An update is even more overdue

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Time—that slippery conduit through which we pass—has eluded me once again; at least where this blog is concerned. I don’t know where to begin, so I’ll simply start to ramble, as usual, I suppose.

Fir

The first thing that is coming to mind is my hair. Yeah, I know, we sort of got over all that hair business way back in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Well, my hair was never really that long in those days. Last summer, my hair was getting a little long, so my wife said, “If you want to have your hair a long, I’m going to take you to my hairdresser for your 60th birthday present.” I have the sort of hair that I can have shortish and longish which allows me to go a few months between haircuts. My wife likes my hair both ways.

So, off we went and had this very nice girl, Brandy, tidy-up my hair. I looked on the floor and said, “Not bad hair for 60.” Then came the reply that just simply caught me, “If you had a foot of it, you could donate it to cancer patients going through chemotherapy.”

What an idea! I could try my hair long and then do something good with it. Great! That was in mid-August and I am getting there slowly—very slowly, it seems. Perhaps it has slowed down a bit. It has been pretty unmanageable. Having long hair for a while is a neat idea, but getting there is not as easy as I thought it would be. Anyway, I am still working on it.

Writing (& book)

In case someone might actually be following my blog and might just be having some remote thoughts about my book, it is still underway. I have discovered, actually I’m sure I sort of knew, that the writing part is far easier and takes less time than editing. Most books are severely under-edited. I’m not ready to employ and professional editor to pour over my work through several versions, so I am recruiting people I know to be reader/editors.

I began by printing each of the three sections of the book and inserting them into three binders. Each reader/editor would get a coloured pen and an instruction/feedback sheet along with other information, such as target audience. The first person got section one. When they finished, I gave them section two and gave section one to the second reader/editor. It worked rather well and I got plenty of great edits and feedback. I have done this a couple of times as well as working through it with my writing coach.

I now have a couple of copies of the entire book out to do the same sort of process. This takes a long time. Busy people are doing this in their spare time and so am I. As the editing moves slowly along, it is difficult to maintain momentum and keep the energy up. It is interesting when I talk to people about my book. I only have to get started and everybody has something to say regarding their own experiences with technology. I remind them that my book is about being human and that we need to focus on that in the midst of the Technojungle that is devouring us.

Music

Here is an area of my life that has suddenly gained tremendous momentum and energy. Music was eluding me for years. I didn’t know what to do, or how to get started. Then an opportunity came up to play some Christmas carols just over a year ago now. Then I got invited to join a small band called The Deep Cove Old Time Jazz Band and play in retirement and care homes. I had done this over 25 years ago and had not played since. It was tough to get going again.

In June we played our last gig. So I asked the fellow learning to play banjo in the band if he would like to get together to play some tunes over the summer. I didn’t want to lose what I was beginning to gain. He said that he would. Then I wondered if the trombone player might like to join us. We had known each other some 35 years prior at the Hot Jazz Club. He said he would. He also said he knew of a couple of other fellows who might like to join in. Thus began an all summer long task of trying to get a group together. Everyone was going away at various times.

By mid to late August we were getting close to beginning to practice. I was amazed at how many tunes I know and can play. Soon another banjo player came who I also knew back in the Hot Jazz days. We practiced weekly until he went to play down under for a couple of months. We took Christmas off and are now having causal practices to get up to speed again.

I have some amazing news about my a cornet. I think it deserves a special entry, so look for a separate article about my cornet dream of a dream cornet.

Photography

Photography is an area that I have not done much with for a long time. I guess I am sort of waiting to see how my life goes. I do have a lot of photos I have just started to do something with and I do have two blogs about photography that I would like to work on. That is enough to keep me busy. I suppose I am concerned a bit about the age of my camera. It would be nice to get to the point where I could get or even need a new camera. I have one in mind, but it is expensive to keep up on technology.

Graphics

It has been a lot of years since I did any graphics work. Actually, I worked in training people around 15 years ago. I never considered myself a designer.

Last year, my friend Glenn, said he wanted to start a newsletter business. I didn’t know what to think, since printed flyers seem to be going the way of the dinosaurs. Nevertheless, I said I would help do a pilot. I found some open source software and struggled along with it.

Suddenly one day, the newsletter gained a companion flyer for a local shopping centre. We completed both on high quality paper and hand delivered them to the community. Since then, we have done three more and two or three are in the works. I have had to switch software a few times and gained some inexpensive yet powerful software. It is amazing what is out there now since Adobe started to rent their software and many users simply don’t want to follow that model. I have had some great compliments, done some photography (getting paid for the first time in over 45 years of holding a camera) and I have been amazed at how much I enjoy the work and even have fun. I have had to do some late nights though.

Baking

I continue to do my regular baking of pizza shells for Friday night pizza night, buns, bread, pasta and a few other things. Usually, I still grind ancient grains into flour in our Vitamix blender. For New Years Eve, we had another party and Glenn and I made the decadent Sin-O-Man (cinnamon) buns. They were amazing again.

Family

Well, my daughter, Michelle, came home from living a year in Australia and jumped right in to training to become a personal trainer. She is now working in this field everyday for long hours. Malcolm did a co-op job working on some helmet technology that can reduce the risk of concussions. It was very timely, since this sort of problems has been in the news a lot. He even made it to the news. He is now back in class studying Mechatronics Engineering. We are all living together in our home and having normal family dynamics.

Enough

That should be enough for now. I have continued to write a bit everyday, not always for an hour as I did to complete my book, but I have managed to amass a plethora of articles that I could put on this blog or my Technojungle blog. I just seem to be a bit short on time and I will be getting busier in the near future. Yet, many people do say that to get something done, one should give it to a busy person. We shall see. I have had doing this writing you are reading and a couple of other related tasks on my todo list for a couple of weeks, I think. We shall see. I still need to edit this and keyword it before I can upload it.

Finding innovation—creative problem-solving with metaphors

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One day, while I was working for a college, the school was closed and a day was put on for all staff and faculty, to do some professional development all at once. During the afternoon sessions I found a workshop about creative problem-solving with metaphors. It caught my interest.

The process we learned was remarkable and, according to the originators, William J.J. Gordon and George M. Prince, guarantees to provide a solution that would not have been found using other methods. It began way back in the 1950s when companies were beginning to realize that innovation was no longer something that could occur through a single person. They realized that innovation needed to occur in groups or teams. Wondering how this could be encouraged, the Arthur D. Little Invention Design Unit took tape recorders into meetings to discover how creativity and innovation happens. After analyzing the tapes, distraction from the problem turned out to be the key.

When a group became distracted from the problem, innovative solutions usually resulted. Eventually, a carefully constructed set of instructions was developed. The person who was teaching us the process, had attended a workshop with one of the developers back in the 1960s and could produce only a single page of instructions for us.

At the time, I was doing a Masters of Education with a focus on transformative learning. I wondered if this might be a transformative process, so I began to research and was finally able to develop a workshop that I could deliver based on the original process. I called it Creative Outlooks—creative problem-solving using metaphors. I delivered it to my study cohort and many times over the following years.

The process is simple. It is called Synectics, meaning, “the joining together of different and apparently irrelevant elements.” The problem with solving a problem is that one may know too much about the problem. Problem-solving, according to the developers, is the opposite of learning, which intends to take the strange or unknown and make it known. Problem-solving involves making the familiar strange. In a way, we need to forget what we know about something in order to think creatively. They came up with using analogies or metaphors to distract one’s thinking away from what they know about the problem.

What has always amazed me, and I discovered I have a knack for metaphoric thinking, is just how much we can learn about something by using a seemingly unrelated and unconnected metaphor of something else. It demonstrates the unique interconnectedness of everything in our world.

In one of the workshops I was delivering, when we came to the step where groups selected a metaphor, someone raised their hand and asked if dryer lint would work. I got it immediately as an excellent example of a metaphor that has interesting characteristics. Characteristics is the foundation of the process.

Once the group has done a brainstorming session on the problem and selected an unrelated analogy, they carefully analyze the analogy for all its characteristics. With dryer lint: it is made up of tiny pieces of other garments; it looks grey from a distance, but actually may have many colours; it is soft; it is light in weight; it is fuzzy; it comes apart easily. The list can go on for quite a length. The process even involves someone becoming the metaphor and the other group members interviewing it.

Once all the steps are done, the group then force-fits the characteristics back on to the problem with amazing new insights, results and solutions. While not all the participants are quick to catch on the process, when they do, it becomes and exciting time of imagination and creativity within the group.

We usually think of creativity and innovation as being something that is not easily prescribed. Yet Synectics is a prescription for achieving creativity and innovation in a group setting with guaranteed results. Learning Synectics gave me a new tool for looking at the world and learning new things. In the Bible, Jesus always used parables (a metaphoric story) and metaphors to teach concepts.

The Synectics research lead to many innovative learning tools. I continue to learn through metaphors and gain new insights by applying a metaphor to something seemingly unrelated.

My workshop, Creative Outlooks, works well in about 2–4 hours. This provides time to learn the process and run through a couple of problems in each group.

Gordon, William J.J. Synectics: The Development of Creative Capacity. (New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1961)
http://synecticsworld.com
http://www.georgemprince.com

What about wisdom

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There seems to have been a massive shift in an aspect of humans that provides the ability to steer and navigate through life. Throughout human history, we lived together and one would interact and learn from previous generations, through life experiences, the wisdom of life. This was not merely information, but a depth of knowledge and understanding that would produce a solid foundation on which younger generations could construct their living. Have we replaced wisdom with information?

Wisdom provides the ultimate guidance for living and, since it is not just information, we might consider it a much deeper aspect of human experience. Perhaps, even spiritual. Humans learn knowledge and skills through stages. First, is to learn about the subject by learning terminology or observing the performance of a skill. Next, one may use the basic knowledge or skill in simple forms. As they learn more about the subject, they begin to use the knowledge or skill in more complex ways. Eventually, they learn to apply the knowledge or skill on their own, adapting as required. At an even higher level of learning is mastery. Here one is able to somewhat bend or break the rules in ways that may be deemed artistic. They flow and are free from thinking and focusing on the techniques to being able to create and to make judgements. The knowledge and skills become who they are at a very deep level.

That would not seem to be the end of it. On the path to understanding, we employ various forms of what we sometimes call common sense. We seem to sort of pick up common sense as we travel through life. It stands on top of our inherent knowledge of what is right and what is wrong, what is good for us and what is bad.

As I look around at the world and society today, I see what I have just discussed has become so tattered and torn that I can scarcely find a thread of common sense, let alone any wisdom. What went wrong?

We have never had so much information at our fingertips and yet known so little about who we are. Look closely at this statement and you will see how it applies to what I have written above. Our society operates only at the basic levels of understanding. Today, information is used interchangeably with knowledge and seems to be considered to be synonymous with understanding. People still get educated, however, they may not end up making the field they are educated in, their life’s work. They may not be able to find a job or they may change jobs several times throughout their life.

For most of human history, who one was could often be established by one’s name. A name might even be changed to suite who a person became in life. One might be known as John the shoe maker. Names often had very deep meanings.

Without a flood of information at one’s fingertips, a person would have to learn from an elder, or wiser person—someone with more experience to pass along, often in the form of stories that would not only pass along wisdom, but would entertain. We sometimes call this mentoring or apprenticing. As books became available, valuable and important information could be published as a permanent record.

Enter mass communications. Suddenly, information is everywhere. More than we can absorb. There is no time to soak in the information to begin the journey to making it knowledge. The message travels through only a glimpse and the mind has no time to determine what it is being fed. The path to wisdom is broken. In addition, since it is so simple to publish or transmit information, anyone can do it and that information may not be accurate.

The question is, can a plethora of surface information at massive levels lead to the outcome of knowledge and even understanding? Can one, bombarded by daily doses of thousands of messages of information become wise with wisdom? Remember, wisdom allows one to make sound judgements. Look around and see if you can observe people making sound judgements.

It seems to me that the lack of wisdom is also tied into education and the need to systematize and mechanize human existence. The education system is designed to indoctrinate people into the current world view and to prepare them for a particular job or field of work. It is less about making human beings that can reason and more about maintaining the status quo. I ask, is it wise to maintain a path of growing consumption? Can we keep producing more and more? Does it make sense to judge the health of our society by the growth of its economy? This is a whole area of discussion that I have written about for years. Hopefully, you can get an idea of the sorts of questions one could be asking.

Our use of technology and its limiting of what full communications consists of, is stripping humankind of wisdom. When we communicate using any other means than face to face, we are missing about eighty percent of the message. I suspect that wisdom is best exchanged through face-to-face communications. As our machines become smarter and more like humans, humans become dumber and more like machines. We don’t seem to understand what is happening.

What exactly is wisdom? I’ll provide a little research. I did the following research after I had written the above.

Google, the reputed source of all knowledge today, yielded a definition of, ‘the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgement; the quality of being wise.’

From Merrium-Webster:

: knowledge that is gained by having many experiences in life
: the natural ability to understand things that most other people cannot understand
: knowledge of what is proper or reasonable : good sense or judgment

Full Definition of WISDOM
1
a :  accumulated philosophic or scientific learning :  knowledge

b :  ability to discern inner qualities and relationships :  insight

c :  good sense :  judgment

d :  generally accepted belief <challenges what has become accepted wisdom among many historians — Robert Darnton>
2
:  a wise attitude, belief, or course of action
3
:  the teachings of the ancient wise men

From Wikipedia:

Wisdom has, in the Western tradition, been listed as one of four cardinal virtues. As a virtue it is a habit or disposition to perform the action with the highest degree of adequacy under any given circumstance. This implies a possession or seeking of knowledge of the given circumstances. This involves an understanding of people, things, events and situations, and the willingness and the ability to apply perceptions, judgments and actions in keeping with an understanding of what is the right course of actions. It often requires control of one’s emotional reactions (the “passions“) so that universal principles, values, reason and knowledge prevail to determine one’s actions. In short, wisdom is a disposition to find the truth coupled with an optimum judgement as to right actions. Synonyms include: prudence, sagacity, discernment, or insight.

Google lists The Free Dictionary as the second hit after Wikipedia. So…

From The Free Dictionary:

1. The ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting; insight.
2. Common sense; good judgment: “It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things” (Henry David Thoreau).
3.
a. The sum of learning through the ages; knowledge: “In those homely sayings was couched the collective wisdom of generations” (Maya Angelou).
b. Wise teachings of the ancient sages.
4. A wise outlook, plan, or course of action.
5. Wisdom Bible Wisdom of Solomon.

Ah, the Bible. Finally, a source we can take a deeper look at. Notice the above notes Solomon as having wisdom. Solomon was the son of King David and wrote most of the book or Proverbs, the Song of Solomon and Ecclesiastes. In 1 Kings 3, Solomon asks for wisdom:

5 In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.
6 And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.
7 And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.
8 And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.
9 Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
10 And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.
11 And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment;
12 Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
Exodus 31:3
And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,
Psalm 37:30
The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.
Psalm 49:3
My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.
Psalm 136:5
To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 2:9-11
King James Version (KJV)
9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.
10 When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
Proverbs 3:19
The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.
Proverbs 17:24
Wisdom is before him that hath understanding; but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.
Proverbs 23:4
Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
Proverbs 24:3
Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:
Ecclesiastes 2:13
Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.
Ecclesiastes 2:26
For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
Jeremiah 10:12, Jeremiah 51:15
He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.
Matthew 12:42, Luke 11:31
The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
Romans 11:33
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
1 Corinthians 1:20
Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
1 Corinthians 1:24
But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
1 Corinthians 1:30
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1 Corinthians 3:19
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
Ephesians 1:17
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Colossians 1:9
For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
Colossians 2:2-4
King James Version (KJV)
2 That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;
3 In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words.
Colossians 3:15-17
King James Version (KJV)
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
James 1:5
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
James 3:14-16
King James Version (KJV)
14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
James 3:17
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
Revelation 13:17-18
King James Version (KJV)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

Through the above select passages, the Bible seems to add to what I have already written by stating wisdom comes from the spirit of God, that the righteous speak wisdom. Wisdom made the heavens and the Earth. Only a fool despises wisdom from which deep understanding and judgement comes. Man seems to have his own wisdom, the wisdom of this world, that seeks riches and other earthly things. This is called folly and is vanity and vexation of spirit. This earthly wisdom is sensual and devilish. We are told that, if we lack the wisdom of God, which is pure, peaceable, gentle, full of mercy without partiality or hypocrisy, we should ask for it. With the wisdom of God we have the understanding of the beast of Revelations.

If Solomon was considered the wisest man to live, Jesus claimed to be greater. He is even called the wisdom of God.

Education or learning

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I’ll let you in on a bit of my past. School for me was, well not for me, right from the start. School and I simply did not get along. It is not that I didn’t have interests that were covered in school curriculum. Something about the classroom experience and the delivery of information really didn’t suit me. I guess I had some difficulties settling in to the routine and understanding what was happening and what was being taught.

This is the story of how I came to learn about education and became educated about learning. Most important, it is about how I came to learn how to learn. If that sounds strange to you. Keep reading. You might be interested in why learning is more important to me than education.

As I scraped through the grades, made to repeat a grade when we moved from the U.S. to Canada, I began to live for the weekends. In later grades, I needed to forget the week and find some way to enjoy the weekend. I hated Sunday night and Monday mornings. Parties and drinking became weekend norms. By grade twelve, with just passing grades, I vowed to never set foot in an academic environment again.

Today, I still struggle with plenty of life, yet, I have managed to avoid alcohol for over 30 years and have earned an M.Ed. among other certificates and diplomas. How did this happen? What do I know now that has made the difference?

Let’s pick up the trail after grade twelve and race through a few years. After working in a dairy, I decided to go to college to learn about printing. I didn’t consider this academic and thus not breaking my vow, even when I studied some journalism. The number of educators who have strongly influenced me during my life have been few. One was an associate music teacher in high school. Yes, there were a few positive experiences. This teacher asked me if I would like to do an entertainment review for the local newspaper. My response, ‘But I’m barely squeaking through in English.” His, “You know what you like and don’t like, so just write what you think.” So began a small career as a part-time entertainment reviewer that lead me to take some journalism so I could get more free press passes to shows.

After working in the printing industry for a few years, I managed to get my hands on a Mac Plus computer to teach myself the new prepress method then known as desktop publishing. Soon, I found myself doing some training. One other piece of the puzzle developed when I was contracted by an educational institution to help develop a new distance education project using an online groupware product I was a representative for. I ended up writing the first course and delivering it to the group of instructors who developed the courses and programs at the institution. I had little understanding of what I was doing. I remember the project manager saying “To ensure your long-term participation in this project, you might what to get some training in developing training courses.” We traded some work for the Instructional Skills workshop, part of the Provincial Instructor Diploma.

During that workshop, the reality of the world of education and learning began to be revealed to me. Wait, was this academic, could I actually learn something and enjoy it? Even more surprising, this shy guy actually ended up standing in front of people to teach a short lesson. I enrolled in another course and got to really grapple with my own learning. It was a tough slog. I had to find my learning legs. I had to apply the little I had already learned about learning to my own learning. Finally, I learned a few things about how to learn, how I learn.

In the following years, I completed the Provincial Instructor Diploma, the Advanced Diploma in Adult Education, a Leadership Coaching Certificate and an M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction. Perhaps one day I’ll continue my story about learning. For now, let me talk a bit about education and learning.

What comes to the forefront of your mind when you think of school, education, or learning? What is the difference? What do they look like to you?

Would it surprise you if I stated that education, to me is a production machine? It is an attempt to bring about the result of learning to the masses of society and to indoctrinate them into the norms of society; to make citizens who can function within the framework of society, meet the employment needs of corporations and to behave in an acceptable manner. That may sound like a strong accusation of a major societal institution, yet, this is what school is about.

The institution of education is so massive that it actually has a number of difficulties. When you think of school you probably think of a classroom of tables and chairs and the teacher at the front of the room teaching. The sage on the stage as we came to call it. Educators now know so much more about how people learn than when I went to school. With this research, one might think that the school experience would be quite different. Perhaps it is, slightly, but in truth the machine keeps churning as usual. Even with the ability to deal with the students who struggle or have other differences or challenges, the system can’t help in ways that could make a huge difference.

In the past, less was known about what the problems really were, or how to provide assistance. Those who did not fit in, might be labelled as troublesome or lazy. Today, research has revealed much about how people learn, yet, notions such as mainstreaming all students or financial cutbacks have limited improvements to education. In addition, the educational machine is very slow to change and seems to be entrapped by the expectations of what school and education should look like—people expect it should look the way it looked when they went to school. Teachers teach the way they were taught.

Here’s the point. So much more is known about how we learn. From varying the delivery of instruction and teaching to meet learning styles to brain research, the educational experience should be so different from what it is. In addition, we now know that creative, innovative thinking needs to be developed in learners to meet the complex needs of society today. Employers are constantly changing what they are looking for in potential employees.

Since education seems inadequate, at least to me, I tend to focus on learning. Now, you should understand why education to me is a formal ridged, inflexible processing machine. What I seek are creative learning solutions. I’ll probably write more about creative learning solutions. Perhaps a series. Watch for it.