Contextualizing Lessons

I loved this article about a school in New York City that serves primarily low income children. Several teachers have taken it upon themselves to find out what the students really needed to learn and to teach it to them in a relevant way. My only qualm with the story is that it focuses on the low income aspect of the situation, whereas I think this kind of instruction is important for all students at any income level in any country. The Lho Mon Education curriculum framework strongly emphasizes using the local environment as a learning tool. The monks will learn about managing the finances of their own monastery, the domestic helpers can learn about global trade through a visit to the market, rural villagers can learn about global warming by studying weather patterns in their own back yard.

Read the New York Times article here.