May 26th, 2009
It’s sure a mouthload – but what is it? Well, basically it is the attempt to transfer motivation from outside forces (the teacher, curriculum, grades) to inside forces (owning my own learning). In practicality it means organizing learning in structured project groups where the students learn to plan, structure, analyze and present themes they themselves choose within the overall themes of school curriculum.
Most people associate the term entrepreneur with business. Sure, we need more entrepreneurs. But society really needs people in all sorts of positions and fields that take great individual responsibility. Schooling often does a very poor job of training this because it is asking the students to learn things that are not their own choice, not according to their own learning styles and in a time and place that they have little control over.
There are interesting experiments with another approach and two of the most interesting thinkers and practictioners in this area are Christer and Marielle Westlund who live on the west side of Sweden. Their site is in Swedish, but they will surely answer mail in English if you are curious. Among other things they can tell you how everyone in their high school class was able to support themselves before they even left school. There is no end to what students can do once they are given the right structure, encouragement, methods and opportunity. EL presents a very interesting and important alternative structure.
http://www.meuniveristy.com
May 26th, 2009
Yesterday I had a good visit with Hans Renman, principal of a new high school outside of Stockholm where all the students are equiped with Apple computers. Hans was able to plan his school from scratch with the vison of transferring motivation from teachers to students. The new technology helps, giving the students more control of what, where and how they learn, but, of course, it is a process for teachers and students alike to think differently. The environment was very unusal with lots of open spaces, meeting places and rooms of various sizes. The days are divided into seminars and project groups. With Hans passion, vision and obvious excitement I am sure good things will happen. Already the school is attracting visits from around Sweden and so far eleven different countries. It is time to look for new solutions to learning and schooling.
Sweden, where I live, is an interesting school country, partly because Swedes are good a technology but also good at humanistic values. That combination is rather unique and there is a honest attempt (not always successful but they try) for a democratic education based on the whole person approach and getting the students involved in their learning.
http://www.ybc-nacka.se
May 24th, 2009
http://www.uopeople.org/
Free (or small fee) online courses at university level in development by Shai Reshef, Israeli educational online pioneer.
Things are moving fast in the digital educational world, or maybe I am just in act of discovery. Here in my outpost in Sweden the cutbacks at the physical universites mean that in some fields students are only in physical classes about 3-4 hours a week. Okay, tuition free here, but still. There is certainly a good point to physically interact, meet and discuss, but soon we will wonder what we are paying those tuition bills for. Information is becoming free at a very fast pace.
First the music industry, now the publishing and newspaper industry. Soon the university industry?
May 24th, 2009
http://www.futurelab.org.uk/
http://www.virtualschools.net/folders/about_us/
http://www.inacol.org/
http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/
I am just beginning to hunt interesting alternatives for digital education, mobile education, virtual schooling. In other words, learning where you want, what you want and how you want it. It could be a complement to schools, but it could also be an alternative. Since 1969 (!) while in college I started being interested in alternative education. The time is certainly ripe now with over 2 million children being home schooled just in the USA and a spreading movement of taking education back from the formal schools.
I would be grateful for your links, help and ideas.
May 23rd, 2009
When a friend of mine told me about this book I said, “That’s for me”. It was. But not just for me. Who doesn’t like to whine, complain, criticize or back-talk? I do. But I won’t as much anymore, because Will Bowen is right. It is simply not constructive and he is doing his part to build a complaint free world.
The method is simple, but hard. Through his church in Kansas City he distributes purple bands. You put one your wrist and switch it to the other wrist when you discover that you have uttered a complaint. This makes you aware and this awareness will lead you to other ways of handling the situation.
Ridiculous? Perhaps. Will I do this? Probably not? Does it work? Probably. Benefits? Loads. It’s not that we should criticize or try to improve things that need changing, it’s just that whining and complaining are not good long term strategies and in the long run doesn’t help us to feel better about ourselves or others. Naïve? Yes. Worth the effort? Definitely.
Bowen’s simple is spreading around the world. Interviews on Oprah help, but the idea has great value. Try it!
May 23rd, 2009
Martin Lindstrom, Dane with Australia as his base, is one of the world’s most dynamic thinkers, speakers and writers about the art of marketing. I’ve heard one of Martin’s speeches and it is not something you forgot – ever. Martin believes most marketers are barking up the wrong tree.
Marketers thing visually. Most of the successful brands gain recognition through other means. In his lecture, Martin illustrated how a blindfolded person could recognize the Coca-Cola bottle just by touch or how Singapore Airlines sprays it’s plains with a scent that is both recognizable and comforting.
In his book Buyology Martin Lindstrom has put together that tries to identify how the brain reacts to various signals. What works or doesn’t work in marketing and how can we learn from the way the brain processes information. Why in the world do the terrifying pictures and messages on cigarette packages have the opposite effect and actually encourage smoking?
This is must reading for anyone interested in the art and science of positive persuasion whether you are in marketing, leading groups or trying to influence decision making. It is a good combination of research, specific examples and good storytelling.
May 23rd, 2009
Ken Robinson is a well-known, well-respected British consultant and writer in the fields of creativity and innovation. His TED lecture on creativity has been downloaded over three million times off the Internet.
I am a firm believer in “positive psychology” and the concept of building upon strengths as a more logical way of improving than trying to change weaknesses.
Robinson shares heart warming stories throughout his encouraging and uplifting book. There is the girl who today would be diagnosed with ADHD but through the wise insight of a psychologist discovers she is a dancer. She becomes a world renowned choreographer. The child who doodles all today becomes the creator of the longest running animated series in television history. Okay, not everyone has to be world famous, but the point is clear.
If we can help each other find the “element” where we thrive there is so very much to be gained. Schooling has a very definate idea of how we should be and think. Life presents oh so many more opportunities. Robinson defines the “element “ as “the meeting point between natural aptitude and personal passion.” Shouldn’t finding each child’s right element be the real task of each teacher and each parent?
This book should be obligatory reading for every teacher and every parent.
May 23rd, 2009
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you – Chip and Dan Heath for your wonderful book, Made to Stick. I wish I had read it when it first came out, but having read the Heath brother’s columns in my favorite magazine, Fast Company, I thought I knew their message. I was wrong. This is the perfect book for anything trying to figure out why certain ideas stick and others don’t and perfect for me trying to figure out my next writing project, marketing and how to make and impact despite all the “noise” and competition out there.
There is no one out there that can’t learn from this excellent description of why ideas stick. Start with simplicity. Surprise with the unexpected. Be down to earth and concrete. Make sure you are credible. Pull on the heart strings of emotion. Tell good stories. Yes, yes – easy to say, harder to do, but Chip and Dan give many good examples and certainly helped me to help myself refine my message. I have always believed in simplicity, but tend to have too many messages. I know the importance of emotions in learning and influencing but aren’t facts more important? Maybe not. I admire people who tell a good story, maybe I can too.
I can highly recommend Made to Stick for anybody in the business of influencing other people – and aren’t we all?
May 23rd, 2009
I’ve read lots of non-fiction lately and why I chose this book on my last trip to the USA, I really don’t know. I guess the title stuck out and I was looking for something different. Different it is. It is memoir about growing up in a totally dysfunctional family. When I say totally dysfunctional I mean it.
Augusten Burroughs tells the tale of growing up with a non-functioning mother and being farmed off to live with her psychiatrist’s even crazier family. The stories are really quite unbelievable and to think that Burroughs did eventually fine his core and become a successful writer is a tribute to the ability of people to survive all kinds of influences.
Burroughs memoir is indeed memorable, tragic-comic spectacle of a read. Don’t even think the thought that your family was dysfunctional. Nothing compares to this. Enjoy the read.
May 23rd, 2009
Simplexity is not a simple book to read. It is, however, about an interesting subject – the complexity and simplicity of the way things work. The author, Jeffrey Kluger, gets a little lost along the way, more concerned with showing off his vast knowledge in areas as diverse as economics, physics and biology. Yes, his knowledge is impressive, but what is the point of his many fascinating examples? How can we make sense of complex world?
Kluger’s examples are interesting – the difficulty of predicting the stock market, predicting people’s instincts in an emergency, predicting the results of sports events and why we usually fear the wrong things. Americans worry about terrorists after 9/11 when 3000 people died, but not about the fact that over 220000 people died on the roads in the six years after 9/11. Kluger asks us to sort out nonsense from reality and to look for patterns in behavior. What is really going on? Look beyond the complexity to figure out the simple reality. This is not all that simple to do, but Kluger reminds us of the importance.