Recently spent a day with a group of teaching enthusiasts at Kandos High School. About 40 mins out of Mudgee in NSW. Beautiful little area.
I’m sometimes asked where I’m most likely to find the most innovative practice around the world. Bit of a trick question. The larger centres generally have much greater access to the technology and the professional development opportunities. Still, this does not always ensure that their practice is ground-breaking. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
It’s more a matter of whether they avail themselves of the opportunities. Attitude as always.
However, in many cases, the more isolated communities also are often very innovative with their practice. It’s more difficult to establish a benchmark with other schools, and so, they just keep stretching their boundaries, never being sure of when they may have surpassed the benchmarks of excellence (whatever they may be!).
And so, some great work going on in Kandos. Here’s a neat little strategy that’s used by Melissa Giddins, who is one of the enthusiasts there. See the photo above.
A display has been set up outside the classroom, just where the students are lining up for lessons. Some words of inspiration, and perhaps some info about various learning opportunities that are going on around the school.
I’ve always thought that the time spent lining up becomes a waste of time. Kids milling around, sometimes fooling around, with no purpose. So, think about what else you could place outside your classrooms. This 1st few minutes before, and during, a lesson can make so much difference to the rest of the learning time.
Transforming Humanity
A bit of Big Picture here…. and yet, something that I believe is critical to our direct support for young people around the world today.
Right here, right now, we are living in the most rapidly changing era in human history. And given the scenarios we already face, and with others soon to become more apparent, we must truly rethink the human attributes we will all need for this new era.
Here are some of the reasons for our need to rethink our humanity:
* In spite of the inexact science of global warming (and not the least, the wild and woolly prognostications of former US vice-presidents), there is most assuredly an inevitability about the manner in which rampant human activity is contributing to an unbalancing of natural factors on our beautiful planet;
* Global hunger is here and now. If you live in one of the minority nations that is still well-fed, then consider yourself blessed. At the time of writing, at least 2 billion people are struggling to find enough sustinence to ensure they don’t have stomach cramps each and every day;
* Peak Oil really is an issue. For the uninformed, the ‘peak’ occurs when supply (determined by capacity to extract from the world’s resources) is outstripped by demand. Predominantly demand from China and India. It may not be tomorrow; however, even the oil company scientists will admit that there will come a time when we have no more. Five years? Ten? Probably not much further than that. When it occurs, it will cause a dramatic rethink about the manner in which our present economies operate.
Shale oil will keep us going for a while longer. It just costs a lot more to extract it from some pretty difficult places eg under the Canadian ice. Which will still put our economies under further considerable pressure.
* We consume too much. Even the economists will admit that we use at least 125% of the world’s capacity to produce our resources each year. Let me give you a simple analogy for this. If you earn $1000 per week, and you spend $1250, you eventually will end up in debt….and will need to rethink what you consume. You will have no choice. So I need to ask: At both a global and personal level, when is enough enough? I see people everywhere who have little (or no) comprehension of when to stop consuming. What the heck is happening here? It’s a Greed Gone Mad.
Don’t get me wrong here. I truly am an optimist. Believe it or not. Oh yes, there are issues, as I’ve outlined above. And yet… our humanity has an innate capacity to resolve what are seemingly insoluble issues. Just look at our recent history. William Wilberforce refused to accept the social justice of enslaving others, and eventually ensured that slavery was abolished.
Smallpox was eliminated in the 1970’s, in spite of a majority of scientists who said that its spread was inevitable. In the meantime, others simply decided to persevere with eradicating it from this planet.
What about Nelson Mandela, and apartheid in his beloved South Africa? If you were around in the 1970’s, you would be very aware of the apparently insurmountable battle that he faced in defeating that evil.
Think about the countless millions around the world who now are acting to minimise their daily CO2 output, and are successful in doing so. Green is the new black.
Yet to take on this new challenges, we have to face up to our very humanity. Our 20 th century characteristics are now inadequate in this new era of dramatic change.
If you are a teacher or a parent, you must seriously consider what these characteristics need to be. Because, in determining that list, you are clarifying the skillsets we need to instill in today’s youth. There’s nothing new to this. Most education organisations / departments on this planet are presently writing (or already have written) this list.
However, I want to know what YOU think they are. And once you have fashioned this list of 21st century attributes, my next query is: what do YOU intend to further develop in your own life? Because you are one of these humans who will be required to contribute in the pursuit of sustainable solutions.
I’ll get the ball rolling with some of these possible attributes of Transformational Humans. I openly challenge you to continue this dialogue in your own groupings. Here are some for now:
* The capacity to enact solutions to (almost) any issues. It’s called solution-focused therapy in psychology, and there’s a lot to be said about its application in our own lives. Here’s a simple challenge for you: Whenever you next are faced with a ‘problem’, think to yourself: What are some viable solutions? Just watch the difference it makes to your perspective on the problem. Now, extrapolate from this, and ponder the monumental difference it would make to the planet if everyone (ie Every One) did likewise.
* The ability to align and dialogue with your Meta-self ie your silent coach who resides over your shoulder. Whenever I meet up with high achievers, they invariably admit to me that there are two of them in action when they are taking part in their extraordinary performances. The first is their physical self; the second is this meta-self. And, in the extremes of action, it’s this meta-self that stays calm, and offers wisdom guidance in order for the physical self to complete the experience.
* A comprehensive capacity to avail yourself of all Web 3 (0r even Web 4) functionalities. Right now, we’re in Web 2. YouTube, FaceBook, MySpace, BeBo (why do they all have these double words that each have a capital letter??!) Web 3 will involve a complex array of intuitive technologies that enable you to profoundly alter your existence on this planet. As part of this, you will be able to synchronise with your avatar in an entirely new series of online environments.
Web 4 will inevitably involve various cyberforms of ourselves, who (that?!) engage in a series of cyber experiences, and then report back to us on their learnings gained during the endeavours. This stage also will witness inventions such as ThinkCaps (from around 2014 onwards), which will allow us to transmit our thoughts to others.
Over to you. What other Transformational attributes do you believe will be necessary by 2015? Just remember that, all through human history, our destinies have been guided and shaped by extraordinary people who have constantly redefined who they need to be. What will be your contribution?