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The Adjacent Possible
One concept that really stood out to me in one of my business school classes today is the idea of the “adjacent possible.” Although the professor did not go into that idea in too much detail, he drew upon a metaphor that served to ingrain the idea in my mind.
A child who is seeing the night sky for the first time is asked, “what do you see?” Instead of “lights,” what he is really answering is his form of the idea of the “adjacent possible.”
The Tutor-Pupil Contract
The way education is currently implemented in the United States did not emerge until the 19th century. Prior to that, and throughout ancient history, children of families who could afford it sought the services of “tutors,” who were responsible for their children’s formal education. Some famous examples include, Aristotle, who tutored Alexander the Great in 343 BC when Alexander was 13 years old, and Descartes, who tutored Queen Christina of Sweden in 1649 when she was 19.
The Circumlocutory Circuitous Route
After having been a teacher for the past decade, I have probably heard every color and shape of excuse… welcome to the circumlocutory circuitous route to completing homework! The funny thing is the joke is always on the student. There is no cheating hard work.
For appearances, economic interest, reputation, job security, or what have you, teachers have chosen not to “out” their students every time they hear an “excuse-deemed-excuse,” shall we say, but, we always feel guilty doing it. Because, well, most of us love our students.
The Joy of Learning
What makes learning so pleasurable?
Sometimes I get a jolt of self-recognition when someone pokes fun at the number of degrees I’m pursuing or, more politely, characterizes me as a “lifelong learner” that I realize I might be hooked onto something—learning.
But what is it, exactly, and why does it make us feel so good?
Why I Teach
I remember hearing an old saying back in grade school, “Those who can’t do, teach. Those who can’t teach, teach gym.” I remember thinking it actually had a point.
Of course, years later, having been a tutor for the past ten years of my life, I have a few bones to pick. It seems that this society values “doers” much more than “teachers.” It also seems to believe that “gym” or “physical fitness” can’t really be taught.
The Idea of an Education
I always knew I had something to offer my students. What I didn’t always know was what.
What goes without saying is that there are several things going desperately wrong with the way we are educating our children in this country. With the rampant growth of technological information and data processing, what are we losing?