Connected Blog

We all know that the world is shrinking, but nothing brings this home to me more than a message I received this evening from Govinda Prasad Panthy. In my day to day school life, I worry about problems which are miles away from Govinda’s experience, and yet we share a common bond: a desire to make a difference in children’s lives.

Govinda is the wonderfully titled Founder/teacher/manager of the Shantideep Adarsh Vidhyasadan school in Nepal. Founded 10 years ago, his school has risen from 13 students to 137… but the catch is that he cannot take all the pupils he would like because of a lack of resources and materials. I wonder what our own truants and NEETs could learn from Govinda’s pupils, it might be an interesting experience for both sides.

There is an explanation of some of the problems Govinda and his school have had to face as they have grown on his Classroom2.0 page and I think reading it will put a few of our own problems into perspective. I would love to see his school thrive, but can’t help thinking that there are so many areas of the world that don’t have a Govinda to drive them forward and make a difference, that there are so many children who will not have the opportunity to realise their potential, and that there are so many people in the “developed” world who have no idea just how valuable their education is.

If you want to know just how impressive Govinda’s efforts have been, then all you have to do is take a look at the photos he has posted. They will put many of our pupils to shame…

CLICK HERE FOR ALL OF GOVINDA’S PHOTOS

This week the blog posts about teachers’ return to school have been flying, but few teachers will have that first hard week more in perspective than Caroline Gibson, who spent her holidays working in Malawi with the Global Teachers Programme.

During her adventures she managed to keep an online diary of her learning, the new experiences, the fun, and over the past few weeks has been emptying her brain of the remainder of this amazing journey.

My favourite aspect of her time there is probably one that’s unrelated to her reason for being there. A keen runner, Caroline somehow managed to maintain a training schedule, joined by the occasional local child on her 10k runs – the photo at the top of this post is indicative of just one day’s running companions!

Other adventurer teachers this summer included Musselburgh’s Ollie Bray, who led young people on an expedition across some of America and Canada’s best lakes and mountains with some vital survival equipment in hand, Sheila Laing, Headteacher of Forthview, who spent July visiting Hle Bee school in Thailand July 2008, and Mary Gillespie, Headteacher of Pirniehall, also in Edinburgh, who travelled to partner with Mae Sot Burmese school.

The Continuing Professional Development team would love to hear from other teachers who’ve been away this summer to the far flung, exotic or life-changing location. Leave a commenton their blog to share your experience.

Connected 21 is now online with articles and features on literacy, Gaelic, PE and computer games.

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/connected/articles/21/index.asp

Between June 9-13 you have the opportunity to help young poets from Georgia and Glasgow’s East End with their poetry. In On The Street Where You Live, young poets will write about their neighbourhoods (or should that be neighborhoods?), and you are invited to leave your two stars and a wish comments to help them on their way.

Caroline Gibson is sharing her preparations before departing in three weeks for a summer of teaching in Malawi, from how to communicate in the native tongue to working out the kind of classroom equipment you need to play Scottish music cassettes when there is very little or no electricity.

Living with a host family, Caroline is one of several teachers who will continue to bind strong links between Malawi and Scotland. See her educator’s kit list and follow her blog over the coming months to see how things go. You can find out more about International Education possibilities through Learning and Teaching Scotland’s site.

Want to be a better teacher? Want to know what’s really going on? Then you’d better be prepared to share…

Dean Shareski has just posted a really interesting presentation about the importance of sharing on Slideshare. As well as giving a great insight into why he shares as much as he does (and it’s a lot!), he also makes a compelling point about professional responsibility. As he says in his excellent voice-over, we are there “…to do more than just teach our own students…”. In the past — and with apologies to any music instrument teachers reading — this might have created nightmare inducing visions of peripatetic teachers being carted from school to school in order to deliver their latest series of lessons. Not any more.

Connected learning means that we can all learn from each other, and more importantly, share with each other. As part of my own drive forward, I’m intending to post most of my lessons online over the next year. I’m hoping that this will force me to be a better teacher, but also it is intended to start a discussion about actual lessons and the mechanics of what I do in my English classroom. The reason for this is simple: I want to make the learning experience for my pupils better and that means asking for advice and help and hints and tips — not doing the typical ‘closing-the-door-and-getting-on-with-it-because-
I’m-an-expert-and-have-nothing- new-to-learn’ that we have all seen…

It’s no secret that lots of teachers don’t share with their colleagues because they feel that the materials aren’t good enough… I’ve felt it often enough myself, but as so many people have said, we have to be prepared to fail if we are going to move forward…

It goes back to another of Shareski’s points. As teachers, we stress the importance of sharing with our pupils and students. What is group work if not sharing of ideas? If we truly believe that there is value in sharing of ideas and knowledge, then it is up to us to model this behaviour by sharing our amongst ourselves.

I’ll be using a separate blog or more wikely, a wiki, for the purpose. Stay tuned for the URL and my first batch of lessons… and while you’re waiting, go and check out Dean Shareski’s entertaining rationale for sharing!

Cross-posted to Mr W’s Blog

Sometimes it’s hard for educators to see why anyone would be interested in what they are doing, how they are teaching and what their philosophy behind learning is. For Paul Park, a Saskatchewan teacher sent to Afghanistan with the Canadian forces, blogging for his students and family must seem an obvious thing to do.

This blog provides not only interesting reportage for any student wanting to better understand what’s at stake in this war-ridden country, but the fact that Paul is on top of the comments young people and teachers are leaving means that we have an enviable reach into a conflict that, until now, we’ve experienced through spoonfed mainstream news.

Just last week I was introduced to Ben Saunders, who responded with a courteous and short email along the lines of: “I’m a little busy at the moment but would love to meet up for a pint.” He was, in fact, four days away from starting his 30-day dash to North Pole. Alone.

An attempt to set a new world speed record from Ward Hunt Island to the Geographic North Pole by Ben Saunders.
The current record was set in 2005 by a guided team using dog sleds and
numerous re-supplies in a time of 36 days 22 hours. Ben’s expedition
will be solo and unsupported and on foot. This route has only ever been
completed once solo and unsupported, by Pen Hadow in 2003. Ben aims to
halve his time and complete it in 30 days. More than geographic
exploration, Ben is exploring the limits of his own human potential.

You can follow the trip blog, catch up on his amazing Flickr stream (but probably after the trip , and see what equipment one needs to make this voyage alone.

I’m hoping that, the next time, we might be able to help spread Ben’s work to more school children, and bring their aspirations to a high with some of the motivating speak that Ben can offer. Maybe something schools on Glow can enjoy through Marratech video-conferencing, as well as in person. Don’t know what I mean? Take a look at Ben’s TED Talk, Three Things To Know Before You Ski To The North Pole, and be inspired to get cold and miserable yourself:

Here is the full transcript of the interview with Kay Livingston, Head of International Education at LTS, as part of the Broaden Your Horizons story in Issue 20 of Connected magazine. There are also plenty of Chinese culture and language links on the MFLE website:

• Chinese language special
• Teaching Chinese at St George’s School for Girls
• What it’s like being a Chinese teacher in Scotland (video diaries)
  
• Some advice on setting up a link with a Chinese school
• Some advice on curricular projects with Chinese schools
• Some advice on visiting partner Chinese schools
• A story of one school’s Chinese adventure

What’s the latest update on launching the Confucius Classrooms?
Learning and Teaching Scotland is in communication with schools and local authorities in order to develop Confucius Classrooms that will serve as hubs across Scotland. The aim is that every school in Scotland will have an opportunity to access these classrooms and their valuable resources. Our aim is that by June 2008 three of the classrooms will be open and that a further three will be up and running by the end of the year. This might seem quite ambitious but we are optimistic that we can deliver this, as many schools are already doing a lot of work on teaching Chinese language and culture and are very keen to host a Confucius Classroom.

How has The Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban) offered assistance with setting up the classrooms?
Hanban has offered to provide a package of resources and teaching materials for children across a wide age range to help with teaching the Chinese language and Chinese culture. The classrooms will also become a hub for twilight and in-service events.

How do you envisage the classrooms being set up?
We’re still at very early stages of defining how exactly the classrooms will be set up, but they will become a focus for teachers and somewhere to set up events to promote Chinese language and culture and forge links with Chinese communities in the area. Each classroom will be able to operate in a way that’s suitable for its particular context.

What will be the main advantages of the classrooms?
The classrooms will stimulate the provision of services for teachers, pupils and the community. The introduction of SQA qualifications at intermediate level 1 and 2 in Mandarin will be part of the initiative. Lots of pupils are already learning the language so this will act as a great way to advance and spread its teaching.

Why has China become such an important focus for international education?
Within international education we are developing links with other countries, not just China but also countries in Africa and Europe for example. It’s all about widening the horizons for our children. Chinese is already offered at many schools but often as an optional subject. The classrooms also recognise that China is a strong economic force. The initiatives of Scotland-China Education Network (SCEN) convened by Judith McClure of St George’s High School have developed a lot of interest in China. SCEN hosted a conference in October 2007 and it was a really interesting day involving lots of young people. It was great to see the creativity used in the teaching of Chinese language – the pupils were all so enthusiastic and really enjoyed it.

What’s the main aim of the classrooms?
The focus of the Confucius Classrooms will be teaching Chinese language and culture, developed as part of international education in Scottish schools. The aim is to enable young people to live and work in a global society with other cultures who have similar and different views, religious beliefs, symbols, ways of working etc. It’s so important that our pupils have knowledge that’s based on reality and not myth. Responsible citizenship for a global society is a key part of what international education is all about.

Are there plans to extend the programme beyond creating Confucius Classrooms?
Once the Confucius Classrooms are up and running the next stage will be to arrange visits to China for pupils. Our discussions with Hanban are the first step in developing closer relationships with China and we hope to set up summer schools in China so Scottish pupils have an immersion course in Chinese language and culture and get to meet fellow Chinese pupils who they may have already worked with over the internet. Some schools have already managed to arrange trips to China.

How does international education tie in with the Curriculum for Excellence?
If we don’t educate pupils about a global society, then we are not preparing them for life in the 21st century. If you look at the four capacities of the Curriculum for Excellence then you can see that international education is essential. You can’t be a successful learner in the 21st century without an international dimension, nor can you become a responsible citizen or an effective contributor to society. It’s essential in order to fully understand sustainable development and climate change. It’s also linked to communication skills – how do we communicate with someone whose mother tongue is not English? International education is not an add-on that we are asking teachers to do. It’s an integral part of education and must be delivered through the curriculum.

What’s the future for international education?
Links with schools and other countries will become an integral part of education. Pupils will be presenting their work to schools across the world, doing joint projects, working alongside each other to collect data, blogging etc. Much of this is already happening but it’s a matter of spreading and developing existing initiatives. Links with schools abroad are an excellent opportunity for pupils and teachers to discover how schools in various countries are tackling different subjects – an opportunity to swap and share practices.

“Of course there is child protection issues involved in this but provided that thorough risk assessments are conducted in advance, then child protection shouldn’t stop young people being able to go out and experience new cultures and a different way of life.”

What are the benefits of teachers taking part in international exchanges and courses?
Any teacher who has taken part in these projects returns saying that they are re-motivated and re-energised. It challenges their way of thinking and working. Working with colleagues in other countries and seeing their practice at first hand is invaluable. By understanding the education systems in other countries we can help benchmark the delivery of education here.

John Johnston, Scottish blogger and primary educator extraordinaire, is blogging and video-conferencing with his class from Georgia, USA, to mark the beginning of yet another collaboration with Carol Fuller, a teacher met through the serendipity of Musselburgh Grammar’s senior school Auschwitz blogging project four years ago, then a Sandaig-USA theatre project.

John’s moblogging the whole trip, sending photos live from his mobile phone to the web, and providing some great insights on the similarities and differences of US and Scottish school life (no tornado alarms in the East End of Glasgow, I think).