Today I was lucky enough to attend the ICP conference held at the Aotea Centre in Auckland. The highlight was listening to Ken Robinson. He really is an entertaining speaker and his message was to foster and cherish creativity in our students. He spoke of change in our schools happening at the economic and cultural levels. We have to not only think differently about how we use our human resources but we have to do things differently. He said that creativity and intelligence are linked and that currently we are only educating our children from the waist upwards, with the focus on the head! Some of his key ideas on creativity fit in nicely with my thoughts on inquiry, and I must re-examine our school vision in this area later next term.
All in all a thought provoking and very enjoyable session.
I was heartened to listen to Steve Maharey, the Minister of Education, reinforce Ken Robinson's points and refer to him during his speech. I thought education may at last be in good hands.
A very stimulating day, and travelling into the city and back by ferry on the spectacular Auckland Harbour is always a bonus.
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2 comments:
I am so jealous! I wish I could have gotten to hear Ken.
I am curious, now that you have been exposed to such incredible ideas-- David Warlick, Mark Prensky, Ken Robinson-- what, if anything, will you change about the day to day implementation at your school?
Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach
Hi Sheryl,
So much is changing little by little. The main vehicle for change in our school is inquiry. I am leading a huge PD shift in which inquiry learning is the big focus (I think you call it project based learning in the US). It will involve student input and choice and will be the catalyst for the Web2.0 tools we are introducing to our staff. I believe you must get the pedagogy right first, and always keep in mind the learning.
I intend to document these changes and pathways and will keep you informed.
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