I re-read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (by Robert M. Pirsig) recently-- or maybe it was the first time I really read it and I was just pretending back in high school because it sounded cool.
One statement in the book that struck me is this: "We have artists with no scientific knowledge and scientists with no artistic knowledge and both with no spiritual sense of gravity at all, and the result is not just bad, it is ghastly." Daniel Pink could have written that on a grumpy day-- it is moving the discussion of learning and education from the content to the context.
Pirsig (through the voice of his first person narrator) continues: "The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands, and then work outward from there." He places this in the context of the Greek concept of "arete" (loosely translated "excellence") that refers to the duty of the individual to the self, to the role that the self occupies in the world, and the respect of wholeness and oneness with the world.
I am always hearing folks complain that with the economy these days, schools should be better preparing students for jobs. And that is true. But what about preparing them to live? What about understanding their place in the world as citizens, friends, family members, co-workers, creators, artists, spiritual beings, thinkers? Are we focused so keenly on "tested skills" or "employability" that we have forgotten what it really means to learn and create and be in touch with ourselves-- to pursue "arete?"
"Great minds struggle to cure diseases so that people may live longer, but only madmen ask why." (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance).
Monday, May 24, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Hedgehogs and Armadillos
The Hedgehog Principle (according to Jim Collins' work Good to Great), means you just stick to the main thing... you do one thing and you do it well.
If there is one principle that public education in America has ignored it is this. That is, unless, you consider a smorgasborg to be one thing. I guess a hallmark of American culture is that we want it all, and our schools are a reflection of that.
Hedgehogs roll up into a ball when trouble comes. They focus on survival and longevity. "Back to Basics" is what that was called twenty years ago. If "basics" are "reading writing and 'rithmetic" then this is a failed strategy. But if basics are something more along the lines of Howard Gardner's five ways of thinking: disciplined, synthesizing, creating, respectful and ethical (Five Minds for the Future) then we might be on the right track.
In considering the hedgehog, I remembered Rudyard Kipling's "Just So Stories" which included the story of the tortoise and the hedgehog who outwitted the jaguar and as they spent more and more time together took on the other's characteristics until they became armadillos...Both the hedgehog and the tortoise had weaknesses that could be exploited: when dropped in water the hedgehog would recoil and when scooped out with a paw the tortoise could be ripped from his shell. The armadillo has the focus of the hedgehog and the armour of the tortoise.... maybe in education we should begin talking about the "Armadillo Principle." We should stick to the main thing-- and make sure we have the armour to withstand the outside attacks that cause us to loose our focus.
If there is one principle that public education in America has ignored it is this. That is, unless, you consider a smorgasborg to be one thing. I guess a hallmark of American culture is that we want it all, and our schools are a reflection of that.
Hedgehogs roll up into a ball when trouble comes. They focus on survival and longevity. "Back to Basics" is what that was called twenty years ago. If "basics" are "reading writing and 'rithmetic" then this is a failed strategy. But if basics are something more along the lines of Howard Gardner's five ways of thinking: disciplined, synthesizing, creating, respectful and ethical (Five Minds for the Future) then we might be on the right track.
In considering the hedgehog, I remembered Rudyard Kipling's "Just So Stories" which included the story of the tortoise and the hedgehog who outwitted the jaguar and as they spent more and more time together took on the other's characteristics until they became armadillos...Both the hedgehog and the tortoise had weaknesses that could be exploited: when dropped in water the hedgehog would recoil and when scooped out with a paw the tortoise could be ripped from his shell. The armadillo has the focus of the hedgehog and the armour of the tortoise.... maybe in education we should begin talking about the "Armadillo Principle." We should stick to the main thing-- and make sure we have the armour to withstand the outside attacks that cause us to loose our focus.
Monday, March 22, 2010
What has exercise got to do with it?
I just got back from working out, and my brain feels clearer than it has all day-- a day of staring at a computer screen and sitting in a cube-like office... Exercising freed my mind to think, to intuit, to wander...
Recently a friend let me borrow John Medina's book Brain Rules (a great read, by the way) and one thing that struck me was Medina's comment that during the period of the greatest evolution and adaptation of the brain, humans were walking 12 miles a day--- okay, guys, that is quite a hike. One of the hardest physical challenges I ever undertook was to hike about 12 miles down and up the Grand Canyon. And when I got back I had to lie prone on a bed sipping from a straw for about 2 hours. Twelve miles a day! And we wonder why kids have trouble concentrating! Their bodies are not doing (and can't do) what they were made to do, and their brains are wallowing in inactivity.
This winter at the National Title One Conference in Washington, D.C., I heard Disney's American teacher of the Year, Ron Clark, describe the vision and mission of his Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta. Guess what? Key to everything they do is movement! They dance, sing, do hand motions, slide on slides and shimmy down ropes while they learn..... Yes, this is hard to "manage," no doubt. Kids may get hurt or become "too loud and boisterous" or oh my gosh, PLAY. (Wait, wasn't that one of Pink's conceptual senses that are most valued today? A sense of play, of activity, of creativity-- the mind and body working together?) But we have to stop viewing schools as places designed for adults and begin designing them for students. (And I think I know quite a few teachers who would enjoy the fun as well.)
So the "brain"school must have plenty of opportunity for physical play-- indoors and out-- and not just typical competive sports-- let's include slides, swings, ropes, treadmills... what if students walked on treadmills as they worked on the computer or discussed issues, as many creative people do as they work?
I just got a vision of Jeremy Piven as "Ari Gold" on HBO's Entourage, talking on his phone, making deals...WALKING or RIDING his stationary bike or on the treadmill... creative people MOVE.
Recently a friend let me borrow John Medina's book Brain Rules (a great read, by the way) and one thing that struck me was Medina's comment that during the period of the greatest evolution and adaptation of the brain, humans were walking 12 miles a day--- okay, guys, that is quite a hike. One of the hardest physical challenges I ever undertook was to hike about 12 miles down and up the Grand Canyon. And when I got back I had to lie prone on a bed sipping from a straw for about 2 hours. Twelve miles a day! And we wonder why kids have trouble concentrating! Their bodies are not doing (and can't do) what they were made to do, and their brains are wallowing in inactivity.
This winter at the National Title One Conference in Washington, D.C., I heard Disney's American teacher of the Year, Ron Clark, describe the vision and mission of his Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta. Guess what? Key to everything they do is movement! They dance, sing, do hand motions, slide on slides and shimmy down ropes while they learn..... Yes, this is hard to "manage," no doubt. Kids may get hurt or become "too loud and boisterous" or oh my gosh, PLAY. (Wait, wasn't that one of Pink's conceptual senses that are most valued today? A sense of play, of activity, of creativity-- the mind and body working together?) But we have to stop viewing schools as places designed for adults and begin designing them for students. (And I think I know quite a few teachers who would enjoy the fun as well.)
So the "brain"school must have plenty of opportunity for physical play-- indoors and out-- and not just typical competive sports-- let's include slides, swings, ropes, treadmills... what if students walked on treadmills as they worked on the computer or discussed issues, as many creative people do as they work?
I just got a vision of Jeremy Piven as "Ari Gold" on HBO's Entourage, talking on his phone, making deals...WALKING or RIDING his stationary bike or on the treadmill... creative people MOVE.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
How many more credits in Play and Empathy do I need to graduate?
"College and Career Ready" has been the goal of ACHIEVE since it launched the American Diploma Project in 2005. With the "Race to the Top" and the impending reauthorization of the ESEA (aka No Child Left Behind; we'll miss that name-- so much fodder for good jokes) that term seems to be the new buzzword. So I suppose that is the mission of school: to make everyone CCR.
What is interesting about that is that schools have been saying that for years without having the foggiest idea what makes someone CCR-- we know the test scores that are required to enter college and we know the degree to which certain test scores correlate to academic success in college and to what degree, but success in college does not seem to be paying off in career success to the level it once did. And what about the kids who either could not or did not want to go to college.... hmm... the career readiness part, despite excellent success of many career and technical education programs, was just not cutting it for the vast majority of students.
One problem seems to be what schools are teaching... we are preparing our kids for the most part for jobs that don't exist any more, at least not in the United States. Our whole secondary school system is set up like a 1950s factory with kids on a conveyor belt from class to class that is started and ended by the sound of a bell... Doctor's don't do surgery like this, pastors and therapists don't do counseling like this, artists and designers and salespeople don't work like this.... teachers... well, teaching is about the only profession that schools are set up to train children to pursue, because even factories in the United States are no longer run on this model.
Daniel Pink's bestseller "A Whole New Mind: Moving From the Information Age to the Conceptual Age" describes the 3 forces at work in our economy today-- abundance, Asia, and automation-- and what it is doing in terms of the skills needed to compete in our society. Jobs based on algorithmic, or left-brain, thinking are being done cheaper and more efficiently by computers and by outsourcing to countries that have lower costs of living. Because of the abundance of good and services and leisure time, Pink posits that other senses or ways of thinking (conceptual or right brain senses) are more important now: design, story, symphony, empathy, play and meaning. These are the skills that help people create, synthesize, persuade, teach, counsel and innovate....
Pink did not in any way argue for this, but WHAT IF instead of math, science, English, etc. we offered courses called Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play and Meaning.....?????
What is interesting about that is that schools have been saying that for years without having the foggiest idea what makes someone CCR-- we know the test scores that are required to enter college and we know the degree to which certain test scores correlate to academic success in college and to what degree, but success in college does not seem to be paying off in career success to the level it once did. And what about the kids who either could not or did not want to go to college.... hmm... the career readiness part, despite excellent success of many career and technical education programs, was just not cutting it for the vast majority of students.
One problem seems to be what schools are teaching... we are preparing our kids for the most part for jobs that don't exist any more, at least not in the United States. Our whole secondary school system is set up like a 1950s factory with kids on a conveyor belt from class to class that is started and ended by the sound of a bell... Doctor's don't do surgery like this, pastors and therapists don't do counseling like this, artists and designers and salespeople don't work like this.... teachers... well, teaching is about the only profession that schools are set up to train children to pursue, because even factories in the United States are no longer run on this model.
Daniel Pink's bestseller "A Whole New Mind: Moving From the Information Age to the Conceptual Age" describes the 3 forces at work in our economy today-- abundance, Asia, and automation-- and what it is doing in terms of the skills needed to compete in our society. Jobs based on algorithmic, or left-brain, thinking are being done cheaper and more efficiently by computers and by outsourcing to countries that have lower costs of living. Because of the abundance of good and services and leisure time, Pink posits that other senses or ways of thinking (conceptual or right brain senses) are more important now: design, story, symphony, empathy, play and meaning. These are the skills that help people create, synthesize, persuade, teach, counsel and innovate....
Pink did not in any way argue for this, but WHAT IF instead of math, science, English, etc. we offered courses called Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play and Meaning.....?????
Friday, March 19, 2010
Anyone ever read Little Women?
At the end of Little Women, after all the trials and tribulations of the March family, things finally work out well for Jo-- she falls in love with the Professor, and her aunt dies and leaves her estate, Plumfield, to Jo. And what does she do with it?
"And you expect to live on the produce of the place? Well,
that sounds paradisiacal, but you'll find it desperate hard work."
"The crop we are going to raise is a profitable one," And
Jo laughed.
"Of what is this fine crop to consist, ma'am?"
"Boys. I want to open a school for little lads--a good,
happy, homelike school, with me to take care of them and Fritz
to teach them."
"That's a truly Joian plan for you! Isn't that just like
her?" cried Laurie, appealing to the family, who looked as much
surprised as he.
"I like it," said Mrs. March decidedly.
"So do I," added her husband, who welcomed the thought of
a chance for trying the Socratic method of education on modern
youth.
Reading that passage at the age of 10 or 11, desperate for the tale to continue indefinitely, I was strangely satisfied with Jo's fortunes. Open a perfect school.... and ever since it has seemed to be a wonderful dream... but of course Jo didn't have to do any but put the sign on the door and spread the word of mouth that she would teach-- no certification or accreditation, no state or federal regulations, no free or reduced lunch programs, transportation issues.. all those little details that make a happy ending a tad boring. But what if we didn't have to worry about those details? What if we could make an "imaginary" perfect school? Is there any consensus on what it would be like?
"And you expect to live on the produce of the place? Well,
that sounds paradisiacal, but you'll find it desperate hard work."
"The crop we are going to raise is a profitable one," And
Jo laughed.
"Of what is this fine crop to consist, ma'am?"
"Boys. I want to open a school for little lads--a good,
happy, homelike school, with me to take care of them and Fritz
to teach them."
"That's a truly Joian plan for you! Isn't that just like
her?" cried Laurie, appealing to the family, who looked as much
surprised as he.
"I like it," said Mrs. March decidedly.
"So do I," added her husband, who welcomed the thought of
a chance for trying the Socratic method of education on modern
youth.
Reading that passage at the age of 10 or 11, desperate for the tale to continue indefinitely, I was strangely satisfied with Jo's fortunes. Open a perfect school.... and ever since it has seemed to be a wonderful dream... but of course Jo didn't have to do any but put the sign on the door and spread the word of mouth that she would teach-- no certification or accreditation, no state or federal regulations, no free or reduced lunch programs, transportation issues.. all those little details that make a happy ending a tad boring. But what if we didn't have to worry about those details? What if we could make an "imaginary" perfect school? Is there any consensus on what it would be like?
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