Self-Organized Learning Models

Education reform is a nice pair of buzzwords. What do they mean exactly? First we need to explore education development and the idea of how we learn. Language in the Declaration of Independence is as inapplicable to unforeseen modern day rights issues as our founding education methodologies are to today’s needs for innovation in education.

Back when men were traveling horseback from town to town championing the benefits of education in the 1600’s it was innovative to provide education in classrooms.

Now that we have all the kids wrangled up for compulsory education it’s time to rethink what it means to get educated.

You have probably had the experience when you were so engrossed in a book you could not stop reading. When you are interested in a topic so much you are compelled to devour every article on the subject. Or you have seen a toddler manipulate a new toy for extensive periods of time learning its every use without any instruction.

Inquisitiveness is the drive behind the emergent learning we are naturally prone to, and it is how we can learn without being taught what to learn. It is the very model of learning that some experts are saying is the only type of true learning.

Continuing from the early 90’s, Professor Sugata Mitra has experimented on how people learn by leaving a few computers embedded in walls of offices throughout slums in India. His experiments centered on whether children could figure out how to use computers and educate themselves on the downloaded subject matter. To his surprise typically within hours children had gathered in groups and worked with each other to figure out how to use the computers and within months worked collaboratively to learn complex subject matter.

His experiments have been replicated throughout the world proving time and again children can teach themselves complex subject matter with little supervision. At a recent TED Global talk he said, "I think we have stumbled across a self-organizing system with learning as an emergent behavior,"

Schools that support the idea of self-organized learning that Professor Mitra is promoting are Waldorf Schools, Sunny Hill Schools and Montessori Schools to name a few. Technology provides children  access to limitless subject matter and freedom in small group structure achieves the added benefit of brainstorming new approaches to problems. Perhaps using technology within collaborative groups will be the answer to our innovation quandary and will define what it means to receive an education.

Education is not received it is achieved. ~ Albert Einstein

 

 

Cashing In On Aging Convicts

Did you hear about the guy that got sentenced to life for stealing socks? If you didn’t then you might not be aware of the three strikes law in our country. It is the driving force behind our burgeoning prison system and why we waste tax dollars on non-violent criminals that could otherwise shed their stigma and contribute to society.

   photo from Charlotte Criminal Lawyer

A few days ago Douglas Walker the man who inspired the three strikes law was released in Fresno, California.

Walker was involved in a fatal shooting of a woman whose father went on to lead the three strikes campaign. As a result any criminal receiving a third conviction automatically gets sentenced 25 years to life in prison without parole. Regardless of the crime and whether or not it is violent. Even if the crime is as silly as stealing socks the convict could be looking at life and us taxpayers will be footing the bill.

The United States leads all other countries for sentencing criminals to life in prison without option for parole. According to ACLU reports, if we changed state and federal sentencing statutes to eliminate the three strikes policy sentencing non-violent offenders to life without parole tax-payers would have fiscal savings of $1.78 billion dollars.

Judges, Senate members and prison wardens all agree that the punishment of life without parole is cruel and frequently does not fit the crime. Burl Cain, Warden of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola said, “ There’s an answer to this without being so extreme. But we’re still living 20 years ago extreme. Throw the human away. He’s useless. Boom: up the river. And yet he didn’t even kill anybody. He didn’t do anything, but he just had an addiction he couldn’t control and he was trying to support it by robbing. That’s terrible to rob people-I’ve been robbed, I hate it. I want something done to him. But not all his life. That’s extreme. That’s cruel and unusual punishment to me.”

 For all our failing efforts in the “war on drugs” and getting tough on crime we have further failed our original purpose to deter and rehabilitate criminals. We have two choices. We lock people up and forget about them or help them find purpose to become functioning and contributing members of society. Most parents would not banish children to their bedrooms for the rest of their lives because it would be an unusual problem solving approach not to mention cruel and without purpose. So is forcing someone to experience life looking through steel bars until their death.

 

 

 

Further Reading:

Story on Douglas Walker:

 http://www.abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/state&id=9338129

ACLU Report on Life Without Parole for Non-Violent Offenses

https://www.aclu.org/files/assets/111213a-lwop-complete-report.pdf

 

 

 

Theory Based Education is Not Enough

                                 Edutopia: How Gardening Enables Interdisciplinary Learning

 

 

My last child is almost “Kindergarten age” and the prospect of her future attendance looms in the near future. Not because I can’t let go, but precisely because I acutely grieve her impending loss of time outside with hands on play intrinsic to her being.

In the gray drizzle of the early morning after a warm breakfast of oats, my girls pull on little yellow rubber boots, rains slickers and waterproof pants. Today we decide to visit a pond where we typically encounter about thirty ducks. The girls toss cheerios exclusively for the excursion to the quacking confluence.

We take the trail home and collect pine cones, fallen leaves and moss all the makings of a fairy house. I am preparing lunch and I can see them out the window with bits of nature adorning the wee folk house. They rake leaves, inspect little creatures, and plant apple seeds left over from lunch with a child-sized spade. They talk about the changes they see in nature throughout our yard as we cut back rosemary and other plants for winter. This play develops their connection and respect for their natural environment.

 
The idea of primarily theoretical based education available in most schools does not appeal to me because of the lack of time outdoors and disconnection between subjects. I placed my children in a Waldorf school to experience an integrated curriculum that would be driven by their experience and would include time outdoors in play, gardening and community service. Outdoor studies and gardening are palpable memories for my older children and inspired an interest in a variety of subjects from geometry to botany and biology.

Many public schools are now seeking ways to bring gardening or farm to food programs to schools. One such story on the power of integrated learning stands out in a town in California where a student named Pierre built an Aquaponics system in his school greenhouse. This young man had to create a proposal for the school board, design the system, raise funds for its construction and manage the project development. To his success there is a beautiful greenhouse on campus generating fresh food for the cafeteria. He is now inspired to create small-scale Aquaponic systems with accompanying curriculum for use throughout schools or in home settings. Experiential education is far more than integrating new media, which is still entrenched in theory. We desperately need authentic interdisciplinary learning inspired by students and faculty geared toward hands-on, out-of-doors experiences.

 

16 year-old arrested for Pittsburgh School Shooting

 

                                                                            Vector Photo by Wingnut Designs

 

 

We have toleration for gun deaths in this country because there is a belief that shootings are synonymous with ownership and that we share a protected collective right to own guns. Beliefs informed by the misquoted and misunderstood language of the second amendment that spurs misguided dialogue about gun ownership.  I have included the language of the second amendment for reference and contemplation.

 

The second amendment reads:

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

 

I believe people have a right to bear arms, but please allow me to clear up the potential ambiguity in my statement. Within each of us lies a perception of what that the second amendment guarantees. For a moment let us frame a perception where societal benefits and rights are placed above the individual.  

 

When I say I agree people should be allowed to bear arms I did not say all people, and I did not say what type of guns I think those people should be allowed to bear. Neither did the second amendment. Let’s start off by creating a list of qualifiers to owning a gun. Of sound mind and a clear criminal record top the list. But this statement needs further clarification. When I say sound mind I mean a person has undergone clinical testing by a licensed psychologist with results indicating sound mental health. Additionally a person must pass a urinalysis prior to the purchase of a gun. When people pass clinical testing, urinalysis and rigorous background checks verified throughout the states we could get a comprehensive look at potential deviance and risks toward violent tendencies.

 

Addressing the types of firearms people are permitted to own is the most difficult topic to tackle in the gun control movement. The founding fathers certainly would not have been able to provide language to prohibit types of guns that are being sold today. Long gone are the days of muzzle loading rifles. Perhaps they did foreshadow the need to address regulations on gun ownership with the opening words of the second amendment.

 

Our high rate of gun related injuries and deaths would only reduce if we agreed that gun ownership  to people of sound mind is not being debated, only the types of guns we are allowed to carry. Nor are our individual liberties being denied to defend life, freedom, family and country. The restriction on gun types and ownership will improve public safety and still uphold the intent of the amendment. It is now time to address the introductory words of the second amendment we are failing at, the well-regulated part.

 

News article inspiring this week’s blog:

http://www.ebony.com/black-listed/news-views/arrest-made-in-pittsburgh-high-school-shooting-981#.Uom7LJV8PIU

 

 

 

Bullied to Backed

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2013/11/04/bullied-for-pink-shoes-cuomo-newday.cnn.html

I chose this story because it demonstrates that bullying is about misplaced power that stems from misunderstanding. Because these students sought to understand a person’s choices, because they were curious, they were able to move to understanding and acceptance. More importantly what followed was a change in behavior inspired through empathy.

A large portion of students at Wyndham Middle School in Massachusetts are developing empathy from a bullying situation by repairing it in a powerful way.

In the month of October millions adorn themselves in shades of pink to build awareness and support for breast cancer survivors and research.  In a story featured by The Eagle Tribune, a Windham 7^th grader named Ryan Marotta donned a pair of hot pink sneakers to honor his mother who is a survivor of breast cancer.  His loving act was met with criticism from fellow classmates razzing him about his pink shoes.

Ryan continued to wear the shoes despite bullying and negative feelings that were developing from his choice to wear them. Then there was a turning point. His classmates wanted to know why he was wearing pink.  Ryan’s inspiring shoe choice was the hot pink shoes the NFL players wear in October to show support of breast cancer awareness. Learning this, fellow classmates rocked pink clothing in an effort to show apology and respect for a boy, his mother and an important cause.

The story went viral and Ryan was invited to the Queen Latifah show where upon arriving he was greeted with a video message from the coach of his favorite NFL football team. Being a quarterback and avid football fan Ryan was ecstatic to hear from Pete Carroll, coach of the Seattle Seahawks and was showered with messages of praise and respect not to mention football memorabilia for being a brave role model.

 Ryan went from being bullied to backed by a school, a major NFL team and a community. Regarding the lesson well learned Ryan said,  “Don’t be afraid to support something you know is good.”

Adapted from the article at Eagle Tribune: Thinking Pink

 

Can You Afford to Go to Work?

 

There was a time I couldn’t afford to go to work after the birth of my girls who are a little less than two years apart. I was smack dab in the common dichotomy of most families, the desire to be available at home and raise my children and the needs of a growing family that required extra income.

 

My net income after all my childcare expenses was $266 a month if I worked full time in an office. So I opted to work from home. I was blessed to somehow do all the crazy shuffling involved in contract work and taking care of kids. At the same time it was incredibly stressful to live paycheck to paycheck and manage my work at home many a bleary-eyed night.

 My childcare expenses were more than our monthly budget for groceries, which is the same predicament for a majority of households with children. In a recent report covered by NPR, Lynette M. Fraga, Executive Director of Child Care Aware of America stated, “Childcare is an increasingly difficult financial burden for working families to bear.” She went onto say that unlike other forms of education families bear the brunt of early education costs.

 The other consideration in this dilemma is that childcare workers should be paid appropriately. Is childcare any less important than all the other services we spend significant time seeking out for our children? I think that health care and childcare top the charts when it comes to finding good providers for our kids. Childcare providers are nurturing our children’s growth in formative years so they are well deserving of appropriate pay. The question is how can we off set the burden to working families so they have the services and benefits available to continue to earn a living without short changing the child care providers? I would love to hear some innovative thoughts about this outside of grants. What are other solutions from pockets in the U.S. or other countries that are working to provide high quality affordable childcare? Please share your thoughts.

 

For further reading:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/11/04/243005358/child-care-costs-already-high-outpace-family-income-gains

The Great iPad School Roll Out

Driver’s education makes sense. You learn how to use the machine and typical rules of engagement associated with it so you lessen the risk of damaging yourself or others.

Social media ethics education makes sense for the very same reasons. Many schools are acquiring funding for iPad roll out strategies for preK-12^th graders. Yet there is not a cohesive strategy across school districts regarding protocol, social media use or how much time kids spend on the devices.

 

One thing is certain, unless ethics is part of the school’s training in iPad and computer programs usage, there is the potential for irreparable damage kids could cause with the hand held piece of machinery. Once the school provides any connectivity device to students they have a responsibility to help educate on proper social conduct. I feel parents need to help drive this effort by participating in school led planning sessions on ethics content development.

 

The major focus of such programs, albeit good intentioned, is getting kids on board with technology sooner so they can be technologically savvy to compete in tomorrow’s job market. You have to buy that logic to be on board with this program, but let’s set that reasoning aside to address immediate issues. A few questions come to mind for me. The first being, do three year-olds really need their own tablets? Secondly, at what grade should schools begin such a program and how is that determined? How are schools educating kids about ethics for social media participation prior to giving tablets to students? The final big question is how are schools managing student’s media use in class in consideration of before or after school use?

 I understand the intention of such programs and I am also concerned about increasing screen time at school at how it ties back to AAP guidelines. Earlier this year the American Academy of Pediatrics gave the statement: “The American Academy of Pediatrics discourages media use by children younger than age 2 and recommends limiting older children's screen time to no more than one or two hours a day.” With tablets passed out to the youngest of the school set kids are more than likely blowing past screen consumption recommendations.

I find it ironic that in schools where ADHD is apparently on the rise and we hear complaints of fidgety kids, tired kids, kids that have a hard time paying attention we are piling on the potential for more screen time. If your kid just got a shiny new tablet you might want to consider creating a parent coalition at your child’s school. Mandate social media ethics education and discuss appropriate limits on screen time used during school for your child’s education. Knowing how to communicate effectively and appropriately is as important for kids as knowing how to use the tools to do so.

 

 

For further reading on this topic:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/children-and-tv/MY00522

 http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/11/01/242156138/for-the-tablet-generation-a-lesson-in-digital-citizenship?ft=1&f=1013