Saturday, June 30, 2012

U.S. best practices used in Dutch schools!

Veteran Colorado teacher Vicki Heisler shares this memory  from 2000; before NCLB was enacted!

".. I will always remember.. friends from The Netherlands talking with me about how foolish our education system was not to adopt the recommendations of our professional associations into our classrooms. They made it clear that the Dutch schools were using these best practices in their own schools successfully.

Now I understand that the Dutch may be following the market-driven practices which are crippling our children. I hope this is NOT true.

Our system is destroying young minds rather than nurturing them. We claim to celebrate diversity, but measure standardization. Without creativity and innovation, what will our future look like--a nation of mindless hyper consumers dependent upon others for every thought?"

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Read here about her using primary sources from the Library of Congress to support effective instructional practices:  http://www.loc.gov/teachers/tps/quarterly/elementary/spotlight.html