by The following is a non-exhaustive collection of resources intended to inform educators interested in open education, open plan classrooms, and other forms of learner-centered environments. It only recommends resources found on the Internet. You should of course read John Holt, Loris Malaguzzi, Herb Kohl, A.S. Neill, Lillian Weber, Jonathan Kozol, Paulo Friere, David Perkins, David Hawkins, James Herndon, John Dewey and many others… Consider this an introduction to open education.
Download the free eBook anthology curated by Gary Stager, Dreams of Progressive Education.
Vintage Videos from the 1970s
A documentary on open education and open plan schools.
A Southern United States community commits to open education in an old public primary school.
This video blows my mind.
Herbert Kohl, a pioneer of open education featured in this documentary on the early days of whole language and open education.
Getting Started?
Getting started reading about progressive education, try this handy list Gary Stager assembled for teachers.
A Seminal Book
The Open Classroom by Herbert Kohl
This short book launched the open education movement in the United States
But how do they learn to read?
Reading by Frank Smith
A seminal text on natural approaches to literacy
But how do they learn math/maths?
Seymour Papert’s Mathland
Constance Kamii Videos
Multiplication of Two-digit Numbers
Making Change – The difficulty of constructing “tens” solidly
Constance Kamii Direct vs Indirect Ways of Teaching Number Concepts at Ages 4-6
A comprehensive lecture explaining Piagetian ideas showing that although number concepts cannot be taught directly, they can be taught indirectly by encouraging children to think.
Kamii Games for Developing Number Sense
- Arithmetic Games with Playing Cards
- Modifying a Board Game (Sorry) to Foster Kindergartners’ Logico-Mathematical Thinking
- Lining-Up the 5s – A Card Game
- Kamii Game Cards to download and print
- Kamii on Games over Worksheets (article)
- Selected Standards from the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, Grades K-3, and My Reasons for Not Supporting Them (A 2015 white paper by Constance Kamii)
Constance Kamii and Lillian Katz “Defending the Early Years” panel
Other FABULOUS Inspirational Videos with Implications for Open Education
I remember seeing this live when it aired in 1991. There is rarely any coverage of education this sensible on television.
The late Bev Bos – “Starting at Square One”
Veteran educator Dr. Gary Stager is co-author of Invent To Learn — Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom and the founder of the Constructing Modern Knowledge summer institute. He led professional development in the world’s first 1:1 laptop schools and designed one of the oldest online graduate school programs. Learn more about Gary here.
Veteran educator Gary Stager, Ph.D. is the author of Twenty Things to Do with a Computer – Forward 50, co-author of Invent To Learn — Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom, publisher at Constructing Modern Knowledge Press, and the founder of the Constructing Modern Knowledge summer institute. He led professional development in the world’s first 1:1 laptop schools thirty years ago and designed one of the oldest online graduate school programs. Gary is also the curator of The Seymour Papert archives at DailyPapert.com. Learn more about Gary here.