Skip to main content

Reflections on UKIEF10: Keynote: Michael Furdyk

_DSB8578

The first keynote of the day was from Michael Furdyk, who was introduced as someone who just makes you feel inadequate! You can certainly see why! The co-founder of TakingITGlobal had an inspiring tale to tell, and one that has powerful implications for education.

Firstly, it’s worth taking a look at this TED Talk highlighted and used by Michael during his talk:

Trust is an issue in school when we need to let go – this puts up some barriers when it comes to co-construction of learning or indeed, adults learning from young people. There are a lot of links here to projects such as Digital Leaders where young people become the experts and driving force. The question is, why aren’t we showing videos such as this in assemblies?

Two features of Michael’s talk hit me quite hard. The way in which he acknowledged the role of having supportive parents and a flexible, supportive school system was clear. I have no idea how the UK education system can be as flexible as described by Michael, but I do know that it’s vital. We need to be able to allow students to count work done outside of school as credit toward qualifications.

As a parent, I took comfort from the talk (and TED link) that simple actions, like reading with your child, can really make a difference as does taking an interest. I’m also very pleased that Michael’s parents stepped in to help name his first company: M&S (as teenagers, it was the other way around).

_DSB8571

It was also clear from Michael's talk that if teachers have low expectations of young people then they will sink to them.  I do always try to have very high expectations (for behaviour, work and effort) but have become more reflection on the way in which I communicate these high expectations.

TalkingITGlobal is a very exciting project with a huge range of sub-projects. I have been aware of the project for a while, but very much intend to engage fully in it.  For example, I had no idea about the wide range of excellent resources available  - for example these about natural disasters.

image

As a geographer, I am particularly looking forward to engaging with Shout – a new project coming soon aimed at getting students more active in environmental issues.  As young people  in the UK hurtle toward saturation on this particular issue, it’s great to see a refreshing way of talking this issue that will focus on the actions of young people rather than greenwashing by teachers.

In conclusion, I was left inspired, a little embarrassed, a tad angry but overall very excited after listening to Michael speak.

  • Inspired to act,
  • Embarrassed that I am not doing enough to raise the aspirations of young people without good parental support,
  • Angry that we have a school system that, on the whole, doesn’t support enterprise and individual endeavour as it is inflexible.
  • Excited because there is a clear way in which education needs to develop.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

High Impact, Low effort

This month is the start of the #29daysofwriting challenge.  I enjoyed this last year and will be using my Staffrm account to post.  I'll also be reporting here, both to give a little more detail and to keep a log of what I have written. The challenge developed a great sense of community last year, which is why I'm choosing to write on Staffrm. What I would say to those who are new to writing or don't want to run out of ideas is: Write for yourself. Clarify an idea, write something out loud. The process of distilling thoughts into writing is immensely beneficial to your practice. If other read, comment and respond, that's a bonus. Ignore the muppets who know nothing of your context, style or students. Mix it up - I like to read about real stuff from real classrooms and schools and also about other stuff.  If we always write about school, how does that work for workload? If you've nothing nice to say, don't say it. So, the following has been ...
5 comments
Read more

What makes a learning experience profound? Personal reflections and possible implications for classroom practice.

I have recently begun a Leadership Pathways journey.  As part of the first core day, we were asked to reflect on a profound learning experience. This got me thinking about how many profound learning experiences I have both been involved in, and how many I have been able to give to others.  Our group came up with a huge long list, but these are my five. Emotional Connected Demanding Reflective Collaborative As always, these are personal thoughts and quite mixed up.  I put them here so that I can look back on them (plus they’d get lost inside my world-cup-free brain) 1. Emotional I can’t think of a time where deep learning hasn’t engaged my emotions.  From being awe inspired to that tingle feeling when a student gets a light bulb moment.  From this-is-the-happiest-day-ever, to I-think-I’m-about-to die.  How often do we engage the emotions of those we teach?  Here, I would argue that having a safe learning environment i...
4 comments
Read more

Banned Word Board

Today I want to share some simple ideas that I have found to be very effective in the classroom. I can't say that they are my own original ideas, although I have played around with them. The first is the Banned word Board. This is a simple display in the classroom that lists a number of words that are not allowed to be used by pupils in their written or oral answers. The effect has been an increase in the quality of written work, and I have almost made comments such as 'Sir it's simple, the stuff just affects the thing and causes people problems'. Pupils are now more able to use specific language, something that is vital especially at GCSE. I have had to make a few modifications, such as the introduction of 'Heavenly Words' This is an additional display placed on the ceiling. I found this necessary as pupils needed some stimulus in finding replacement words. After advice received after posting the idea on the SLN forum , I have also introduced semi-banned words...
Post a Comment
Read more