With so many highlights and epiphanies, it is challenging at best to pick something out from the Great Schools by Design summit that had the most lasting impact now that a couple of weeks have passed.
In attempt to put it all together, I believe that hearing Russell Ackoff, PhD, speak about the "big difference between doing things right and doing the right things" within the world of school reform and planning will be something I keep with me for some time to come. 
Here is the full audio/video feed from his presentation...and it is well worth the time to take it all in. These are, in my opinion, the main take-aways that I took from his discussion:
- It is the teacher who learns the most in schools (often to the detriment of the student)
- "We must get over the idea that schools are about teaching...when it is about learning."
- 95% of what adults know and use in their real lives came through work/life, and could not be learned in traditional schools
- "Teaching is a major obstruction to learning."
- Errors of omission (what you didn't do) are the biggest and most costly mistakes that a business can make (or a school) -- example: Kodak not buying Xerox when it had a chance
- Critical to use systems-based solutions rather than necessarily always concentrating on the individual parts
The "60 minutes" episode about the Sudbury Valley School, Russell Ackoff talks about - I can't find it ANYWHERE.
Will someone please tell med where I can get it?
Posted by: Lennart | September 22, 2007 at 02:15 AM