Not so well known as the Montessori education philosophy, Waldorf is an alternative education system which focuses on the holistic development of children. As stated in their mission Waldorf schools integrate artistic, practical and intellectual content in their curriculum and focus on social skills and spiritual values. Waldorf education first began in 1919 in Germany inspired by Rudolf Steiner’s philosophy. (meer…)
Categorie: Empowered learning
Reality Pedagogy
Teaching is about more than just having a bunch of information to disseminate to the empty vessels- students- in front of you.
The concept behind reality pedagogy is that before teachers can teach anything, they must understand the realities of their students. (meer…)
Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset
Entrepreneurship is often associated with people who assume the risk of starting a business venture for financial gain. However, entrepreneurs exist in many forms: they may be writers, carpenters, computer programmers, school principals or fundraisers, to name just a few examples. It’s more about the mindset and the behavior than earning money. (meer…)
Student Centered Learning
When it comes to learning, we all know who should be in the driver’s seat: the learner. Ofcourse we need to build the capacity of our students to take the steering wheel and drive. Compared to learning to drive this metaphor is even more true. (meer…)
Changing a Mindset for Behavioral Change
Changing people’s behavior is most effective through changing the mindset. Changing the mindsets of people to ensure their thinking results in new desired behaviours. This is sustainable but takes time and effort to influence a change in mindset. But if the necessary time and effort is invested, a person’s mindset can lead them to take actions necessary to create momentum and a critical mass of commitment throughout the organization. There are some fundamental aspects to take into account if you want to accelerate the change of mindset or change your own mindset. (meer…)
Why I Work in Education
I call myself a gentle disruptor. Sometimes it is a real struggle for me. Work as an educational disruptor mostly doesn’t pay. It’s against the main stream. Many of you might think I am, at least a bit, crazy. Why am I doing it? ‘A better education for students so we can build a better world’ might feel vague and unreal to you. With expressing deeply held convictions you could loose friends and image. Yet having chosen this path I find it very enriching too. For me fulfillment and meaning are the best drugs there is. That is why I’m working hard to make learning awesome and significant. (meer…)
Hack Your Classroom
At heart, education is all about empowering people. It is widely understood that learning is a product of passion and not test taking. Instead of teaching us to create, education taught us to copy, memorize and keep scores. Pretty much the same qualities we look for in machines. Our current school system is built on the belief that education is a form of programming. But people don’t belong to education. Schools should become facilitators of passion instead of directors of course material. Their efforts would be unmeasurable by current standards, because individual passion can’t be standardized. The only measurement of any importance would be happiness, achievements, and sense of fulfillment of graduates over time. Education need to stimulate the hacker, hustler and hipster mindset. Let hack your classroom!
learning how to learn
In current education students are not only rewarded for shallow learning, they’re punished for deep learning. Educators have to shift their focus from judging and grading towards gaining understanding and learning how to learn. Education should focus more on understanding. Understanding requires going ‘offroad’. Educators can help to set students on the road to mastery — learning how to learn.
hacker, hustler and hipster mindset
People with a hacker, hustler and hipster mindset see learning as a natural process of pursuing one’s personal goals, in which they construct meaning by filtering information and experiences through their unique perceptions, thoughts and feelings. Many people would agree that ‘experience is the best teacher’ but I believe that experience by itself teaches nothing. You need to interpret your experience against a theory. Only then can you understand learning in the context of a system. A theory is a model of reality that can be used to explain, predict, or master a particular phenomenon. It’s provides a framework for experience, so you can understand what happens at the system level.
what is it?
A hackers mentality is all about making new ideas or initiatives happen. The MacGyver of society. In education it’s represented in the makers-movement. Hustler are people who have the brilliant, sometimes crazy, ideas that will revolutionise the world. They need the hackers mindset and others people to help them create and build their visions. A hipsters mindset is to make sure the final product or service is cooler than anything else out there.
how to hack?
Start with hacking your classroom. An educational hack can be seen as taking an idea or tool that you see and make it your own. You think about it, connect it to something you know to make meaning, and then you create something new from it. A hacker mentality can change the way you teach and your students learn. It isn’t always comfortable but I encourage you to take the risk. At the end: it isn’t rocket science, it is simply thinking – connecting – creating.
An hacked classroom is a place where a learning experience takes place and a forward movement is created.
These process is at the center of how I function as an educator. It is important to understand how you approach the creative and learning process. Please share your thoughts and put a comment so we can change education and learning for the better.
