Harry, Hermione and Ron give a clue on digital literacy

  They've got it! 
  Originally uploaded by Edublogger

After witnessing the madness of the last Harry Potter book going on sale in Harvard Square, Boston, last month, I wasn't too sure why so many young people (actually, increasingly aging fans) were so keen on the books. But Mrs Edublogger didn't have to drag me out too hard to see the latest Potter film yesterday, and I think I might have touched on one reason why: it translates a lot of the frustrations and excitement of being a teen today.

This morning I see in the paper that an Australian academic reckons there are more lessons on how to teach in Potter books than there are in most post grads. But I already knew that.

For me there was a key moment in yesterday's film which reflects all too well what much classroom teaching involving the web is about these days:

Dolores Umbridge: Your previous instruction in this subject has been disturbingly uneven. But you will be pleased to know from now on, you will be following a carefully structured, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic. Yes?
Hermione Granger: There's nothing in here about using defensive spells.
Dolores Umbridge: Using spells? Ha ha! Well I can't imagine why you would need to use spells in my classroom.
Ron Weasley: We're not gonna use magic?
Dolores Umbridge: You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way.
Harry Potter: Well, what use is that? If we're gonna be attacked it won't be risk-free.
Dolores Umbridge: Students will raise their hands when they speak in my class.
[pauses]
Dolores Umbridge: It is the view of the Ministry that a theoretical knowledge will be sufficient to get you through your examinations, which after all, is what school is all about.
Harry Potter: And how is theory supposed to prepare us for what's out there?
Dolores Umbridge: There is nothing out there, dear! Who do you imagine would want to attack children like yourself?
Harry Potter: I don't know, maybe, Lord Voldemort!

Does this not just sum up the problems I alluded to in the last post, regarding internet safety and its long lost cousin digital literacy?

I'm not spoiling the film to point out that Lord Voldemort, while being the baddie, is not the only baddie in this story. The teacher, Dolores Umbridge, is 'old school', uses techniques which are outdated and discipline which is archaic, "never liked children anyway" and works for the Ministry. Sound familiar?

Comments

[alan y]

Ewan
As ever you are right on the ball- taken from todays's Scotsman

Hogwarts 'provides lessons in teaching dos and don'ts' http://news.scotsman.com/education.cfm?id=1272152007
The Scotsman reports that Harry Potter's school for wizards offers insights on good teaching practice, according to an Australian academic.
Dr Jennifer Conn, Melbourne University's medical education lecturer, said J K Rowling's fictional Hogwarts, where Harry and his friends are taught magic, provided a good model for what to do and not do in the classroom.
Dr Conn, who has published two papers on education in the Harry Potter books, said Professor Severus Snape offered a convincing example of how not to teach - asking closed questions on unstudied topics which served only to humiliate his young students. At the opposite end of the teaching spectrum, Professor Minerva McGonagall showed her students what they could aspire to, by changing a desk into a pig
Dr Conn said Rowling's books were a good model to draw conclusions from because Hogwarts mirrored modern educational institutions.

[Ewan McIntosh]

Sorry for anyone experiencing problems commenting here today. Just having a go myself to see what might be up.

[David Warlick]

As I read the book, a couple of years ago, I kept jumping up out of my chair and shouting (quietly), "She's writing about us! She's writing about us!"

It's government sanctioned curriculum and government sanctioned tests.

It seemed a direct criticism of our "No Child Left Behind" from our ministry of fantasy.

Did I say that out loud?

;-)

[Nick Hood]

Brilliant! That not only means I can now be as much like Severus Snape as I can, but also I can claim 20 hours of CPD over the holiday for reading JKR!

Thanks, Ewan.

[Kern Kelley]

Certainly it's fun to point out Potter characters and say, "Umbridge is just like the teacher I had in X grade!" and get a feeling of satisfaction when Dolores 'gets hers'

But, haven't we always been able to do that? Only in education does someone who works hard and does well get rewarded with MORE work, while a teacher who slacks off and does poorly get punished by being given LESS work. Until this is addressed, it will always be individuals that change, not systems - they can only go as fast as their lowest common denominator.

Go to any school and ask staff and students to make an anonymous list of the most engaged teachers and the least engaged, and I think the list would be same top to bottom. Everyone knows the teachers that want to be there, and those who don't.

I don't believe in pointing out problems without solutions, but until this is addressed, it's going to be a tough road.

[Karyn Romeis]

Let's not forget Flitwick who drones on and on, not even noticing that his students are dozing off during his lessons. I'll bet we all know/knew teachers like that!

[a. woody delauder]

Excellent parellels to teaching. There are many Dolores Umbridge's out there: these teachers say... just go with the flow, play the game, take the punches. That is not the way I live my life. If I see something wrong with the system, I make it public.

[Sam Lyons]

This is brilliant Ewan. I was only watching this movie last night, for the second time, and sychronicitly that particular scene made me laugh at the similarity of the didactic style of education that I experienced in my schooling days in Ireland. My secondary schooling found me to be just above average in exam results. When I went to study media production in college, the experiential style allowed me to be at the top of my class for the next three years.

[Sam Lyons]

This is brilliant Ewan. I was only watching this movie last night, for the second time, and sychronicitly that particular scene made me laugh at the similarity of the didactic style of education that I experienced in my schooling days in Ireland. My secondary schooling found me to be just above average in exam results. When I went to study media production in college, the experiential style allowed me to be at the top of my class for the next three years.

[alan]

Have you seen the latest episode of Inanimate Alice? Alice is a girl who grows up learning more and more about the world of gaming. The music and images really engage kids.

Teachers can use this amazingly complex free online resource to stimulate story telling. Boys especially love it. There is a software available that allows you to create your own stories. www.inanimatealice.com

[alan]

Have you seen the latest episode of Inanimate Alice? Alice is a girl who grows up learning more and more about the world of gaming. The music and images really engage kids.

Teachers can use this amazingly complex free online resource to stimulate story telling. Boys especially love it. There is a software available that allows you to create your own stories. www.inanimatealice.com

[alan]

Have you seen the latest episode of Inanimate Alice? Alice is a girl who grows up learning more and more about the world of gaming. The music and images really engage kids.

Teachers can use this amazingly complex free online resource to stimulate story telling. Boys especially love it. There is a software available that allows you to create your own stories. www.inanimatealice.com

[alan]

Have you seen the latest episode of Inanimate Alice? Alice is a girl who grows up learning more and more about the world of gaming. The music and images really engage kids.

Teachers can use this amazingly complex free online resource to stimulate story telling. Boys especially love it. There is a software available that allows you to create your own stories. www.inanimatealice.com