What does it mean to experience joy? Looking back, I recall some unjoyful experiences of sharing middle names as a child. Mine is Joy. My classmates would hear it and start singing “Joy to the World” at the top of their lungs on the playground, merrily dancing around as they sang. Those memories always had […]
From the moment we’re born, we learn from those around us. Our parents or caregivers, extended family and friends, and our environments teach us how to live and behave. Some of the things that we do are instinctual, but the rest is a product of life and experience—most importantly, of the people who help shape […]
I’ve had some time to step back and reflect on the state of education—where we are, what’s important, and what’s in store for the future. Out of school systems globally, four themes are emerging: Let’s fix education by solving the world’s problems. We—teachers, principals, students, parents, businesses, governments, leaders—have been trying to “fix” education for decades. […]
The impact of COVID-19 on education means schools as we know them will never be the same. All of us––children, educators, parents, and communities globally––have learned a valuable lesson: not everyone’s experience of learning is the same. While schools as we know them may work well for some, they don’t work as well––or at all––for […]
The contributions teachers make to their students and communities exemplify the human capacity to add––to make people’s lives, and the world, better. Teachers show us what it means to commit to the well-being of others and clear out their paths to success. They make an incredible difference for students, in many more ways than could […]
When I was four years old, I asked my mother if we were all just little specks inside a giant’s thumb. I imagined these tiny, glittering specks that covered every inch of the giant’s massive body, and that lived in the same way within every one of us––a matryoshka doll version of a never-ending universe. […]
Connect With Others, Your Environments, Your Learning, and the World. As humans, we can form connections with the people we know and interact with, the animals and environments around us, what we learn in our lives, and the whole of humanity. When we do, our lives are more meaningful and fulfilling because we’re making others’ […]
As we all face the challenge of a global pandemic––as we separate from others but still look to connect, and as we feel its effects on our own lives and others’––perhaps we could all take a moment to pause, to consider who we are and who we want to become, as individuals, communities, and humanity […]
My one hope for schools is contributive learning––that students will all develop self-understanding, knowledge, competency, and lasting connections and, in so doing, add to the world. I’ve been on its trail throughout my career, and I’ve never met anyone opposed to its outcomes. We all want our kids to feel meaning and fulfillment. But I […]
Speaking with an early-ed teacher in Hawaii, he shared what his keiki (children) would carry on from his school, no matter what schools they moved on to from there. “We set them up to be leaders at their new school,” he said. “They make it a better place.” I wonder, what could be better than […]