Who Will Win?

You may not be a Risk player, but my two sons and I love playing the game.  We’ve had this game up on the dining room table for two weeks now, playing a few moves whenever all three of us have enough time to sit down together.  The boy’s mother, my wife, was in the game for a while, but she lost all her armies last week following a failed offensive thrust.  Truthfully, she really wanted to lose so she could go back to watching Pride and Prejudice for the 35th time.  It’s probably good to have at least one member of our household who is not vying for world domination.

When I walked past the board this morning, it struck me that if I asked my son’s playmates who is going to win the game that most would quickly jump to the same conclusion.  The problem is that they don’t have enough information to make a reasonable guess.  Would it change their opinion if they knew that the next player would receive a bonus of 35 armies as he turns in his cards?  Would it change their opinion if they knew that a couple of days ago my sons made a pact to team up to bring down Papa for the first time?   Would it change their opinion to know that we had modified the rules to suit our family game?  Would it change their opinion if they knew that my goal in playing the game was to have fun, not win in the traditional sense?

As an educator, I could want nothing more for my students than for them to look at this board and know that they need more information -- then form and ask the right questions.  What if school was a place where students could practice solving problems rather than a place where someone told them all the answers?  Would there be less risk for its future if our next generation had the inclination to try to understand a situation before coming to a conclusion?  

Parallel Thinking

Two months ago conditions changed in my personal life that made me realize that I needed to shore up my credentials in order to be ready for the future.  I applied to and was accepted into an online Masters in School Administration program at Western Carolina University.  This masters program is designed primarily for public school educators who wish to work as administrators within the North Carolina State school systems -- a different path than I'm traveling.  As the start of the summer session came closer and closer, I kept feeling more and more apprehensive, not the type of nervous excitement that I got when I was driving to Sewanee from San Antonio in 1976, but more of a nervous anxiety driven by dread.  Something clearly was not right.  So, I had an informal meeting with two trusted friends, and they both told me to punt.  I punted, long and deep.  I think that I may have punted out of the stadium altogether.

My friend and colleague, Sam, made a podcast that focused on my situation and what he saw as the solution.  It will take you about twenty minutes to listen to, but it will be worthwhile.

How Should You Go to School?

At about the same time that Sam was making this podcast, I was typing this email to him:

Hi Sam,

I started extending the idea that I talked about in Missy's office to be an "experiment in higher education."

I am going to design my own masters program (maybe I will not use this term), using a template of courses derived from the best schools in the country.  I will create a blog to document my course work and reflections.  My coursework will be self-study, intensive workshops, on-line classes, collaboration with others who find their way to me from my blog, and ongoing dialogue with selected mentors.  I will ask my mentor/advisers to accredit and validate my coursework.  In the process, I hope to explore from the inside the new type of education that we know is going to influence the future world of education. 

I think we were both a little shocked when we read/listened to each others' ideas.  Parallel thinking with Sam Harrelson is pretty scary for me, and I'm sure it must have been scary for him to be thinking like me (but in an altogether different way).

This summer I will start my experiment in higher education, and I hope that you will be a part of it by reading my blog, offering suggestions, asking questions, and being a fellow traveler in pursuit of learning.