When I enter our learning space I will be prepared to learn, to participate, to engage, to discover, to play, to inquire, to create.
We are all different. Our opinions are different. We all learn differently. Our learning will be differentiated.
Respect makes all the difference.
We are not all equal, but we must all be ethical, just and fair.
Classes are not rooms; they are learning communities.
Our community will use technology effectively, affectively and appropriately.
Curriculum describes and directs; it is not to be prescribed or directed.
Knowledge is static. Synthesis is dynamic. We create meaning.
Collaboration is a series of learned skills.
Grades are measurements; Rubrics offer feedback.
Self-reflection is mandatory.
When I leave I will be more literate, more resourceful, more involved, more collaborative, more connected, more thoughtful and less willing to accept injustice of any kind.
I will make a positive difference in my world.
Inspiration for this manifesto stemmed from reading Christopher D. Sessums’ ‘The Future Begins Now: School 2.0 Manifesto‘… although I took a different slant.
School 2.0 on Wikispaces has a Manifesto page that includes Sessums and other worthy contributors.
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Feb. 11th, I found a list of 10 things we need to unlearn in Will Richardson’s blog post. I think a number of these things ‘fit’ with this manifesto… Participants can’t fully engage in learning, as described above, unless some things are unlearned about how schools look at and do things in the classroom. Here is Will’s introduction to the 10 things we need to unlearn.
“There is no curriculum for unlearning, and, of course, in many ways it’s simply learning to see things differently or to at least be open to it. To me at least, the key is attempting to understand how these technologies can transform our own learning practice (and, I would guess, our unlearning practice as well.) If we can get started on that road, it can become much easier to re-envision our classrooms and our schools.”
He ends with this one, “We need to unlearn the premise that real change can happen just by rethinking what happens inside the school walls and understand that education is now a community undertaking on many different levels.”
Worth the read, and worth reflecting on!
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Originally posted: February 5th, 2007Reflection upon re-reading and re-posting: I think this is far more philosophical than practical, but I do like it! There are a number of points made in my manifesto that could be the seed to an entire post, (something I may still do). I am definitely going to expand on, and explore some of these ideas further. I don’t really like the start: “When I enter I will…” because it begs the question, ‘enter what?’ However, I’m not sure how to meaningfully change it, so I left it as-is. *Update: November 7th, 2009 – I changed it to “When I enter our learning space…” which was inspired by my recent Learning Spaces blog post. Question: When we empower learners, should they not have certain expectations and responsibilities placed upon them? Should we not have them create their own participant’s manifesto? It has been a long time since I have found a ‘voice’ like the one I used in this post. I’ve never been able to will myself into such a creative space, it is more like a mood that comes over me than it is a destination. I think that is why I like Tomas’ art so much. He seems to get to a creative space on demand. I’ve always been a photographer who likes the subject of a picture to be sharp… but Tomas has a gift and I really enjoy his paintings even though they go outside of my comfort zone. It was nice to go and check out his blog again. [Update: Tomas’ blog is no longer available, and neither are his drawings, one of which I had shared above.] Will’s blog introduced me to the idea of unlearning, which has stuck with me quite a bit since. |
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