅ 21 Comments

Education teaches us that our native abilities for learning are inadequate, that they must be developed and improved upon by submitting to or even seeking out pedagogical management of some sort. ~ Aaron Falbel, a free-lance writer, editor, philosopher, and musician I was recently introduced to Aaron Falbel, who had the great privilege to have known and be … Continue reading »

Think Outside the Book

Posted by kima ⋅ February 11, 2011 ⋅ 19 Comments

“I have never let school interfere with my education.” -Mark Twain This is a guest post written by Dale J. Stephens, an unschooler and founder of UnCollege – a self-directed learning higher education alternative.I had an opportunity to meet Dale through Twitter and since then had got to know him better through our email and Skype … Continue reading »

Learning is transformational, can schooling come close?

Posted by kima ⋅ February 6, 2011 ⋅ 7 Comments

After reading Gatto, I make a distinction between education and schooling. Schooling is, at least in its current form, a way to govern education, but more often than not, education can happen without it — as millions of home-schoolers in US and many other countries and numerous important people through history that didn’t go to school can … Continue reading »

Leading From the Heart

Posted by Chris Pryor ⋅ January 27, 2011 ⋅ 23 Comments

This is my very first post on the Cooperative Catalyst. I was up all last night thinking about it. Eyes wide open, always alert. I admit it — I was nervous. Will they like me? Will my writing speak to the valued co-op reader? These thoughts consistently traveled through my mind and never quite settled down … Continue reading »

The future of big box schooling

Posted by kima ⋅ January 24, 2011 ⋅ 5 Comments

I recently posted my thoughts on Schooling the World, an important film that takes a look at the value of bringing Western-style education to sustainable indigenous cultures and beyond. I personally — and as I mentioned in my post, it seems Sir Ken Robinson too — believe the film raises many important questions which are … Continue reading »

Please don’t take my blanket away!

Posted by kima ⋅ January 11, 2011 ⋅ 13 Comments

As I was taking my younger daughter to her daycare this morning, making sure I don’t forget her favorite stuffed toy — Piglet, of Winnie the Pooh fame — a sequence of pictures flashed in front of my eyes: The warmth of our home, causing my brain to recall familiar smells from the baking in … Continue reading »

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