Education Investigation

A book that has recently challenged my priorities, clarified my thinking and encouraged me in my teaching is “Steppingstones to Curriculum” written by Harro Van Brummelen.

Below are only a few of the many “gold nuggets” I personally gained from reading his book:

• Harro Van Brummelen talks about how Teachers are guides (Page 8 ) who “guide young persons into knowledge and discernment that lead to service for God and fellow human beings.” Just as Jesus the great Shepherd guides us. Psalm 23, John 10:2-4
• Competition (Page 211): “The bible promotes cooperation and self-sacrifice rather than competition….competition is desirable only when students strive together to develop their physical potential, and when they try to better others as well as themselves as they participate.” This builds the type of community spoken about in Eph 4:16.
• Sex Education (Page 212): Schools should teach a holistic and biblical view of sex not just the physical side. “Schools shrink their responsibility if they do not concurrently teach about the emotional, social, economic, and ethical consequences of sexual relationships.” Students must not be lead to think sex is only physical.

• There are 3 mandates our Heavenly Father has given us which we must uphold in our Schools and classrooms (Chapter 3):

1) The Creation Mandate: Gen 1:28, 2:15. God entrusts us, His stewards to rule over the earth and enable everything in God’s creation to fulfil its intended function so that all will benefit and God will be glorified.

2) The Great Commandment: Matt 22:37-39 We are to love the Lord with ALL we have and to love those around us in the same way we love ourselves.

3) The Great Commission: Matt 28:18-20 As Christian educators our priority is to share Jesus with others and encourage them to know the Lord personally, walking with Him and following His ways.

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A couple of weeks ago my colleague and I were given 5 days study leave to develop an inquiry model for our school. This was a fantastic opportunity as:

1. We got to dig deeper through research and better our understanding of inquiry.
2. We had a brilliant time chatting with other educational lectures from BTI.
3. It was terrific to be able to work with a colleague. We were able to problem solve much faster and reflect on things together.

We foraged amongst many readings of which one stood out: “Head, Heart and Hands” by Dennis P. Hollinger. He states

“Education philosophy and research has demonstrated that we do not learn by mind alone. Our deepest affections and our emotional states have a significant bearing on what we will open our minds to and how we actually process knowledge. And of course we all know what research demonstrates: we learn by doing.” (pg 184)

This reminded us that we need to engage the whole person in our inquiry journey; their head, heart and hands. We have come up with a draft model that includes these elements as stages in the inquiry. They will also guide us in our assessment.

Now because the model is a draft it needs to be presented to staff before it is critiqued and finally accepted. So I thought I would give you a peak at what has come out of our study. Below is a pictorial symbol of the inquiry. I hope to post about the rest early next year :+)

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Every now and then it is good to engage with someone or something that challenges your thinking.

Last term I was asked (along with my colleague) to present to the School BOT on the topic of what a 21st Century Classroom and Learner looked like. During the question time one Trustee asked us “what is the difference between information and knowledge…… Have you read “The Flickering Mind” by Todd Oppenheimer?” Well………..

• Firstly this book is critical of the use of computers in education. It comes out of 3 years of research completed in American Schools.
• He agrees to some “exceptional” use of ICT but believes ICT is often used in excess.
• Click here for the excerpt.

To cut a long story short I want to share my current thoughts after reading this book. These are a collection of positive and negative thoughts on the impact of using ICT in education:

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