learning

As I recharge this summer, I’m looking forward to catching up on some books that have come out recently.

I have been reading a recent (2013) report on informal education by Julian Sefton-Green, Learning at Not-School: A Review of Study, Theory, and Advocacy for Education in Non-Formal Settings. It has been a great read so far, so I thought I would jot down some passages that have stood out to me. To put things in context, some of what the author notes in his introduction is reminiscent of Nina Simon’s recent post, which I also responded to recently....

The phrase problem finding caught my eye as I was recently reviewing the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s Critical Thinking Skills Checklist, in which it is included as one of seven habits of mind that constitute critical thinking: Problem Finding - Notes or requests information or identification; identifies information needed to form a conclusion/opinion; may propose a hypothesis in conjunction with stating the problem.[1] ISGM’s framework for assessing critical thinking has, most recently, been mentioned in a New York Times column on a study undertaken by another museum, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art....

A question has been nagging at my mind for a few months. I don’t know when it crept up on me–perhaps after a guided visit with kindergarteners that didn’t go as well as I had hoped–but I found myself questioning whom the art museum is designed for. With its stark, white walls, challenging label text, and lack of multisensory stimulation, it’s certainly an environment that would be alien to many young children....

What is my philosophy of education? I love the sentiment that R. Murray Schafer conveys in this statement: “Do not design a philosophy of education for others. Design one for yourself. A few others may wish to share it with you.” To me, this reinforces the learning that, as a teacher, I share with my students. I think one of the main reasons that I love to teach is that I also love to learn....