Education Sunday (4)

Another approach to education would be to look at what is a good practice. There are institutes, teachers, schools and researchers that already work that way that I've encountered in the Netherlands on internet. I don't know any worldwide examples but I'm sure they exist. However, serendip is a site where psychologists and biologists get into discussions on the human mind during their studies and is one of my favorite examples of a good practice teaching. I have more on this blog somewhere... (this blog is starting to look like my purse).

fluids in space and theorizing

That there are limits to visualisation is clear when we look at how research handles a problem like fluidity of a substance in space. There is a difference between thought and practice. This means that we have to experience whether what we think is true is indeed true. But we need to pre-think as well. If we don't pre-think, we might make mistakes like not taking the right material to do experiments in space. Thus the importance of theorizing. It gives direction to the experiment and is our best shot at doing the right thing.

Aggression

In England there are successful experiments involving the playground. The playground is divided into zones (zoneparc). Aggression involves many aspects, such as unemployment, relationships, communication between parents and boys, television as a role model, community...We should list these, list good practices and let scientists evaluate the measures. I also think assessment of how each child learns may have a profound positive preventive effect. We really need to continue to reform schools into more adaptive places, where children learn basics, e.g. time-management ("be quiet for ten minutes") and sublimation of emotions ("I'm angry, I'm going to make a drawing about it").