As we prepare for our national elections, it is well worth remembering that the highest office in American democracy is not the President, but the citizen. In a democracy, “we the people” – the body of citizens – must rule. Elected officials, including our President, are only our representatives; they exercise the powers we grant to them.
The citizen bears not only rights, but responsibilities. Our vote and our participation in free and fair elections that choose our representatives is not simply the greatest power and right of the citizenry, won by Americans who struggled courageously throughout our history to extend the franchise to all, regardless of class, sex and race. Just as importantly, it is our greatest civic responsibility. The strength and resilience, the purpose and ends, of democracy rests upon the active participation of the citizenry in elections: to the extent that government does not have a clear mandate of the citizenry due to widespread abstention from the electoral process, its authority is greatly diminished. That is the import of Thomas Jefferson’s and John Locke’s famous notion that legitimate government is based on the consent of the governed.
Teachers have a unique and special responsibility in a democracy: we are citizens in our own right, and we are the educators of the next generation of citizens. Properly understood, these two roles are inextricably linked, one to the other. One does not educate youth into democratic citizenship by lecture and dictate. Rather, it is essential that we teachers model good citizenship and that our classrooms embody the fundamental values of free expression, fairness and thoughtful deliberation that define all democratic decision-making, including free elections. Students learn how to be good citizens by actual practicing the skills of citizenship in the classroom and in the school. In so doing, they develop the capacity to think critically and independently and to engage in dialogue and debate on matters political. In this respect, presidential elections are a special “teachable moment,” in which students are unusually motivated and predisposed to engage in the practice of those skills, taking the first steps in critical thought and political debate. At this and other times, a teacher must be a good democratic citizen to be an educator of democratic citizenship.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Scientific Attitude - Overview / key points discussed in the seesion
A person must possess certain attitudes to be succesful in making investigations.
the following some attitudes:
1.Curiosity or inquisitiveness
2.Objectivity
3.Open-mindedness
4.Perseverance
5.Humility
6.Ability to accept failure
7.skepticism
---
the following some attitudes:
1.Curiosity or inquisitiveness
2.Objectivity
3.Open-mindedness
4.Perseverance
5.Humility
6.Ability to accept failure
7.skepticism
---
National Integration – An Essay to understand the value of National Integration
India has many races, nationalities, castes, subscastes and communities. It is true that societies that have been integrated into bonds of unity have always enjoyed peace, stability, prosperity and permanence. And those torn by mutual distruptive tendencies among various sections of the society have always been short lived and become non- existent. The national integration is the process of uniting different people from all walks of life into a single whole. The most serious problem being faced by India in present circumstances is, how to develop an atmosphere of national consciousness among so varied a people.
Indians already have suffered for long periods, the pangs of enslavement and servitude. It is India in the whole world which has to suffer under foreign rulers for more than seven hundred years. The separatist tendencies among people and kings have always resulted in the fall of our kingdoms. Our country was always divided into large number of small kingdoms which were mostly at daggers end. There has been a lack of national consciousness. The internal disputes among the Rajput kings allowed Muslim invaders to establish their foothold here. Then the Britishers were able to create rifts between various kings and princes and thus established their supremacy. It was only overthrown when Indian nationhood joined together by unparalled acumen of some great Indian leaders who became creators of history.
There is a need to make efforts for creating emotional integration or a sense of unity. The need of the hour is national integration. It should be taught at the very beginning, in all schools and colleges all over the country that India is one and only one. The difference between various cultures are just superficial and basically it is only one. What is needed is superior interpretations, synthesis of the power of the mind that can give rise to a vision of the whole and oneness. The school and college teaching material should be suitably revised wherein importance and need of oneness should be emphasised. From one end of the country to the other end, regular long distance tours must be conducted so as to foster emotional integration among the young students of our country. Steps must be taken to see that, there are no sectional appeals so that disunity among the people does not increase manifold.
To bring about national integration, there are many techniques. It can be forced out, or can be made to strengthen from within the core of hearts. The result by way of exercise of power would always be weak, unsuccessful and it would be for a temporary phase only. But when the sense of national integration stems from within, it would be strong stable and ever-lasting.
British government brought about national integration by way of their needs. For the first time during the British rule, the whole of India came to be governed from one centre and all regions of the country from West to East and South to North obeyed instructions and advice from the central power. This was because the God of freedom was the same and realized all over the country. The national unity became more emotional when the country fought a united struggle for freedom. Emotional integration is the basic foundation on which the main structure of national integration can be created.
There is a rich cultural heritage in India. All of us are inheritors to several grand treasurers in the fields of music, dance, drama, fine arts and paintings, sculpture and theatre. Our seers and sages have left behind a tradition of piety, penance, conquest of passion and spiritual greatness. Our cultural unity is further exemplified by the great temples of the South, the caves of Khajuraho and Ajanta and Ellora which are glittering examples of proficiency of India in the field of architecture and sculpture. India classical music is built on the concept of ragas and talas. Each raga is regarded appropriage to a certain emotion, a certain mood suitable for a specified time of the day or night. In the modern times, people like Pandit Ravi Shanker have taken the Indian music to great heights in the whole world and thus have bridged the gap between the East and the West in the field of music.
Today the intellectuals of Indian society can give the right direction as the country is standing at the crossroads of failures and achievements. The intellectuals must come out of their narrow cells of detachment and awake up to their responsibilities towards the general masses. Through national integration, we will prosper and flourish and dominate the others who are characterized by divisive forces. We will carry with us, a power and strength, solidity and solidarity and an element of cohesiveness which will impart to us further permanence and stay in present struggling world.
Indians already have suffered for long periods, the pangs of enslavement and servitude. It is India in the whole world which has to suffer under foreign rulers for more than seven hundred years. The separatist tendencies among people and kings have always resulted in the fall of our kingdoms. Our country was always divided into large number of small kingdoms which were mostly at daggers end. There has been a lack of national consciousness. The internal disputes among the Rajput kings allowed Muslim invaders to establish their foothold here. Then the Britishers were able to create rifts between various kings and princes and thus established their supremacy. It was only overthrown when Indian nationhood joined together by unparalled acumen of some great Indian leaders who became creators of history.
There is a need to make efforts for creating emotional integration or a sense of unity. The need of the hour is national integration. It should be taught at the very beginning, in all schools and colleges all over the country that India is one and only one. The difference between various cultures are just superficial and basically it is only one. What is needed is superior interpretations, synthesis of the power of the mind that can give rise to a vision of the whole and oneness. The school and college teaching material should be suitably revised wherein importance and need of oneness should be emphasised. From one end of the country to the other end, regular long distance tours must be conducted so as to foster emotional integration among the young students of our country. Steps must be taken to see that, there are no sectional appeals so that disunity among the people does not increase manifold.
To bring about national integration, there are many techniques. It can be forced out, or can be made to strengthen from within the core of hearts. The result by way of exercise of power would always be weak, unsuccessful and it would be for a temporary phase only. But when the sense of national integration stems from within, it would be strong stable and ever-lasting.
British government brought about national integration by way of their needs. For the first time during the British rule, the whole of India came to be governed from one centre and all regions of the country from West to East and South to North obeyed instructions and advice from the central power. This was because the God of freedom was the same and realized all over the country. The national unity became more emotional when the country fought a united struggle for freedom. Emotional integration is the basic foundation on which the main structure of national integration can be created.
There is a rich cultural heritage in India. All of us are inheritors to several grand treasurers in the fields of music, dance, drama, fine arts and paintings, sculpture and theatre. Our seers and sages have left behind a tradition of piety, penance, conquest of passion and spiritual greatness. Our cultural unity is further exemplified by the great temples of the South, the caves of Khajuraho and Ajanta and Ellora which are glittering examples of proficiency of India in the field of architecture and sculpture. India classical music is built on the concept of ragas and talas. Each raga is regarded appropriage to a certain emotion, a certain mood suitable for a specified time of the day or night. In the modern times, people like Pandit Ravi Shanker have taken the Indian music to great heights in the whole world and thus have bridged the gap between the East and the West in the field of music.
Today the intellectuals of Indian society can give the right direction as the country is standing at the crossroads of failures and achievements. The intellectuals must come out of their narrow cells of detachment and awake up to their responsibilities towards the general masses. Through national integration, we will prosper and flourish and dominate the others who are characterized by divisive forces. We will carry with us, a power and strength, solidity and solidarity and an element of cohesiveness which will impart to us further permanence and stay in present struggling world.
Meaning of Values
• Values are those things that really matter to each of us ... the ideas and beliefs we hold as special. Caring for others, for example, is a value; so is the freedom to express our opinions.
• We learn these values like honesty, caring, cooperation, etc through observation at home, social settings, etc.
• A value system is a set of consistent ethic values (more specifically the personal and cultural values) and measures used for the purpose of ethical or ideological integrity. A well defined value system is a moral code.
• One or more people can hold a value system. Likewise, a value system can apply to either one person or many. A personal value system is held by and applied to one individual only. A communal or cultural value system is held by and applied to a community/group/society. Some communal value systems are reflected in the form of legal codes or law.
• We learn these values like honesty, caring, cooperation, etc through observation at home, social settings, etc.
• A value system is a set of consistent ethic values (more specifically the personal and cultural values) and measures used for the purpose of ethical or ideological integrity. A well defined value system is a moral code.
• One or more people can hold a value system. Likewise, a value system can apply to either one person or many. A personal value system is held by and applied to one individual only. A communal or cultural value system is held by and applied to a community/group/society. Some communal value systems are reflected in the form of legal codes or law.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Meaning of Education
To read more about meaning of education click on the following link http://www.teachersmind.com/education.htm
21st century education
Click on the follwing link to read about 'Education in the 21st Century or Futuristic Education'
http://www.21stcenturyschools.com/What_is_21st_Century_Education.htm
http://www.21stcenturyschools.com/What_is_21st_Century_Education.htm
Education in 21st Century - Futuristic Education
The 21st Century
The new millennium was ushered in by a dramatic technological revolution. We now live in an increasingly diverse, globalized, and complex, media-saturated society. According to Dr. Douglas Kellner at UCLA this technological revolution will have a greater impact on society than the transition from an oral to a print culture.1
Today's kindergarteners will be retiring in the year 2067. We have no idea of what the world will look in five years, much less 60 years, yet we are charged with preparing our students for life in that world. Our students are facing many emerging issues such as global warming, famine, poverty, health issues, a global population explosion and other environmental and social issues. These issues lead to a need for students to be able to communicate, function and create change personally, socially, economically and politically on local, national and global levels.
Even kindergarten children can make a difference in the world by participating in real-life, real-world service learning projects. You're never too young, or too old, to make your voice heard and create change that makes the world a better place.
Emerging technologies and resulting globalization also provide unlimited possibilities for exciting new discoveries and developments such as new forms of energy, medical advances, restoration of environmentally ravaged areas, communications, and exploration into space and into the depths of the oceans. The possibilities are unlimited.
The new millennium was ushered in by a dramatic technological revolution. We now live in an increasingly diverse, globalized, and complex, media-saturated society. According to Dr. Douglas Kellner at UCLA this technological revolution will have a greater impact on society than the transition from an oral to a print culture.1
Today's kindergarteners will be retiring in the year 2067. We have no idea of what the world will look in five years, much less 60 years, yet we are charged with preparing our students for life in that world. Our students are facing many emerging issues such as global warming, famine, poverty, health issues, a global population explosion and other environmental and social issues. These issues lead to a need for students to be able to communicate, function and create change personally, socially, economically and politically on local, national and global levels.
Even kindergarten children can make a difference in the world by participating in real-life, real-world service learning projects. You're never too young, or too old, to make your voice heard and create change that makes the world a better place.
Emerging technologies and resulting globalization also provide unlimited possibilities for exciting new discoveries and developments such as new forms of energy, medical advances, restoration of environmentally ravaged areas, communications, and exploration into space and into the depths of the oceans. The possibilities are unlimited.
21st Century Schools
The schools need to focus on developing 21st century skills. However, the believe that authentic education addresses the “whole child”, the “whole person”, and does not limit our professional development and curriculum design to workplace readiness holds true.
21st century skills learned through our curriculum, which is interdisciplinary, integrated, project-based, and more, include and are learned within a project-based curriculum by:
Collaboration – the ability to work in teams
Critical thinking – taking on complex problems
Oral communications – presenting
Written communications – writing
Technology – use technology
Citizenship – take on civic and global issues; service learning
Learn about careers – through internships
Content – conduct research and do all of the above
21st century skills learned through our curriculum, which is interdisciplinary, integrated, project-based, and more, include and are learned within a project-based curriculum by:
Collaboration – the ability to work in teams
Critical thinking – taking on complex problems
Oral communications – presenting
Written communications – writing
Technology – use technology
Citizenship – take on civic and global issues; service learning
Learn about careers – through internships
Content – conduct research and do all of the above
“School”, “Teacher”, “Learner” and “Curriculum” for the 21st Century
How should education be structured to meet the needs of students in this 21st century world? How do we now define “School”, “Teacher” “Learner” and "Curriculum"?
Schools in the 21st century will be laced with a project-based curriculum for life aimed at engaging students in addressing real-world problems, issues important to humanity, and questions that matter.
This is a dramatic departure from the factory-model education of the past. It is abandonment, finally, of textbook-driven, teacher-centered, paper and pencil schooling. It means a new way of understanding the concept of “knowledge”, a new definition of the “educated person”. A new way of designing and delivering the curriculum is required.
We offer the following new definitions for “School”, “Teacher” and “Learner” appropriate for the 21st century:
"Schools" will go “from ‘buildings’ to nerve centers, with walls that are porous and transparent, connecting teachers, students and the community to the wealth of knowledge that exists in the world.”
“Teacher” - From primary role as a dispenser of information to orchestrator of learning and helping students turn information into knowledge, and knowledge into wisdom.
The 21st century will require knowledge generation, not just information delivery, and schools will need to create a “culture of inquiry”.
"Learner” - In the past a learner was a young person who went to school, spent a specified amount of time in certain courses, received passing grades and graduated. Today we must see learners in a new context:
“First – we must maintain student interest by helping them see how what they are learning prepares them for life in the real world.
“Second – we must instill curiosity, which is fundamental to lifelong learning.
“Third – we must be flexible in how we teach.
“Fourth – we must excite learners to become even more resourceful so that they will continue to learn outside the formal school day.”
So what will schools look like, exactly? What will the curriculum look like? How will this 21st century curriculum be organized, and how will it impact the way we design and build schools, how we assess students, how we purchase resources, how we acquire and utilize the new technologies, and what does all this mean for us in an era of standardized testing and accountability?
Imagine a school in which the students – all of them – are so excited about school that they can hardly wait to get there. Imagine having little or no “discipline problems” because the students are so engaged in their studies that those problems disappear? Imagine having parents calling, sending notes, or coming up to the school to tell you about the dramatic changes they are witnessing in their children: newly found enthusiasm and excitement for school, a desire to work on projects, research and write after school and on weekends. Imagine your students making nearly exponential growth in their basic skills of reading, writing, speaking, listening, researching, scientific explorations, math, multimedia skills and more!
It is possible. It has happened, and is happening, in schools across the country. I have seen this first-hand with my classes, and I have seen it at other schools with whom I have worked. And there is growing evidence of schools everywhere having the same results when they implement a 21st century curriculum.
How should education be structured to meet the needs of students in this 21st century world? How do we now define “School”, “Teacher” “Learner” and "Curriculum"?
Schools in the 21st century will be laced with a project-based curriculum for life aimed at engaging students in addressing real-world problems, issues important to humanity, and questions that matter.
This is a dramatic departure from the factory-model education of the past. It is abandonment, finally, of textbook-driven, teacher-centered, paper and pencil schooling. It means a new way of understanding the concept of “knowledge”, a new definition of the “educated person”. A new way of designing and delivering the curriculum is required.
We offer the following new definitions for “School”, “Teacher” and “Learner” appropriate for the 21st century:
"Schools" will go “from ‘buildings’ to nerve centers, with walls that are porous and transparent, connecting teachers, students and the community to the wealth of knowledge that exists in the world.”
“Teacher” - From primary role as a dispenser of information to orchestrator of learning and helping students turn information into knowledge, and knowledge into wisdom.
The 21st century will require knowledge generation, not just information delivery, and schools will need to create a “culture of inquiry”.
"Learner” - In the past a learner was a young person who went to school, spent a specified amount of time in certain courses, received passing grades and graduated. Today we must see learners in a new context:
“First – we must maintain student interest by helping them see how what they are learning prepares them for life in the real world.
“Second – we must instill curiosity, which is fundamental to lifelong learning.
“Third – we must be flexible in how we teach.
“Fourth – we must excite learners to become even more resourceful so that they will continue to learn outside the formal school day.”
So what will schools look like, exactly? What will the curriculum look like? How will this 21st century curriculum be organized, and how will it impact the way we design and build schools, how we assess students, how we purchase resources, how we acquire and utilize the new technologies, and what does all this mean for us in an era of standardized testing and accountability?
Imagine a school in which the students – all of them – are so excited about school that they can hardly wait to get there. Imagine having little or no “discipline problems” because the students are so engaged in their studies that those problems disappear? Imagine having parents calling, sending notes, or coming up to the school to tell you about the dramatic changes they are witnessing in their children: newly found enthusiasm and excitement for school, a desire to work on projects, research and write after school and on weekends. Imagine your students making nearly exponential growth in their basic skills of reading, writing, speaking, listening, researching, scientific explorations, math, multimedia skills and more!
It is possible. It has happened, and is happening, in schools across the country. I have seen this first-hand with my classes, and I have seen it at other schools with whom I have worked. And there is growing evidence of schools everywhere having the same results when they implement a 21st century curriculum.
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