Education Innovation

Idea Jar - Reach In and Take One Out

Whom does 21st century belong to?
Think Big blog

10 Best Ways to Harness the Power of Questions
Litemind: Exploring ways to use our minds efficiently

  Your Brain on Bach

The Brain and Music blog

Model 21st century schools - Update 1
Dangerously Irrelevant: Ruminations on technology, leadership, and the future of our schools

There’s no spork for eduction!
The Thinking Stick blog

Banish E-mail Overload

TBLOGICAL:Mostly pertinent thoughts about technology and education by school and district leaders.

9 tactics to effectively communicate your vision

The Practice of Leadership blog

How to Be a Better Writer in the Next 10 Minutes
Copyblogger blog

 

Culture Making: Creating & Changing The "Micro Cultures" of Professional Learning Communities

In his fine book Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling, author Andy Crouch explains his premise that it is not enough to condemn, critique, consume, or copy culture. The only way to change culture is to cultivate and create it.

Professional Learning Communities, School Leadership Teams, grade level teams, etc. are, in essence, mirco cultures. A micro culture is a small unit of culture within a wider general culture. In other words, the grade level or department level PLC is a micro culture within the great culture of the school site and the school district.

Thus the micro culture of the PLC is subject to problems, difficulties, obstacles, and hurdles that face all cultures. These are things that the PLC could and should be change to improve its effectiveness, thus improving student achievement. Andy Crouch explains that there is a rule that applies when we try to change culture. I call it the cultural rule.

Cultural Rule: “The only way to change culture is to create more of it.”

by tmfotki

There are 6 approaches or practices that are typically adopted to change culture. These practices are used by members within their PLCs to change the culture of the PLC for the better. However, 4 of the approaches are not necessarily the most effective way to change culture. As you will see, the first 4 approaches are lacking, while the last 2 approaches have the power to change culture for the better in our Professional Learning Communities.

1. Condemning Culture: “No matter how much we may protest--condemning the cultural goods on offer—unless we offer an alternative, the show will go on.”

Those who condemn the current practices of the PLC will do little to change it for the better. Pointing out that the PLC does not use data properly, or does not follow established PLC protocols is not going to change the culture.

To be sure, as Andy Crouch points out, “Some cultural artifacts can only be condemned.” Some practices within in a PLC rightly need to be pointed out if they are truly damaging to the students, the teachers, and the school. But it won’t change things

Condemning culture also leaves us open to being hypocrites. Be careful to condemn the culture of the PLC, because you might be contributing to it. Remember, it does nothing to improve the culture because it does not create or add anything new.

2. Critiquing Culture: “ To be sure, the best critics can change the framework in which creators are measured. But such analysis has lasting influence only when someone creates something new in the public realm.”

“Some cultural artifacts deserve to be critiqued.”

This may be the most natural approach for educators in Professional Learning Communities. It is very easy to critique, to point out what is wrong and what is not working. This is very natural for some. But it does nothing to change the culture.

Critiquing culture is passive. We are left waiting for culture to, “deliver us some new item to talk about.” When we critique we do not move the culture of the PLC forward. Critics are left waiting for others to create change.

3. Copying Culture: “…imitate it, replacing the offensive bits with more palatable ones.”

Copying culture has the advantage of finding cultural practices in other PLCs and copying those practices for the PLC to imitate. Not bad. Adopting the best practices of others is a smart and effective thing to do.

“Even the practice of copying cultural goods…has its place.”

But, copying too, is passive. We wait for culture to be created to copy. “In fast—changing cultural domains those whose posture is imitation will find themselves constantly slightly behind the times…”

When we wait for others to develop culture change in PLC practices that can be copied and adopted you eliminate the potential to create and shape the culture of your PLC to the specific needs of your team members, grade level, subject matter, school, and school district.

4. Consuming Culture: “…can very rarely consume their way into cultural change.”

“There are many cultural goods for which by far the most appropriate response is to consume.”

Just as copying culture can be effective sometimes, consuming cultural practices of other PLC can be a smart thing to do. But the same problem results.

Consuming culture is passive too. It assumes a posture of waiting. Letting someone else create the culture to be consumed and assuming that that culture is better than your own.

So if condemning, critiquing, copying, and consuming culture are not desirable means to change the culture of a PLC, what is? Cultivation and Creation.

5. Cultivation: “All culture making requires a choice, conscious or unconscious, to take our place in a cultural tradition. We cannot make culture without culture. And this means creation begins with cultivation—taking care of the good things that culture has already handed on to us.”

“One who cultivates tries to create the most fertile conditions for good things to survive and thrive. Cultivating also requires weeding—sorting out what does and does not belong, what will bear fruit and what will choke it out.”

Being a good steward of the current PLC culture will allow the team to pick out what is working, affirm each other, and then weed out what isn’t working, making room for changes to take their place.

Cultivation is not passive. It works with what exists. It is purposeful. It affirms what has come before and makes way for what can come.

To often administrators make the mistake of not taking cultivation approach to their PLCs. Not everything is broken. Acknowledge the positive aspects of the current culture before you weed out the non-desirable practices.

6. Creators: “…people who dare to think and do something that has never been thought or done before, something that makes the world more welcoming and thrilling and beautiful.”

Once non-desirable PLC practices have been weeded out, room will exist for the creator approach to change the culture with new practices, ideas, and approaches.

Approach 5 and 6 can be thought of in the spirit and mindset of a gardener and an artist.

The Artist and The Gardner

The Gardner: “The gardener looks carefully at the landscape; the existing plants, both flowers and weeds; the way the sun falls on the land.” 

“The gardener tends to what has gone before, making the most of what is beautiful and weeding out what is distracting or useless.”

The Artist: “The artist regards her subject, her canvas, her paints with care to discern what she can make with them.”

“The artist can be more daring: she starts with a blank canvas or a solid piece of stone and gradually brings something out of it that was never there before.”

The Key: “Indeed those who have cultivated and created are precisely the ones who have the legitimacy to condemn—whose denunciations, rare and carefully chosen, carry outsize weight. Cultivators and creators are the ones who are invited to critique and whose critiques are often the most telling and fruitful. Cultivators and creators can even copy without becoming mere imitators, drawing on the work of others yet extending it in new and exciting ways…”

“And when they consume, cultivators and creators do so without becoming mere consumers. They do not derive their identity from what they consume but what they create.”

To change the culture of a PLC the team must adhere to the Cultural Rule: To change culture you have to create culture. That is the only way. Allow the spirit of the gardener and the artist to allow your PLC to cultivate and create change in your PLCs culture, changes that will improve your PLC effectiveness and ultimately, your student’s performance.

Essential Education: The “8th Habit” by Stephen Covey

Changing Mental Models- How PLCs Deal With New Realities

Professional Learning Communities, School Leadership Teams, and grade level teams are an excellent source of ideas. Most ideas lead to change.

To change, you must first see what is possible. Changing what teachers do, what grade levels do, what schools do, and ultimately, what education does starts with you changing your own thinking. The tragedy of September 11th provides an illustrative example.

According to Yoram (Jerry) Wind and Colin Crook, authors of The Power of Impossible Thinking, the United States was not prepared for the tragedy of September 11th because...

"Information was filtered through existing mental models related to terrorism and hijackings."

The authors suggest that our mental models could not predict the use of airplanes as weapons because it did not fit with our current mental models about airline hijacking.

"During the September 11th attacks, the information was filtered through a set of mental models that made it hard to see what was really happening until it was too late."

Contrast with the passengers of Flight 93 who instantly developed a new mental model to deal with the new reality.

"The passengers and crew of Flight 93 were presented with a picture that was similar to the hijackings earlier that day. What they suddenly developed, however, was a different mental model. They were able to quickly make sense of what was happening and to act on this new understanding. And that made all the difference" 

PLCs and School Leadership teams must be able to make sense of what is happening and to act on this new understanding. Data Driven Decision Making is based on this assumption. Data helps teams make sense of what is happening.

Mental Models control how we think and react. According to the authors, mental models, "...not only shape what we see and how we understand the world but also how we act in it. In a real sense, what we think is what we see, and what we see is what we think." 

So, I know you are asking, “Rob, what does this have to do with education and PLCs?” It has to do with education and PLCs because the world is quickly changing around us. Correction, the world has changed! The question is, do you see how it has changed? As educators, we often cling to outdated training, strategies, methods, curriculum, ideas, and beliefs, even when the educational situation has changed significantly around us.

Steven Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective people talked about the concept of “Sharpening the Saw.”  That is, we take the time to improve our skills and abilities to make our selves “sharper” or more effective.  What if, however, those skills and abilities are no longer useful?  No matter how much time a teacher spent improving their use of Word Perfect, the ditto machine, or running a movie projector, it will not make him or her any more effective. Those mental models no longer apply.  Teachers who have not adapted to the use of Professional Learning Communities, Data Driven Instruction, or technology may instead be spending time “sharpening" mental models that no longer apply.

As the authors of The Power of Impossible Thinking put it,"Sometimes we don't need to merely 'sharpen' the saw; we need to throw it out to pick up a power tool. If we are focused only on sharpening, then we might not see the opportunity to apply new technology that can radically change the way we approach the task." 

by minicloud

This is the underlying principle of Disruptive Technology as described by Clayton Christensen in his book Disrupting Class. What you think is not useful or effective, suddenly becomes very effective and replaces the prior model, idea, strategy, curriculum, technology, etc. PLCs must become aware of this possibility and practice a level of awareness that sees, what I call "Disruptive Ideas" on the horizon.

I recommend that we who want change take the time to occasionally immerse ourselves in the world outside of education to learn fresh and innovative ideas. This approach was detailed in the book The Medici Effect. Ideas from outside education can have a positive impact on education. Ideas learned elsewhere can make you a more valuable member in your PLC or SLT. Also, we need to constantly challenge our own “mental models” and those around us. This change is the heart of Education Innovation. Having differing mental models and differing exposures to other ideas creates Cognitive Diversity. A Cognitive Diversity is good for Professional Learning Communities and School Leadership Teams.

As famous management guru Peter Drucker famously said,"There is nothing more wasteful than becoming highly effective at doing the wrong things." We need to be able to put down our old mental models and be wiling to pick up new ones. So put down the saw and pick up a chainsaw

How To Have "Beautiful" PLC and Team Meetings: 12 Ways To Disagree

As I wrote in 12 Ways To Have "Beautiful" Team Meetings PLCs and School Leadership teams often struggle to find agreement in their team meetings. But, just as agreement is essential, so to is disagreement. Disagreement is often avoided at all costs in PLC or SLT meetings, but the unpleasant feeling of disagreement is sometime necessary to ensure the decisions and plans developed are the most effective they can be.

Edward de Bono in his book "How To Have A Beautiful Mind" provides 12 points to consider when disagreeing in PLCs and SLTs.

1. Do not disagree for the sake of disagreeing.

Be professional. Saying, “That’s stupid” or, “I disagree with everything you just said” is not helpful. Nobody wants to work with people who act like that. There are plenty of different ways to express disagreement politely that will move the discussion of idea forward and prevent hurt feelings, defensiveness, and unhelpful emotions.

Using phrases such as, “That is one possibility” or “I think I have some doubts about your conclusion” or “I am not sure I am following your reasoning” are polite and valid ways to express disagreement in your team meetings.

2. Do not disagree just to show how clever you are or to boost your ego.

There is nothing beneficial about trying to boost your ego at the expense of your team members. It is hurtful to them and hurtful to the process. Don’t do it.

3. When you disagree, do so politely and gently rather than rudely and aggressively.

Tone of voice is important. To politely state honest disagreement will prevent the other team member from becoming defensive and emotional. Keeping the discussion calm and focused on the idea and discussion will enable the team to stay focused on the task and remain effective.

4. You may need to disagree to point out that a fact or statement is simply wrong.

When examining student data for example, it may seem that one thing follows another, but that may not be necessarily true. You may need to point this out. For example, if one team member says that students can’t learn a certain standard, another team member may point out the teaching strategy being used is not effective for that particular standard. It’s not that students can’t learn it, it’s that the strategies being used are not appropriate for the standard.

Gently pointing out that a fact or statement is simply wrong is the appropriate thing to do.

5. You may need to point out errors of logic or to show that a conclusion does not necessarily follow from what went before.

Errors in logic need to be pointed out by team members. To allow an error in logic to be followed could lead to very negative results for students and teams.

6. You may need to point out selective perception and particular interpretations of statistics or events.

Often PLC or SLT team member may arrive at a meeting with a pre-formed idea and will look for interpretations that will affirm that pre-formed idea.

Often statistics or data can be misleading. For example, if a team member says that 50% of students were achieving at high standard do to a particular strategy being used, you might need to point out that there were only 4 students in the sample. With so few students, the 50% statistic does not reflect an accurate picture of the cause

7. Where emotions, prejudices and stereotypes appear to be used, you may want to indicate this.

If, for example, a team member states that these students can’t learn because they are English Language Learners, it would be appropriate that this stereotype is not helpful in producing effective ideas or plans.

8. You may want to disagree to show a different personal experience.

Your experience may provide you with different insight into a particular issue. It is appropriate to disagree by pointing out how your experiences differ. Stating, “My experience is not the same as yours. My experience has show that…”

9. Almost always you will want to challenge sweeping generalizations.

Sweeping generalization like “All students hate homework” or “All students love school” are not helpful and you should feel free to politely challenge the value of such statements.

10. You will want to challenge conclusions based on extreme extrapolations into the future.

Extrapolation means taking a trend forward and assuming the trend will continue in the future. For example, if a team member points out that based on current enrollment projections, there will be no need for kindergarten teachers in 5 years, you should point out that while there is some truth to the current projections, concluding that kindergarten teachers will not be needed in 5 years is an extreme extrapolation from the current trend.

11. It is very important to challenge ‘certainty’ and suggest ‘possibility’ instead.

Team members may present ideas or make suggestions with ‘certainty.’ You should feel free to suggest that you might accept the ‘possibility’ of the idea, but no willing to accept the ‘certainty’ of it.

12. Distinguish between having a different opinion and disagreeing with an opinion.

“So in disagreement you may be implying one of several things:
That is simply wrong
That is possible but not certain
That is only one of many alternatives
That fits your experience
That fits your values
That is right for you but not for me
That is based on emotions and prejudice
That is based on selective perception
The conclusion does not follow
That is one possible view of the future

Spell out the type of disagreement then explore the disagreement.

A Model of What Professional Learning Communities Could Be?

Professional Learning Communities: 10 Conditions to Achieve "Group Flow"

In his book Group Genius, Keith Sawyer describes 10 conditions that must exist for "group flow" to emerge in Professional Learning Communities. 

1. The Groups Goal
“One study of more than five hundred professionals and managers in thirty companies found that unclear objectives became the biggest barrier to effective team performance.”

If you grade level teams, departments, or PLC’s don’t know what they are meeting about and what they are expected to achieve, results are going to be poor.

The principal or chair of the group needs to manage what I call the Innovative Goal Paradox. That is, you want to be clear on the objective that must be achieved or the product produced, but flexible on the means the group achieves it. It’s like telling them the destination on a map, but leaving it up to the group to determine the route, time of travel, method of travel, etc.

2. Close Listening
Are your PLC teams listening to each other?

“Group flow is more likely to emerge when everyone is full engaged—what improvisers call ‘deep listening,’ in which member of the group don’t plan ahead what they’re going to say, but their statements are genuinely unplanned responses to what they hear.”

Let the student work, data, etc. drive the dialogue. Don’t come in with preconceived ideas.

“Innovation is blocked when one (or more) of the participants already has a preconceived idea of how to reach the goal…”

3. Complete Concentration
Time is valuable, especially when you are taking time from the teachers to have them meet in their PLC groups. You want to maximize the use of the time to honor the participants and the process.

Deadlines are not a productive tool for developing innovative ideas. Similarly, keep distractions away from meetings.

“Group flow is more likely when a group can draw a boundary, however temporary or virtual, between the group’s activity and everything else.”

4.  Being In Control
“Many studies have found that team autonomy is the top predictor of team performance. But in group flow, unlike solo flow, control results in a paradox because participants must feel in control, yet at the same time they must remain flexible, listen closely, and always be willing to defer to the emergent flow of the group. The most innovative teams are the ones that can manage the paradox.” 

This is one of the toughest to get for teachers because they work in isolation and have much autonomy and control of what they want to do. In the PLC, teachers will need practice letting go of control individually, while being allowed to have control of the process.

5. Blending Egos
“In group flow, each person’s idea builds on those just contributed by his or her colleagues."

In other words, everyone needs to contribute to get the best result or idea for how to meet the needs of students. Everyone!

6. Equal Participation
Group Flow won’t happen if everyone isn’t participating.

“Group flow is more likely to occur when all participants play an equal role in the collective creation of the final performance. Group flow is blocked if anyone’s skill level is below that of the rest of the group’s members; all must have comparable skills.”

Now this presents an interesting question. Do all teachers in your grade level or department PLC’s have comparable skills?  Yes, they all have credentials (or we hope), but there could be varying levels of years of experiences, staff development training, and technology knowledge. Is this a factor?  Maybe, but maybe not.

Group Flow is also blocked when one person dominates the group, believes he or she doesn’t need the group, of looks down on the process.

Another potential block to PLC flow, is the principal sitting in the meeting. If the principal does sit in the meeting it is important to, “…participate in the same way as everyone else by listening closely and granting autonomy and authority to the group’s emergent decision process.”

7. Familiarity
PLC members need to learn to the styles of each of the members because familiarity increases productivity, decision-making effectiveness, and the ability to understand what is happening in classrooms.

“When members of a group have been together for a while, they share a common language and a common set of unspoken understandings. Psychologists call these shared understandings tacit knowledge—and because it’s unspoken, people often don’t even realize why they are able to communicate effectively.”

However, here is an interesting paradox to the point above. Tacit knowledge is a part of group flow, but we don’t want PLC’s made up of people who think so exactly alike that nothing new can come out of the meeting.

This begs the question, how long should a grade level be kept together? Obviously, departments are dependent on credential, but at the elementary level, this isn’t so. Teachers can move grade levels easily. So, how long do you keep your current grade levels together before they become too stagnant?  Principals need to balance the need for familiarity, which allows for good decision-making and creativity, with the need to avoid over familiarity and stagnation.

Another interesting fact is this, familiar groups are great for problem-solving creativity, but unfamiliar groups are better for problem-finding creativity. So PLC’s and the need to examine student work, data, and teaching benefit from familiarity, but school wide problem solving that requires new ideas and innovation might benefit by being made up of teachers and staff from various grade levels and departments.

8. Communication
“Group flow requires constant communication.” 

Principals should be talking with their groups frequently. Feedback on how the PLC is doing and fact finding on what the PLC has discovered or decided on is key.

But, group flow can happen outside of the meeting too. Spontaneous conversations allows for group flow. Not every conversation has to take place around the conference table.

9. Moving It Forward
“Yes, and…”

This is a powerful sentence stem for your PLC’s to use in their meeting. When teacher are sharing ideas, members should listen closely, accept it, and build on the idea by using, “Yes, and…” Members validate the ideas of others, while simultaneously building on the idea with other ideas. This is a great way to generate powerful plans for improving student learning.

10. The Potential for Failure
Before lifting weights or going for a run, we should all warm our muscles up. The same could be said for our minds.

“Many groups require a preliminary warm-up period to move into group flow.”

Also, some ideas to improve student learning won’t. It’s just that simple. The principal and the PLC member need to understand that creativity is often accompanied with failure. We must allow our PLC’s to come up with ideas that fail. If we don’t, the quality of ideas and instruction will suffer because they won’t feel the trust they need to innovate.

Creative Tension is the just the right environment. “Group flow happens when many tensions are in perfect balance: the tension between convention and novelty; between structure and improvisation; between the critical, analytic mind and the freewheeling, outside-the-box mind; between listening to the rest of the group and speaking out in individual voices.”

Catalytic Questions

Is the timing right at your school in develop and inculcate these conditions in your PLC’s?

What patterns have you detected in your PLC’s that might prevent or allow for these conditions to flourish in your PLC’s?

In what ways might you loosen your control of PLC’s to give them autonomy in decision making and planning?

How might you challenge the prevailing conditions your PLC’s operate under?

In what ways might you connect what you know about group dynamics and creativity to your PLC’s?

What alternatives might you employ to create the 10 conditions of group flow?

How might these 10 conditions for group flow change the way your teachers think about PLCs?

In what ways might your view of PLC’s change if you viewed it from the perspective of a visiting teacher or visiting administrator?

In what ways might new a new idea for your PLC’s make a positive impact? What might that idea be?

In what ways might technology be used to enhance these 5 conditions?

How might the organization of your school’s PLC need to change to achieve these 5 conditions?

What probing question could you ask of your grade level or department PLC’s to determine the level of these 5 conditions being present?

What is your hunch about these conditions in your PLC’s?

In what ways could you better focus your time and energy to ensure these conditions exist?

How might you question your assumptions about your PLC’s and investigate what is truly happening?

In what ways might you adapt these conditions to your PLC’s?

How might you put existing time for teacher planning, meetings, etc. to better use and increase PLC time?

Recommended Reading:

Keith Sawyer's blog

Defining Professional Learning Communities (PLC)

All Things PLC blog

The Vision-less Learning Community.-Tempered Radical blog

Essential Education:‘Outliers’ by Malcolm Gladwell

I you haven't read Malcolm Gladwell's book "Outliers: The Story of Success" you should. It is excellent and it makes some interesting points that have implications for education. Take a look at these posts.

Do You Speak Math: Differences In Math Success May Lie In The Language of the Student

and

Is Your Birthday An Advantage In School? Malcolm Gladwell Thinks It Is.

To complete your Essential Education take a few minutes to watch friend Steve Cunnigham's great video summary of the book.

21st Century Education Technology Skills Utilize 20th Century Lateral Thinking

In his fantastic book Everything Is Miscellaneous, David Weinberger takes the reader through a tour of the digital order that is changing how we approach, knowledge and information. This new digital order, built on bits, not atoms allows students to think about information and knowledge in different ways. In a way, it is very similar to what Edward de Bono spoke of in his book Lateral Thinking, which was first published 38 years ago, in 1970.

by rutty

Edward de Bono compared vertical thinking with lateral thinking.

“Vertical thinking is analytical, lateral thinking is provocative.”
The physical world requires that we spend a great deal of time developing a very structured set of codes, rules, and organization so information can be found. The digital world make is possible to organize information any way that makes sense to us. We are not limited to the space on a card catalog or a label. We can put as much information into a digital bit of information as we can imagine.

“With vertical thinking one has to be correct at every step, with lateral thinking one does not have to be.” Make a mistake in the card catalog or reading a label and you are not going to be successful in your search. But, as we know, there are multiple ways to search for something in search engines. Make a mistake, and you simply change your approach. You are never out of the game in the digital world because other people like you may have thought about your subject in the very same way.

“Vertical thinking is sequential, lateral thinking can make jumps.” The physical world of information is very sequential because of the limits of physical space. The digital world allows us to jump around to look at subjects loosely related to the information one is seeking or to quickly jump to tried and true resources or resources that have never been viewed before. It just takes a click.

“With vertical thinking one uses the negative in order to block of certainty. With lateral thinking there is no negative.” The physical world of atoms allows very few ways to organize information, while the digital world allows virtually unlimited ways to organize it.

“With vertical thinking on concentrates and excludes what is irrelevant, with lateral thinking one welcomes chance intrusions” The digital world welcomes more information, even it seems irrelevant to most. It may be very relevant to a few. Therefore as Weinberger says, “… solution to the overabundance of information is more information.”

“With vertical thinking categories, classifications and labels are fixed, with lateral thinking they are not.” For example, a type of dog, say a Rhodesian Ridgeback can be classified only so many ways in the physical world or card catalogs, charts, and shelves. Usually, following biology terms such as vertebrate, mammal, etc. Space limits what you can do. But without the limits of space, such as in the digital world, the same dog could be tagged as things with four legs, things that chase cars, things that eat dog food, things that have a tail, things that have paws, or things that bark. The choices are almost limitless. It all depends on how one chooses think about the subject, which allows one to be very creative in their approach.

“Vertical thinking follows the most likely path, lateral thinking explores the least likely.”
Anyone who has spent anytime on the web can tell you they reached some cool website or found a great book, but they have no idea how they got there. Click after click after click we follow our thinking down “the rabbit hole” and discover what we might be looking for in very odd ways. This isn’t true for a library. It will be very predictable. It will be the “most likely path.”

“Vertical thinking is a finite process, lateral thinking is a probablistic one.” I want to find a book, I look on the shelf and there it is. In the digital world though, I find the book I am looking for and 5 others that are related to the first. I then investigate one of those and discover pictures, video, and music all because someone else thinks it relates. As I continue probing I gain even more information and resources which to use.

Quite possibly, Edward de Bono wrote 37 years ago about the type of thinking that would actually allow our students to be even more effective in the digital world of bits described so wonderfully by David Weinberger.

Recommended Reading: 

Everything is Miscellaneous in Education: Part 1

Green Hat Thinking

Everything Is Miscellaneous blog

The de Bono Group

Essential Education: Jeff Jarvis' "What Would Google Do?"

comes this Essential Education video on Jeff Jarvis' book "What Would Google Do?" Take a look and then ask yourself if you are preparing your students to work and thrive in this business environment and global marketplace.