I believe politicians should go back to school and learn with the
kids
how to work collaboratively.
Obama's response to the loss of the Olympics bid was something
along the
lines of "sometimes you play a good game but don't win"--the first
principle
of good sportsmanship. Even though this is what we teach kids in
school, I
can just hear conservatives muttering under their breath, "LOSER."
The ethic of disgrace in defeat is tied into social Darwinist
assumptions
that serve to justify a lopsided distribution of wealth that puts
the US
closer to banana republic than to modern democratic state. The
tensions play
out at both ends of the SES spectrum, in the astonishingly high
crime rate
of poor who refuse to be losers and in the incredible culture of
corporate
corruption of CEOs and top executives for whom untrammeled success
is the
only option.
It would be nice to see in Obama's electoral victory the
possibility of
other ethical norms rising to ascendency here. But it just doesn't
feel that
way.
David
-----Original Message-----
From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-
bounces@weber.ucsd.edu] On
Behalf Of Ana Paula B. R. Cortez
Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2009 10:12 AM
To: Culture ActivityeXtended Mind
Subject: Re: [xmca] schools kill creativity?
Hi, everyone, Cris and Tony!
Thanks for the message. I believe politicians should go back to
school and
learn with the kids how to work collaboratively. The world will
become a
much better place by the time everyone learns how to work TOGETHER,
instead
of thinking about one's own priorities. Chicago not being chosen
was not
your president's responsibility only (of course part of it is,
since he
represents the country), but it involves a lot of other individual
circumstances. The same applies to Rio: being chosen doesn't
reflect our
president's work, since the social conditions in Rio (and the rest of
Brazil) are far beyond ideal.
Now, Tony, I'm very glad to know you'll host the next conference in
Brazil!
Why not doing it in São Paulo? Please, send me an off-list message
with the
details and I can suggest venues for it.
Warm regards to all,
Ana Paula Barbosa Risério Cortez
English Language and Literature Professor
Faculty of Language and Education
University of Mogi das Cruzes-VL, Brazil
Av. Imperatriz Leopoldina, 550
Vl. Leopoldina, São Paulo, SP - Brazil
05305-000
55 11 3648-5050
apbrcortez@yahoo.com.br
--- Em sáb, 3/10/09, Tony Whitson <twhitson@UDel.Edu> escreveu:
De: Tony Whitson <twhitson@UDel.Edu>
Assunto: Re: [xmca] schools kill creativity?
Para: "eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity" <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
Data: Sábado, 3 de Outubro de 2009, 0:57
Thanks, Ana,
At first I was going to send this just to you, off-list, but then I
thought
I'd send it to the list.
First, Congratulations!
.. and, I thought others outside the US might be interested in
hearing that
we in this country are being treated to the spectacle of right-wing
USA
super-patriots rejoicing (cheering, applauding vigorously, etc.) at
the news
that Chicago's bid for the Olympics was not successful. They see
this as a
failure that will disgrace Obama, and they are welcoming any
failure for the
USA that they think can be treated as a failure by Obama.
I wanted to also mention that at our International Curriculum
meeting in
South Africa last month, we decided that our next meeting will be
in Brazil
in 2012. Not sure yet which University will host, or in which city;
but it
would be great if you would join us -- I will update the list as
details
emerge.
Finally, points in your message encourage me that maybe the
manuscript I'm
writing might not be too crazy after all. In one part I am working
(maybe
overworking) an analogy between meaning and dancing, arguing that
just as
dancing is what dancers do, meaning is what mean-ers do (speakers,
writers,
thinkers -- but also words, texts, and signs in general). So "I
mean ..." ,
"she means ..." , "that word means ..." "that text means ..."; with
"meaning" as a verb, and not a noun (i.e., not something that could
be a
"content," or something "conveyed").
Anyway, your message also reminded me of the teacher who said,
"Mary, put
that book away; it's time for reading now!" (I guess that's not
intelligible
outside of countries where "reading" is a subject and a class that
has been
taught using systems and materials that bear little relationship to
the
reading that people do with books outside of schools and classrooms.)
Again, Congratulations! President Obama offered his congratulations
to Rio
and to Brazil when he returned, and he also expressed pride in
Chicago.
"Sometimes you can play a great game and still not be the winner."
To the right wing in our country, any time Obama falls short of
what he's
trying to do (even on things like reducing unemployment, or finding
a way to
provide health care for people here -- not just something like the
Olympics), they see failure for the USA as a great victory for the
American
that they are loyal to.
On Fri, 2 Oct 2009, Ana Paula B. R. Cortez wrote:
Thanks, Mike!
I loved the talk. It makes completely sense. I was teaching PFL
(Portuguese as Foreign Language) at the American School of São
Paulo this
morning and I called one of my student's attention for chatting so
much in
class. Do you know what she said to me? "Sorry, Ms Cortez, I need
to talk in
order to think". Well, if a great dancer needs to move in order to
put all
her creativity into action, who I am to disagree with this student
of mine?
;)
Warm regards to all,
Ana Paula Barbosa Risério Cortez
English Language and Literature Professor
Faculty of Language and Education
University of Mogi das Cruzes-VL, Brazil
Av. Imperatriz Leopoldina, 550
Vl. Leopoldina, São Paulo, SP - Brazil
05305-000
55 11 3648-5050
apbrcortez@yahoo.com.br
--- Em qui, 1/10/09, mike cole <lchcmike@gmail.com> escreveu:
De: mike cole <lchcmike@gmail.com>
Assunto: [xmca] schools kill creativity?
Para: "eXtended Mind, Culture,Activity" <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
Data: Quinta-feira, 1 de Outubro de 2009, 21:30
Perhaps of some interest.
mike
http://www.ted.com/talks/
ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
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Tony Whitson
UD School of Education
NEWARK DE 19716
twhitson@udel.edu
_______________________________
"those who fail to reread
are obliged to read the same story everywhere"
-- Roland Barthes, S/Z (1970)
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