Shaping my Legacy

Safe Passage - How to make a quality and equitable outcome sure from the outset.

2011-10-03T22:35:00.002-12:00

So I'm reading 3 books at once, with another lined up...fiction this time and a thick one. Roll on the Holidays. One of the three education books I'm currently reading is Safe Passage: Making it Through Adolescence in a Risky Society - What Parents, Schools and Communities Can Do. (Dryfoos, 1998)

Open to page 3 and you find Chapter 1 and the definition of Safe Passage according to the Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, as follows...

"Ensure, insure, assure, secure mean to make an outcome sure.
Ensure implies a making certain and inevitable;
Insure stresses the taking of special measures beforehand to make a result certain or provide for any probable contingency;
Assure implies a making sure in mind by removing all doubt and suspense;
Secure implies action taken to guard against attack or loss."

In practice...
ENSURE: What are the frameworks that work to make safety, respect and high achievement by students certain and inevitable for all?
INSURE: How are we planning ahead to insure and provide contingency for any unexpected drop in safety, respect for and achievement by students?
ASSURE: What best theories and best practices are in our school that can be shared and spread to remove all doubt that safety, respect and high achievement for all students is achievable?
SECURE: What are the protective measures we use to guard against external attacks on student safety, respect and striving for high Achievement?

Intercultural Communication in Contexts

2011-07-15T17:56:00.003-12:00

I've been off the digital grid for a while and plugged into the real world around me in pursuit of raising Maori student achievement in local Secondary School education. This important work has drawn several excellent readings toward me, as usual, just at the right time so it's time to blog again. Intercultural Communication in Contexts by Martin and Nakayama belongs to one of my children. This blog is my interpretation and mining of great stuff from this book. At first glance I see that yet again this is a book from an American perspective. Let's see what links I can make to my own live experience and for the benefit of my own lived experiences and that of my friends and whanau.

Back later after reading chapter 1.

The Checklist Manifesto

2010-07-08T23:44:00.003-12:00

Written by Atul Gawande, The Checklist Manifesto is a response to the question of what to do when expertise is not enough and things go terribly wrong in life threatening situations.

Distilling the complexities of modern tasks into simple checklists that help save lives.

A good list is a simple brief
A good checklist is to the point
Fit a standard easy to access 1 page fit
Eg - A4 1 side
Eg Index card size
Eg - Credit card size list of NCEA Reminders
Lists include known skills
A useful checklist leverages desired outcomes while keeping casualties to a minimum.
Lists reduces critical errors due to
The falibility of human memory
A belief that we can skip steps and get a way with it.

First XV RAMS story
The power of the RAMS

What if we treated maori student failure in SEcondary School as imminently life threatening?

I have done this type of checklisting before for Basketball Coaching
Share this story with
BEEF is such a checklist for shooting consistently well in Baskebtall
Balance
Elbow straight
Eye the goal
Follow through

Meaningful Learning with Technology - 3rd Edition (c) 2008

2009-03-06T19:02:00.002-12:00

This is a book I am reading as the compulsory text for a course I am doing through Massey university called "Education in the Digital Age.

APA reference

Preface: Implication of Learning with Technology

Useful quotes:

Page v
"Constructivism is a philosophy for describing processes of meaning making."
"Regardless of what we teach students and the experiences they have, they will naturally construct their own interpretations of those experiences."
Page vi
"Using technologies to engage meaningul learning assumes that our conception of education will change."
Page vii
"Science teachers should help students comprehend the beliefs of the scientific community."
"If teachers determine not only what is important for the students to know, but how they should learn it, then students cannot be self-regulated learners. They aren't allowed."
"They can and will learn with technologies, with our without the help of the teacher."
"Teachers should try not to be the expert all of the time."
Page viii
"...collaborating and conversing with others so that the understandings of all students is enriched."

The standards section describes what I see as integration of the standards into the authentic learning process. The promotion of both a learning culture and a credit accumulating culture. The two progressing hand in hand with learning leading the progress of formal achievement.

Chapter 1

Useful Question: What is meaningful learning?
I have a depth of understanding of the concepts in this chapter. New terms I didn't know before are Causal and Analogical, however the descriptions of these are familiar also. What is interesting is the free interchange of the words "learner" and "student".

There are five interconnected points of reference for meaningful learning for any learner.

The Learning is Active
The learning is experiential. e.g. tactile and/or physically interactive

The Learning is Constructive
Learners construct meaning by reflecting on current experiences in relation to past experience.

Intentional
Learning intentions are made transparent. Tasks are goal oriented.

Authentic
You cannot beat real experiences and contexts that are meaningful to students to enhance learning.

Cooperative
Learners are encouraged to work in collaborative/cooperative/conversational teams
Learning is in the conversation.

why do educators insist that learners work independently so much.

Learning with Technology
Page 7
"If schools are to foster meaningful learning, then the ways that we use technologies in schools must change from technology-as-teacher to technology-as-partner in the learning process."

"Learners and technologies should be intellectual partners, where the cognitive responsibility for performance is distributed by the part of the partnership that performs it better."

"If technologies are used to foster meaningful learning, then they will not be used as delivery vehicles. Rather, technologies should be used as engagers and facilitators of thinking.

A handy bulletpointed list of ways technologies foster learning as pertaining to the above 5 learning points.

Technologies and Thinking
Causal reasoning, prediction, cause and effect.
Analogical - drawing analogies, comparing and contrasting.
Expressive - Engaging a variety of tools to express what you know.
Experiential - Experiencing technology and using technology to convey experiences.
Problem Solving - Logistics, Myriad Decisions, Shaping and Reshaping.

Reflection

What is my theory of learning? From my perspective, how do people learn? What are the important processes.

For me learning is in the conversation. In the conversation understanding is drawn out when partners reflect meaning. The conversation causes assumptions to shift and mental models to converge.

The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch

2009-02-14T10:12:00.003-12:00

Dear Randy

The most incredible friend posted me your book. When I started reading it I once again promised myself to blog the information in its chapters but found I could not put it down. I have finished it before getting to the computer to review. What a powerful story. So poignant, so touching and so recent. I cried. A legacy in the most powerful sense. St Randy and his family will be remembered well into the future. I could not believe how incredibly relevant his story was to my own life. I am a teacher who is about to teach Alice Programming at school. I have big dreams of grand contributions to the world. Leaving a deep impression and above all hoping my children remember me and take some of my own life lessons into their future.

Randy has trumped my need to try. I need only recommend his book and tell them to imagine that it is me saying these things. I am 40 and unlike Randy I am currently going through the immense pleasure of experiencing my children's lives as teenagers but as my mother was a victim of lung cancer at the age of 41 I try harder to live life as if every moment I live with and for them is precious. I live as if, like mother at this age, I have only 1 year left.

This year I will make the plans and we will travel to the Gold Coast of Australia to see Dream World. 2009 is the perfect year and April will be the perfect month. Before I write posts dedicated to the gems in your book Randy I wish to thank you for reawakening my childhood dreams to be a singer song writer and a storybook story teller. And to your children...in the words of Captain Kirk...may you go where no man has gone before.

Beam me up Scotty!

Te Kotahitanga: The Parent Voice

2008-12-05T21:52:00.004-12:00

I have moved future KOTAHITANGA posts to a completely new blog re Raising Maori Student Achievement as this is a continuing conversation and requires it's own dedicated blog. The blog is called THE COURAGE TO TEACH EFFECTIVELY.

As a part of our drive to raise maori student achievement in our school I would like to teach experimentally under the umbrella of Te Kotahitanga, Ka Hikitia and confidently under the New Curriculum, Many of our staff feel the same way. With this in mind, I embark tomorrow on a mission to get our community to sign a petition to support the wish of local schools to join Te Kotahitanga in an official capacity for 2009 and 2010.

Our Principal goes in to bat for us on Saturday when he and other Principals in our district meet with Anne Tolley and lobby for a general implementation of Te Kotahitanga here in Te Tairawhiti. In anticipation a petition indicating the ROAR of the parent voice will hopefully go to Anne Tolley before the Principals meeting with the Minister of Education.

Sunday 7 November ROAR Hui
Monday 8 November Letter written ready to sign
Mon-Thurs Advertise community hui
Thursday 9 November 6.00 Presentation to community
Friday Signed petition to Anne Tolley – Copy to Jim

The importance of the transformational work we will do to improve our own practice in the next year to take transform our schools into trees full of singing birds cannot be underestimated. Hopefully Ngata GBHS and GGHS will support action and get behind their students.

Culture Speaks - By Russell Bishop and Mere Berryman

2008-12-01T19:48:00.006-12:00

This book is an easy read as I am in-tune with the spirit within the students who contributed to the conversations. To read the transcripts of student voices definitely helps to complete my own mental models of a effective teacher profile and reaffirm the value of my own cultural heritage within my teaching practice. I found the dialogue familiar and therefore quick to skim and scan without missing the detail.

Over seventy students were listened to by the researchers from both extremes of the spectrum - half from the dis-engaged end and the other half from the engaged end. The Ideal teacher was endowed by both groups with a rich bounty of descriptors that I am going to turn into a powerpoint resource for staff to reflect on.

Book Review

I recently attended the Te Kotahitanga Voices Conference 2008. It was the best professional development I have had in my entire teaching career, I am still on a learning high from it. The conference "awakened the giant within" to quote Anthony Robbins, to the absolute gift I have as an agent of proactive change in a Mainstream New Zealand Secondary School with a predominantly maori population and with strong need to raise the achievement levels of maori students to an equitable standard. When what needs to be done is on the tip of the tongue, turn to books such as culture speaks, listen to the voices of the students and you will be empowered by the conversations from all stakeholders, especially the rangatahi. I found this an easy read as I am the maori learner within it's pages, both engaged and disengaged, a parent, a learning leader and a teacher, I have taken on each one of these roles over the years. I found it extremely useful as a teacher to read and absorb the rich written descriptions told by the tamariki of "the ideal teacher". Well done Russell Bishop, Mere Berryman and the Te Kotahitanga team. We look to your fold with the envy of the Martians in War of the Worlds and ask the universe to hasten the day when Lytton High School is a Te Kotahitanga school and Tairawhiti a Te Kotahitanga region. Thank you for having the vision to open up your conference to approving onlookers such as myself and having fantastic books like this one available to purchase.

Te Kotahitanga - Without the Funding?

2008-11-30T06:26:00.009-12:00

I recently attended a Te Kotahitanga Conference at Waikato University. Everything at the conference blew me away. I cried at every workshop.

The Kotahitanga objective...

“To remain focused on the goal of raising Maori students’ achievement within a community that rejects deficit theorising of Maori students and actively seeking to maintain agency.”

Can Te Kotahitanga (or at least the spirit of it) be implemented in a school without the funding and without the need to make it compulsory? A resounding yes. So whether or not we get funding to implement the project formally in our schools we need to change in a way that echoes the successes of Te Kotahitanga.

Over the next couple of weeks I am going to write about this amazing programme from the perspective of a Non-Kotahitanga Maori Teacher who is a staunch PPTA member and is a strong maori community member, who has two children attending my school in 2009 in a Mainstream School that has a majority maori learners and as someone who has for the last two years shadowed the spirit of the Te Kotahitanga programme along with Lulu Maitai without funding. We have come up with the most astounding results far beyond expectation.

I am a Te Kotahitanga supporter and I think we can make a difference anyway without the funding and/or without making the programme compulsory for people to join because we already help them achieve in all other cornerstones (ref: Kerikeri High School) and are proud of them. They succeed in sport, in culture and in leadership...why not academic?

Improve their academic performance and we have found the reason we chose teaching as a professional career.

In signing off: He aha te mea nui o te kura hou?

Te Data Te Data Te Data

He aha te mea nui hoki o tenei ao

He Tamaiti, He Tamariki, He Rangatahi

Embrassing Generation T - Beyond Gen-XY

2008-11-21T15:44:00.017-12:00

Reflections from the Inaugural DTG Conference, Auckland, November 2008

Last night I wrote a veritable book to put here. Why? Because I learned a lot from this conference. All the views I wished to express have already been expressed very nicely in a position paper available here. It is my sincere hope that the Digital Technologies Subject Association gets off the ground before the end of Term 1 next year and that our subsequent aim for Specific Digital Technologies Achievement Standards to be introduced are realised.

This will align the curriculum with learner interests when they are ready which is when they come in to High School at Year 9. Learners definitely do not want to wait until they reach University to learn the ins and outs of programming. They want to learn it at High School.

This begs the question...Are the Universities ready for Gen-T, the new learner who has not only got an evolved general education but has also got 3 to 5 years development along a specific Digital Technologies pathway, maybe even more?

We live in exciting times. Paapere out.

ROAR Inaugural Youth Conference 2008

2008-10-09T08:05:00.018-12:00

Sawu Bona Fatu and Parehuia

Yesterday was a good day. I had a stunning learning conversation with you all and later attended the Gizzy Awards at which I accepted the inaugural Gizzy Award for best teacher of the year on behalf of my very good friend Biddy Burt. At the awards I also bore witness and was able to tautoko our Lytton High School student rep Rory McCourt who won Gizzy Youth of the year award alongside Nathaniel Ratapu of Campion College. My colleague Lulu and I were privileged to sit with Rex Pahuru another teacher from Lytton who was nominated for Handyman of the Year! My cup runneth over.

Today It is with sincerity that I thank you for the fantastic learning conversation yesterday. This conversation gave me a fresh boost of energy and I now ponder how I can help you establish your current passion, ROAR Ministries and the 5+ youth development initiatives in fertile soil.

Our school crest bears "The Lion Rampant" a strong symbol of hungrily going after learning. The concept of ROAR interweaves readily with what we have to offer at our school. I am well aware of my duty to ensure our learners are ever hungry to learn. Rapacious. ROAR offers another appropriately challenging yet nurturing opportunity to involve learners in character and confidence building outside the tapawha. It is therefore my duty as an educator to assist you.

As a learning leader(newspeak for teacher) I can see benefits of participating in ROAR in the realm of building capacity for and readiness to learn in all our youth. As a teacher within a formal academic programme such as NCEA building competence is our focus. Competence building is totally impossible if its twin, Character is not strengthened concurrently. Character building is the responsibility of parents and ROAR is fostering the growth of parent ability to build character in children and I utilise the word parent in its broadest possible sense.

C-cubed is one of my guiding principles as a learning leader, C-haracter (transferred from parent) plus C-ompetence (transferred from teacher) leads to a habit of meaningful C-ontribution, the heart of a solid community. Service leadership is what is being modelled by ROAR and it is modelling that is the best way to teach our learners to learn to be the greatest thing in humanity, a servant leader.

Though I am reluctant to become a Board member as board membership is not my strength I am 110% behind this initiative and look forward to participating in ROAR to launch the Youth Forum, a key missing component in the everpresent quest to take local youth to greatness locally.

To Fatu and Parehuia, a big welcome home. Your kaupapa is important to me and my children and you are passionate about it therefore your kaupapa will take root and grow as you connect to more and more like minded people.

I am a long established believer in lifelong learning and a self-proclaimed learning leader. I know, practice and understand that learning is essentially in the conversation...fullstop. When our conversations stop learning stops, when our conversations grow, learning lives. I believe we all seek the same thing, to build the rangatahi voice in the learning conversation. By modelling passionate participation in lifes many conversations in their presence and including them naturally in our conversations the rangatahi voice will be drawn out until it is a ROAR. I look forward to a lifetime of further conversations with you both, with Aunty Polly and of course with your amazing children.

Bubbles

Castles in the air

2008-08-15T14:19:00.009-12:00

Technology Fear Factor in Education

2008-08-15T13:57:00.003-12:00

Cool Cat Teacher Blogger Vicki Davis will be an important rolemodel for the global classroom course.

Web 2.0 Video-FlatClassroom 2007(bb)

2008-08-15T13:57:00.001-12:00

Gathering resources for 2009 program
A good video for Lulu's class

Freakonomics - Mining the data

2008-07-29T23:47:00.007-12:00

I've just finished reading this and a clear message has been gleaned. When determining a direction in the fog that will lead to an economically sound future of success in perpetuity for your future generations especially if your people have been officially recognised at government level to have been underserved until now, NEVER NEVER guess at the path to take based on mis- or under-informed opinions by influential others whose doctrine has been part of the underservice.

Instead, as economists do always, always look at trends in sound available data to find correlations, stark realities and honest truths. Read the data with your head and heart, interpret its language and let it speak to your vision. Listen to the data and it WILL provide irrefutable evidence, full and relevant answers to long asked questions. That will determine your pathway. And when you have found your way, guide them strongly, walk them toward the ensuing community development with all the passion of your heart and the sharp clarity of a mind newly awakened by truth. Lead them out of the fog into the future...Lead them to their future. Mine the past and tell it's stories in a way that helps them understand and therefore become fully awake themselves.

A good video For Lulu's course in 2008

2008-07-27T22:12:00.001-12:00

Cool Cat Teacher Blogger Video

Collapse - By Jared Diamond

2008-06-24T21:47:00.002-12:00

The notion that societies can choose whether to collapse or continue to thrive is worth pondering upon especially in the context of one's own society. This book has proven valuable so far in determining key issues that lead to the demise of advanced civilizations. Short intro to this book tonight as I am very tired and am off to bed. If the Mayans can collapse the so can we and if this is the case are there tools to help us prevent the fall.

The Speed of Trust: In Closing...

2008-01-26T19:38:00.000-12:00

Having read the Speed of Trust I can articulate what we all unconsciously knew but couldn't put into words..."Trust is society's lubricant". The lower the trust the clunkier the organisation and the faster the parts wear out, the higher the trust the smoother the organisation and the parts last longer. If speed is what you want to achieve then trust will deliver speed. If a legacy is what you are looking for then trust will bring your organisation longevity. The word speed used in this context symbolises the generation of optimal effectiveness and efficiency that leads to greater credibility, reliable consistency, higher productivity, quality reputation and rich contribution at lower cost.

Next step: To make up the simulation card game to play with others within our learning organisation. Wish me luck! Here are the links to Steven Covey's sites. I hope you enjoy the book and integrating this system into your life.

www.CoveyLink.com
www.WhoTrustsYou.com
www.speedoftrust.com

Trust Quadrants

2008-01-26T19:37:00.000-12:00

The quadrant to aim for to operate in is the Judgement Quadrant.

Gullibility
High Propensity
Low Analysis

Suspicion
Low Propensity
High Analysis

Indecision
Low Propensity
Low Analysis

Judgement
High Propensity to Trust
High Analysis

The Speed of Trust: Taxes and Divdends

2008-01-26T19:35:00.001-12:00

Your organisations trust health can be analysed by using this simple balance sheet.

SEVEN LOW TRUST ORGANISATIONAL TAXES
Redundancy
Bureaucracy
Politics
Disengagement
Turnover
Churn
Fraud

SEVEN HIGH TRUST ORGANISATIONAL DIVIDENDS
Increased Value
Accelerated Growth
Enhanced Innovation
Improved Collaboration
Strong Partnering
Better Execution
Heightened Loyalty

Relationship Trust: 13 Behaviours

2008-01-26T19:32:00.000-12:00

These behaviours if acted upon will increase trust in relationships in your life.

1 TALK STRAIGHT
Be honest. Tell the truth

2 DEMONSTRATE RESPECT
Genuinely care for others. Respect the dignity of every person and every role.

3 CREATE TRANSPARENCY
Tell the truth in a way that people can verify. WYSIWYG. No hidden agendas.

4 RIGHT WRONGS
Make things right when you’re wrong. Don’t cover things up. Do the right thing.

5 SHOW LOYALTY
Give credit freely. Acknowledge the contribution of others. Speak about people as if they were present. Represent others who aren’t there to speak for themselves. Don’t bad-mouth others behind their backs. Don’t disclose others’ private information.

6 DELIVER RESULTS
Establish a track record of results. Get the right things done. Make things happen. Accomplish what you’re hired to do. Be on time and within budge. Don’t overpromise and underdeliver. Don’t make excuses for not delivering.

7 GET BETTER
Continuously improve.

8 CONFRONT REALITY
Address the tough stuff directly.

9 CLARIFY EXPECTATIONS
Disclose and reveal, discuss and don’t violate expectations.

10 PRACTICE ACCOUNTABILITY
Hold yourself accountable. Hold others accountable. Take responsibility for results.

11 LISTEN FIRST
Listen before you speak. Understand.

12 KEEP COMMITMENTS
Say what you’re going to do then do what you say you’re going to do.

13 EXTEND TRUST
Demonstrate a propensity to trust. Extend trust abundantly to those who have earned your trust. Extend conditionally to those who are earning your trust. Have a propensity to trust. Don’t withhold trust because there is risk involved.

The Speed of Trust: Quotes I like from Covey Himself

2008-01-26T19:29:00.000-12:00

Page 59 - “Are you congruent?”

Page 72 -“What is your agenda?”

Page 76 “While we tend to judge ourselves by our intent, we tend to judge others by their behaviour…it is important to actively influence the conclusions others draw by ‘declaring our intent.’”

Page 83 “The fiduciary standard is that a trustee will act in the ‘best interest’ of the person he/she represents…unionism itself is a typically a fruit of distrust, coming from a perceived violation of the trustee standard.”

Page 88 “One watch-out in declaring intent is to always be sure that you’re being honest and real about it…ensure that your intent is not merely self-serving. The very process of considering how to declare your intent will help you improve it.”
“…technology has liberated us from the zero-sum game of traditional economics into the new world of unlimited abundance…Abundance is a choice!”

Page 90 “Are you relevant”

Page 92 “Capable people are credible. They inspire trust…if you don’t have current capabilities, if you are not relevant, you will not have credibility. You will be taxed, you won’t get the dividends of trust.”

Page 93 “Reinvent yourself every three years…so that you can remain relevant and able to make new contributions in a world of constant change…Reinvention is the key to longevity”

Page 97 “Always surround yourself with people who are even more talented and competent than you.”

Page 99 KNOWLEDGE: What is my current levelof knowledge in my specific field? What am I doing to stay current? What other areas of knowledge am I pursuing?

Page 104 “…identify your strengths (whether they be Talents, Attitudes, Skills, Knowledge, or Style), and focus on engaging, developing, and leveraging what’s distinctly yours.”
“Feed opportunities and starve problems.”

Page 163
“Right Wrongs…People stay mad when they’re owed an apology and don’t get one. Giving a heartfelt apology in many cases takes the sword out of people’s hands.”

Page 184 Have you ever been a participant in those “meetings after the meetings” – those informal discussions where smaller groups of people talk about all the things that should have been addresssed in the formal meeting?...How much difference do you think it would make if there were no undiscussables” – if people felt free to interact about any subject with openness and respect?

Page 188 “You rarely gain anything by shutting out the very people who are in the best position to help solve the challenges and problems you face.”

Page 223 “Extend Trust…it leverages trust. It creates reciprocity; when you trust people other people tend to trust you in return…extending trust is one of the best ways to create trust when it is not there.

Page 258 On better grades…
“When he wins a game, you have a huge celebration and take him out to dinner. When he brings home an A, you merely say ‘Good job!’”

Page 270 Am I a walking tax or a walking dividend?

Page 273 “Fish discover water last…In a similar way, we… discover trust last…We take it for granted-unless it becomes polluted or destroyed…Without trust, society closes down and will ultimately self-destruct.”

Page 274
In a high-trust society there’s more for everyone. We have more options and opportunities. We interact with less friction, resulting in greater speed and lower cost.”

Page 278 More and more, people are coming to recognise the cost of low trust and are making efforts to establish and restore trust

Page 279 Our companies need meaning and purpose if they’re to fit into the world, or why should they live at all?

Page 296 In extending trust, the general guideline is to extend trust conditionally to those who are earning it and abundantly to those who have already done so.

Page 299 In your larger leadership role, you use the 4 Cores and 13 Behaviours to create alignment in your organization, reputation in the marketplace, and contribution in the world. As you do those things, you will get results in a way that inspires confidence and trust.

Page 301 Remember people tend to judge others based on behaviour and judge themselves based on intent. Thus, poor but well-intended behaviour can lead others to assume bad intent.

Page 321 I’ve seen them overcome differences, transcend difficulties, and accomplish great things- fast- because someone had the wisdom to extend trust.

Page 322 “Extending trust to others rekindles the inner spirit - both theirs and ours.”

Page 324 "Enhancing your ability to establish, grow, extend and restore trust with all stakeholders will significantly increase the opportunities and influence you have, whether as a leader, worker, business partner, customer, spouse, parent, or any of the myriad roles you play in life."

Great quotes I like from people other than Covey

2008-01-26T19:27:00.000-12:00

Page 59 -
“I look for three things in hiring people. The first is personal integrity, the second is intelligence, and the third is a high energy level. But if you don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.” - Warren Buffet, CEO, Berkshire Hathaway.

Page 72 - ‘In law, a man is guilty when he violates the rights of another. In ethics he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so.” - Immanuel Kant

Page 88 - “Economic alchemy” – Paul Zane Pilzer

Page 90 - “[People] of capability inspire us.” – Samaveda (Sacred Hindu Text)

Page 188 - “When treated like adults…people act like adults.” – John Case: Open Book Management.

“Don’t withhold unpleasant possibilities and don’t pass off bad news to subordinates to deliver. Level with employees about problems in a timely fashion.
John Huntsman, Chariman, Huntsman Chemical.

Page 312 - We don’t forgive to abdicate the offender…we forgive to bring clarity and peace to ourselves. - Nelson Mandela

Page 317 - I bring you the gift of these four words: I believe in you. -Blaise Pascal

The Speed of Trust: 4 + 13 + 3 = 20

2008-01-26T01:04:00.001-12:00

I have finished this book at last. It was harder for me to get an overview of the education system being promoted than the Seven Habits series. That series promoted seven components only and stuck to it, developing only into an 8th component toward the end. This book although seeming to promote a simple system of 5 waves promotes a full set of twenty concepts that do not become clear until the very end. Being a blue hat thinker I struggled to remain interested as more and more particulars were introduced beyond the waves. Quite a lot was crammed into the book. But this is a gift. I guess the Author could have drawn this book out into many books and kept an audience hooked, but I trust this book does more than the Seven Habits series did over 5 or more books and have sorted my thoughts about it into list of 20 concepts over three tiers. This book takes me beyond the honest independence of self trust and enriching interdependence of relationship trust. It also extends to us tools to support us with building trust in our communities. Simple really.

Self Trust: 4 Cores of Credibility - 1st Wave of trust plus
Relationship Trust: 13 Consistent Behaviours - 2nd wave of trust plus
3 extended waves of trust that extend beyond the ordinary circle of influence.

Steven M R Covey’s book “The Speed of Trust” provides yet another important toolset to aid self, relationship and organisational improvement. Based on personal experience and extensive research Steven has designed a system that if followed dramatically improve the levels of trust in the facets of life you choose to utilise them in. Contextually there are 5 waves of trust radiating out from within our circle of influence. Like his father before him Steven M R strongly recommends that change starts from within. At the self trust level Steven teachers that there are 4 cores to credibility. Integrity, Intent, Capabilities and Results. His definition of integrity helps to expand on his Dad’s definition. To act with the utmost integrity in every moment of choice each day can be defined as first continuously improving self-awareness, honesty in all things, congruence between intention and action, courage to act, independent will, conscience to do what is right and creativity to achieve the best results. A collaboration working in tandem. A beautiful thing given consistent behaviour.

A toolbox with depth

In my teaching practice I look forward to using the tick box for the 4 cores as a handy credibility self monitoring check in any situation. It would seem that by achieving the four cores of credibility you begin to build character and then competence and ultimately self-trust. You will know when you are ready to move on to relationship trust without having to consciously work on self-trust. Here, the 13 behaviours come in handy, again to build character and competence on a relationship level. The book also provides a 13 behaviours templated tick list to assist you in measuring your relationship trust levels. 17 practical tools to be practiced in two simple templates.

This leaves three final aspects to write about.

18: To achieve organisational trust Practice Alignment between the parts
19: To achieve market trust Build a reputation of trustworthiness
20: To achieve societal trust inspire trust by genuine contribution

Finally, in practicing the 4 cores, 13 behaviours and applying them beyond self and close relationships brings alignment to organizations, builds reputation in the marketplace and ultimately leads to contribution to society. There is hope for anyone who has fallen into a state of untrustworthiness.

Smart Trust is inspirational and achievable even by those who have sunk into the depths of disrepute and hopelessness. I could teach these to others and use them readily in my classroom as a catalyst to build trust rapidly. I look forward to experimenting with these tools in my teaching practice in 2008 with a view to sharing my experiences with other teachers regardless of the outcome.

I look forward to posting quotes fromt he book

Goodbye Sir Edmund Hillary

2008-01-10T21:50:00.000-12:00

Sir Edmund Hillary died this afternoon. We commemorated his passing by preserving a 5 dollar note in a 2007 diary, never to be spent. He did did not bow his head in defeat, not even to the loftiest mountain. The greatest kiwi of our time, may his legacy of humility, adventure, determination, practical competence and a full life always be remembered. May he rest in peace.

The Speed of Trust

2007-12-20T22:53:00.000-12:00

Covey, S. M. R. (2006). The Speed of Trust. Sydney, Australia: Simon & Schuster.

So far a great read! here are the first two quotes...

Page 26

"Nothing is as fast as the speed of trust. Nothing is as fulfilling as a relationship of trust. Nothing is as inspiring as an offering of trust. Nothing is as profitable as the economics of trust. Nothing has more influence that a reputation of trust."

Page 30

"Trust is a function of two things: character and competence. Character includes your integrity, your motive, your intent with people. Competence includes your capabilities, your skills, your results, your track record. And both are vital."

I am a long time fan of Steven R Covey of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People...and Families fame. I have also read First Things First, The 8th Habit and Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teenagers. This network of books comprises a significant chunk of my philosophical teaching and learning foundation. This latest read called The Speed of Trust is by Steven M R, another of Steven R Covey's sons.

One thing I sometimes like to do is check out the references section first to see if any of the books are familiar. One stood out...Thomas L Friedman's book - The World is Flat which I have already reviewed in this blog. The reference list was a multimedia feast of material from a range of sources. Links I am curious to delve deeper (among others) into are:

Trust Improves Schools - Bryk
Trust in Schools - Bryk and Schneider
The Curse of Competence - Fetzer
Contented Cows Give Better Milk - Catlette and Hadden

I look forward to depositing fantastic quotes from this book here, upon which to ponder in future. I have also decided to reference each book I have read in APA fashion for future use.

Placing a stake in the ground

2007-12-08T19:59:00.000-12:00

If I was to set up a 40 week computing programme that drew learners toward a future in Information and Communications Technologies. How would I go about filling in content for those 40 weeks?

I am undertaking to create a classroom learning system and in doing so place a stake in the ground to refer to as a practitioner and learn from ways in which I use it. The Stake in this coming year has as its underpinning philosophy Principle Centred Leadership. I will begin with the aim to create lifelong learners who contribute to improve living systems on our planet, to make a contribution however big or small through regular active participation. To participate in our world with integrity and commitment in global communities. To be Artists, Philosophers, Scientists, Engineers, Musicians, Poets, Historians that learn to live, love, learn, laugh and leave their own legacy.

Our learning system will be based on our school moto, Te Marama Tuatahi, the first light that touches the seeds in order to activate the growth within the nurturing soil. I hope that my participation in a citizenship project will provide models for the learners to follow.

The idea will be to encourage involvement in community projects and promote active learning evaluation, to teach each other and learn from each other also. The progressive learning stages follow Maori concept of Te Whakatipuranga, with the first learning growth stage at the bottom and developing upward as the learning leadership in each child grows to bask in the light of understanding that nutures in.

5. Maramatanga
4. Puawaitanga
3. Mana
2. Whakatipuranga
1. Te Kakano i Te Marama Tuatahi

The step I take now is step 0. Planting the seed of learning in fertile digital ground.

For the next two weeks this is my mission. Wish me luck.

Bubbles out.

No Left Turn - Chris Trotter

2007-12-08T18:02:00.000-12:00

Have you ever thought about the landmark names in our cities?
Hobson, Wakefield and Lambton
Hutt, Walter Nash and Grey

Read a book like No Left Turn and your street names will come to life in your mind like they never have before. This was a great read from a Left Wing perspective. Outlining the reasons for strong Labour Unions and promoting an egalitarian pro-democratic society this book tends to pursuade the reader to continued to vote against Right Wing parties that perpetuate the repression of the working class and the quiet funnellling of profits to the cofers of private companies and hence the greedy few.

While the travesty of the rapid diminishment of Maori land ownership is detailed well in this epic struggle by early colonial settlers to free themselves from the yoke of class. It is their fight against the greed of landed businessmen that takes centre-stage in the book.

I enjoyed this book for the information it offered in regard to how Maori are viewed politically, educationally and economically in modern times. We are marginalised in the colonial system and having been assimilated can in fact be included with the Unionised poor.

More to add later but that's all for now...

Tripod

2007-12-05T22:20:00.001-12:00

Okay so now I'm addicted to youtube. This one is seriously funny. Enjoy!

Starry Starry Night

2007-12-02T21:32:00.001-12:00

This video is dedicated to the new wave of digital artists that create in the wee hours of the night and continue the legacy of shaping a brighter future for our children. Thank you to the crazy ones Rhonda, Lulu and Maurice.

All my love

Mrs Reedy

Te Unga Mai

2007-12-01T14:44:00.000-12:00

The Te Unga Mai festival has come and gone for the second year running. Last year's festival floated on passed without me giving it even a second glance. This year however, having read the Trial of the Cannibal Dog, I was able at the very least to pause and reflect on Cook's landing as something I know a little bit more about.

A poem - Through ancestral eyes I gaze...

Dangerous are the horizons of this briny frontier.
Hazardous the journey without intimacy with starry sky.
Endeavour, adventuring we embark to return again to her beauty.
She in the dark southern waters.
Upon a vast sea we bob together, shipmates and brothers
And looking intently toward our futures wonder at our lust to wander.
Were we not happy up there in England?
Yet we are happy here upon this journey
Sailing through latitudes, in search of 42 below.
Bound we are for Pacific paradise and again,
longingly we anticipate the familiar taste of golden,
sun-kissed fruit on waiting distant welcoming shores.
Upon a vast sea we journey together, we shipmates and brothers
And knowing that we may never return this way again
We look toward the horizon and are content.

Bubbles

The Trial of the Cannibal Dog

2007-10-04T12:33:00.002-12:00

At present I am juggling two fantastic books. The Trial of the Cannibal Dog is one of them, I am half way through and I find it a must read for all who claim Tairawhiti as home, Tairawhiti, an historically significant geographical interface between Maori and Pakeha since 1769.

Two years ago I felt compelled to attend an evening with Anne Salmond organized by Muirs Bookshop. I had already read Eruera and Amiria as a teenager and from those two books I learned that Ani [Anne] had the privilege of being led into Te Ao Maori by distinguished Maori elders. She had now written a book about the most significant British Captain in the History of Poverty Bay. I had to go.

Captain Cook had pervaded my life for 32 of the last 37 years. From Cook Hospital to Cook County Council, Cooks Cove to Cooks Memorial, the controversial statue of Captain Cook on Titirangi to the new one at Waikanae, Cook Street to The Endeavour Lodge Motel, Cooks Landing Site to the Captain Cook Motor Lodge, the iconic Endeavour Ship replicas along the main street to the two dollar note that when held up to the light revealed none other than Captain Cook. What is puzzling though is that although he has always been the main event here in Tairawhiti I have never been taught his life story in school, had never read any scholarly essays or books about his voyages, I was completely ignorant save for the fact that Young Nicks Head is named after the boy who sighted land here first, Cook pervades the fabric of this city and he named our beautiful region Poverty Bay after the apparent scarcity of food offered to him when he came here. In a nutshell in this town where Captain Cook rules okay! I have never been taught formally or informally who he really was and that is a travesty.

I can’t tell you why but from the moment Ani spoke that night I got a strange sense that Captain Cook was in the room with her, looking at her was somehow like looking at him. She oozed knowledge and understanding about him and you could sense the passion in her voice. It could have been a difficult audience to sit amongst as the scarcity of Maori faces was obvious. As predicted the idea of Maori cannibalism was emphasized in the questions put to Ani and she parried skillfully with European ideas of Hanging, drawing and quartering and so an unspoken colonial indignance was not able to flair into outrage and though I half expected the crowd gathered to slay the names of our ancestors for past wrongs against the crew of the Endeavour there remained an air of balance in audience.

I say again, I had not read the book yet. Still, I raised my hand to ask a question...“Kia Ora Ani…did you write the Trial of the Cannibal dog to bring understanding between peoples?”. If I tried I could not tell you the exact words she said in answer but that was not what was significant. Of significance was the unexpected lengthy pause before she answered. I believe in that moment that I had asked a key question that she had been waiting for. The book has indeed helped me understand Cook more and it has helped me understand British culture and my own culture more. Ani has done a fantastic job of bringing to life Cook's legacy and it's collision course that brought upon my ancestors a cataclismic change of destiny. I believe she had definitely written this book in order to bring about understanding in the modern world of our joint pasts ahakoa he aha. In this epic passionate confrontation of Eurocentric and Pacific cultures she helps at least me to lay to rest the shackles of oppression that latently tell me in my everyday dealings with tangata tiriti in Power that just because Cook landed here I should continue to defer to their more enlightened decisions that will affect my future. Cook was just another explorer looking for Antartica. Our country was a well frequented pit-stop for him and he was human. He no longer is an omnipotent oppressive icon to me now, no longer a symbol of colonial righteousness. Cooks presence here caused ripples throughout the land and into the future but for me, no longer. I shall never again refer to this rich region as Poverty Bay and Gisborne, it shall always and forevermore in my lineage be Tairawhiti and Turanganui-a-Kiwa.

The book is a great read. I look forward to listing my favourite quotes from the book here...Watch this space.

Bubbles out.

T01: Toward A Flat World Platform

2007-09-23T21:00:00.000-12:00

Recently some learners demanded that the school foster Linux. Why? Well if you know anything about Linux the answer is simple...freedom of choice. They pinned their objective on the wall, a simple graphic and set about achieving their freedom as an exclusive club. They raised $300 in donations, found a bunch of unused apples on the web and gained sponsorship from a courier company to have double the amount of apples first sought freighted to our school at NO cost and all with very little input from me. What I and my colleagues provided them in our roles as learning leaders was gentle guidance on the side. Hopefully we modeled kindness. Hopefully we were able to guide them to have patience and that slow is fast, to be persistent, to remain on the RAILS. Most of all to change the nature of the membership fees to freely and gratefully received donations to get the network up and running and maintained. I hope they are able to see in the end that the aim is to provide not only freedom for themselves as they saw it but freedom and choice for all and to provide a clear model of the power of driven persistence and a masterful control of impulsivity in decision making to resist the urge to rush. Now that the hub is established the potential teaching (these learners are potentially now teachers - the best way to learn is to teach) and projects that will emerge from the tools can only be speculated. What is for sure is that having allowed them the freedom to act within a responsible framework and giving them guidance to be enterprising with confidence and with truly collaborative intentions has lead them to principle centeredness in learning and they are on the pathway to greatness in leadership in their respective communities. Our T01 community itself now has the capability to truly make a difference in our local and global communities. I am proud to have encouraged them to dare to be different and am honoured to call myself an LLP member and encourage you if you are reading this to donate to their cause too. They are already affecting change for those less fortunate and skilled than they. My cup yet again runneth over. If you would like to donate to this fantastic citizenship project then reply to this post. There are no teachers here and no students...just learning leaders preparing for a flat world.

Wikinomics

2007-09-21T16:05:00.000-12:00

The year is 2007 and I am once again enjoying a revloutionary new book (of note is that it is in none of the Gisborne Book Stores (Catch up Turanga!). Thank you Maurice Alford. I have to hand on to the next reader as it is in great demand so I won't have many posts but will try to provide insight to prospective readers.

Fantastic Quote 1

Front Cover: "How mass collaboration changes everything"

Page 20: "The new art and science of wikinomics is based on four powerful new ideas: Openness, peering, sharing, and acting globally. These new principles are replacing some of the old tenets of business."

Page 75: "Unfortunately for Britannica, its complaints really miss the point - errors cited on Wikipedia have long since been fixed, while Britannica errors remain. In the same way that open source programmers swarm together to identify and fix bugs, Wikipedians can easily catch errors and set the record straight.

MIT is given many accolades throughout this fantastic book...Peter Senge (Super Education Guru Extraordinaire is from MIT).

Back to reading

Podcasting a Lifetime of Learning at eSNIPs

2007-04-16T17:24:00.000-12:00

My first ever uploaded podcast :-)

Hello fellow lifetime learners. I have learned how to podcast and upload to a share site called eSnips. There's no stopping me now!

TUANZ 2007

2007-03-31T00:28:00.000-12:00

Hello flat world, I met a new friend at the TUANZ 2007 conference in Auckland, Miguel Guhlin. He Skype phoned his friend Viki in the states and she had read the World is Flat! Outstanding! She also had begun applying the learning from the book into her classroom practice. I was so blown away to think that we are on a track aligned with another teacher halfway around the world. I can't wait to meet her online. Thanks Miguel.

More Quotes from our Flat World

2006-09-08T17:06:00.000-12:00

The global community holy grail in one quote..."My belief is that the global is only going to be interesting if it is a range of the local. The whole diversity of local experiences and local content is present, rather than one content producer, one language, one cultural perspective and one ideology dominating the world." (Friedman, 2006)

This is my final list of quotes taken from The World is Flat. I will be spending the next couple of weekends processing and interpreting these choice morsels, relating them to the New Zealand context and my own context and life's narrative. If anyone out there are wanting to converse, feel free.

366

"Transformation of an enterprise begins with a sense of crisis or urgency,"

377

"Instead of IBM giving you a guarantee that you will be employed, you had to guarantee that you could stay employable."

371

"Workers who are also owners are more productive on the job."

373

"Educating more people at tertiary level...shrinks the pool of people looking for lower level work. By shrinking the pool of lower level workers we help stabilize their wages"

375

"There is no safe haven where lifetime employment isn't possible anymore."

377

"A welfare system is bad fat. The sort of good fat that actually needs to be added for a flat world is wage insurance."

395

"They are invading our tradition -in an innovative way- and we are doing nothing about it."

399

"Black cat, white cat, all that matters is that it catches mice."

403

"If you change the regulatory and business environment for the poor, and give them the tools to collaborate they will do the rest."

443

"The really good companies today really do get chest xrays regularly - to constantly identify and strengthen their niches and outsource the stuff that is not very differentiating."

487

"If the West had made Shakespeare the sole object of our study and the sole guide of our lives...we would soon enough fall into backwardness and stagnation."

488

"Terrorsism is not spawned by the poverty of money. It is spawned by the poverty of dignity. Humiliation is the most underestimated force in international relations and in human relations. It is when people or nations are humiliated that they really lash out."

509

"we can get people to think they can transform their skills that their fathers had"

510

"The flat world empowers the forces of darkness as well as the forces of light."

The whole chapter on the DELL theory of conflict prevention.

521

"The real subject of this chapter is how these classic geopolitical threats might be moderated or influenced by the new forms of collaboration fostered and demanded by the flat world"

545

"The small can act very big today and pose a serious danger to world order - without the instruments of a state.
Therefore thinking about how we stimulate positive imaginations is of the utmost importance."

553

"One thing that tells me that a company is in trouble is when they tell me how good they were in the past."

"When memories exceed dreams the end is near."

555

"Note: The importance of narrative and context.

"When you have a pathway to be the man or the woman, you tend to focus on the path and on achieving you dreams. When you have no pathway, you tend to focus on your wrath and on nursing your memories."

565

"People who are exposed to different cultures and perspectives are far more likely to develop the imagination of 11/9. People who are feeling disconnected, for whom personal freedom and fulfillment are a utopian fantasy, are more likely to develop the imagination of 9/11."

566

"Thank you, but I want to invest my options back into the company and be an investor in the new IPO."

Naku noa na Bubbles.

Finally finished it!

2006-09-08T16:25:00.000-12:00

After two weeks absence I have finished the book. Fantastic. I look back at my alarmist first ranting and chuckle ever so quietly. CQ + PQ tends toward IQ. It's brilliant listening to the voice of a futurist. His passion and words are full of hope for his people, our people, your people, all people, inspiring. He sees that the flat world will not mean the death of diversity but instead the potential for growth of diversity. User chooses. Users now have more choice to ignore the narrow band of life that television and radio sells us. The internet gives us a myriad of interactive community choices. Including our own culture and community online will mean our people can choose to stay directly connected to their ahikaa. ALL IS NOT LOST for Ngati Porou. Our children might be emulating gangster rap stars for now, but thats because that is all they are fed in the media. Internet TV which is just around the corner will offer more and so long as we are creative and productive contributors we can be a significant part of what is on offer to our children. Broadband and the internet has changed my view of media. Within the next 5 years I predict that we will either be watching a more diverse range of programmes on TV than we have today including more local stuff or we will not be watching TV anymore. We will instead be choosing what we interact with online. The western dish of programmes is about to become an around the world platter. Thomas Friedman is impressive. Globalisation staying the hand of warfaring nations. Glocalisation feeding growth of ethnic cultures. Economic collaboration encouraging cultural tolerance between long time enemy states. a learning revolution surpassing anything ever dreamed of by Dryden and Voss. A caring world collaborating for greater good rather than climbing up to be god. Ideas like digging deep into one's self to let loose the creativity within in times of crisis rather than stubbornly putting up walls in hope of self-preservation can be immediately applied to our own situation. Recently in the Gizzie Herald our elders cried out for the protection of the Ngati Porou Reo, hotly criticising Maori TV which is believe to promote a pan tribal contaminated foreign sounding reo and the launch of nga moteatea and the accompanying CD that puts our waiata into the hands of anyone and everyone a concept I love. This rings alarm bells with me as to the presence of a suffocating generation gap. It seems that our elders are putting up walls and shutting shop instead of digging deep and getting creative. How can we use the modern tools and by pass slow legal processes in order to rapidly increase the number of speakers in Ngati Porou? The internet is exponential and can be used effectively to grow speakers. Surely we could be more creative and let people learn from CD's and mp3's and videos and from an online initiative. I'm sure our expats and our locals (including me) are desperate to know their language. It seems simple to me, our future generations can remain connected to their culture very easily over the internet. Will not the protection of our language from modern conversational tools lead to the loss of it? This would make a great debate topic. My opinion: We are a global tribe now and if we are to remain connected we need to open our reo classroom up to the world.

"The hallmark of a truly successful organisation is the willingness to abandon what made it successful and start fresh." (Friedman, 2006)

Sorting out...Little Secrets

2006-08-26T08:49:00.000-12:00

The further on I have read through this book my rage has lessened and I have begun to think pragmatically. I am now thinking about making a spider diagram of smart ideas that are immediately applicable in our now global classroom. Today I officially declare that I am a Maori Woman who has joined the ranks of global educators in the flat world.

This is my latest series of Resonating Quotes from this fantastic book...

245
The cold, hard truth...investors are largely indifferent to where their profits come from or even where the employment is created.

267
There may be a limit to the number of good factory jobs in the world, but there is no limit to the number of idea-generated jobs in the world.

270
SEOs..."algoholics"

THE UNTOUCHABLES

292
"The core competencies are [just] the entry-level requirements. What will keep you there is developing a broader view."

293
The Green People. The whole section!

304
"... But there are plenty of alternatives now, as many as there are individuals with access to broadband."

"CQ + PQ > IQ. give me a kid with a passion to learn and a curiosity to discover and I will take him or her over a less passionate kid with a higher IQ any day of the week. Because curious, passionate kids are self-educators and self-motivators. they will always be able to learn how to learn, especially on the flat world platform, where you can both download and upload. "work matters". said Searls, "but curiosity matters more. Nobody works harder at learning than a curios kid."

305
"You can't light the fire of passion in someone else if it doesn't burn in you to begin with."

315
"What remains unchanged is the need to be able to tell stories, to be able to build things that have intelligence in them, and to be able to create networks."

"Schools had better make sure they are embedding these tools and concepts of collaboration into the education process.' It has to run through the whole curriculum,'"

325
"...a pronounced tendency in recent years to extol consumption over hard work and investment, immediate gratification over long-term thinking and sacrifice."

"Low education means low paying jobs, plain and simple, and this is where more and more Americans are finding themselves. Many Americans can't believe they aren't qualified for high-paying jobs. I call this the "American Idol problem."

326
"My goal as an educator is to stop being the best local school, or regional school, and start being the best on the planet."

350
"The more you connect an educated population to the flat-world platform in an easy and affordable way, the more things they can automate, and therefore the more time and energy they have to innovate. The more they innovate, the more they can produce things that improve the platform. It is a virtuous cycle, one that you always want to encourage to the greatest degree possible."

351
"The people who think that the more rote-oriented learning systems of China and Japan can't turn out innovators who can compete with Americans are sadly mistaken."

"In China today, Bill Gates is Britney Spears. in America today, Britney Spears is Britney Spears - and that is our problem."

359
"when you study history and look at every civilization that has grown up and died off, they all leave one remnant - a major sports coliseum at the heart of their capital."

"Scientists and engineers don't grow on trees. They have to be educated through a long process, because ladies and gentlement, this really is rocket science."

Today I begin my journey toward re-thinking the teaching of Maori children. An effort to turn the vertical gaze of our children away from the clouds illusions of the "Britney Spearses" and re-orient horizontally toward the closer horizon of the "Bill Gateses". It will and will not be an easy task. Wish us all luck.

Naku noa

Na Paapere.

Futurist

2006-08-24T23:09:00.000-12:00

A fatalist resigns to probability. A futurist radiates possibilities.

The world is flat

2006-08-19T13:51:00.000-12:00

The Great Sorting Out

Rant 2: I am up to page 235 and this is what has driven me out of bed on this lazy Sunday afternoon to write more. In the previous ranting I raved on about my feelings in regard to the imminent extinction of Maori culture after only reading just one chapter of this inciteful book. These thoughts have been amplified by another voice from a by gone era - Marx who I know nothing about and I assume is creditted with Marxism which was apparently not a good thing if my Western history perspective serves me correctly. However he made a prediction long ago that is quoted on page 235 of Chapter four that rang out LOUDLY because it was identical to what I had just written in response to chapter one. VERY FREAKY! An urgent message to the soul that we will one day soon be treated as a global tribe will that mean the death of diversity?

The Ten Forces and The Triple Convergence

Of interest to me having read another Two Chapters are these gems:

Fascinating Kupu
Value creation; The Globalization of Innovation; Supply Chains and RFID; The Triple Convergence and the Smoke Screen.

Page 125
The act of participating is like a muscle you have to use...and we are so unused to being active participants in the process that even though the tools are there now many people dont' use them..."

Page 157
"...the coefficient of flatness. The fewer natural resources your coutry or company has the more you will dig inside yourself for innovation in order to survive."

Pg 179
...there is no discrimination in accessing knowledge.

Page 214
"It's not easy coming that far. You have to be hungry?"

Page 217
"You can now innovate without having to emigrate...keeping Indians at home and attracting others."

Page 226
"Now...I would rather be a genius born in China rather than an average guy born in Poughkeepsie"

Page 229
"The perspectives and predisposition that you carry around in your head are very important in shaping what you see and what you don't see."

The world is flat

2006-08-12T13:20:00.000-12:00

Why is this blog named as such? Because I would never say these things out loud in front of a sensible crowd. Instead I write them here and invite you to make up your own mind or add your own rantings. What ever the case may be read on if you dare.

Rant 1: As recommended by the Committed Sardine Blogger then Maurice Alford I am currently reading The World is Flat and am part way through chapter one of the revised version. Instead of reviewing the book at the end, I am going to experiment with raving and ranting on this blog as I go. Get the book yourself and join me. So far the book has me riveted.

Chapter One-While I Was Sleeping

Learning to date: Don't blink you may open your eyes to find you are now obsolete.

While you were sleeping the developing world has been breeding. India and China both have strength of local, cultural population. This plus a driving ambition to free themselves from poverty through education plus the greed of selfish first world corporations and finally add the global connectivity fostered by the internet, these nations have begun to form symbiotic relationships with the upper echelon of first world nations such as the United States and Japan. The relationship is driven by corporate greed and goes something like this. Unskilled labourers including children in 3rd world countries have been getting peanuts working for Nike and the likes, we know this. Unskilled labourers are missing out in the USA because of this. Corporates then decided to outsource skilled work as well, cutting out their local workforce. Wallah! Educated 3rd world workers get good money (in their eyes) and what I believe we would call minimum wage in our country. So what an unskilled labourer would get here in New Zealand an educated computer worker in Bangalore would get and revel in it! What does this mean? Bangalore and cities like it begin to set themselves up to get more work. They buy in equipment from corporate USA who make huge profits. Inexpensive skilled IT workers plus increased computer equipment sales overseas equals soaring profits for Corporations and a growing population of educated 3rd world people as they learn from the computer work they are doing for their rich employers. Analogously The groom (Rich corporations) has quietly divorced the high maintenance wife (expensive educated local workforce) and remarried an exotic hard working, intelligent but inexpensive wife (overseas cheaper educated workers) who is eager to learn. Who loses here? Great chunks of local workforce. Who should change? That is for each alone to answer, all I can say is be aware of the signs.

Why is India and China just to name two allowing themselves to be used this way as cheap workers? Because they are learning at an exponential rate how to become the bosses and when they are finished using the overseas bosses who are using them they will be able to finally run themselves as a fully operating tribe. These countries are sick of being the workers for international corporate bosses who never show them the money. Liberation from Big Brother is what it's all about. Self determination, autonomy. Greed has brought about a scenario where 3rd world countries are now being show the pathways to financial freedom that used to be the domain of secret societies of Imperial Bankers both in the UK and the USA. first world greed has potentially opened the doorway to autonomy and self-determination for the third world.

The world is flattening. Ancient enemies are in bed with each other, one for reasons of instant gratification and greed and the other to free themselves of co-dependency. And so we have the scenario that we have today. Communists learning how to become capitalists off ancient arch enemies and India working hard for the Colonists that treated them with cruelty not so long ago. Arranged marriages they are, but how long will they last? That’s easy, just until the oppressed have enough knowledge to run themselves and when they no longer need the greedy corporations, what then? As adversaries in the competitive economic marketplace they will be fierce opponents. What will become of the first world then? What is our place as a colonised people in this real time play on the global stage? We must find out and quick and then formulate a plan to sustain our way of life as a living breathing culture in perpetuity beyond the 21st century. (c)bubblesr2006.

Nau mai , Haere mai

2006-08-12T13:07:00.000-12:00

Hi Friends and Whanau

I decided to make this blog to put my future thinking rantings on. I will mainly be posting progressive book reviews for any book I have begun reading from now on. The postings are for myself but I hope you join me on this section of my lifetime of learning. I haven't a clue whether this blog will be of any use to me in the future...we shall see.

Thank you for joining me.

Arohanui

Bubbles