By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 10 Apr 22
“I don’t believe in astrology; I’m a Sagittarius and we’re skeptical.” —Arthur C. Clarke My recent articles have centered around the concept of “Protopia”—the more flexible, dynamic, and abstract version of an imagined “Utopia”. If utopian dreams were too rigid and dangerous, Protopia at least provides us with shared hope, motivation, and a sense of direction. How, then, should “Protopians” conduct themselves? Their key virtue must be, I shall argue, a certain quality of “sincere irony”: it’s abstract and playful enough to allow for new visions and new faith in the worlds our hearts know are possible—but at the same time …
“I don’t believe in astrology; I’m a Sagittarius and we’re skeptical.” —Arthur C. Clarke My recent articles have centered around the concept of “Protopia”—the more flexible, dynamic, and abstract version of an imagined “Utopia”. If utopian dreams were too rigid and dangerous, Protopia at least provides us with shared hope, motivation, and a sense of direction. How, then, should “Protopians” conduct …
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 6 Apr 22
Summary So Far By now—if you have read the previous articles that outline the eight pathways to a new planetary paradigm of education—a vision of the future of global education has begun to crystallize. Briefly put, I have roughly suggested an educational system that: Emphasizes the cultivation of a multi-dimensional ecological relatedness. Works to counter and adapt to the disruptions of technological innovations. Leverages tech for purposes of tailoring education to the individual and supporting learning through modelling. Emphasizes inner work and creates safe spaces for this to happen, while cultivating trust and training teachers in how to do so. …
Protopian Education Conclusion: Connecting the Eight Pathways Read More »
Summary So Far By now—if you have read the previous articles that outline the eight pathways to a new planetary paradigm of education—a vision of the future of global education has begun to crystallize. Briefly put, I have roughly suggested an educational system that: Emphasizes the cultivation of a multi-dimensional ecological relatedness. Works to counter and adapt to the disruptions …
Protopian Education Conclusion: Connecting the Eight Pathways Read More »
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 5 Apr 22
“A refugee is someone who survived and who can create the future”. —Amela Koluder According to pre-Ukrainian war figures from UNHCR, there are currently around 7.4 million school-age refugees, of which 3.7 million are out of school entirely. It has been estimated that 63% of refugees are enrolled in primary schools, only 24% in secondary school, and 3% in higher education (compared to 91%, 84% and 37% globally). It is, naturally, of utmost concern that these children are reached by quality education, as lost years of schooling will likely affect their lives and their chances of ever finding homes and livelihoods …
Protopian Education Eight: Adjusting to an Education on the Move Read More »
“A refugee is someone who survived and who can create the future”. —Amela Koluder According to pre-Ukrainian war figures from UNHCR, there are currently around 7.4 million school-age refugees, of which 3.7 million are out of school entirely. It has been estimated that 63% of refugees are enrolled in primary schools, only 24% in secondary school, and 3% in higher education …
Protopian Education Eight: Adjusting to an Education on the Move Read More »
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 4 Apr 22
“The developing world is full of entrepreneurs and visionaries, who with access to education, equity and credit would play a key role in developing the economic situations in their countries”. —Muhammad Yunus From West-Centric to World-Centric Education “In their countries, but also in the world at large”, one may add to the above quote by Yunus. Access to high quality education can and will empower the billions of people who today can only enter the global economy from a deprived and deprivileged position—and there is every reason to believe that such an empowerment of the many would benefit the world …
Protopian Education Seven: Adapting to the Rise of the Global South Read More »
“The developing world is full of entrepreneurs and visionaries, who with access to education, equity and credit would play a key role in developing the economic situations in their countries”. —Muhammad Yunus From West-Centric to World-Centric Education “In their countries, but also in the world at large”, one may add to the above quote by Yunus. Access to high quality …
Protopian Education Seven: Adapting to the Rise of the Global South Read More »
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 1 Apr 22
“Learning is life’s most important skill.” —Tony Buzan The Inner Development Goals of Education Ithas been emphasized, in my studies and elsewhere, in more ways than we can give justice to, that conventional education is too cerebral; too much focused on mental and cognitive capacities, and that it is often blind to learning goals that go beyond “left brain thinking”: the intuitive, the sense of wholeness and meaning, the creative, the playful, the experiential—the aspects associated with the “right hemisphere” of the brain (let us disregard for a moment the debate around the debate around the neurological appropriateness of this division …
Protopian Education Six: Honing the Meta-Skills Read More »
“Learning is life’s most important skill.” —Tony Buzan The Inner Development Goals of Education Ithas been emphasized, in my studies and elsewhere, in more ways than we can give justice to, that conventional education is too cerebral; too much focused on mental and cognitive capacities, and that it is often blind to learning goals that go beyond “left brain thinking”: the …
Protopian Education Six: Honing the Meta-Skills Read More »
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 31 Mar 22
“Can we go from f*ck the system, to love the system? In China, the latter is being explored. The problem there, of course, is that it’s a system even less worthy of our love. For a system to be loved, it must merit our love. And a social system—educational systems included—merits our love by being generative of inner thriving and dignified relationships between us, the members of the public.” — Hanzi Freinacht (who sometimes makes up his own introductory quotes if he can’t find a suitable one) Breaking Away from the Industrial Education System In the previous article I discussed …
Protopian Education Five: Shift the Human-to-System Relations Read More »
“Can we go from f*ck the system, to love the system? In China, the latter is being explored. The problem there, of course, is that it’s a system even less worthy of our love. For a system to be loved, it must merit our love. And a social system—educational systems included—merits our love by being generative of inner thriving and …
Protopian Education Five: Shift the Human-to-System Relations Read More »
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 29 Mar 22
“To touch the soul of another human being is to walk on holy ground”. — Stephen Covey Grounding Education in Human Interaction In a very general sense, education is a social undertaking; it is fundamentally about humans that interact in a manner that helps people to grow and to learn, building on the human capacity to play. Every time we meet and interact with another person, there is at least some aspect of play, and through that, we change. Each change is usually small; but over time, the interactions shape our inner worlds—until we come out as citizens, as members …
Protopian Education Four: Humanizing Pedagogical Relationships Read More »
“To touch the soul of another human being is to walk on holy ground”. — Stephen Covey Grounding Education in Human Interaction In a very general sense, education is a social undertaking; it is fundamentally about humans that interact in a manner that helps people to grow and to learn, building on the human capacity to play. Every time we …
Protopian Education Four: Humanizing Pedagogical Relationships Read More »
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 28 Mar 22
“Technology is not neutral. We’re inside of what we make, and it’s inside of us. We’re living in a world of connections—and it matters which ones get made and unmade”. —Donna Haraway Turning the Tide from Disruption to Educational Potential Itwould be a bleak reality if technology offered only challenges and disruptions to education that somehow need to be accounted for. Yet more numerous are the voices that stress the potentials for improving—or rewiring—education in the 21st century, by the use of technology. But there is little reason to believe that such improvements to education will happen merely as the …
Protopian Education Three: Harnessing Technological Potential Read More »
“Technology is not neutral. We’re inside of what we make, and it’s inside of us. We’re living in a world of connections—and it matters which ones get made and unmade”. —Donna Haraway Turning the Tide from Disruption to Educational Potential Itwould be a bleak reality if technology offered only challenges and disruptions to education that somehow need to be accounted …
Protopian Education Three: Harnessing Technological Potential Read More »
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 26 Mar 22
“All things share the same breath—the beast, the tree, the man. The air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.” —Chief Seattle Keeping the Gretas in School As the Greta Thunberg movement of school strikes has put on display, the young generation around the world worries about their future in terms of ecological sustainability and the possible collapse of ecosystems and societies. It is not a farfetched question to ask: What might education and schooling look like if students of life were to feel that going to school (or other corresponding outlets of education), rather than striking, was the …
Protopian Education One: Cultivating Ecological Relatedness Read More »
“All things share the same breath—the beast, the tree, the man. The air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.” —Chief Seattle Keeping the Gretas in School As the Greta Thunberg movement of school strikes has put on display, the young generation around the world worries about their future in terms of ecological sustainability and the possible collapse of …
Protopian Education One: Cultivating Ecological Relatedness Read More »
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 25 Mar 22
“Culture arises and unfolds in and as play”. — Johan Huizinga, Dutch historian 1872–1945 A Time Between Worlds Zak Stein (philosopher of education) has famously noted that our educational system is stuck in “a time between worlds”. It’s a time that has begun to shed the Modern educational frameworks, but no Protopian or Metamodern framework has emerged to fill the void. (“Metamodern” can mean either the society beyond modernity, or the time between modernity or what comes after, depending on who you ask. I discuss this here.) There is today the opportunity to shape the development of Global Education for the …
Education for Protopia: Why Play Is Vital to our Survival Read More »
“Culture arises and unfolds in and as play”. — Johan Huizinga, Dutch historian 1872–1945 A Time Between Worlds Zak Stein (philosopher of education) has famously noted that our educational system is stuck in “a time between worlds”. It’s a time that has begun to shed the Modern educational frameworks, but no Protopian or Metamodern framework has emerged to fill the void. …
Education for Protopia: Why Play Is Vital to our Survival Read More »