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Sir Ken Robinson, Ph.D.
Do schools kill Creativity? is the most-watched video in the history of TED Talks. Ken Robinson posits that our outdated industrial educational system should be replaced with a personalized, organic approach to learning, and utilize technology and professional resources to engage all students. Robinson's second video here, How to escape education's death valley, focuses more on the role of leadership in education, and the importance of changing it from a command and control model to one of creating a climate of possibilities. Robinson was Professor Emeritus at the University of Warwick and was knighted in 2003 for his services to the arts. He passed away in 2020. |
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Sugata Mitra, Ph.D.
Sugata Mitra's “Hole in the Wall” experiments demonstrated that, in the absence of supervision and formal teaching, children can teach themselves and each other -- if they’re motivated by curiosity. Mitra is a professor of educational technology at Newcastle University. |
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Rita Pierson, Ph.D.
A professional educator since 1972, Rita Pierson brought a special energy to her profession -- a desire to get to know her students, show them how much they matter, and support them in their growth, even if it was modest. |
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Ted Dintersmith, Ph.D.
Ted Dintersmith has become one of America's leading advocates for education policies that foster creativity, innovation, motivation, and purpose. He has visited all fifty U.S. states, meeting with governors, legislators, educators, parents, and students, and encouraging communities to work collectively to re-imagine school and its purpose. |
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Geoffrey Canada, M.Ed.
Geoffrey Canada has dedicated himself to working with kids in poor neighborhoods. He has appeared on shows as diverse as Oprah and This American Life. He was named one of "America's Best Leaders" by U.S. News and World Report and was listed as one of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world. |
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Seth Godin, MBA
Seth Godin is an entrepreneur, teacher, and worldwide bestselling author of 14 books that have been translated into more than 35 languages. Godin's blog is one of the most popular in the world. His eBook, STOP STEALING DREAMS (also the title of this TED Talk) can be downloaded absolutely free here. |
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Peter Gray, Ph.D.
Peter Gray is a research professor at Boston College, author of Free to Learn. He has conducted and published research in comparative, evolutionary, developmental, and educational psychology. |
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Joe Ruhl
Joe Ruhl is a high school science teacher in Lafayette, Indiana. He has been honored at the White House as Indiana's recipient of the Presidential Award for Science Teaching. His approach to teaching has received praise for inspiring creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication in the classroom. |
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Will Richardson
Will Richardson is a former public school educator, co-founder of Modern Leaner Media, and co-publisher of ModernLearners.com. He is a leading thinker and writer about the intersection of social online learning networks and education. Richardson has authored several books on education, including "Why School?" which is the best-selling TED book ever. |
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Jonathan Levi
Jonathan Levi is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and angel investor, and one of the top instructors on Udemy. His insights into memory and how we learn best have proved revolutionary, effective, and popular. His desire is for schools to teach HOW to learn, not just WHAT to learn. |
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Todd Rose, Ed.D.
Todd Rose earned his doctorate from Harvard, where he later became the faculty director of the Mind, Brain, and Education program. Much of his work has focused on applying insights about individual differences to the design of social institutions, including schools. |
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Sir John Whitmore
Sir John Whitmore is Chairman of a coaching, leadership, and performance improvement company. He has authored five books published in 17 languages and selling over half a million copies. The Independent rates him as the Number One Business Coach. The Association for Coaching cites him as having the most impact on the profession of coaching. |
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Eddy Zhong
Eddy Zhong launched a successful technology company before graduating from high school. He believes that our education system stifles creativity and exposes students to limited pathways towards success. He takes issue with the idea that attending college is necessary for achieving one's goals and challenges the entire structure of education. |
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Joshua Katz
Joshua Katz is an Orange County, FL public high school math teacher. His talk on the "Toxic Culture of Education" points out how our education system is damaging students, the economy, and threatening our collective future. He presents a vision for an education system that embraces our full potential. |
KEY TERMS
Whole Classroom Instructional Model (WCIM) - The century-old structure of sorting children by age, randomly placing them in groups of 20 to 30, then teaching them the SAME material, at the SAME time, at the SAME pace, in the SAME way, by the SAME teacher. Children are seen as passive recipients of information and knowledge and rarely, if ever, take ownership of their learning. Students move between classrooms during the day, move “up” through grade levels over the years, and eventually leave school for the workforce, likely to never step foot again in the place where they spent so much of their childhood. Assessments in this rigid system are done primarily via test-taking. The teacher is at the center of the learning process.
Synonyms:
Learner-Centered Model (LCM) - The impetus for learning comes from a child's innate curiosity. This structure gives students control over the content of lessons and the learning method and promotes autonomy and active learning. The learner is at the center of the learning process. The teacher is seen as a facilitator of the learning process rather than "the sage on the stage."
Synonyms:
Inspired Learner Model (ILM) - A learner-centered education model developed by the Center for Inspired Learning that is designed to work in US public elementary schools using existing school infrastructure, budgets, and staffing. Its components include project and activity-based learning (PABL), peer mentoring, enhanced learning through technology, student choice, parental involvement, community engagement, and other mechanisms to support and encourage children to become lifelong curious learners. Besides traditional elementary school curriculum, ILM may include an emphasis on self-care, financial literacy, media and digital literacy, communication skills, conflict resolution, global citizenship, the arts, and learning at least one foreign language.
Synonyms:
- Standardized Education
- Teacher-Centered Learning
- One-Size-Fits-All Instructional Model
- Factory (Assembly Line) Education Model
- Taylorist Model
- Coercive Schooling
Learner-Centered Model (LCM) - The impetus for learning comes from a child's innate curiosity. This structure gives students control over the content of lessons and the learning method and promotes autonomy and active learning. The learner is at the center of the learning process. The teacher is seen as a facilitator of the learning process rather than "the sage on the stage."
Synonyms:
- Individualized Learning
- Student-Centered Learning
- Adaptive Learning
- Blended Learning
- Personalized Learning
- Competency-Based Education
Inspired Learner Model (ILM) - A learner-centered education model developed by the Center for Inspired Learning that is designed to work in US public elementary schools using existing school infrastructure, budgets, and staffing. Its components include project and activity-based learning (PABL), peer mentoring, enhanced learning through technology, student choice, parental involvement, community engagement, and other mechanisms to support and encourage children to become lifelong curious learners. Besides traditional elementary school curriculum, ILM may include an emphasis on self-care, financial literacy, media and digital literacy, communication skills, conflict resolution, global citizenship, the arts, and learning at least one foreign language.
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