Most educators have accepted the structures of the traditional classroom for a very long time: walls, clocks and schedules dictate exactly how students learn. SDL offers a radical reorganization of these structures. Putting more complete ownership for learning into the hands of the learner can be risky, even scary, and yet the rewards are endless for both student and teacher.
John and Eric will offer their experience with a highly successful SDL model to explore some of these exciting possibilities.
Eric Démoré
Eric Démoré holds a Bachelor of Music (Theory & Composition) and a Master of Arts (English) from the University of Western Ontario. After studying for 20 years, Eric began to learn how to learn.
Eric Démoré holds a Bachelor of Music (Theory & Composition) and a Master of Arts (English) from the University of Western Ontario. After studying for 20 years, Eric began to learn how to learn.
As a high school English teacher, Eric encourages his learners to be literate, creative communicators. He believes that students learn best when they are handed control of the learning process. Inspired by the work of literacy champions Penny Kittle, Linda Rief, and Kathy G. Lundy, Eric aims to foster in his learners a passion for the written word and the art of storytelling. It can be done.
Eric also writes, meditates, and runs long distances in Toronto, a city which he explores with his wife, Katie. They own a cat, but really it is she who owns them.
You can follow him @EricDemore or visit his website at demore.ca.
John Notten
A Visual Arts teacher for the past 27 years, John Notten has spent most of this time looking for ways to forward the possibilities of Self-Directed Learning at Mary Ward Catholic Secondary School.
A Visual Arts teacher for the past 27 years, John Notten has spent most of this time looking for ways to forward the possibilities of Self-Directed Learning at Mary Ward Catholic Secondary School. An active artist who calls Toronto, Canada his home, John combines his love for ambitious and challenging projects with his passion for a model of curriculum delivery in which the student is put in the driver’s seat. Constant change and innovation is at the heart of his teaching practice. John is also a regular lecturer at Niagara University, has travelled through Australia speaking at several School Boards on the potential of Self-Directed Learning and was recently awarded the Ontario Art Education Association’s High School Art teacher of the year, 2014. You can visit him at his website johnnotten.com