Just returned from a terrific three day stint at Squeakfest in Chicago. I have so many memories and impressions that I probably won’t get them all in one post.
So what is Squeakfest? It’s an annual (for five years now) gathering of Squeak users, developers, advocates, and teachers. This year I would guess we have 50-75 people, and since it was my first time, I don’t know if that’s up from last year. Alan Kay (the inventor of Squeak and all-around Computer Guru/Visionary Guy) was not able to be there this year due to a physical ailment which prevented him from flying. However, the keynote address was given by Seymour Papert and provided enough food for thought for the next few years.
OK, my overall impressions — a FANTASTIC conference! If you have any interest in Squeak, computers in education, or even educational reform, you owe it to yourself to get there one of these summers. We had attendees from all over the US and around the globe: Nepal, Japan, Brazil, Columbia are the ones I can remember. The exciting thing was to meet and share ideas with people with different backgrounds and talents.
I thought that my first post would be a good place to share my notes on Seymour Papert’s keynote address. My notes are not comprehensive but rather a list of things he said that really struck me and made me think. If you want to hear the whole address, you can go here. And if you want to see it, you can go here. But below are my notes, if you want a flavour of the talk.
NOTES –
Schools have de-revolutionized the computer, like a host deals with a virus. Are we at a point where we can re-open the question: “Is the role of the computer to serve the curriculum or make it obsolete?”
On papert.org, “Why School Reform Is Impossible”. Change has to evolve, not be imposed. For instance, constructivist research: the scholarly papers tell others what to do, the very opposite of the constructivist philosophy.
Change can only happen in small steps that are mindful, with the big goal in mind. It has to mimic evolution, be a grassroots movement. We are planting seeds. Ask yourself, “What can I do to plant seeds for the system? Where is there an entry place in the system? Where can I get in?”
What are the conditions for change? Are we at the tipping point now? We spend a lot of time working on individual units, but not on the Big Question: how can we change everything?
Historical detour — the New Math. This was a Big Change, and it was brought about by panic. Panic and crisis, fuelled by Sputnik. It takes a crisis to make change happen. In the case of the New Math, the change did not keep once the panic died down. Also, the New Math people ignored the social resonance of the New Math, i.e.: parents just didn’t get it.
By contrast, computers are much more acceptable in our culture today than the New Math was in its day. And we may be near the tipping point with what Thomas Friedman wrote about in The World Is Flat. We may be near some crisis once this understanding gets through to educators.
It is self-indulgent of us as teachers to say that we can spend 3 hours a week with a student and give them wonderful experiences. What about the billion other children on the planet? What about the rest of the hours for that child?
Our task is to identify powerful ideas that have been dis-empowered. Then re-empower them.
Closing analogy — imagine a world where the only food studied is suet. So we would have suet doctors and suet dieticians, etc. Broaching the subject of other foods would be met with silence or “but we have so much research on suet”. So the educational system must change completely.
END OF NOTES
OK, I’m sure I missed all kinds of things, but check the links above if you want to hear or see the whole thing. I personally found it inspiring, encouraging, and visionary. I’ll write more about why next.
And if you were there and want to add something important or meaningful to you that I missed, please reply!
headline.
Today is Day 2 of the school year. Yesterday was, as expected, exhilirating and exhausting. But everybody seems excited to be back, and we’ve got such a great bunch of kids that it’s hard not to be energized! (oooh, that’s 4 “e” adjectives in 2 sentences, for those keeping score at home..)
I’m a big believer in using social software for educational purposes, especially if the software is open source. So when something about Elgg crossed my desk (actually was in my Bloglines feed), I decided to check it out.
