PG's Ponderings

"...a practitioner (who) does not reflect, ... is inattentive to the limits of his actions." (Schön, 1982, p. 282). Schön argued that teaching is not "a method but an art". He postulated that the "artful teacher" will find a way to solve the problems of his students by looking at himself, stating that a teacher will invent new methods to "develop in himself the ability of discovering them". Schön put forward a novel approach, the idea of "reflection-in-practice" and "reflection-on-practice" in which the researcher becomes a part of the practice, allowing the proceedings of practice to continue, thereby confirming the legitimacy of the practice. This approach is based on the teacher demonstrating a "tacit knowing-in-action" which reflects an intuitive understanding of everyday actions. Schön suggested that the reflective practitioner endeavours to make sense of the issues which he or she encounters through the refle...

This week – a Humanities response Where do you stand? Engage in the discussion. Humanities perspective is needed in all global challenges The key conviction around which the debate swirls is that the world desperately needs the insights of the humanities. Socio-economic progress, developmental challenges and the intelligent addressing of complex world issues require a combination of skills drawn from the humanities, social sciences and Stem subjects to design and deliver holistic and fully informed solutions. Increasingly, development agencies assert that technologically sound, engineering-based projects are failing because they don't take sufficient account of the cultural context. These projects, in concept, design and implementation, lack the human perspective that recognises that no global issue, developmental problem or socio-economic challenge can be fully understood, let alone resolved, without real evidence of how the local community and the rest of humanity are experiencin...

This information is gleaned from various sources that support the move towards a STEM focussed learning environment with an interesting website listed in the end. Where do you stand? Engage in the discussion. STEM Education The changing world economic conditions have placed pressure on all economies to re-examine their commitment to public science investment. The emphasis on supporting business expenditure on R&D has grown and there is increasing expectation that science will support economic recovery through addressing immediate industry and firm needs. A quality science education will be an absolutely critical part of this equation. What's at Stake? New Zealand will succeed in the global marketplace by doing what we do best, which is harnessing the talents and ingenuity of our people. This kind of innovation however isn't born in the boardroom or on the factory floor. It doesn’t begin in a basement workshop or a research laboratory. That’s where the payoff happens. It sta...

Our focus this term is on professional learning and curriculum review that is likely to lead to the sorts of changes we wish to make. It will be important to keep these complex systems dynamics in mind as we consider ways to shape learning networks to make desired outcomes more likely to be achieved. Five conditions that increase the likelihood that new insights will emerge in a complex network of learners: It is important to draw on diversity to access the power of collective thinking. While diversity of input is essential, redundancy also matters. There must be common ground where the people who are interacting can stand together and share the same vision. Control and authority must be able to be distributed across the group. Creating spaces for interaction is essential to the emergence of new insights and ideas. Somewhat paradoxically, setting a clear structure and boundaries around planned learning activities will make it more likely that the other four conditions can be met, but o...