Gaia: Knights & Maidens of the Roundtable - Education

Re: Do we need History as part of our education?

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 01:11:35 GMT

Hmmmm... well, that was not my most coherent post, but I invite you to read my most recent blog entry because it approaches the issue of depletion and economics from a somewhat different angle. One of the things about current conditions is that we are in a time of declining resources in a time of increasing demand. Also it is a time when we are on the cusp of depletion of many critical resources: oil, soil, strategic metals, etc. the market doesn't understand the signals generated by a depleting resource, because it doesn't respond the way resources do when there is an adequate supply: if a material becomes scarce due to short supply the price goes up. Then someone figures out a way to increase the supply by extracting more of the resource to make a profit based on the higher price. Eventually the price and supply and demand find a balance point. Now however we are in a time when a primary resource is entering a period of decline: oil is at or near it's production peak. A resource which is scarce because it is disappearing will not become more plentiful due to increased price, except perhaps marginally because someone opens a previously abandoned oil field, or mine. A resource in decline will just get more expensive. And if the resource is as important to industrial civilization as oil is this presents a fundamental problem to society. When multiple resources are nearing the tipping point at the same time the foundations of the civilization will shake, and may in fact fall. This is the time we are in. Globalization will collapse because it presupposes cheap plentiful energy, which is disappearing. Conservation and relocalization will be the only way to stabilize society after a period of collapse and serious suffering. This period will be the result of the inability of society as a whole to digest the fact that it is on an unsustainable course, and that its basic presuppositions are in a sense suicidal. Our consumerist way of life, spread all over the map will not be able to sustain itself in the face of drastically increased energy costs. We will have to readjust.

History would show us that resource depletion... the destruction of one or more critical resource on which the society depends for its very life... is at the root of the demise of many cultures in the past.

Re: Do we need History as part of our education?

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 18:11:05 GMT

Well, I knew I'd get sucked back in... at least a little.

I am not sure how to do this so I will just use the most direct way, if somewhat crude, and paste Janos' post from the dreaded Esoterics Thread:

Hello Curmudgeon,
Just stay around a bit longer to hear what I have to say :-).
Janos:
“I have more to say about what seems to be a developing dispute about “secret cabals” like the illuminati…”
Curmudgeon:
NO Please, No!
Wait a bit; you haven't heard what I am going to say :-)).
“Conspiracy theories” (and they include the dozens, if not hundreds, of creation stories) are used as a most subtle weapon in diversionary tactics. They are a hopeless morass of truths, half-truths and plain disinformation.
They are diversionary because they lock the mind into the surface layer of human reality where all the symptoms of a badly designed social system froth like smelly pollution.
Please note, this is not a criticism of the people who are passionate about the various conspiracies.

I think that the passion comes from the belief that ”the truth shall make you free”. The truth is that “truth” is not enough to make us free. It is only necessary, but on its own it is not sufficient.
It is not sufficient because, as another high value rule of thumb states, You can lead a horse (camel) to the water but you cannot make it drink.

Fast-forward to the positive recommendation: look for the root phenomena that manifests as conspiracy. That root is the successful privatization by the “conspirators” of the creative forces and substances of nature. As I said elsewhere, we have been made into the domesticated servants of a minority.

Becoming aware of the essence of domestication, explains, I think, how.

You fence in an animal in nature, or fence in its food supply, and you have got him. The animal can no longer maintain and propagate itself. From then on, you feed and maintain it and it will work for you in return.

This project of domestication has been slowly brought to a conclusion in the West during the last few hundred years, and more rapidly all over the world during the last few decades under the guise of “globalization”.

There is no remedy for conspiracies, but there is a remedy for domesticated humans. That remedy lies in a change of consciousness, but a change in very concrete terms. It happens when we become aware of what really hurts and imprisons us.
All this is summed up in the original statement of objective: “…subdue the (roughly) ten thousand year old conspiracy of a minority to dominate and exploit the surplus labour of the majority.”

How this “subduction” will be brought about in practical terms will have to be guided, again, by new contents in public awareness, best expressed by the Late Willis Harman (of Global Mind Change fame):
“…no matter how powerful the economic or political or even military institution [is], it persists because of its legitimacy, and that legitimacy comes from the perceptions of people. People give legitimacy, and they can take it away. A challenge to legitimacy is probably the most powerful force for change to be found in history.” (author's emphais)
So, lawyers and public trust holders (public servants trusted with fiduciaries duties) of good will, we need your input to the round table quite early.
Please get to work in Education and Politics and the Morality sub field of Social Development.

PS. Aplogies for the length of this post. Hope it does not sound like a sermon.

No apologies necessary, except for misspelling my name. And I liked what you had to say for the most part. I have been reading a book entitled England and the Crusades... it isn't here right at the moment so I'll have to post the author's name later... and it is apparent from that book where he explicitly mentions the distortions of chroniclers for their own agenda, and from any book you might like to read about the Gnostics, as a for instance, where we had little understanding f gnosticism apart from the polemics of those who were persecuting them. It wasn't until the Nag Hammadi library was discovered that we had an extensive collection of texts from the time of the Gnostics. That is just one example. I posted somewhere about the origin of the idea of Lemuria in the racism of european geographers unable to accept the navigational genius of the Polynesians. Etc., etc.

I think that many of the strange conspiracy theories that propose complicated explanations for political realities, especially if they rely on secret cadres of ultra-powerful groups (generally including Jewish Bankers... an immediate red flag) are often a swallowing whole, or maybe a selective swallowing, of old conspiracies that often have their origin in the animosities of long gone parties, resulting in "histories" that have been accepted over time, told and retold as if they were truth and reemerge in the "New Age" where astonishingly gullible people will once again propagate them with very little research into where the information comes from.

To quote (roughly) the old professor in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: "What do they teach the children in school these days?"

I mean come on, if you hear about a conspiracy that relies on complicated conditions of secrecy, how can you believe it? If we have discovered anything today it is that very little is really secret. Especially if it involves many people, and/or if it involves governmental agencies. I mean even the Bildergergers, the supposedly secret controllers, are hardly secret. And really, is it the Bilderbergers, or the Masons, or the Rothschilds, or the British Royals, or who, that really control everything? It can't be all of them.

And do you really think it would be possible to have the Twin Towers blown up in secret??

OK. Anyway, we are probably pretty close on The Conspiracy thing, but why label the existence of a hierarchy in human affairs a conspiracy? In what way is what you are proposing different from what Marx & Engles or many others proposed, except maybe that it is supposedly based on "spiritual" principles? Globalization is going to die from its own folly long before we can make a dent in it. Sometimes a little extended thought goes a long way (is that redundant?). The problem is that we don't have the patience to do the research. And if you feel like you have to apologize for a moderately "long" post, where will we be if we have to say something really involved. We can't get all our information from magazines or from Wiki. And we have to be able to be clear even in long thoughts.

My time is up for now, but I'll be watching the thread... enjoy

Re: Corporate sponsorship for Education?

http://jlz.gaia.com — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 12:56:55 GMT

Thanks for the links for pod links.
- meandering through.

Another thought I stumbled upon...
Pointing out the Corporate Identity issues... filtering Psychology that is embeded there-of ,,,with-in their institutions, Get a Job there ... How robotic and boring, penetraiting the 'schools/colleges/ etc. Collumbine is an easy extreme example of the interests of the 'corporate' so is Moore I guess, however the real concern Is how corporates can balance out with the butcher, baker and candle stick maker ... Why pin a Logo onto the schooling now ... Do they control everything now.. . .. Schools hence, go underground.... or dissovle into the system.

Quote : PS Corporations can be redeemed, though. But they will have to re-assume the same limitations as humans work under. Foremost of these is mortality.

"That would mean having corporations making half their unnecessary shopping malls into big lounges, meditation centers, guided meeting rooms ... Real stuff...Rehab to tai chi on the plastic peninsulars ..haha..or what ever art springs to that.. I will carry on my thoughts on the ˆˆArts after the change pod.

+QUOTE
"part of the deal was to sell 33,600,000 cans or bottles of Coca Cola products (water included!) for ten years until 2005. The terms of this contract were only revealed recently, and it was revealed that since the school could not sell the above mentioned quantity, Coke would continue to have a monopoly in selling beverages on campus for two more years."

That is just plain scary ... just the amount of consumation and waste ...
I got my bike flask . I fill up for the afternoon ... from a 5l Spring water... Is'nt that common sense.... not good news for the corporates if people start to think.... oh gosh...

Re: Corporate sponsorship for Education?

http://goodworld.gaia.com — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 11:38:48 GMT

The "antichrist" ( a metaphorical term) has many servants. Corporations are one nice bunch of these.

Don't let them near your children!

Read When Corporations Rule the World.

PS Corporations can be redeemed, though. But they will have to re-assume the same limitations as humans work under. Foremost of these is mortality.

Mortality was part of the original legal framework which created corporations.
When the objective for which they came into existence was achieved they had to go out of business.
This was the original historical compromise between corporations and human society which allowed them to be invented.

The subject of corporate law and the need for its radical "pruning" should be discussed in Politics and Economics.

Re: Corporate sponsorship for Education?

http://jlz.gaia.com — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 11:06:52 GMT

I'll dilute my last post by adding that I know I did veer off the topic of "Corporate sponsorship for Education?"

regards

jlz

Re: Corporate sponsorship for Education?

http://jlz.gaia.com — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 08:41:08 GMT

eeeesssshhhh... a yes and no ... who can tell in this Chaos ?

bang..hope you don't mind, i was woken up by a bang this monrning !! Creating me to Be "Weary" ABOUT Anything from the Civilised world
.... AND" im purging".. just for my 2 cents this morning ....

Corporate = eventual corruption of surrounding local resources , face it , its an obvious fact... the dynamic of corporate's bring about the modern world as we know, (and deny)... because corporate is another word for mass hysteria, killing in 'war' is Ok .. init... The spoils of war is not an ugly term, and nor is pride... which it should be !
examples amount to the same thing .. like say, Corporate Companies that mine TIN in the Congo (how embarrasing to have a computer!)... so blame "blood diamonds"... no don't blame the ultra rich they are only mammals like us...except they can afford to fund the local college ironically.
So in this pointless BABYLON ...where acedemics from the east get factory jobs in the west just for €$£ ... how pathetic ... and I'm teased for I listen to SlipKnot ( most honest band I have ever heard from the States !)when I feel angry, and Mozart when ona Sunday Drive, besides ColdPlay because Cris Martin sings with Soul !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Lawyers earn a living from others mis-fortune" ...a prime example of corporate world life.
"Doctors bury their mistakes " ...haha

I'm off to the dentist ... aahh.
(I have a filling that lasted 7 years once !! ... most last 1 year... mostly...I don't trust the medical fraternity , they are like politicians ..... I can persuade a doctor to give me what I want.. I tested many things ... and use the internet as a cross-reference ... HOW WEAK individuals in their 'office' bubbles are, I love U.K. RAP .( not show off american 50 cent stuff)
Skitz & rodney p... such real lyrics.. take a sip from the cup this world is so corrupt ,blad!)

I hear the 'misamena whisper' in the wind as loud as the roar of a lion. Eg ....Don't lite fires ... ahh it's ok, Hunting ... I guess It's a form of tourism & There are ethical ways, and controlled sustainable methods to this..... but I KNOW of the corruption ... I have chatted with guides and Cameramen .... It's so easy now with sanctions in Zimbabwe for Hunters to go Blood-Lust wild and take trophies by the dozen ... and have real destructive fun whilst at it ...
( good analagy as the subtle rules of an african 'safari' say .... are always bent silly.) ah take a trophy or two.

Alternativly .... put a farm right in the middle of a animal migrationary pattern for British American Tobacco Companies then blame white farmers for taking the oppurtunity /// don't compensate them when forced to leave, and then blame the whole thing on mugabe... easy.

more purging ? ....Besides it was "law" in America to Grow 1 ha of HEMP for ropes/cloth etc 100 years ago to boost their economy ... that "wonder plant" is known as "Drugs" today, and its associations bread confusion and fear

... I'm not worried about human migration patterns anymore, I'm concerned about the Wild-Life on this planet ... so get lost for all I care.

....more....(angry young man side of me now.... )Hollands health system is largley funeded on tax generated from Pot Smokers ... coffee shops ...
The weak analysis for its 'illegal' classification through-out the 'civilised?' world is largly by attacking the over-Chemically induced forms of this herb that have caused FAKE statistics and FEAR ... it's just not fair that people can sit in a pub and have a beer, and not in a coffee shop woth their laptop and have a puff... I do not believe in the civilised world that only consider their 1st world vices .... Prozac nation, guns, thuggery .
...licences for guns & not (pot)peace bro !!! how 'stupid' is that !!!!!!!!!!! free america ... my ass
WHERES THE REAL POVERTY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! in your own back yard!

MY FAVOuRITE BAND AT THE MOMENT is ""THE THEIVERY CORPORATION""
such an appropiate NAME ! for this expression vehicle !! .. 25+ musicians ... dubfusion ..cool
www.thieverycorporation.com

jlz (excuse the purging.. i did it on this page...)

Re: Corporate sponsorship = Shaking hands with the devil?

http://flyingbasil.gaia.com — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 20:25:02 GMT

Come to think of it-- I've come to the sad realization that I have bought the corporate line hook-line and sinker. The alternative question might be.. how will we keep the corporations our of education?

That said, I don't really see the harm of a rigorously regulated corporate sponsorship of education, so long as corporations don't peddle their products to impressionable youngsters.

-oh yes, an anecdote about shaking hands with the devil (Coke)

My University made a contract with Coke a few years back. Coke gave my school 8.5 million dollars/year for ten years 29% of this money went to the student association, the rest went to disability access, student services, library, and food services.

The universities part of the deal was to sell 33,600,000 cans or bottles of Coca Cola products (water included!) for ten years until 2005. The terms of this contract were only revealed recently, and it was revealed that since the school could not sell the abovementioned quantity, Coke would continue to have a monopoly in selling beverages on campus for two more years.

Was it worth it?

-did I mention that the president of my university recieved 3.5 million annually?

Re: Corporate sponsorship for Education?

http://flyingbasil.gaia.com — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 02:39:03 GMT

Meenakshi, thank you for informing me about charter schools, I think I will look for more information concerning this debate over its merits as I am considering teaching as a potential career path.
One question though, can you clarify what it means for corporate subsidized education to inject "realism" or reali-life experiences into curriculla? -- Thank you. : )

In a recent article in the financial post I read that around 50% of Canadian companies donate to charitable causes, but most of these companies do not accounce their donations lest their "good" (?) intentions be misconstrued. Of course there are tax-breaks associated with donating, but the benefits of such funds to charitable organization is something that should be recognized. In addition to this, companies who have their employees engaged directly in CSR activities have a better image and their workers are apparently much more motivated.

Now for the contentious bit--->
Corporate sponsorship of primary and secondary education:
---
its a scary thought.
but it could be an efficient means of channeling back the funds defrauded from us back into the community, no?
the problem might be the extent to which a corporation has control over how the funds are used in a school, in other words the autonomy of a school from a corporation. So long as this is regulated and there is an agreement over the amount and duration of the funding, I think the dangers of schools becoming entirely dependent on corporate funding will be mitigated.

Re: Corporate sponsorship for Education?

http://flyingbasil.gaia.com — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 17:27:18 GMT

I think Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a buzz word thats been quite popular recently as high level corporate scandals have prompted share holders to seek greater accountability of how their investments are used. But, I am seeing the term more often used to define the "charitable works" or social projects of corporations, and I wonder if in the future this will be expanded from supporting charitable foundations to funding mainstream education.

But first I would like to qualify something. I think the corporate funding of higher-education has been well established as Domus states in his post which sums the research tendencies in the global scientific field. Companies are interesting in subsidizing, if not subsuming research departments in universities which have developed facilities to cut the costs to their own Research and Development budget. And univerisity researchers are just as keen on getting funding and better equipment.

-The danger here is of course dependency, and the narrowing of fields of interest to cater corporate interests.

Now as Janos states, corporations are by theory to abstain from being fund holders of larger infrastructural developments. And for the most part I agree, but I have this sinking feeling that this will change as more of us become shareholders of corporations vis-a-vis our pensions. (please correct me if I am wrong). There is a vested interest on the part of corporations to foster creative new talent to meet the resource shortages awaiting in the future.

Meenakshi's question "how much will corporations interfere with educators?" is a vital question as well, and it could be considered along the lines of elementary/secondary and post-secondary education. I think the spectre of corporations having a grip on children at such impressionable ages is daunting to most.

.

Re: Public Education needs to be changed!

http://flyingbasil.gaia.com — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 16:22:55 GMT

: )
no Janos, not at all. I am very happy and relieved that everyone is concerned about such issues, because we all have a stake in it-- and needless to say-- they are exceptionally high.

My comment on corporate subsidized education comes from my love-hate relationship with my country of origin. As I was looking for a job in Japan this past spring, I could not help, but marvel at the grotesque reality of Japanese corporate society-- a cross between Japanese style labour management and American competitiveness-- which appears to subsume everything in life. Scary indeed! In its pursuit of efficienty and profit maximization it has also become very intrusive.

Yes, I love your frog metaphor too, and I do see your point. Indeed, this phenomena is a 'trojan horse' of sorts; it is akin to the viral computer programs that enter the system by posing as harmless data packages.

And as Janos said, the raison detre of corporations is to maximize profit, and ultimately use whatever institutions under its control for this purpose.

Fraudster? or Symbiote?

--whether it is it possible to have a more mutual relationship a symbiosis--is an issue I think I will take over to the thread Meenakshi has opened for us and to which Janos links.

Re: Public Education needs to be changed!

http://goodworld.gaia.com — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 14:34:02 GMT

Do you all think corporate sponsorship of education has its merits though? I think it may.

No, no, no!
Forgive my emphatic "no" saying.
I do not mean to be offensive to my colleague for asking the question. But the "I think it may" rider reminds me of the frog that gets boiled alive because the temperature of a pan of water rises very gently--and the frog gently goes to sleep...

Do we want corporations to rule the world? That is what we will get in exchange for corporate sponsorship in vital areas of society. In sports and entertainment it may be tolerable (but still, beware of fraudsters* "bearing gifts").

See why here.

*Again, "fraudster" is not meant to refer to human individuals or groups but to corporations as a-human legal constructs and as profit maximising organisational machines that grow to dominate their human creators.

Re: Corporate sponsorship for Education?

http://goodworld.gaia.com — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 13:59:41 GMT

Let's do some vertical thinking.

How come that corporations have these massive funds for acting as sponsors for all things in all areas of society at large?

Surely they have these surplus funds because they are defrauding their customers.

According to economic theory, competition between suppliers in a market ensures that business entities will make just enough profits to make it worthwhile for them to stay in business. They are not supposed to become fund holders to finance social infrastructure developments.

Remember the phrase; It's the economy, stupid?
Please note, no personal insinuation is meant here, but the Knights and Amazons in the economics team better get their mental skates on!
This team is responsible, among other things, for understanding why the current economic model does not enable the economy (the functioning economy is the result of the theoretical structure which guides the actions of economic agents) to fully and fairly address the first rang of Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

Corporate sponsorship for Education?

http://Meenakshi.gaia.com — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 11:40:41 GMT

Li asked, on the Public Education thread:Do you all think corporate sponsorship of education has its merits though? I think it may.

I brought it into another thread, as we are now not only talking about public education. In the U.S., charter schools are growing in popularity, as they are more flexible and easier to administer. Most [all?] have corporate sponsorships. Of course, they don't have the variety of courses and possibilities that public schools do.

In India, a few large corporations have begun their schools too; but I don't know much more about them.

What I'm more concerned about is, how much will corporations interfere with educators? On one hand, I would like people in one part of "real life" out there to inject some realism; but on the other hand, education for me is not a product that leads to a conclusion; but something ongoing. But that is another thread.

Re: Public Education needs to be changed!

http://flyingbasil.gaia.com — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 01:49:56 GMT

Meenakshi, I agree its all about "lifeskills!" and finding an alternative to stantdardized exams.

-the worse case scenario would be Japan, where your station depends on how well you do academically. It is a meritocracy of sorts where those who graduate from ivy league equivalents in Japan get first pick of the corporations they want to join...
Life as a student in Japan is cramming for one exam after another. from Kindergarden, to elementary, to middleschool, to highschool, to university, and then corporations--yes even companies have standard aptitude exams. Something is definitely wrong.

-the product is a society that is highly organized and highly efficient, but also inflexible where dissidents are marginalized.
-its a society of workers and consumers, a society of conformists whose only notion of freedom is the choice to consume.

whats even more sickening is pervasive phenomenon of 'latch-key' children who return to an empty home afterschoo because both parents work. A friend who is an aspiring teacher told me that parents expect too much out of teachers, but the parents themselves do not teach their children principles.

---Sandy said that the government must bear the weight of changing the system.
Sadly, in Japan, its the corporations that take over this niche, selling educational services to augment the weaknesses of government subsidized education. Most of the time they are "Kaplan"esque institutions that help you get better test scores.
There are more innovative ones as well though.

Corporations also provide daycare for working mothers now as the workforce is shrinking.
Perhaps places in the U.S. have adopted this.

But I can't bear the thought of children having Microsoft brand of education 'integrated' into their head and kids graduating from Coke High....

---Do you all think corporate sponsorship of education has its merits though? I think it may.

Re: Public Education needs to be changed!

http://Meenakshi.gaia.com — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 13:39:58 GMT

I was staying away from posting, because I felt I had too much to say about this!

My perspective is that of an Indian who studied in "convent schools" [I think they're called parochial schools in the U.S.] while my husband is from a private school. There isn't public schooling as in the U.S. where taxes pay for going to school.

So, that in itself is s biggie. Public schooling is probably the most efficient way to get each child to be literate. Beyond that, each member of my family is individualistic, and my son is a very bright non-academic kid, who chose to go to a large public school so there would not be such a focus on him as in a private school! He has loved the freedom that large numbers afford -though coming from India, a class of 25 does NOT seem large!

This is where parenting comes in; and why I came into the thread: to share and learn. Parents and school together can change the way your child experiences school. They do not HAVE to compete with others, if parents can stay focused on their individual goals. There are ways, in which we can be very involved in the child's life, schooling, interacting with teachers and administrators, to ensure the best out of a difficult time. This is from a mom whose kid told her after a week in kindergarten-"How long do I have to keep doing this?" And who thinks I have other things to show my child about life, than being a teacher's assistant with "homework".

I always remember what happens to kids in countries that don't have public schooling - they work mini-adult jobs; and feel that to change something, it is good to go back, as we are doing here, to see why something came into being.

So- what needs to be changed about public schooling? Perhaps parents need to depend less on it than they do, and teach kids the life skills they need to learn? Perhaps parents need to push for another way of their kids getting into college than standardized testing and competitive standards?

The school does not live in a vacuum; and as has been said- Sandy , society needs to change so that schooling can.

Re: Banking Concept of Education to Socratic/Problem posing?

http://flyingbasil.gaia.com — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 07:06:26 GMT

While ruminating on everyone's comments, and I remembered some ideas from an excerpt from a manifesto on education called Pedagogy of the Oppressed, by Paulo Freire. His basic assertion is that what we practice in most countries is a form of education called the banking "concept of education," where students are treated as passive vessels into which information can be poured into. Education is considered literally as a form of investment, as Katrina pointed out "to best produce a consumer/line type worker"--In this light, standardized testing can be interpreted as a means to sift and sort students into various levels of occupations. Sad indeed. The alternative that Freire posed was something not unlike the socratic method of problem posing dialogue that Alley proposed--but radically different in that the absolute binary between teacher and student is blurred-- a deeper reciprocity is formed between the two as teacher learns from student, and student informs teacher of their circumstances and needs.

---I don't know how well this works in praxis, but it sounds like an interesting variant of the socratic method...

I am not very familiar with education, but I did find an interesting streaming video manifesto on what kind of shift in education is needed to meet the dramatic demographic changes and needs of this century. I think it touches upon many of the issues discussed, the need to foster creativity, the problematic hierarchy in categories of studies, ADD...etc

Here it is..............................................................................................

TED talk: "Do School's Kill Creativity?"

Sir Ken Robinson's humorous case for fostering an education system that nurtures creativity.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/66

"Why don't we get the best out of people? Sir Ken Robinson argues that it's because we've been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers. Students with restless minds and bodies -- far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity -- are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible consequences. "We are educating people out of their creativity," Robinson says. It's a message with deep resonance. Robinson's TEDTalk has been distributed widely around the Web since its release in June 2006. The most popular words framing blog posts on his talk? "Everyone should watch this."

A visionary cultural leader, Sir Ken led the British government's 1998 advisory committee on creative and cultural education, a massive inquiry into the significance of creativity in the educational system and the economy, and was knighted in 2003 for his achievements."

......................................
enjoy

Re: Public Education needs to be changed!

http://goodworld.gaia.com — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 12:41:12 GMT

The change needed is so simple that everybody, it seems, passes by without seeing it. Education should be what the word means, "bring out" what the child has in hir.

Education ministers would do well to become familiar with the Socratic Method so that they would know what reforms to press for in educ-ation.

Our youngest grandson has displayed remarkable fascination with numbers and letters before he was one year old (coming up to two now). When he first saw a word in italics among regular text, he started laughing at it (just to avoid misunderstanding, he does not read yet).

I think with sadness about what the (mis)education system is going to do with his mind.

Re: Public Education needs to be changed!

http://jlz.gaia.com — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 12:07:43 GMT

An understatement !
Lateral behaviour overides educated 'patterns'

.. we're in a new world ..

Re: Public Education needs to be changed!

http://katrinamae.gaia.com — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 00:20:57 GMT

http://www.autodidactic.com/profiles/profiles.htm

This is an amazing list of people who were, for the most part, "self-taught," autodidactics. Among them you'll find presidents, inventors, tons of author and social commentators, CEO's, etc. Bill Gates, Rockafeller, Carnegie, the list is extensive.

Re: Public Education "Are We Failing Our Geniuses?" article

http://katrinamae.gaia.com — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 23:34:24 GMT

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1653653,00.html

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3244598

The top article states two astonishing things:
~5% of the U.S.'s most "gifted" students (IQ of 145 and above) drop out of highschool early.
~5% of the lowest scoring students (outside of mental retardation) drop out of high school early.

Nearly $8 billion dollars a year is spent on school programs for the mentally-challenged.
This is about 10 times more than is possibly spent on gifted children (possibly' because many schools do not keep track of that type of spending).

This hit very close to home for me, since I am in that 5% that left high school early because I was being slowed down and bored ( I was fortunate to receive my diploma at the local comunity college, but I know that is rare in this country, to get anything more than a GED from a community college.)