Big Ideas in Education Blog

Tag: teaching

  • Professional Learning: Does it work?

    I have been doing some research lately into Training Evaluation, and quite unexpectedly have become intrigued at how we measure professional development and whether it really works. A lot of time, money, effort, resources, blood, sweat, and tears goes into PD. We as educators provide and receive PD regularly, but does it change our learning…

  • Syrian Refugees: Allowing Stories to be told in the Classroom

    I have begun to think about how I would make sure that my practice is fair for helping Syrian Refugees in classrooms. First, I don’t know their stories, and can’t ever own them either. I think that there is pressure for teachers to know all, and be in complete control of the underlying stories that…

  • The Underlying Stories we tell in Education

    There are underlying stories that come to life when we look at what we teach and why we teach it. We as educators choose who will speak, what information will be highlighted, how the curriculum will come to life. We essentially choose what underlying stories we will tell when we choose whose voices will prevail. …

  • 14 Considerations for Inquiry Based Learning

      Inquiry is essential. The fact is that students come to school with partial knowledges.  But the curriculum documents themselves do not address the parts that students know or don’t know. It has been built to present to us about the privileged people and only the most successful moments in history according to those people.…

  • In support of Libraries for Academic Success & Equity

    In support of Libraries for Academic Success & Equity

    Libraries are essential in building academic success and equity in our schools and learning environments. This is very easy when staff and students come from similar backgrounds and share similar languages, experiences and expectations. But what about the ‘others’? The one’s who do not share similar experiences, expectations, languages, and backgrounds? First, what does it…

  • Innovation for New Pedagogies and Education Spaces

    Innovation for New Pedagogies and Education Spaces

    I have been thinking a lot lately about the deeper ‘why’ behind the need for innovation in education. The deeper WHY behind the need for new spaces and also new initiatives including, but not limited to, makerspaces and genius hour. While I have led initiatives like these before, and believe in them, I wanted to…

  • Socially Transforming the Classroom

    Socially Transforming the Classroom

    What does it mean to be normal? How can we tell if new and innovative tasks and pedagogies are truly authentic – or just considered authentic because it fits into our privileged views of what normal is? Innovation. New Pedagogies. Digital literacies. 21st Century Learning Skills. How do we make sure we are not just…

  • Is Assessment also an Inquiry?

    Is Assessment also an Inquiry?

    Assessing reading ability is a very difficult task. This is because reading is very complex. What exactly are readers doing when they read? How do they understand what they read? At this day in age, I think we are more aware that reading is one of the most important skills that we need. It is…