Are You A Whole Teacher? A Self-Assessment To Understand

Reposted from Teachthought:

Whole Child Learning is a thing; Whole Teaching should be a thing too, no? Here at TeachThought, Jackie Gerstein’s usergeneratededucation is at the top of our reading list, in large part for her thinking about the human side of formal education. Much of our content–that is, the content here at TeachThought, and that on her site–overlaps because of our shared perspective on teaching and learning: self-directed learning, the role of play in learning, the idea of citizenship, student-centered learning (and student-centered teaching), and more.

We’ve also long been interested in the work of Costa and Kallick with the Habits of Mind (See What Are The Habits Of Mind? and 16 Strategies For Integrating The Habits Of Mind) as wonderful supplements to an academic curriculum. More and more, they’re richness has us wondering if they’re not more important than the “content” itself.

These ideas have pushed us to consider what it is that students really need to know in a modern world, which we’re going to have spend some time this year thinking about. And it is in that whole Habits of Mind/new knowledge demands context comes Jackie’s “Twelve 21st Century Skills & Attributes: Educator Self-Assessment.” Jackie has framed this concept (modern teaching) through 12 characteristics, and again through teacher self-assessment questions for each characteristic. The end result is a shift from academia to people to can supplement standards-based teaching and learning, or replace it altogether if we want to get all progressive and avant garde about it.

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