I rarely find myself disagreeing with an idea that Dr. Scott McLeod places on the table, but this one raised my hackles a bit. I have always positioned myself as an avid anti-standardized testing professional. However, when I finished reading his piece I thought I would take a breath, step back, and consider it before responding. The argument played out in my thoughts this way:
“We must take ownership of our own culpability.”
The reaction to this statement was, “As teachers we have very little voice in the profession we work in.” That is the voice of the un-empowered. Where does it come from?
I contend that it occurs because society does not see teachers as practitioners. The power to conceive and architect learning is not often afforded to teachers. They are encouraged to take the pre-packaged materials and be creative, but not allowed to ask themselves and their students the question, “What is worth knowing?” (more…)
problem, which impedes any progress in educational change. The idea of an “end point” stifles possibility by suggesting that a perfect destination is quantifiable. The real question is, “Is there really ever a destination to be arrived at?” Politicians and society in general want schools to “arrive” so they can be comfortable in sending their children inside those walls. This perpetuates the idea of a final destination where we can all sit back, breathe a sigh of relief, and proclaim, “We have arrived. 
arena is a dedication to take only the essentials and leave the “old” behind and create something new – schools that are true learning ecosystems . . . living, fluid places were learning grows and spreads like the underground runners of the tiger lilies that grow wild here in Wisconsin. New ideas blossoming miles away from the original thought . . . but tied back to it via the network of underground roots that continue to venture out to new places.
