Inquiry Inventory - 06/08/22
Here at The Human School, a big part of what brought us together is a deep love of reading and learning. We commit, as part of our learning journey, to sharing our week’s reading with you and what influences our thinking and learning.
Each week, you will see a post with what we’re reading, a quote, and an insight from that reading that leads us to deeper thinking.
To learn more about what we are reading, please take a look at our Connection Catalog.
Two podcast episodes with Todd Rose on The 180:
June 1, 2022 - How “Collective Illusions” hold back education — and how we can fix them
November 6, 2019 - Talent is everywhere
“If I could say one thing about the state of education with respect to the public, it’s this: People want different, not better.
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I loved listening to both of these podcasts with Todd Rose. Here’s why…
We’ve often said, we have a dream, and it’s hidden…
It’s more than a gut feeling…private opinion data from Rose’s organization, Populace, says it’s so.
What does the data say?
“They really want, across all demographics, they want education to be about the development of every child’s potential, not the batch processing and ranking and sorting that we have. They want a far more developmentally focused system. They know that kids are distinct. They know that distinctiveness matters. And they want a broader range of outcomes that define success. They still care about being ready for college. That still matters. But that is situated with a broader range of priorities that are about being prepared for a meaningful life, being able to prepare for a meaningful career.”
Intrigued? Give a listen…go deeper…
—Randy
“You are asked to imagine having only a year left to live, at your present mental and bodily capacity — what would you do with it? Then imagine you only had a day left — what would you do with it? Then only an hour — what would you do with it?”
In reading this article about the artifice of productivity and efficiency, I couldn’t help but think of schooling and education. We have only a year with our students often - how do we want to spend those 180 days? We only have 45-50 minutes with them. How do we want to spend those precious minutes? We know, as educators, we do not have the gift of infinity, but still we try to cram all we can into the 45 minutes. The 180 days. As if our time was infinite. But how often do we stop ourselves and wonder what really is most important for our students?
Popova points out, “Our capacities are limited, our time is finite, and we have no control over how it will unfold or when it will run out. Beyond the lucky fact of being born, life is one great sweep of uncertainty, bookended by the only other lucky certainty we have. It is hardly any wonder that the sweep is dusted with so much worry and we respond with so much obsessive planning, compulsive productivity, and other touching illusions of control.” So what about our teaching and our planning is an illusion? What is truly at the core of our humanity and therefore our time with our students? And what questions can we ask of ourselves and our students to make that time so intentional that the stopwatch of time is no longer a concern.
—Rachel
Talking Story: Embracing our Humanity on a Deeper Level
“The story of a kid’s learning will be made up of the network of stories of their learning experiences and influences. The story of a school’s progress will be made up of the network of stories of everyone in that school.”
Gary Chapin
CO-AUTHOR OF 126 FALSEHOODS WE BELIEVE ABOUT EDUCATION
Being a Storyteller is one of our four Compass Points and this Education Reimagined post from Gary Chapin is a rich and deep look at what it means to be a storyteller. One of the interesting insights Chapin shares is that we often view stories as emerging as opposed to being told, and I very much appreciate this distinction in that while storytelling CAN emerge, it should also be highly intentional when it comes to transformative work. Navigating from telling one story to many stories together requires us to be intentional in our purpose and messaging while being open to what emerges.
-Chad
