What if we could transform our schools from “assembly-line factories ” into centers of innovation? What if we could teach young people the skills they need to be able to adapt to an unpredictable future? We can and we must. When even science has to rethink itself… Anyone who hasn’t seen Sir Kenneth Robinson’s brilliant animated talk […]
Education Is A Serious Business
A new book by American journalist Amanda Ripley looks at highly reputed education systems in the world. Her findings on what makes these schools successful may be a surprise to many. In an article in the Globe and Mail, they condense the lessons learned form Ripley’s research into seven key points. We would like to […]
Skills vs. Culture in Education – Developing a Solution
In our previous post we looked at the conflicting positions of a school that emphasizes skills vs. a school that emphasizes culture. The ‘skill school’ protects the need to develop ability to apply skills in a work environment, whereas the ‘culture school’ protects the need to develop the ability to think and analyze in an […]
Skills vs. Culture – a Conflict in Education and Innovation
Humanity evolves through cooperation. This cognitive evolution has allowed us to grow beyond living in isolated, warring tribes to create international communities based on common interests. The distinctive feature that has allowed mankind to evolve in this cooperative way beyond animals is language. It is through language that humans create higher levels of consciousness. Thanks […]
Reality is not made up of cycles but complexity – Innovation and Education Part 2
Prof. Pagano is Associate Professor of Experimental Physics at University of Salerno, Italy. His considerations here provide the backdrop for verbalizing the core conflict in which educational institutions, schools and universities are immersed. We will analyze that core conflict in our next post. Cycles We tend to see recursive patterns in all aspects of life. […]
Educating for complexity: How do we transform schools into centres of innovation?
“The challenge we face is nothing less than transforming our schools from assembly-line factories into centers of innovation.” Those are the words of Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City where the iZone project is transforming education. Clearly, the 19th style classroom and methods are not cutting it for the challenges of today. The iZone […]
