Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Motivation with Cushman, Pink, Kohn and Schrute

Two of my favorite  education videos in 2010 have to do with motivation. In this first one, Stanley schools Dwight in “The Office” with commentary from Alfie Kohn. And in this one, those wonderful animators at the RSA deliver the message from Daniel Pink’s Drive: the Surprising Truth about what Motivates Us. And now Laura Graceffa has suggested a book…

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Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

The fire within

“To succeed…it’s the fire within that must be lit.” Purpose, mastery, autonomy (mission not money as motivation.) Watch the video and then think of the implications for school. What do we reward students for doing?

Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

The Carrot and the Cattleprod

Many years ago I wrote an article with the title The Carrot and the Cattleprod.  It’s so long ago that although I wrote it on a word processor I no longer have an electronic copy.  It’s buried and yellowing deep in a file cabinet somewhere in the basement. So I don’t know where it is but I do remember what…

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Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

And the geeks should inherit the school….

Great essay by Daniel Roth in Wired magazine about “geeks” and school. Some extracts: “The driving force in the life of a child, starting much earlier than it used to be, is to be cool, to fit in,”….”And pretty universally, it’s cool to rebel.” …. “The best schools….are able to make learning cool, so the cool kids are the ones…

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Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

The New Progressivism

Read Peter Gow’s Education Week article The New Progressivism is Here. Commenting on the 2008 NAIS annual conference held in New York City last winter Gow identifies independent schools as being at the forefront of contemporary thinking about education. The elements he identifies in particular include: Assessment against high standards Professional development Real-world connections Multiculturalism as a process, not a…

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