This is a running log of phrases, quotes, words, images, video, and diagrams that are helping me to understand the nature of knowledge, learning, and educational institutions. My goal is to help myself and others permanently shift the terms of the conversation about education from being institution- and teacher-centered [teacher as builder of curriculum, student as consumer, and institution as silent source of legitimacy] to being community- and student-centered [teacher as builder of active learners, student as practiced builder of community, institution as enabler of healthy learning communities]. Feel free to contribute other quotes to this tumblr by sending me an email.
27 Dec 07
The distinction between conventional pedagogy and discussion teaching also raises the question of what teachers should know about how students learn. Conventional pedagogy is essentially ideas about teaching disconnected from ideas about learning. To teach is to convey information; thus teaching consists of organizing and communicating content. We discover whether students have learned by seeing how well they are able to report back what we have told them; how they learn is not our concern.

To the authors of these essays, on the other hand, knowledge of teaching depends on understanding how students learn. To teach is to engage students in learning; thus teaching consists of getting students involved in the active construction of knowledge. A teacher requires not only knowledge of subject matter, but knowledge of how students learn and how to transform them into active learners. Good teaching, then, requires a commitment to systematic understanding of learning.
—  Richard F. Elmore, Education for Judgment: The Artistry of Discussion Leadership, xiii.