Invitation to a Norwegian school drop in party, - partly triggered by an Australian reminder
Dear guests! My 65th birthday was in February, and I want to celebrate my retirement from formal teaching work, by inviting you to participate in a drop in school party the 31st of October 2001. My theme will be: Is school running the students' own personal resources at idling speed?
Most of the quotes and references I am preparing for the party, have to be in Norwegian. That's a pity because I have so many friends out there and there are so many strong international personalities I would want to contribute.
My senior in the school administration of Ørsta municipality, mr. Einar Muren, a short time ago went for a study tour to New Zealand and Australia. He has reported from his tour by verbal lectures and by articles in the professional magazines.
So, if you would like to, please have a look on the text below, - and then your are welcome to mail your contribution to enok@kippersund.no and I will collect your writing and add it to the application below.
In the article at hand he is referring, in English, to headmaster Gary Norbury at Hawthorne West School in Melbourne, and I permit myself to forward these quotes below. He is also referring to professor Brian Caldwell by the University of Melbourne, but unfortunately I have not this gentleman's statements in English.
Have a look at the references at the bottom, and then this becomes a quite open invitation: Don't hesitate, bring your ideas, questions, statements! It's a drop in party!
Headmaster Gary Norbury ved Hawthorne West School in Melbourne, known as a strong school leader:
«Student thinking is devalued in most classrooms. When asking students questions most teachers seek not to enable students to think through intricate issues but to discover whether students know the «right» answer. Schooling is premised on the notion that there exists |a fixed world that the learner must come to know. The construction of new knowledge is not as highly valued as the ability to demonstrate mastery of conventionally accepted understandings.»
«Teachers often disseminate knowledge and generally expect students to identify and replicate the fields of knowledge disseminated. The information teachers disseminate to students is directly aligned with the information offered by textbooks, providing students with only one view of complex issues, one set of truths. In our College we like to have teachers construct activities so that students can arrive at their own conclusions, their own meaning of the world. We believe this prepare them for life.»
My address, once more: enok@kippersund.no friendly regards Enok KippersundMy school drop in party will be arranged at the regional cultural centre, Aasentunet: www.aasentunet.no At the bottom of the centre's introduction webpage you will find your way to information in English.
References, by Einar Muren:
Caldwell, B.J. and Hayward, D.K. (1998): The future of Schools: Lessons from the the Reform of Public Education, London: Palmer Press.
Caldwell, B.J. (2000): Scenarios for Leadership and Abandonment in the Transformation of Schools, Paper presented in the 13th International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement on the theme: Global Networking for Quality Education, Hong Kong: Institute of Education.
Departement of Education, Victoria (1997): Successful Schools: Building on Schools for the Future, Melbourne: Department of Education.
Department of Education, Victoria (1998): Assessing the Impact. The final Report of the Cooperative Research Project, Leading Victoria’s Schools of the Future. Melbourne: Departement of Education.
An exchange of words: On quality of teaching