Buxton's Education Blog: URI Honors Colloqium on Education: Fall 2013

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5) I'd ask that you refrain from critiquing individuals, unless they are public figures such as Obama, Duncan or Gist. I reserve the right to delete posts which I feel are "over the top." I'd prefer this Blog to involve a "battle of ideas" rather than a bashing of individuals. Also, please feel free to post alternative views or offer amendments to my assertions and/or specifics. I am far from being an expert on these matters, so there should be lots of room for amendments. If you look thru the Blog, you will see that I have included articles on opposite sides of issues (Ex: pro and con on Common Core; pro and con on Portfolio, etc)

You will also notice that I encourage my students to critique my ideas, and to use a "devil's advocate" approach upon occasion.

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Wednesday, January 8, 2014

URI Honors Colloqium on Education: Fall 2013

Below you will find the list of presentations on educational topics that were part of the annual URI Honors Colloquium. Most of the presentations are archived, and you can watch them on line. I particularly liked the ones by Ravitch (Oct 15) and Sahlberg (Dec 10).

September 10, Grading Education: Getting Accountability Right. Keynote by Richard Rothstein, research associate of the Economic Policy Institute and senior fellow of the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy at the University of California Berkeley School of Law.

Video of the presentation (available live the day of the event and recorded thereafter)

September 17, The State of Education in Rhode Island. A panel discussion moderated by Elisabeth Harrison, Morning Edition host and education reporter for Rhode Island National Public Radio, with Rhode Island public education leaders Deborah Gist, and Eva-Marie Mancuso; David M. Dooley, President, University of Rhode Island; Nancy Carriuolo, President, Rhode Island College; and NPR's Scott McKay.

Video of the presentation (available live the day of the event and recorded thereafter)

September 24, The Search for Knowledge. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Geraldine Brooks discusses Caleb's Crossing, the URI Common Reading selection for Fall 2013.
	(Please note: Although this event will be livecasted online, an online recording will not be available after the event. DVD copies of the event will be available for check out from the URI Media Resource Center.)

October 1, Creating the Opportunity to Learn. Diversity Week keynote address by Pedro Noguera, Peter L. Agnew Professor of Education at New York University.
	Video of the presentation (available live the day of the event and recorded thereafter)

October 8, Creating a New Culture for Teaching and Learning. International leader in education technology Alan November, cofounder of the Stanford Institute for Educational Leadership and one of Technology and Learning magazine's 15 most influential thinkers of the decade.
	Video of the presentation (available live the day of the event and recorded thereafter)

October 15 (6:30 p.m.), The Reign of Error. An interactive conversation with Diane Ravitch, research professor of education at New York University and a historian of education, with special guests from the Providence Student Union.
	(Please note: Although this event will be livecasted online, an online recording will not be available after the event. DVD copies of the event will be available for check out from the URI Media Resource Center.)

October 22, The Future of Public Higher Education. David Bergeron, vice president for postsecondary education, Center for American Progress, and former acting assistant secretary, U.S. Department of Education.
	Video of the presentation (available live the day of the event and recorded thereafter)

October 29, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women. Discussion with Sheryl WuDunn, author, business executive, entrepreneur, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. Annual Gender and Women's Studies Carlson Lecture.
	Please note: This event will not be archived online. However, please click here to view notes from the presentation.

November 5, What are the Common Core State Standards Expectations? Questions and answers with CCSS writers Susan Pimentel (English language arts) and Doug Sovde (mathematics).
	Video of the presentation (available live the day of the event and recorded thereafter)

November 12, The State of Our Rhode Island Students. Panel discussion moderated by Maureen Moakley, URI professor of political science and political commentator for Rhode Island PBS and Rhode Island NPR, with leaders from the Economic Progress Institute, Rhode Island Kids Count, Council for Exceptional Children, and the URI Veterans Affairs Program.
	Video of the presentation (available live the day of the event and recorded thereafter)

November 20 (Wednesday), Elevating All Students. Address by Freeman Hrabowski, president, University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
	Video of the presentation (available live the day of the event and recorded thereafter)

Additional Event November 26, 2:00 p.m. Henry Giroux will speak via Skype with Honors Colloquium students about his book, Education and the Crisis in Public Values: Challenging the Assault on Teachers, Students, & Public Education.
	Video of the presentation (available live the day of the event and recorded thereafter)

November 26, Pathway to Freedom: The University of Rhode Island Talent Development Experience. Panel moderated by Edward Givens, assistant director of Talent Development and Earl N. Smith III, adjunct professor of Africana Studies and assistant dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
	Video of the presentation (available live the day of the event and recorded thereafter)

CANCELED - December 3, The Beauty Salon: Aesthetics and Education. Radio show with Providence Mayor Angel Taveras.

December 10, Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland? Distinguished International Visiting Scholar address by Pasi Sahlberg, director general of the Centre for International Mobility and Cooperation, Helsinki, Finland.
	Video of the presentation (available live the day of the event and recorded thereafter)

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If you want to know more about this blog......,

The purpose of this Blog is to create dialogue regarding the status of HS Social Studies in RI. It is not designed to discuss elementary or Middle School issues. It is not designed to discuss HS Math issues, and it's not designed to discuss Social Studies issues in Oregon. Although readers are welcome to post on the aforementioned topics, the focus will nonetheless be on HS Social Studies in RI. I have sat through all too many generic Professional Development days, and read far too many pages in K-12 Education texts where they talk about Mrs. Brown's second grade class. Both formats expect me to apply this generic information about teaching to my HS US History class. Frequently, it was and is a stretch! Additionally, it seems to me that we have far too many people with Elementary School backgrounds making educational policy decisions that might be appropriate at the pre-HS level, but not at the HS level.

The idea for this Blog came about after my conversations with numerous HS Social Studies teachers in my capacity of observing Salve Regina student teachers at a wide variety of RI high schools. Additionally, I have many Social Studies colleagues in a variety of high schools inside and outside RI as a result of my attending Model United Nations conferences. I noticed that there were many common concerns that these teachers had in common. My sense is that these Social Studies teachers expressed their concerns and shared best practices with others in their department, but didn't necessarily have a non-NEA forum to discuss common issues with HS Social Studies teachers from other schools.

Lastly, I feel like I'm in a unique position to assist the pendulum in swinging, which I observe many HS teachers are looking forward to. I have 32 years of HS teaching under my belt; I have 5 years of experience teaching at URI, so I have some ability to evaluate how the product of RI HS Social Studies courses fares at the next level. I also have lots of experience in the Salve Regina Education Department where I have gotten a greater sense for educational reforms, some of which I support, and some of which I have serious concerns about. Additionally, I have had the opportunity to speak to many Social Studies teachers, in a wide variety of settings, and hear their concerns. Finally, I feel I'm in a unique position, because I feel like I'm a lot more free to express my opinions regarding these matters than many other teachers are in the state.

In closing, I'd like to admit the following:
1) I like to write, and I like the Blog format. I used it frequently with my URI classes, and I also, for a period of time, managed a Blog that dealt with appropriate youth soccer coaching ideas.
2) I don't like to complain without doing something about the issues. Hence, at 4 different times in my 3 decades of SKHS teaching, I wrote lengthy pieces defending SKHS, which were published in the SK newspapers. My hope is that this Blog may be a forum to express concern, but may also, eventually, lead to action to improve education for our students.
3) I'm semi-retired and have some time on my hands.