Why Do I Need a Teacher When I've got Google?

236 Pages·2010·12.03 MB·English

by  Ian Gilbert

A breath of fresh air and hope for the future of learning!
Ian Gilbert exposes the impossible paradox of meeting the learning
needsforthe21stcenturywiththecontinuationofafactory-modelparadigm
ofschoolingfromthe19thand20thcenturies.Thisdivergent-thinkingbook
is a must read for all who want real, sustainable and effective reform for
learning for this century; it should be embedded in the syllabi of colleges
of education and education graduate studies worldwide.
Dr Earle Warnica, Professor of Education at the
American University of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates
This book is a stunner. Writing in an entertaining, page turning style, Ian
Gilbert engages the reader with some powerful ideas about learning and
teaching. He draws on a wealth of reading and research to support his
arguments. From looking at the history of damaging notions of intelli-
genceasnarrowandfixed,heinspiresustoconsidertheroleoftheteacher
notasthefountofknowledgebutassomeonewhohelpschildrentolearn.
We can’t do without inspirational teachers, even though we have Google.
Sara Bubb, Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Education, London
From economics, to climate change, to technology, [this book] explores
thewaytheworldshiftsandquestionswhethertheschoolingworldmerely
standsstill. Spicedwithexamplestomakeadultsthink…andtoquestion
their own experience and practice, it is sweetened with suggestions and
techniques to bring out the flavour of true learning.
Aboveallthebookachievesthattrickofleavinganagging doubtabout
thecurrentworld,whilstofferingenoughoptimismtomakeitworthdoing
things differently.
Mick Waters, Professor of Education and
President of the Curriculum Foundation
Thisbookdoeswhatitsaysonthetin:itwon’tmakeyouteachbetterbutit
willhelp yoube a better teacher. Inhis inimitablestyle, laced withhumour
andwisdom,IanGilbertmakesneurosciencereachable,digestibleand,above
all,applicabletoclassroompractice.Byacleversynthesisofthepast,present
andfuture,heproposesanewmoralpurposeforeducation–toplayacentral
role in the creationof a society inwhich you would want your own grand-
childrentolive.Itwillbecomecompulsoryreading.Icouldn’tputitdown.
Sir John Jones, Presenter, Writer and Educational Consultant
If there is one book recommended for all school staffs’ reading liststhis
year, this has to be the one!
Dr Lesley P. Stagg,
Accreditation Officer for the Council of International Schools

’
Why Do I Need a Teacher When I ve
Got Google?
Why Do I Need A Teacher When I’ve Got Google? is just one of the challen-
ging,controversialandthought-provokingquestionsIanGilbertposesinhis
long-awaitedfollow-uptotheclassic EssentialMotivationintheClassroom.
Questioning the unquestionable, this book will make you re-consider
everything you thought you knew about teaching and learning, such as:
(cid:2) Areyousimplypreparingthenextgenerationofunemployedaccountants?
(cid:2) Whatdoyoudoforthe‘sweetcornkids’whocomeoutoftheeducation
system in pretty much the same state as when they went in?
(cid:2) What’s the real point of school?
(cid:2) Exams – so whose bright idea was that?
(cid:2) Why ‘EQ’ is fast becoming the new ‘IQ’
(cid:2) What will your school policy be on brain-enhancing technologies?
Withhiscustomarycombinationofhard-hittingtruths,practicalclassroom
ideas and irreverent sense of humour, Ian Gilbert takes the reader on a
breathless rollercoaster ride through burning issues of the twenty-first
century, considering everything from the threats facing the world and the
challengeoftheBRICeconomiestothelinkbetweeneugenicsandthe11+.
As wide-ranging and exhaustively-researched as it is entertaining and
accessible, this book is designed to challenge teachers and inform them –
as well as encourage them – as they strive to design a twenty-first century
learningexperiencethatreallydoesbringthebestoutofallyoungpeople.
After all, the future of the world may just depend on it.
IanGilbertisaneducationalinnovator,award-winningwriter,entrepreneur
andinspirationalspeaker, deliveringtraining toschoolsandcollegesin the
UK and Europe for the ‘Independent Thinking’ organization, which he
founded in 1994.

Why Do I Need a Teacher
’
When I ve Got Google?
The essential guide to the big issues for
fi
every twenty- rst century teacher
Ian Gilbert
Thiseditionpublished2011
byRoutledge
2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OxonOX144RN
SimultaneouslypublishedintheUSAandCanada
byRoutledge
270MadisonAvenue,NewYork,NY10016
RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2010.
To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.
©2011IanGilbert
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedor
reproducedorutilizedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,
orothermeans,nowknownorhereafterinvented,including
photocopyingandrecording,orinanyinformationstorageor
retrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublishers.
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Gilbert,Ian,1965-
WhydoIneedateacherwhenI'vegotGoogle?:theessentialguide
tothebigissuesforevery21stcenturyteacher/IanGilbert.
p.cm.
1.Teaching.2.Education–Aimsandobjectives.3.Currentevents.I.
Title.
LB1025.3.G4432011
371.102–dc22
2010005917
ISBN 0-203-49199-8 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN978-0-415-46831-2(hbk)
ISBN978-0-415-46833-6(pbk)
ISBN978-0-203-84608-7(ebk)
To my parents – for being there through it all. Thank you.

Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Independent Thinking Ltd x
Preface xi
Introduction 1
1 Save the world 3
2 The future’s coming 9
3 The great educational lie 16
4 So,goonthen,whydoIneedateacherwhenI’vegotGoogle? 21
5 AQA v AQA 25
6 Your EQ will take you further than your IQ 31
7 Nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it’s the only idea
you’ve got 42
8 It’s the brain, stupid 46
9 Neuromyths debunked! 50
10 Your hands in their brains 57
11 Talk to the hand coz the nucleus accumbens ain’t listening 63
12 Is that an iron bar through your frontal lobes or are you just
pleased to see me? 70