The sketchnote option caught my eye as it seemed like a new experience in a class full of new experiences. I wanted to learn how to compose a sketchnote so of course I Googled it expecting to find another web service that would facilitate the process. What I got instead were tutorials of how to use to use a pen and a notebook. Dismayed by my Google discovery, I went to the app store instead. I thought there must be an app that has been specifically created in order to help people sketchnote. After a fruitless search in the app store I came to the reluctant realization that this task might just not have anything to do with digital tools and technology. It might just involve the oldest of tools, a pen and paper. Could it be that in tech class I was being asked to use a pen and paper? I took a chance on this sneaking suspicion and created the illustration above describing my learning after reading the book Catching Up or Leading the Way by Yong Zhao.
As an egotistical artist (I use the label "artist" very loosely) I expect that my illustration will speak for itself. However, I will elucidate a few of the themes that I chose to base my illustration around. In his book Zhao explains how many educational reformers in the U.S. are essentially in a competition pitting the U.S. against many other nations throughout the world. The U.S. has, as we all know too well, fared worse in standardized testing in "core" subjects, especially in comparison to some Asian nations. Yet, while we seek to catch to these nations by emulating their systems of education, these same nations seek to emulate our supposedly failing systems of education, systems which have produced some of the greatest innovators of recent times. So the question is do we centralize and homogenize our educational system in order to better compete in core subjects or do we, as Asian nations have gradually realized, support creating a diverse pool of talents beyond those emphasized by math and engineering? Zhao, recommends the latter approach while many U.S. educational reformers charge head on towards centralization and homogenization, towards our peril. In his book, Zhao gets to the root of what's wrong with an approach towards education embodied by common core standards, standardized testing, and "No Child Left Behind." While he recognizes the need for educational reform, Zhao explains that centralization and homogenization is not the solution. Many Asian nations are rapidly coming to this realization. One can only hope that U.S. reformers don't take us too far down this road towards a point of no return. Resource Zhao, Y. (2009). Catching up or leading the way American education in the age of globalization. Alexandria, Va.: ASCD.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorIn this blog I will share my perspectives of the learning and materials from EDL 680, already a very inspiring course that I am taking for MA in Educational Leadership Archives
August 2015
Categories |