Changing Education Paradigms

Just saw this video (sorry, Blogger won't let me embed it): http://www.vimeo.com/24489852

This has been one of those game changing videos for me. Amazing and very true.

I loved the bit on ADHD... my own thoughts: I believe it exists, and I had a professor in teachers college who had a pretty remarkable opinion: That it is a modification in how our brains work, and that it is likely happening on a genetic level.  Considering all of the various technologies and the multitasking required to operate some of them, I think (and so did she) that ADHD is a modification on our brains that allowed people to to do these multiple tasks better.  Ever see an ADHD kid playing a video game?  Some people watch and say "How do you do that, its so fast?" or "How do you keep track of it all?"  And why can't everyone do it?  Because not everyone has caught up yet.  Not in a good or bad way, they just haven't.  Considering the massive advances in technology in the last 30 years, its no surprise that some are still feeling left behind.

I made it all the way through public school, high school, college and university with virtually no support at all (this was a time when real knowledge of ADHD was in its infancy) and I did it and still do it without any kind of medicinal aids.  I think the speaker on the video hit the nail on the head about drugging kids up.  ADHD can be managed without medication, but it does take work and effort.  It seems that nobody wants to find solutions anymore, just quick fix solutions that make problems go away.  And ADHD is certainly NOT a problem, at least not in my eyes.

I certainly applaud the speaker in this video and I certainly agree with a lot of his ideas regarding education.  The paradigms in education certainly need to change.  As a supply teacher, I meet many different students, in many situations and to a very large degree we do certainly turn off students to education.  However, it is hard considering the demands of the ministry of education, the school board and the curriculum to keep everyone turned on.  The mindsets of the higher ups still dwell on the older ideas of education, and unfortunately, I find it to be a bit of a trap as well.  Its very easy to hang on to those old notions, because everyone around you is doing it too.  If anyone has any suggestions how to make change, on a large scale, lets do it, please?  Its easy to make changes in one room, but all the rooms need to change too.