Creative thinking is afundamental skill necessary for our survival on this planet. The performing folk arts in education can nurture this essential skill. At this point in time there has never been a more urgent need for an approach to education that prepares children to face the challenges of the twenty-first century.
Last spring at the Project-Based Learning Conference, Kids Who Know and Do, keynote speaker Linda Darling-Hammond retold the following story by John S. Taylor, Superintendent of Schools in the Lancaster County School District in South Carolina. In a room full of 5,000 educators, you could have heard a pin drop. Of course, during the witty dialogue and the ironic parts, outbursts of laughter filled the room.
"Never underestimate the power of story," author Wayson Choy told ETFO's provincial and local leaders at the February 2002 Representative Council meeting.
Four young faces, side by side, stare at the computer monitor. Occasionally, they point at the screen, jot notes, discuss new information and debate. This is the image of involved, interested and integrated learning for which we all strive.
There is an old African proverb that has become universal in the world of education. This slogan has been adopted into the pedagogy of our profession and provides a moral basis for our workings.
Home and school partnerships that keep going and going...
Passion is an extreme word, and like most extreme words, it carries a heavy weight that is difficult to uplift by the force of just one person, perhaps because it is so strongly rooted in the elements of knowledge, success and appreciation.
The fight against teacher recertification will only be won at the political level and with the support of strong, collective action on the part of teachers across the province.
As teacher-librarians, we collaborate with our classroom teachers to identify students who are reading at an independent level, and who could benefit from an enriched reading program. One such program is the Ontario Library Association’s Silver Birch Reading Award.