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James Croft
- Male
- Somerville, MA
- United States
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Harvard Project Zero C...
44 members
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The Neuroscience of Le...
18 members
James Croft's Discussions
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These are very good indeed!
This is a fascinating and very interesting discussion, people! I wonder if there's something to go along with a concern for access, which is real critical thinking around what people are gaining access to. I think there's sometimes a tendency to l...
It was great to see so many people at the PZ Classroom! I was amazed at the enthusiasm and your dedication to education. Can't wait for next year!
I just want to clear something up - I am not responding to other people's responses to the article posted, but to the article itself and its relation to the original research. The phenomenon described, of "leaving things rest", is a fascinating an...
I actually want to make my point a little stronger, after some of the replies here. The evidence presented in the article in no way justifies the claim that "Conscious thought, it seems, does not solve problems." This is endemic of the sloppy repo...
Hello everybody, nice to meet you all!
People who are part of Harvard Graduate School's Project Zero Classroom may wish to sign up and network here. Everyone is welcome, not just Summer Institute people.
This is very interesting, both due to the neuroscientific insights and because of the philosophical issues raised. We need, I think, to be very careful about moving from "we observe x in the brain before people report having an aha moment" to "the...
Remarkable findings of how our brains work when we are learning provide invaluable insights into improving educational practices.
Profile Information
- Tell about your involvement in education, and your ideals for collegial sharing
- I'm a doctoral candidate at the Harvard Graduate School of Education where I study the relationship between the arts and the mind.
Collegial sharing is essential to the development of understanding, as knowledge is created with others in dialog.
- About Me:
- Why do people make art? What can we learn from art? How can we use the arts to better understand ourselves and our world? And what does it mean to understand something, anyway? These are the questions which drive me.
I'm a candidate for an Ed.D in Human Development and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education - my advisor is Howard Gardner.
I hold an M.Ed in Arts in Education from the same institution, and a MA in Education with Drama and English from the University of Cambridge (1:1). I am privileged to have been made a Frank Knox Memorial Fellow, which has enabled me to continue my studies, and I was recently elected a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA).
I am fascinated by all the places in which the study of the arts and of the mind collide. Currently, I'm working on synthesising descriptions of art-making and art-appreciation from different disciplines and different levels of analysis.
I am also an Ambassador for the Teach First program, from which I graduated wih distinction in July 2007. Under the program I spent two years teaching English (and some Drama!) in Longford Community School in Feltham, West London. This was an extraordinarily challenging and invaluable experience, and I will never forget the professionalism and dedication of the teachers I worked with, nor the good-naturedness and fundamental decency of the children who had the bizarre experience of having me as a teacher.
I am an experienced actor and singer, having performed in many locations around the world including St Peter's Basilica in Rome, the Statue of Liberty, Shakespeare's Globe, the Barbican, and the Royal Albert Hall. I have sung with the Surrey Youth Choir and National Youth Choir of Great Britain, under many renowned conductors and choral leaders, and have taken on such varied roles as Oedipus, Jacques and Touchstone ('As You Like It'), Thomas Becket (Murder in the Cathedral) and Father Christmas (numerous times). I currently sing with the Cambridge (MA)-based Oriana Consort.
For two years I worked part-time for the London Shakespeare Workout Prison Project, a charity that takes Shakespeare into prisons around the UK. During my association with LSW I visited HMP Send, Highpoint, Brixton and Pentonville, and helped organise a production of 'The House of Bernarda Alba' that was performed at the Criterion Theatre in London. This was the first occasion in which inmates from a closed prison (HMP Send) were given leave to perform on a London Stage.
I try to weave the performative and academic parts of my life together through the Theatre of Thought, a Harvard student theatre group which seeks to explore complex and compelling ideas through the medium of theare.
Comment Wall (5 comments)
- At 3:23pm on August 21, 2009,
Paddy O'Dea said…
- aaaahhh I see now where I am supposed to send you a comment James! I'm still fiddling my way around this site. I never seem to have much time to get onto it, but love it when I do - there are so many interesting people here.
I loved your comment about the children you taught in Feltham. There are some areas there that are quite deprived and the students can present quite challenging attitudes - but I've always found youngsters to be, as you say, 'fundamentally decent'.
You've certainly done some intriguing and amazing things - I'm trying to log onto the theatre of thought blogspot - but it ain't working! I'll try again soon - something to look forward to. Also, your work with LSW - would love to know more about that! I'll have to do some hunting around on the web to find out more. There's so much terrific stuff happening in the UK!
have you seen this? probably. Your field of study made me think of it... so here it is anyway, in case you haven't - and I won't tell you what it is so it's a suprise if you haven't seen it.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng
/margaret_wertheim_crochets_the_coral_reef.html
good luck with your doctorate!
- At 12:03pm on July 30, 2009,
Connie Weber said…
- Hi James,
I'm showing your profile page in Project Zero today...
It'll be fun. Thanks for a fine example!
- At 7:55pm on July 13, 2009,
Kathryn L. Keene said…
- Welcome, James. I am so happy to know someone blessed with working with Howard Gardner; his work changed my life...and, consequently, many people who associate with me. I hope you have seen Sir Ken Robinson's Ted Talk on schools and their ability to "kill" creativity. Check it out for a chuckle and an interesting view on the importance of allowing students to be creative.
- At 3:18am on July 10, 2009,
Ian Carmichael said…
- It'll be great to benefit from what you have to share. Welcome indeed: share where you can, start what you need.
- At 5:19pm on July 9, 2009,
- Welcome to the Fireside, James. The Theatre of Thought is a fascinating blog... I look forward to browsing around extensively. I've just gotten started--it's apparent there's a whole lot there.
You'll have a lot to add in here on the network. I hope you LEAP into the discussions, and start plenty of your own.
Why do people make art? Indeed... Wonderful question. Did you hear about the recent discovery of ancient flutes, more than 35,000 years old? Here's an article: "Ancient Flutes Suggest Rich Life in Stone-Age Europe." Anyhow, it makes me curious, looking towards beginnings... So does music predate agriculture?
I love this line from your intro: "I am fascinated by all the places in which the study of the arts and of the mind collide." Here's hoping you share a lot of your thinking with us... I know plenty of people here will be interested.
Welcome! Join in!
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