The valedictorian stands at the podium, in front of a row of beaming adults (I can only assume they are her teachers and administrators). She begins with this fable of a Zen student who is disappointed when his teacher says it will take 10 years of study to find Zen. “The student then said, ‘but what if […]
At a workshop I attended a couple of years ago, we were all asked to come up with a six-word sentence that captures who you are. The sentence I came up with in the few minutes we had for this activity is: “Learn and teach what I love”. The story of ‘Education 2.0: Teaching in […]
“We are weary of academic conferences.” That’s how Christy Wampole starts her article The Conference Manifesto in The New York Times (posted May 4th 2015). Indeed, I can relate to that. In fact, it is getting increasingly challenging for me to go to conferences at all, for fear of experiencing undesired levels of stress and […]
When my friend Maria and I get together, watch out world! Sunday, over a cup of tea on the back porch, we struggled with this axiom: Don’t tell what you can ask Don’t ask if you know the answer, Tell, in dialogue “How?” asked Maria. “How do you tell in dialogue?” Swimming this Monday morning […]
In a recent Foundations of Dialogue Education course in Stowe, Vermont, 10 wonderful and wise learners examined three aspects of engaging and getting to know participants in learning events or meetings by Asking, Observing, and Studying. This art of engaging learners prior to coming together suggests that first, whatever you do; do no harm! Remembering […]
What I love about designing is how it makes us connect with our universal humanity. Those that don’t design may not understand what I mean so I’ll say a bit more. This week I’ve been asked to co-design a program to help build stability among low income families of Colorado. Yesterday I got a call […]
One of my favorite axioms is: There are three things that make effective learning happen, in this order: time, time and time. While the wry humor in that axiom always gets a belated laugh, the significance and meaning it offers is not at all trivial. I discovered the biology behind my simple axiom as I […]
[Note: this piece was originally published in 2003. We love it, and have asked Jane to update it for 2015 with her new thinking.] I love the change of seasons: from winter to spring, from spring to the hot days of summer, from summer to the crisp, blue-sky autumn. There is a renewal here that […]
Powerful questions spark great dialogue. Just a few well-chosen, highly-polished questions can stimulate amazing exploration of a relevant issue for a group. But sometimes posing a question can also pose something else: a threat. In societies where a person with authority routinely uses questions to evaluate, interrogate or humiliate a subordinate, the use of even […]
Love has different faces. In Dialogue Education and Love Part I (published December 22 2014) I reflected on 8 ways that Dialogue Education principles are really a practice of love. Below are three aspects of the costly nature of love that Dialogue Education invites us to embrace, for learning sake. Ego vs. learning. A skilled trainer […]