An essay on “education as if people and planet matter” originally drafted for The Dartington Trust and Resurgence and published on Clive Menzies Outersite.org. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? The answer is obvious, if you can look back in time. Eggs came first in fish, reptiles, then birds. It was an egg …
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Category:Education
Marching past paradise
The following piece comes from Media Lens. It combines the magic of legends with the reality of today. Perhaps it will help you look up from the rush to decadence and notice the paradise you can enjoy. To get a glimpse of paradise visit Ballin Temple where the air is fresh, the water clean and …
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Let’s all babble!
In their article Babel is better The Economist encourages education in a person’s mother tongue, rather than English, and they are right to do so. It would have been helpful to explain why from a neurological and personal development point of view, rather than simply rationalise that it is difficult to find teachers that speak …
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What makes the “God Letter” important.
Written in 1954, when Einstein was 74, the one-and-a-half page response to German philosopher Eric Gutkind was sold at auction for … Three Million Dollars! Give or take. Is $3 million a big number? It seems so to me, but then, crazy people … It certainly drew attention, which is good because of what’s behind …
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Nature is the Teacher
After the opening hour of #edchatMENA “Nature vs Artificial Intelligence” on Saturday 24 March 2018 I went outside to my other “office”. A large branch from a cedar tree had fallen during recent snow and wind. We had cleared much of it in the past few days, but, because it was now looking a bit …
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The Blue Economy
Here’s a nice 6 minute video that puts us in the picture. The big picture. It’s not the whole story, but its brief and is a super introduction and a refresher for old hands.. We are past the point of stopping disruption. It was 15 oC this evening. (Ireland, December) 13 oC would be OK, …
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Time is running out: Behind the curve on SDGs
SustainAblility and Globescan’s recent survey of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals is not encouraging. Over 500 experts contributed. The consensus is that progress and attention is lagging the need for change. If data is restricted to those with a decade or more of experience the picture is worse. Progress is dominated by social entrepreneurs …
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Perspective Matters
(Chapter from How to Get Rich and Famous.) How do you see yourself? How do you see others? How do you see the world? And do you see things the same way as other people around you? Even though what you’re looking at is the same thing, we often see them differently. Perhaps you’ve come …
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Are you beginning to get it? The what, why and how of system change.
There has been an outpouring of love and solidarity because of the tragic and terrific blood-letting in Paris this weekend. It has been a synchronous focus on thought, feeling and action by millions around the world. That is good. The answers proposed have ranged from black to white, from vengeance to forgiveness. (My preference is …
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Education For Today – first cut
Here’s a presentation synthesising ideas about education for today’s world. Please get in touch if you have questions or comments. The slides may be downloaded here as a pdf. Also available on YouTube.