Just in time for the Re-authorization of the ESEA....
Thomas L. Friedman, an internationally renowned author, reporter, and columnist, refers positively to TONY WAGNER of Harvard. Wagner recommends the Finnish Polytechnical Education model for a planned economy.
I've written about Wagner HERE, and the Finnish model HERE and HERE and HERE. Especially see my blog report, "Stotsky's Pedigreed Petticoat Showing," which discusses Wagner's education philosophy in his film The Finland Phenomenon (HERE).
To view the Friedman video, click HERE. For the reference to Wagner, start at 2.59 minutes.
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| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IclRM-yYXc0&feature=youtu.be |
The groundwork for this Soviet Polytechnical education model was laid thirty years ago. In 1985, the door was opened by the U.S.-Soviet Education Agreement signed by Presidents Reagan and USSR President Gorbachev, and the Carnegie-Soviet Academy of Science Agreement to Develop Computer Courseware in Critical Thinking for Early Elementary School Children.
A year later in 1986 the National Academy of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in Cambridge, Massachussetts, sent out an informational letter, “ACLS [American Council of Learned Societies]-USSR Ministry of Education Commission on Education,” describing joint U.S.-Soviet education activities.
Details of this extraordinary agenda for cooperation with “The Evil Empire” include subjects that sound very familiar these days:
Scholars from the American Council of Learned Societies and the Ministry of Education of the Soviet Union met in the United States in 1986 and agreed to establish a Commission on Education that will be responsible for joint scholarly relations in pedagogy and related fields between the United States and the Soviet Union. Some major joint U.S.- Soviet project themes are:
- Methods of Teaching and Learning School Science and Math Subjects Using Computers;
- Theory of Teaching and Learning;
- Psychological and Pedagogical Problems of Teaching in the Development of Pre-School and School-Age Children; and
- Problems of Teaching Children with Special Needs. [excerpted from page 231 of my book, reformatted for blog posting]
Photo from Huffington Post article HERE
Related Posts:
"Birds of a Feather Flock Together"
DOWN WITH THE FINNISH CURRICULUM!
U.S.-USSR Education Exchange Agreements
Stotsky's Pedigreed Petticoat Showing
