It's been about 24 hours and many informative and inspiring posts since this
exchange. I couldn't agree more about both existence proofs and spreading
the virus. It seems to me that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of
alternatives that work, some of which people here have created and/or
researched and some of them even in public schools. Where and how to spread
the virus? Who will listen and why? I began my book Schools for Growth by
telling how this NYC Board of Ed official spent a few hours at our Barbara
Taylor School, told us what we were doing was a miracle and we never heard
from him again. I bet most people here have similar experiences. We don't
believe in miracles, have some ideas about how come certain things work and
others don't, and believe that the reasons in part have to do with
assumptions and attitudes about learning and teaching and development (and
some other things). Even with existence proof that moves them, educational
administrators and policy makers do not move. I think spreading the virus
has to involve finding those people who will and do move. In our experience
with both the All Stars Project's outside-of-school programs and the
Institute's educational work with teachers and other school personnel, it's
been mostly people who are not institutionally tied to the educational
system or to educational policy that move with us. We've found ordinary
individuals and business people to be excellent partners ‹ both eager to
engage their and the culture's assumptions and to learn and participate and
to give support. It's modest and it's only a step in the process of
impacting on what goes on in the tens of thousands of schools across the
country.
Lois
> From: "Mike Cole" <lchcmike@gmail.com>
> Reply-To: mcole@weber.ucsd.edu, "eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity"
> <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
> Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2006 12:16:09 -0800
> To: "eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity" <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
> Subject: Re: [xmca] chat analysis of ritual
>
> Sure Lois, take us along this path because it seems to me one of the
> important ways to go, if not the
> only way. But 31 potential contributors are likely be brownian motion that
> get the teacher fired if they
> are not organized in some way(s). What ways? Which will work in what
> insitutions?
>
> The 30:1 transmission classroom template has been there for about 6000 years
> by my rough calculation.
> We can, and should, argue that it is a great way to create
> power.knowledgedifferentials and stunt development.
> But we also have to provide alternatives that work and then alternatives
> that work in publically viable settings.....
> like ps2 or whatever in NYC or most any school in San Diego.
>
> I just left a setting in the community where kids between the ages of 2 and
> 15 and undergrads and a couple of
> community adults and three visitors from Japan and a couple of others who
> think of themselves as associated
> with UCSD were busy co-creating development. Existence proofs are important.
> Spreading that "virus" seems
> equally important.
> Andalee!
> mike
>
> On 3/18/06, Lois Holzman <lholzman@eastsideinstitute.org> wrote:
>>
>> What if the teacher is not working one on thirty, though? There are, after
>> all, 31 zoped creators in this situation, 31 contributors to creating an
>> environment in which the teacher (along with others) can facilitate
>> everyone's learning. Can we see the teacher's work as supporting that
>> activity?
>>
>> Lois
>>
>>> From: "Mike Cole" <lchcmike@gmail.com>
>>> Reply-To: mcole@weber.ucsd.edu, "eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity"
>>> <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
>>> Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2006 08:45:20 -0800
>>> To: bb <xmca-whoever@comcast.net>
>>> Cc: "eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity" <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
>>> Subject: Re: [xmca] chat analysis of ritual
>>>
>>> The whole issue of how a teacher working one on thirty can create
>> anything
>>> approximating a zoped
>>> is worth a lot of discussion.
>>> mike
>>
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