Ann Qiu at the recent IDEC in Boulder, CO with Sugata Mitra
by Ann Qiu
In response to Thomas Friedman's October 23rd Op-Ed in the New York Times
When I got a link of "The Shanghai Secret" on 27th Oct. and was asked to write what I know about Shanghai as a local born, locally educated, independent educator, I was hesitant. One reason was it was not so easy for me to access the New York Times because of the "G. Wall." (If you visited the Great Wall, you can image how powerful the Golden Wall is for blocking the Internet.)
However, when I finally read what Mr. Friedman said to the American people through this very influential newspaper, I couldn't help feeling upset. As a famous American journalist, how much was he allowed to explore in Shanghai? Being blocked by language, how much was he able to hear and understand what was really happening around him in his short-term visit? An American who has interests in China at least should have some basic understanding of Chinese contemporary history.
To me, Mr. Friedman is not such a person. Indeed, he is a real foreigner. The worst thing is misinterpretation when a person just wants a surface answer of the enviable result achieved by Shanghai students in 2009 to support the standardized testing based education model, and persuade American students to "beat" the Chinese in phony competitions.
Please be aware that a lot of young Chinese are studying abroard! This number is rising annually, and the students' ages are increasingly younger. It is common sense to Chinese people that we cannot change the monopolized and red-coloured education system; but now, we can, at least, vote with our feet. Please ask yourself why the wealthy class of Chinese parents want to spend a large amount of money on "the worse education" in the USA? Are they really fools? They must have their reasons!
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| Community & Education Interview Series: Pedro Noguera |
 Pedro Noguera is professor of education and executive director of the Metropolitan Center at New York University and author of Creating the Opportunity to Learn and The Trouble With Black Boys: ...And Other Reflections on Race, Equity, and the Future of Public Education, among many others.
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| Maravillas: Alternative Education in Mexico |
Middle school students, teachers, and families from the modest town of Presa de Maravillas, Zacatecas show us that an alternative education system is possible, when teaching and learning are interest-driven.
Watch a 30-minute documentary of this unique alternative education approach here:
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New Review of AERO's One Size Does Not Fit All
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Review from the Texas Child Care Quarterly
One Size Does Not Fit All: A Student's Assessment of School
Written by Nikhil Goyal. Alternative Education Resource Organization, 2012. ($19.95 paperback)
This book is worth reading for its frankness and candor. Plus early childhood educators will feel validated by what a young, bright student says about the role of play in learning and teachers as heroes.
Nikhil Goyal, who was a 17-year-old in a public New York high school last year, found school so "irrelevant and boring" that he wrote a book to give students a voice.
He started his research using a range of resources, from early 20th century education reformer John Dewey to contemporary career and work analyst Daniel Pink. Using Skype and an iPhone, Goyal interviewed more than 100 experts, including Howard Gardner (who proposed multiple intelligences) and Diane Ravitch (a former U.S. assistant secretary of education) as well as teachers, policy makers, parents, and students.
The resulting recommendations call for a radical overhaul of our education system.
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by Jerry Mintz
On December 19th I visited Manhattan Free School with AERO staff member Kamala Bhusal and her two year old daughter. I was interested to see how they are doing and to find out about their new enterprise, creating an Agile Learning Center as part of the school. Here are a few pictures and a description of what they are doing. Among other things they have built a 3D printer that the students have learned to use:
 The Agile Learning Center @ MFS uses leading edge tools to support young people in their self-directed learning and living. Agile Learning Centers are designed with an intentional social architecture to evoke a specific hidden curriculum. In an Agile Learning Center, students are learning to:
- Identify their own needs and priorities
- Create projects which accomplish those priorities
- Organize their time and activities around those projects
- Focus and follow through on those projects toward a creative end
- Share their creative output (in a digital portfolio)
- Reflect on personal progress and impediments (in a personal blog)
- Co-create a collaborative, supportive social environment
- Be Responsible for their action and inaction
- Engage in new technologies to develop digital literacy
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Do you have a news or resource item you think Education Revolution newsletter readers would find useful? Send it to [email protected].
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Thank you for your ongoing support. With your help, we will make learner-centered alternatives available to everyone!
Sincerely,
Jerry Mintz
Executive Director
Alternative Education Resource Organization
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