Peter: Thanks for this; I think this is a very i...

2009-11-05T22:25:00.378-05:00

Peter:

Thanks for this; I think this is a very important message. I too think that what I call 21st century education can be, very rightly, called a New Progressivism. But like you, I think we need to ensure that however we conduct contemporary best practice education, we need to do so in a way that is rigorous and intentional.

Two references for your consideration which really support your message. Just yesterday I heard a teacher speak about re-tooling her freshman foundations class to be project based, and then struggled to ensure her projects were well structured. But her salvation, she said, came in a book from Buck Institute, which does great work, called the PBL handbook-- it is a resource I think that infuses great seriousness and intentionality into something, project based learning, which has sometimes struggled to achieve these qualities.

The second book is one I adore, and I wish had more currency, called An Ethic of Excellence by Ron Berger. You may know it well, but I think it speaks brilliantly to blending progressive methods with high expectations and powerful "intentionality." I think Berger really brings to life his classroom, where he exemplifies your point that "Progressive teaching, the crafting of educational experiences that may feel fluid and spontaneous but that are in fact extremely focused on achieving specific goals, is hard work." I wrote about Berger's book here: http://21k12blog.net/2009/01/28/bergers-ethic-of-excellence/

Comments on The New Progressive: Best practice or travesty?

Peter: Thanks for this; I think this is a very i...