Rewriting Paradigms

In the cartoon accompanying this piece, Henry Payne transforms our concerns over the impact of changing values and gun violence into a seemingly simple yet cynical cartoon. If you look closely, you can see that the year was 1993. Unfortunately, the cartoon remains relevant in more ways than we’d like it to, which leads to the question: How can we really learn from the current discord and violence to make a better today and ensure a better future? The very recent events in Cha

Watching my college sophomore adjust her fall class schedule recently has reinforced for me the very real way in which colleges must think about students as consumers not only during the application process but throughout their tenure at the school. Through her social network, my daughter had learned that one of her previously selected teachers in a required course was no longer going to be available. This created an immediate call-to-action, including reading online reviews,

In this age of digital everything, the concept of Teacher Appreciation Week may seem quaint and perhaps even outmoded. As we explore new and enhanced ways of supporting learning through evolving technology, and as we continue to ask ourselves what people even need to know, it makes sense to examine the ongoing role that teachers will play in our lives. Consider the following framework for evolving the role. Backward Planning How do you plan for a future that you can’t define?

Continuous learning continues its slow yet steady upward trajectory in the ever-changing L&D* universe. New research by Bersin by Deloitte stresses the need “to enable employees to respond effectively to change” by creating a culture of leadership and learning. The benefits to organizations that can pull this off, according to the report? Two times more likely to respond effectively and efficiently to change Two times more likely to meet or exceed financial targets Seven time

The news that one of my heroes of learning, Sal Khan, opened a brick-and-mortar school in Silicon Valley in 2015 made me push "pause." Well, figuratively. What business does the leading advocate of free, on-demand, online learning have opening a full-year, full-day school? Moreover, how does the $23,000 -$26,000 a year price tag synch with what we understand are the hallmarks of the Khan Academy approach: For Free. For Everyone. Forever? Paradigm shift aside, it makes sense t

Why should it surprise us that “knowing the human touch and how to complement technology is critical”? How have we even got to a point where “our education system is not set up for that”? Yet, that’s exactly what Michael Horn, quoted in Claire Cain Miller’s recent New York Times article “Why What You Learned in Preschool is Crucial at Work,” tells us. Horn’s comments are almost lost in a piece that focuses for the most part on the need for social skills in the workplace, but

This past weekend’s Global Citizens Festival invigorated a city already on a high from Pope Francis’s whirlwind visit. And as many pundits repeated, the excitement was nearly universal whether or not you are a practicing Catholic or whether or not you agreed with all of his positions. The Pope has captured the hearts and minds of so many of us because there is a selflessness and goodness about him that is undeniable. Same thing when listening to Malala Yousafzai urge everyone

20 years ago, when my first child was about 18 months old, we joined our first “Mommy and Me” class and thus began a couple of decades of enrichment programs and education. We did not follow a straight path. All did not go as we had planned in terms of the standard trajectory that typically begins with pre-school and ends with graduate school. There were periods of diversion, years when we fought with and left the system, and alternate paths we took to goals that my daughter

50.1 million children will attend school in grades PK-12 this fall, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Of those, approximately 1.3 million will be entering prekindergarten. Expectations and tensions run high in many families as their only or youngest child enters the public or private school system. Whether or not their child has attended pre-school prior to this, it is still a major transition, and most kids struggle with the change, as do their paren

If we look ahead to tomorrow’s workplace, we know that employees need to be increasingly: Agile thinkers and problem solvers Technically savvy Capable of managing and sorting through massive amounts of information If we look at today’s college graduates, what do we see? In one New York Times report, Steven Ratner describes millennials as “the best educated generation.” Yet, despite his characterization of them as “engaged, upbeat and open to change,” he also notes that “They