Watching it gave me a lot to think about - both in terms of my practice, the practices occurring within my current school and the practices that are occurring nationwide. Below are notes that I took from this speech and that will influence the way that I continue to teach.
Human beings are naturally
different and diverse:
The problem with education arises when education is being
based on conformity and focuses on acknowledging children’s achievements
against a narrow curriculum - STEM. For
the curriculum to provide opportunities for children to flourish it needs equal
weighting also applied to the arts, humanities and physical education. Research has proven that children prosper
when they are provided with a wide curriculum that recognises all their
talents.
Curiosity
If a parent or educator can light the spark of curiosity children
will learn naturally. Curiosity is the
engine of achievement. Teaching aligns
with this as teaching is a creative profession – within each day an effective
teacher may ake on the roles of mentor, stimulator, thought provoker, and someone
who engages others. When this is true it
is important that educators continue their own learning and developing their
own curiosity.
Put at its most simple the role of a teacher is to
facilitate learning – not to facilitate tests.
There is a need to move away from standardized testing – it is still
important and needs a place however it should not be dominant but rather
diagnostic.
Human life is inherently
creative
Each day every one of us is creating our lives and with each
decision we make we continue to create them.
Our role as teachers is to awaken and develop powers of creativity
within our students. At its most
effective, learning is developed though curiosity, and the individuality
creativity that stands alongside curiosity.
Education is about people and seeds of possibility lie
beneath the surface of each child waiting for the conditions to be right – and
if the conditions are right individual success is inevitable. Within education these conditions are
possibility, positive relationships, high expectations, a range of opportunities,
and the discretion to be creative and innovative. Leadership and teaching in education should
not be command and control but rather climate control – and creating a climate
of possibility – when this occurs people will rise to and exceed expectations.
Benjamin Franklin once famously said that “All
mankind is divided into three classes: those who are immovable, those who are
movable and those who move.”
My mission for myself: Be someone who makes things happen.
