If you can still think 'independently', you HAVE to watch this!!

[Snowhog]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U (RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms)

[tomcloyd]

Re: If you can still think 'independently', you HAVE to watch this!!

There's so much in this short video (which is an exceptional production, by the way).

For me, the core of it is that we don't trust the person, so we try to make them into something, which of course makes an unhappy robot. The alternative approach requires much more of us, and most of us are lazy, so we want to do less, for our sake, not for those in our charge.

But there's much more. The whole reality he lays out is charged with dialectical process, and cannot really be understood without this metaphysic. Most people are uncomfortable with the dialectical nature of reality, whether or not they see that such is the nature of things. They seek control of what cannot be controlled. We seek to push the river. A recipe for madness.

Thanks for sharing this link!

[woodsmoke]

Re: If you can still think 'independently', you HAVE to watch this!!

That is a wonderful video.

I'll proffer two real life examples from my own experience.

About halfway through my high school teaching career I discovered that I was teaching SCIENCE to grades 7 - 12 using dialectic, laboratory experience, on about an every other day experience and the textbook as an assistive.

Our students always scored very high on the ACT , SAT and most went to a "high end" trade school, college, or went into business, and almost all owned their own, successful businesses.

Along came standardized testing and what were the scores? Abysmal, along with the rest of the state. The rest of the state paid big bucks to buy the "practice books" for the students to study between the exams. (There is a whole 'nother story there). But our students continued to score low in the face of very high ACT SAT scores but the ACT SAT scores were "after" the standardized testing.

Unfortunately, other schools were in the same situation. An exception was made for several years where the PSAT could be used to "prove" that the students were "doing ok".

That disappeared and now all schools pay massive amounts of money to purchase "practice texts" for the off year to prepare the students for the on year and that means that about one quarter of the total education time that the student has is not about "educating themselves" but about preparing for a test in which they are NOT COMPARED TO THEIR PREVIOUS SCORES.... but to the pool of scores in THAT year.... what has happened......the scores have, of course, gone up, but that means that the "curve" has FLATTENED....so stilll about one third of the schools.....scoring at 90 percent or higher.....are FAILING according to the test...

And this is slowiy being inflicted on ALL of the U.S. and one company is making BILLIONS of BUCKS...

If you are a U.S. resident.... check to see if your child is using McGraw Hill texts and if the standardized testing is by CTB McGraw Hill.

B) I, for years gave an introductory "experiment" to my students wherein they were given two "crystaline substances" in two different ziplock bags and told to "describe them". Since this was a science class the "wrong" answer was that they were sugar , because the only way to know that was to taste them(can't do that in a lab) but they could say that they "thought" they were sugar by indirect testing.

In my brand spanking new sophmore college physical science class I gave the students the same thing.

Now...ALL of these people are VERY SMART.....they are, mostly, going into elementary education......these are not dummies, they can't be to get into the class. They have prior testing and have to present a certain GPA etc. etc.

Of the 21 people in the class. Only ONE of them took the "substance" out of the bag. to maybe.....see if it dissolved in coffee!

There were multiple reasons offered but the MAIN one was..... "it might be dangerous AND THE BOOK SAYS TO NOT TASTE(implying also touch or smell) things in a laboratory situation.

In other words.... they thought that the most important thing was not to "explore" but to "prove to the teacher" that they knew the rules about fear.

This was not a "conscious" thing..... they trust me and what we do....but they have been programmed to think of "don't do this" instead of "try this out".

The U.S. education system is being slowly, subtly, transformed under our very noses and nobody sees it because the changes are so subtle.

What we see it the Great and Powerful Wizard of Testing or PRAYER IN SCHOOL... and not the people with an agenda behind the curtain.

Again, great post and I'm going to send the link to my students.

woodsmoke

[pasti]

Re: If you can still think 'independently', you HAVE to watch this!!

The RSA animate video's are great and thought provoking, there's a whole bunch of them, the motivational one mentions linux in the way that people work together for free and in a community in their own time for no other reward than that of personal accomplishment, well worth a look.

[bsniadajewski]

Re: If you can still think 'independently', you HAVE to watch this!!

I hear you, woodsmoke. If you want to gauge a students performance, use the (P)SAT/ ACT for it.

[GreyGeek]

Re: If you can still think 'independently', you HAVE to watch this!!

Awesome video! 8)

[GreyGeek]

Re: If you can still think 'independently', you HAVE to watch this!!

And this one is as good or better, and it speaks to kids and computer games.

[Zhao]

Re: If you can still think 'independently', you HAVE to watch this!!

Both videos are great, thanks for sharing