At Cognitive Policy Works, we are developing new approaches to solving problems in society. At the heart of our work is an educational paradigm we believe can inspire new models of teaching and learning that address the needs of 21st Century communities.
A bold vision like this requires more context than can be provided with text alone, so I would like to share a conference call with several members of our staff where we laid out an idealized model of educational excellence and then dug into the details to get at the workings of this new system.
The following podcast includes Dave DenHartog, Eric Haas, Sue Kerbel, and myself as we explore the Finnish Education system as an exemplar of the following design principles:
- Promote creativity in students and NEVER do anything that threatens it;
- Cultivate the individual talents of each student and help them find their passion in life;
- Allow each school to design its own curriculum to serve the needs of its community;
- Promote professionalism and excellence in the teaching profession.
We owe a debt of gratitude to Pasi Sahlberg for compiling an archive of materials on the Finnish system. Pasi is a world leader in education reform and a staunch advocate for educational excellence.
The Finnish system provides a foundation for considering what an “ideal” educational system might look like. The rest of the conversation is an overview of an Open Source Education System we are creating that is built on principles from the free and open source software movements.
How to Use These Materials
The podcast below makes use of additional materials that we include here. Two specific resources are provided to assist you as you follow along with our conversation:
- Prior to participating in the call, our staff read The Long and Short of Educational Change by Andy Hargreaves. It is not necessary that you read this to understand our conversation, though it provides a context for better understanding both the Finnish education system and the general nature of educational change.
- A powerpoint presentation to help visualize the Open Source Education System we explore throughout the call. You can follow along during the call by scrolling down this page as you listen (the slides are included below as graphics). Note: We begin using the powerpoint about 17 minutes into the call.
What We Hope to Accomplish Here
Our purposes for sharing these materials with you are (1) to provide greater transparency about the nature of our organization and (2) to inspire your participation in this (and future) projects of Cognitive Policy Works. This is the first time that we are presenting to the public the core themes of our change strategy, which include:
- The cultivation of new professional practices;
- Innovative educational services;
- New skills and insights into political and social change;
- Enhanced capacities for individuals and organizations to manage the change process while solving previously intractable problems.
We believe that the only way to address the great challenges of our age is to collaborate in innovative ways that empower people from all walks of life to contribute to process.
Please feel free to contact us directly about this work or join the discussion here by adding comments below.
Here’s the Podcast:
Here’s the Slide Show:
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Slide 9
Cool indeed and hacking also means reconstructing stuff, reusing to create something better.
-Rikard
Hi Rikard,
I’ll take a look at those links. With “hacking” understood as taking something apart to see how it works (a.k.a. solving a problem in an unorthodox manner), I totally get the idea of hacking education.
Cool stuff!
Joe
Hi seachange,
Very interesting thoughts. I really enjoyed John Perry Barlow’s essay. Thanks for sharing.
We’re going to start building this system throughout the next several months. I hope you’ll be able to participate.
Best,
Joe
Very interesting ideas. Thank you for sharing this.
Here’s a discussion that mentions similar stuff and some people who’ll be glad to hear about these efforts.
Hacking Education is a lot of thoughtful perspectives on learning, though more a collection of thoughts than a framework like the one mentioned here.
I’d be curious to hear people’s thoughts on values for learning and education. I’ve focused on empowerment, cooperation and open communication.
http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2009/03/hacking-education-continued.html
http://publicusv.wiki.zoho.com/Hacking-Education.html
http://www.unionsquareventures.com/2009/05/hacking_education.html
-Rikard
Excellent presentation. I do recommend reading Hargreaves’ report which will add depth of understanding. I find of particular interest the Finnish commitment to cultivating creativity, learning, and autonomy; this opposed to the short term strategy of ‘teaching to the test’. The latter was my experience here in the Austin, Texas school system as a substitute teacher, prior to which I’d considered pursuing certification.
Some reflections:
I found myself thinking about Michael Straczynski’s “enlightened self-interest”, propounded throughout his iconic television series Babylon 5. That is, in furthering the interests of others we serve our own interests, and all benefit. This seems to define, in part, the Open Source Education System.
With respect to intellectual property, getting recompensed for the work one does, as several participants questioned, I offer John Perry Barlow’s concluding statement in his essay “Economy of Ideas” available at -
http://www.freedigitaluniverse.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=54&Itemid=56
Well worth the read.
“The future forms and protections of intellectual property are densely obscured at this entrance to the Virtual Age. Nevertheless, I can make (or reiterate) a few flat statements that I earnestly believe won’t look too silly in 50 years.
* In the absence of the old containers, almost everything we think we know about intellectual property is wrong. We’re going to have to unlearn it. We’re going to have to look at information as though we’d never seen the stuff before.
* The protections that we will develop will rely far more on ethics and technology than on law.
* Encryption will be the technical basis for most intellectual property protection. (And should, for many reasons, be made more widely available.)
* The economy of the future will be based on relationship rather than possession. It will be continuous rather than sequential.
* And finally, in the years to come, most human exchange will be virtual rather than physical, consisting not of stuff but the stuff of which dreams are made. Our future business will be conducted in a world made more of verbs than nouns.”
I have often pondered and wrestled with the question of how we counter the rigid mind-set of a fundamentalist. How do we facilitate social change that encompasses humanitarian, progressive principles? Well, as the adage goes, ‘when the student is ready, the teacher appears’ – enter CPW. I think those of us out here possessing “a restless intelligence” welcome this new paradigm. So, thank you. And, good job.