This is fascinating (and I love the Baldwin quote so thank you)
I’d agree with the context/culture critique, I think. I do wonder about scale, though, too.
With Baldwin front of mind, would you say that the real issue isn’t whether small context privilege-based innovations can be scaled, but whether innovations that can be easily scaled are, almost by definition, likely to never be transformative enough?
I do wonder about scale too. I think the innovations are useful in that they point out the possibilities, but it takes concerted effort to make a difference. I am a huge admirer of UNESCO (their African History publications are immense), but their lack of success shows that it will need more than a few schools and supranational organisation to make it work for many schools in different countries and with examination boards. I have to believe it is possible and Hughes opens space for the discussion.
... and anything other than pencil and paper testing accentuates the exisiting inequalities between the higher education applicants. But other than asking 'deeper questions' what are educators supposed to do? What should people like Conrad Hughes actually be doing in his privileged educational context? (Asking for a friend).
This is a good challenge and I think there are a number of things that can be done at different levels. 1. Use the privileged position to support schools through exchanges/professional development and also open up the resources to surrounding communities. Speaking personally, one of the reasons why I share what I make is because of the privileged position I am in. 2. Get involved in a school that is embedded in the government system. I was so pleased to be part of this project at Berkhamsted. 3. Acknowledge the privilege in presentations/publications that enable the innovations and consider what might work in different contexts (and yes, trials some). 4. Get UNESCO (which does some great work) to really do some research on this and come up with a model that is trialed with prestigious universities. The points after that become a little more radical for an institution...
I should state that there is always agency, just depends on how heavy the structure sits on a particular person's shoulders. In that sense, a universal plan is likely to fall flat. However, I'm very much on the Baldwin side of the argument...
This is fascinating (and I love the Baldwin quote so thank you)
I’d agree with the context/culture critique, I think. I do wonder about scale, though, too.
With Baldwin front of mind, would you say that the real issue isn’t whether small context privilege-based innovations can be scaled, but whether innovations that can be easily scaled are, almost by definition, likely to never be transformative enough?
I do wonder about scale too. I think the innovations are useful in that they point out the possibilities, but it takes concerted effort to make a difference. I am a huge admirer of UNESCO (their African History publications are immense), but their lack of success shows that it will need more than a few schools and supranational organisation to make it work for many schools in different countries and with examination boards. I have to believe it is possible and Hughes opens space for the discussion.
... and anything other than pencil and paper testing accentuates the exisiting inequalities between the higher education applicants. But other than asking 'deeper questions' what are educators supposed to do? What should people like Conrad Hughes actually be doing in his privileged educational context? (Asking for a friend).
This is a good challenge and I think there are a number of things that can be done at different levels. 1. Use the privileged position to support schools through exchanges/professional development and also open up the resources to surrounding communities. Speaking personally, one of the reasons why I share what I make is because of the privileged position I am in. 2. Get involved in a school that is embedded in the government system. I was so pleased to be part of this project at Berkhamsted. 3. Acknowledge the privilege in presentations/publications that enable the innovations and consider what might work in different contexts (and yes, trials some). 4. Get UNESCO (which does some great work) to really do some research on this and come up with a model that is trialed with prestigious universities. The points after that become a little more radical for an institution...
I should state that there is always agency, just depends on how heavy the structure sits on a particular person's shoulders. In that sense, a universal plan is likely to fall flat. However, I'm very much on the Baldwin side of the argument...