What's+in+Your+Element

element, how do you know?
This page is for your stories, your hopes, your reflections. Write on!

Just finished reading "the Element" and I'm a swirl of thoughts that need distillation. Starting in, I was aware that Sir Ken was a champion of an educational system that allowed every student to find their strength, and their passion, in an atmosphere of acceptance and encouragement. He discusses the barriers that our present educational model presents to that, most decidely the need to conform to standards (which is not necessarily a bad thing, he posits) but rather, the way that education addresses curriculum, and assessments, to the exclusion of pedagoggy. We are made aware of what we must teach, and what grades are considered a successful result, but short shrift is given to pedagogy, or, how we are to get there. Given that we need to maintain certain levels of competencies in all areas of modern employments, Sir Ken argues for a multi-disciplinary approarch. The math inherent in music and art for example, can motivate and engage the student who does not learn well when confronted with lines of algebra.

But he goes further in his writings to talk about humanity as a organism. A compelling example was an early reading centre in Oklahoma openly constructed in a seniors' home, and how this symbiotic extistence not only raised reading scores, but lowered the need for medications in the elderly. It is this consideration of our intent, for which he argues in his conclusion, that resonated with me. We need to think about our humanity, where we are going.We must take our heads out of our laptops, and take heed.

Barbara