Sir Ken Robinson says some other cool stuff about learning

Thanks, Lee, for the Sir Ken Robinson lecture - nothing like a video like to that to send me into a two-hour TED spiral. I don't always like everything the man says (or maybe just how he says it), but about 95% of the time I'm like, 'Yes! I want to show this to everyone!' Anyways, here's another couple videos if you want to hear more from him. In these, he isn't addressing the STEM issue as explicitly, but places similar emphasis on learning and education that fosters creativity, critical thinking, and purposeful action.

This one has fun graphics! You'll like it!

This one's less pretty, but definitely still worth some brain time.

Organization in Chicago Charters

I've accidentally fallen a bit behind on my blogging--which is silly because I've been enjoying it--but here is an article I meant to put up awhile ago regarding unionizing in charter schools. As it's shamefully two weeks old, this may be old news to people, but I think it's an important conversation in education right now.

I am a supporter of organizing (or at least the right to), and so the anti-union rhetoric in many Chicago charters is disturbing to me, especially since they seem to be doing a lot of the hiring these days. So beyond the unfortunate situations for some of the teachers who have attempted organizing, what I really appreciate about this article is the cases where charters and unions have been able to make it work, as well as the sentiments from our own C.T.U. regarding moving toward that goal. Often the charters and the unions are presented as binaries, but both share the priorities of high quality teaching and learning, both are a serious part of the educational landscape, and schools would be best served by their ability to work together. If the big sticking point for some charters is the need to not be tangled in the bureaucracy of the traditional big union contract, then perhaps some kind of personalized reconceptualization could work, as exemplified by the Green Dot network in L.A. (which I don't know enough about to make any declarations).

Of course there are fundamentals of professional organization that will need to be held on to, but unfortunately I hear more about the unions consenting to reform in the name of progress and anti-union charters and policymakers voicing a lot less willingness to cooperate. Of course, as this article illustrates, that is not the case for all charter school administrations, and hopefully there will continue to be working examples of how these organizations can find common ground in order focus on our most pressing educational goals--quality student learning--which I'd like to think all sides share.

More Detroit: Art Stuff

While taking a far-too-often dip into my facebook newsfeed, I saw this article about a student art project that has grown into a much more developed initiative. The artist--Veronika Scott--is a student at CCS (Center for Creative Studies, an art school in Detroit), where she began creating sleeping-bag-winter-coat-backpacks for some of the city's 20,000 homeless citizens. Her assignment was to create a design that filled a need, and apparently it did so much so that she founded a non-profit organization to continue the project. Always exciting to see a school project that extends beyond its own walls! Reminds me a bit of Michael Rakowitz's paraSITE project that I know a lot of people have seen, which also seeks to address the needs of homeless people through innovative and often collaborative design.

As many of you probably know, Detroit, in all of its hullabaloo, is also home to a vibrant contemporary art scene. Many people are putting their money on the arts as instrumental in the city's progress, and the Rust Belt to Artist Belt conference is addressing that kind of transformation. This year--this week, actually--the conference will be held in Detroit, and Scott will be serving as a panelist.

Also, when I was home for fake-spring-break, I was able to check out MOCAD--the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit. It's a small, non-collecting space that opened just a few years ago, housed, quite appropriately, in a former auto dealership. Both the shows that were up on my visit were really great. It's definitely worth a quick visit if you're ever in the area. I was so happy that their shows were thesis-relevant that I gave them $5.

Major Charter Overhaul in Detroit

I don't even know where to start with this one, as it's obviously a super-complex situation. I haven't been paying enough attention to all the ins and outs of DPS since moving to Chicago, so I don't feel comfortable speaking on this with any authority. I know that growing up in the area, I was 'against' charters--though in retrospect I wasn't all that knowledgable on the topic.

As many of you know, I spent some time working in a charter high school here, which certainly complicated my views. I can obviously speak on this for days, but to super-simplify: I don't think it's the best systemic answer for public education, but I get the sense of urgency on the part of parents and students who perhaps don't have access to the type of rigorous academic environment they see as desirable for college preparation. I don't think for-profit companies should be running schools, but there are benevolent individuals and organizations that have started charters, and I do get the perspective of many educators who love working in a school where they feel effective and safe. I understand that, on the whole, charters are not more successful than traditional public schools, but I will only speak for the school I was at--and not necessarily those of the the network it's spawned, where administration differs, but where a few of my fantastic teacher-friends work. This school is certainly not for everyone, but it has been great for a lot of students; I think it's important to keep that in mind when making structural critiques of the charter system (which I do). Okay, that was a little more than the two cents I intended to insert, but man, this education thing is tricky.

Anyways, read the article, and I look forward to the imminent debates on the DPS topic. Detroit is not Chicago, but there are always lessons we can take away. Ultimately, the biggest tragedy is that it's come to this. My initial reaction is that this charter overhaul is scary, but of course I can't speak for the students, teachers, and parents of Detroit, who have been fighting for reform for longer than I've been around. Stay tuned....