EduCenter

  A growing number of parents believe in unschooling — the process of learning through life, outside classrooms. Similar to homeschooling it usually happens at home or within the community. But while homeschooling usually follows a formal curriculum, unschooling doesn’t. So how does it work, and why do parents advocate for it?

       In response to the tragedy of World War II, people from the town Reggio Emilia developed a new model of education. War ought to never happen again.      The Reggio Emilia approach is based on the philosophy of “an image of a child”. All children are viewed as full of potential, with an innate sense of curiosity and endless imagination. They are creative, capable of constructing their own learning and they have a natural interest to explore. While they follow their own interests, they always stay connected with others. Adults nurture their learning by providing a rich environment and support.

       Is our personality shaped by the environment, or are we largely programmed genetically? No one can answer whether nature or nurture leads to certain traits in individuals. We do know, however, a bit about the influences of genes and the environment when it comes to groups of specific populations — especially when we talk about us humans. Our understanding of little asexual crayfish seems rather limited.

     Speaking is already in our genes. But reading is not. Until about 100 years ago most people didn't do it all. When we read fiction especially, we create new pathways in our brain. Reading 30 pages of fiction every night, gets the pathways thicker and thicker. Our brain needs a workout just like our body.      Rita Carter is a writer, broadcaster and journalist who specializes in the workings of the human brain. Her books include the first layman’s guide to neuroscience: Mapping the Mind, which has been translated into 14 languages. For seven years she presented London’s nightly news programme, “Thames News” , and has written for magazines and newspapers throughout the world, including the London Times, Telegraph, Guardian and New Scientist. She has a deep interest in bringing art and science together and is a Patron at the influential London-based Foundation “Art and Mind”. Rita Carter is a writer, broadcaster and journalist who specializes in the workings of the human br

Educator: A Calling, not a Job      Educators are leaving schools at a rapid rate and the national academic scores are decreasing just as fast. One of the Universities I had the pleasure of teaching at shut down suddenly because less students are pursuing undergraduate degrees. The government has allocated funds to entice people to pursue a career in teaching, but they are immediately deterred by the state of public education, treatment of teachers in the classroom, and the rise in behavioral disorders. We need to change the way we approach education and reevaluate what it means to be a teacher. What It Means to be An Educator      The term "educator" has changed in recent years from an individual who teaches children skills to become lifelong learners to a person who watches kids learn from a Chromebook. In an attempt to hire more "teachers" public education systems have created a suboptimal and counterproductive way for learning to be automated; therefore,

  Vygotsky’s Theory of Social Development argues that community and language play a central part in learning. Vygotsky believed that children develop independently of specific stages as a result of social interactions.

 The Growth of Knowledge: Crash Course Psychology #18 How does our knowledge grow? It turns out there are some different ideas about that. Schemas, Four-Stage Theory of Cognitive Development, and Vygotsky's Theory of Scaffolding all play different roles, but the basic idea is that children think about things very differently than adults. Hank explains in today's episode of Crash Course Psychology.

Our ability to sense, comprehend, and control emotions is known as emotional intelligence (El) and is considered crucial to human flourishing. For centuries we thought that emotions and cognition were two separate things. Today we know the two interact constantly. The most relevant model, on what is referred to as EQ, was developed by John Mayer and Peter Salovey in 1990.

  Piaget's theory argues that we have to conquer 4 stages of cognitive development. Only once we have gone through all the stages, at what age can vary, we are able to reach full human intelligence.

  Language: The First 5 Years of Life of Learning Of all mankind's inventions, none was more consequential than the birth of language and our brain’s language center is built through experiences early in life.

 John Dewey’s 4 Principles of Education There are only a few ideas that had as much of an impact on education as those of John Dewey. The American philosopher, psychologist and educator believed children to be active contributors and agents of their learning, and not just passive recipients of knowledge of previous generations. He believed that for knowledge to be acquired successfully, learning should be an experience. His Experiential Learning approach was based on four core principles. To find out what these are and how it works in real life, watch our video. Enjoy the sound effects with headphones on! 😊 🎧 #learn #dewey #theory