RSA added animation to one of Ken Robinson’s talks. I would suggest watching it several times. There’s a lot here in this 11:40 clip. His proposals comprise a call back to an educational paradigm that is consistent with how we actually learn.

Tags: connecting with youth, divergent learning, divergent questions, educational reform, prevention programs

I recently decided to make some changes to the People Change People website. A desire to make the site as accessible and resourceful as possible motivated the changes. Visitors can now immediately dive into the site’s content. In this process I had to—to rephrase a popular Faulkner quote—lie to rest some of my darlings. That’s okay, so long as you all find it useful. Welcome and enjoy.

-Andrew

Tags: andrew f. robinson, people change people

On the first Tuesday of each month I host a ten minute conference call entitled, Ten-on-Tuesday: An hour’s worth of information in ten minutes. It’s an alternative to hour-long webinars that—let’s be honest—aren’t always the best use of time.

During the last call I asked participants to ask a question of students for which they had no pre-determined answer. I appreciated the follow-up question I received and thought I would share the exchange.

Participant question:

The last item you discussed yesterday was asking a question of a student that we don’t have the answer, I was a little confused regarding that. Could you please give me an example?

My response:

Too often we ask questions for which we have prepackaged answers. Our goal in such cases is to transfer our answers to students. This process has more in common with bluetooth data-transfer than learning.

When you ask a question for which you have no answer, you level the learning field. You and the student are learning collaboratively to find the answer(s). For instance, you may ask a student you work with, “How is it that the media influences people?” This doesn’t mean you don’t have your own ideas. You do. But what if the student with whom you are working could add clarity to your existing understanding of this topic? Asking this question allows for this opportunity. It also encourages the student to arrive at a new, fresh understanding of the topic.

Tags: adolescent behavior, adolescent health, adolescents, communicating with youth, connecting with youth, divergent questions, prevention education, prevention program, prevention programs, youth development