American Ed

So we’ve been beginning to ascertain what’s right and what’s wrong in contemporary education.

We’re moving in the direction of creating a reasonable, actionable plan to change something we can influence in the immediate sphere of NFA-North. More to come on that later.

To begin, here are some links to readings and videos. I’ll be adding more in the days to come. Your job at the moment is to peruse them all, with an eye toward two things:

a perspective that you embrace (for instance, Sir Ken Robinson’s ideas about creativity)
a real-life situation at NFA-N that you will seek to create a solution for (think back to our discussion on the grant Design a High School of the Future)

This endeavor is going to require two tremendous things: deep thinking/consideration and real time work. So start slow, by giving yourself the time to find something debatable, plausible and consequential to work on. Take copious notes. Have discussions (real ones – not social interaction!). Start thinking about who you’d like to work with (maximum FOUR to a group – no exceptions unless they come from me; I’ll wait for you to finish groaning. Done? OK…)

Here are your initial resources:

What Makes a Good Teacher (A Student’s Perspective)

Student’s Perspective on the Common Core

Rita Pierson’s TED: Every Kid Needs a Hero

Sugara Mitra’s TED: Build a School in the Cloud

Salman Khan’s TED: Let’s Use Video to Reinvent Education

Dave Eggers’s TED: My Wish: Once Upon a School

Character Education

We’re so Well Educated, but We’re Useless

Report on Exemplary High School Facility Design from Japan

WOW-Worthy Learning Spaces

High School of the Future Project Winning Videos