ASCD Publishes CTL

August 10, 2009

ASCD Express recently published two articles by CTL staff members Deborah Walker and Catherine Rubin.  Following are excerpts with links to both articles located on the ASCD website.

Founded in 1943, ASCD (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) is an educational leadership organization dedicated to advancing best practices and policies for the success of each learner.

Fostering Creativity in Chinese and American Students

Deborah Walker, Ed.D.
CTL Chief Executive Officer

Last fall I was invited to deliver the keynote address at the 2008 Chinese Top High Schools International Education Forum in Beijing, which brought together principals from 400 high schools throughout China. My topic was on how to foster student creativity, critical thinking, leadership, and moral development. While I thought this was a tall order, my Chinese colleagues assured me that educators in their country believed they could learn a lot from the United States about how to transform their education system to produce more innovative thinkers.

I knew that Chinese educators did a very good job of teaching advanced mathematics and science to their high school students, and that they granted college degrees in these two fields along with engineering to a staggering number of students. But what I found out during the conference from talking to principals, listening to speeches by government officials, and visiting a high-performing high school is that the Chinese are not content with the foundational education they provide their secondary students. Instead, they want to develop students’ ability to think creatively, to invent new products and solutions, and to become leaders rather than followers. Read More...

The Curious Classroom: Answers About Questions

Catherine Rubin
CTL Educational Programs Consultant
Visual Arts Specialist

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it seems to be the key to keeping learners engaged and intellectually agile in the classroom. In the "curious classroom," carefully crafted questions, generated by both teachers and students, enhance student learning. My own curiosity has made me aware of the critical role of questions in the classroom.

Some years ago, I was working with a group of 6th grade teachers looking at student work. A science teacher in the group shared an end-of-unit test from the class's study of the laws of motion. On the front side of the test was a multiple-choice section, and on the back were several open-ended questions. We noticed in particular that one student who received an A on the test had aced the multiple-choice questions but given minimal responses to the open-ended questions. It was clear that while this student apparently had excellent recall of the facts, she lacked understanding of the underlying concepts, which greatly concerned the science teacher. This led to a discussion of the possibility that rote memorization can stifle real learning, while intentional questioning can help students reflect; connect to content; and experience deep, transferable learning. Read More...