Who is Ron Berger?

Ron is a teacher and carpenter who lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, USA. His role as teacher at Shutesbury Elementary school allowed him to develop a pedagogy that is now being used in over 160 schools through his current work as Chief Program Officer of Expeditionary Learning.

His book, An Ethic of Excellence has inspired many practitioners to take a values driven pedagogy and deliver this practically through Expeditionary Learning Core Practices.

He is widely recognised as one of the best educators in the world.

Examples of his work can be seen below:

http://vimeo.com/49934863

http://vimeo.com/44053703

http://vimeo.com/38247060

and here is a link to a recent article written by Ron.

RonColor

 

Ron Berger on Critique

Here’s Ron Berger in different settings talking about how critique and multiple drafts are key to our students creating beautiful pieces of work.

Ron with a primary class talking about Austin’s Butterfly:

Critique and Feedback: The Story of Austin’s Butterfly from Expeditionary Learning on Vimeo.

Building Excellence in Student Work Through Critique and Revision

This six-minute video has been transformational for teachers and students K-12 in giving a clear picture of how student work can improve through focused critique. It shows the evolution of a scientific illustration of a butterfly through multiple drafts toward a high-quality final product.

Ron talking in general about critique and multiple drafts at High Tech High:

Critique and Modelling

Using real examples of good (and bad!) student work is MUCH BETTER than just telling the kids what you expect (normally as a rubric or descriptors). It makes the task ahead of them feel more achievable and more realistic. When we as adults try to do something new, probably the first thing we do is seek out what others have done before us, work out what’s good and bad, and what we can do to improve it, or make it personal or fit the context better.

If we don’t have good student examples, why don’t we make the models / examples by doing the work first? Then after the activity, make sure you archive the genuine examples!

Ron Berger from EL leads a writing critique workshop where — based upon a piece of student writing — students identify the elements of a quality story.

Champions

Our champions are people who champion experiential project based learning, and especially those who are getting it going in the UK.

We admire their work and they are our heroes.

Soldiers in the battle to provide a world class education for our children.

We salute you!

 

Disclaimer: Our champions aren’t necessarily officially associated with XP. and they don’t necessarily officially endorse our work. Well, most are and do, but don’t think just because they are our champions and on our website, that they have anything official to do with us. Saying that, I’ve definitely either met them in real life or chatted to them online, and they all seem great, and a lot I can call friends, but you know what I mean! This is a disclaimer, after all…