Blogwatch – 21st Century Skills, Model Castles And ‘Unlearning’
Our pick of the posts to have caught our attention over the last week…
- by Teachwire
‘What are those 21st century skills? What’s so “21st century” about them?’ Courtesy of Mirjam Neelen & Paul A. Kirschner, a bracing takedown of that go-to buzzphrase for many a politician and educator, which highlights the important distinction between ‘skills’ and ‘competencies’ and the perils of overlooking how important it is to acquire some distinctly un-futuristic forms of knowledge… Read post
‘For young people who have grown up with social media and a ‘life online’, their childhood activity could influence a future employer’s recruitment decision’ On a related note, over at the The Conversation, senior law lecturer Peter Coe makes the case for why ‘social media education’ doesn’t just have a place in primary school, but should be accorded the level of importance as sex education. Read post
‘We must embrace our own prejudice and never avoid an opportunity to delve deeper into it to understand it better.’ At the tenpencemore blog, a thought-provoking and at times stark examination of the ways in which unconscious stereotyping and internalised prejudice can work undermine the recruitment process. Read post
‘Technology is avoided since the teachers believe it adds nothing to learning and leads to time-wasting’ After the controversy some months back over some of the policies in place at Michaela Community School, here’s a sober and analytical look at its MFL department’s approach to teaching French Read post
‘It is lazy, hubristic nonsense. It is an insult to our intelligence.’ The target of Miss Smith‘s ire here? The voguish concept of ‘unlearning’ – ‘The central tenet of some visions of 21st Century pedagogy.’ Read post
‘Most modern teenagers who read for pleasure seem to read books that rarely progress beyond the Year 8/Year 9 level of readability’ Beginning with a group of university students struggling with the opening pages of Oliver Twist and ending with a somewhat damning judgement on the ‘readability’ of popular literature, this post at the Literacy Blog reaches some rather bleak conclusions about today’s reader versus those of the past… Read post
‘The children love it. Teachers love it. The school loves it. And I’ve been wondering whether we should be doing it at all.’ History teacher Ben Newmark ruminates over whether his school’s annual castle competition is likely to help or hinder his KS3 learners… Read post
‘Students do not enjoy teachers who are motionless, perhaps too private’ And finally, see if you can recognise any of @TeacherToolkit’s 7 Deadly Sins of Teaching in your colleagues – or possibly yourself… Read post
