Working to make community schools everyone’s first choice.
Three of many reasons for change:
- Children need more time to play outdoors.
- Students do better when they have more say.
- Creativity is being schooled out of children.
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OPERI promotes a school-within-a-school pilot program that serves as a starting point for systematically investigating the new paradigm Ken Robinson talks about in his much acclaimed animated video titled: Changing Education Paradigms. It was created to meet all of the existing school board, teacher union and ministry of education requirements at the time, and it can likely be implemented in most jurisdictions where you have innovative school administrators and teachers who are empowered to explore new directions.
The program runs for one semester as an option for 25 students representing a cross-section of the school’s population. The students remain in their community schools and participate as usual in extra-curricular activities. Following is a short list of what the program offers.
- It provides innovative teachers with an opportunity to explore elements of the new paradigm.
- It fosters a community of learners where equity and inclusion become non-issues, where diversity is celebrated for the learning it promotes.
- It cultivates well-being and a bully-free environment.
- It immerses students in learning the skills they need for independent, lifelong learning.
- It allows for creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and communication skills to flourish.
- It requires no additional funding.
- It satisfies Ministry requirements.
There is virtually no risk to students who enrol in the program, while the benefits they stand to gain are substantial. It also offers to provide insight into how to manage secondary schools with low enrolments while providing an increased choice of Ministry courses.
The OPERI Facebook group is our primary tool for building awareness of the latest thinking on education. It contains a wealth of articles, videos and catchy quotes. The irregularly published OPERI Recap is provided to help people manage and share the many items being posted to the group. Join our Facebook group and send us an email to receive the Recap and other notices – info@operi.ca.
Below is a sampling of views on the current state of education and what we can do to make it better.
Short Videos
- Sir Ken Robinson #1, #2 on Creativity
- Peter Gray #1, #2 Chicago Talk, #3 on Passion, #4 AERO 2020
- Blake Boles
- Gert Biesta
- Cevin Soling
- Carol Black
- Gordy Bal and Phillip Moore
- Alfie Kohn
- Jay Shetty
- Jean Twenge
- Jean Housten (start at minute 29 for views on education)
- Peter Merry
- Ramallah Munir Fasheh
- Prince Ea #1, #2
- Eddy Zhong
- Sir Jon Jones
- John Moravec and text of Manifesto 15
- John Gatto
- Rachel Roberts
- Suli Breaks
- Logan LaPlante
- Noam Chomsky
- Judy Arnall
- Peter Hutton
- Sugata Mitra
- Gabor Mate
Videos from the Ottawa Community
- Peter Gamwell (retired OCDSB superintendent and co-author of The Wonder Wall)
- Joanne Burbidge and Jacqueline Whelan (Ottawa public school teachers)
- Joel Westheimer (University of Ottawa education professor, author, CBO Morning education commentator)
Documentaries
- School Circles
- Schooling the World
- Cultural Creatives
- Class Dismissed
- Race to Nowhere
- Beyond Measure
Articles
- Eric Hardie – The Relevant Classroom. See Chapter 1: The Case for Change.
- Will Richardson – 9 Elephants in the (Class)Room That Should “Unsettle” Us
- Texas School Beats ADHD by Tripling Recess Time – https://returntonow.net/2017/11/21/texas-school-beaths-adhd-tripling-recess-time/
- Sara – School adjustment symptoms. What is ‘normal’?
- Michael Reist – Too Many Kids Are Suffering At school
- Laura Grace Weldon – Five Ways to Transcend the School Mindset
- Parents speak – If you’re a parent, what issue/questions worry you most about the education of your kids?
- Luba Vangelova – Steve Hargadon: Escaping the Education Matrix
- Carlo Ricci – Journal of Unschooling and Alternative Learning