Back in April I read Howard Gardner's Five Minds for the Future. The following quote has stayed with me.
.. an educational system is not worthy of its name unless its representatives can clearly articulate what the system is striving to achieve and what is seeks to avoid or curtail.
Then this week I came across John Wooden's definition of success, and it struck me that I should start developing my own articulation of the goals of the education system I am a part of. I have done this at before work, while preparing for my annual performance review (that hated thing!) - "How do your goals/contributions align with those of your team/group and the larger organization?" - and I have actually found it quite useful.
So here I was mulling over the format - should it be short like a mission statement / elevator pitch? Or more like a short essay? Not a long essay, I hope. Just then, on NPR's Morning Edition, I caught a sample of a This I Believe essay, and I decided that's the format I want to follow.
It was at this point that I recalled a tweet by HB - "reflecting on the many benefits of groupthink." And now I am wondering what technology I can use to develop this essay live.
At this point all I can think of is figuring out a way to create my own Wiki. If you have any suggestions on how I can post a document that others can edit or comment on, I'd appreciate it.
I googled 'Meaning of Education' and 'Purpose of Education' yesterday, and was a bit overwhelmed (not surprisingly). But then this morning I open up the readings for Adolescent Development, and find in them John Dewey's 1897 Pedagogic Creed.
The opening line is "I believe that all education proceeds by the participation of the individual in the social consciousness of the race." He continues, over 11 pages and 5 articles of faith, beginning each paragraph with "I Believe."
What a happy confluence of ideas and coincidences!
No comments:
Post a Comment