As students in Australia get ready to head back (or even start) school, many are making sure that they have the right gear, in this part of the work this usually includes the school uniform. In an era that we espouse so-called ‘21st century’ education, characterised by ‘choice, autonomy and flexibility’, the school uniform seemsContinueContinue reading “Culture & values must relate to everything, even school uniforms. Especially for girls”
Author Archives: Anne Knock
How schools can ‘Emulate Museums’ for engaging learning? (and it’s not how you might think)
Learning in the museum is essentially free-flowing for the visitor, yet carefully curated by the museum to provide a valuable learning experience. This post looks at how educators can take these ideas and apply them to curate learning for students.
Learning to unlearn: Rethinking student success in the 21stC #notNAPLANforYear9
Have you thought about this idea? Those times when you are learning to do something new and your instinct, your embedded knowledge and intuition keeps getting in the way? HBR article: “Why the problem with learning is unlearning?” arrived in my inbox this morning. The author, Mark Bonchek (Chief Epiphany Officer at Shift Thinking), describesContinueContinue reading “Learning to unlearn: Rethinking student success in the 21stC #notNAPLANforYear9”
Collective Teacher Efficacy: The power of more-than-just one
Sometimes I feel like I’m learning a new language. Beside me as I work I have a thick research methodology book to clarify ‘phenomenology’ and ‘epistemology’. There is also Prof Google to double-check new words I come across, not assuming that I know what ‘extant’ or ‘reflexive’ actually mean, or for looking up new words likeContinueContinue reading “Collective Teacher Efficacy: The power of more-than-just one”
Innovating learning environments: 4 ways to think about sustaining change
We love the photos of cool learning spaces with funky furniture They are captivating, inspiring, but it is impossible to know the full story from a tweeted photo. Recently I’ve had numerous opportunities to talk about the context for change and several resonating themes are emerging around people and change: That chair/table/tech won’t be the silver bullet It’sContinueContinue reading “Innovating learning environments: 4 ways to think about sustaining change”
School life 2030: When the wheels finally fell off the education bandwagon
Which do you choose? Option 1: Learning in the 2030s has what I need, when I need it, nothing like my parents’ generation. They went to this thing called ‘school’, it looked like a prison! Option 2: Yeah, we tried those open, flexible classrooms in the 1970s and then again in the 2010s. It was never going toContinueContinue reading “School life 2030: When the wheels finally fell off the education bandwagon”
Great Teachers are Learning-Activists not Learning-Pacifists
I have recently began a new chapter in the PhD research project team: ILETC – Innovative Learning Environments and Teacher Change at Melbourne Graduate School of Education (Melbourne University). Our mission is to discover: Can altering teacher mind frames unlock the potential of innovative learning environments? Currently I’m immersed in “teacher mind frames”, a term used byContinueContinue reading “Great Teachers are Learning-Activists not Learning-Pacifists”
Good school design & why it matters: 9 point checklist #RIBA #TopMarksSchool
In 2015 the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) awarded the coveted Stirling Prize for the best new building to Burntwood School, a large comprehensive girls’ school in London. It is the UK’s most prestigious architecture prize. As Paul Monaghan, Director, Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, the winning architecture firm, said, “Schools can and should beContinueContinue reading “Good school design & why it matters: 9 point checklist #RIBA #TopMarksSchool”
So I said, “technology in schools should be like electricity – it should go unnoticed”
Can you imagine what it would have been like to live around the advent of electricity? It was in the 1930s, as Google tells me, that US homes had electricity in the urban areas. We can only imagine what this meant for the average urban family. Reading at night, listening to music, keeping food fresh.ContinueContinue reading “So I said, “technology in schools should be like electricity – it should go unnoticed””
It’s 10 Years since ‘that’ TED Talk: 5 questions to think about #doschoolskillcreativity
A decade ago a revolution started in education, a groundswell for change. In June 2006 Sir Ken Robinson asked, Do schools kill creativity? This short talk has become the most popular of all time with close to 40 million views. The message resonated and Robinson concluded, “and our task is to educate their [the students’] wholeContinueContinue reading “It’s 10 Years since ‘that’ TED Talk: 5 questions to think about #doschoolskillcreativity”
culture | learning | design 