Kennneth Robinson – Sir Ken – made quite the international splash when his TEDTalk on How schools kill creativity went viral in educational circles. He was the keynote speaker at the NAIS national conference in March and he filled Radio City Music Hall to overflowing. Here he is again in a podcast about his new book to be published in…
An article by Alfie Kohn in The Nation is a timely reminder of how language is so easily co-opted to mean quite the reverse of the usual understanding. The polluters bring us “Clear Skies” and the armaments industry brings us the B36 bomber – “The Peacemaker”. And now those touted as school “reformers” are heralded for ushering in a new…
Lots of talk in recent years of the new essential skills to survive in the 21st century economy. Tony Wagner’s book The Global Achievement Gap- why even our best schools don’t teach the survival skills our children need and what we can do about it has received lots of attention. See this summary to review a list of the usual…
Here’s Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on Creativity, fulfillment and flow:
“What do I need to learn this algebra and geometry and math stuff for?” Connecting learning to the real world – that’s the tag line of The Futures Channel – a great educational resource. On this page they provide a wonderful set of answers to that age old classroom math question: “What do I need to learn this algebra and geometry…
“None of us is as smart as all of us.” — Japanese proverb There’s brainpower in numbers. But you don’t get there by brainstorming. Read more at NYTimes Unboxed
In his talk yesterday, Bruce Judson made reference to the first 100 days of the Roosevelt administration. As now, there was a deep financial crisis. As now, there was no one clear path to follow. But doing nothing was not an option. Bruce reminded us that they tried things, experimenting to see what worked. There’s a local exhibition – close…
“Understanding the Economic Crisis in Plain English” – that was the title of the presentation for grades 7-12 today. In his lively and most informative presentation PDS parent and trustee Bruce Judson explained the origins of the current financial crisis. His talk set out the dominoes of the events that led the way. You can see the presentation yourself at…
What do London’s Royal Albert Hall, The Football Association, and the New Zealand Ministry of Education have in common? All three have called on the services of learning and creativity consultant Guy Claxton. He is the author of What’s The Point Of School? Rediscovering The Heart of Education and a foremost thinker on creativity, learning, and the brain. He is…
On the way home tonight I heard Robert Reich on NPR’s Marketplace. The topic was Human Capital. The one sentence summary: Failure to invest in human capital (i.e..education) is shortsighted and counter-productive. Basic idea: Our future competitiveness and standard of living depend on our collective skills, capacity to communicate and solve problems, and innovate. They do not depend on our…
A high school parent writes: I think we knew this already (“study shows teens’ use of digital media show that America’s youth are developing important social and technical skills online – often in ways adults do not understand or value”) but it’s nice (especially as a parent) to be reassured. The study in question can be found here in versions…
I’ve posted about leadersheep before and now I have heard from an Icelandic shepherd with more information. “Flannelberry” – who started a blog Flannelberry Farm (Small-scale farming, self sufficiency and all things considered…) – writes: I am a shepherd with an Icelandic flock and came across your blog while googling “leadersheep”. There are indeed leadersheep – a specific line within the…
A parent sent me a link to this clip from Ulrike Reinhard‘s blog and specifically her story “Intrinsic motivation will play a major role…” Thank you for introducing me to the ideas and work of Chief of Confusion: Richard Seely Brown. Brown is a visiting scholar at USC and the independent co-chairman of the Deloitte Center for Edge Innovation.…
First and foremost, I look for someone who asks good questions…We can teach them the technical stuff, but we can’t teach them how to ask good questions—how to think. Clay Parker, president of the Chemical Management Division of BOC Edwards. What’s your answer to the question: What skills do we need to be teaching in the 21st century? To get…
I had the pleasure today of hearing Shawn Achor speak on the topic of happiness and the science of positive psychology and school success. Just as there is learned helplessness there can also be learned optimism. It’s all to do with mirror neurons and other good brain stuff. Happiness can be a choice – a bracing antidote to doom and…