Nocking the Arrow

Are you a good learner? "You've got to really want to play because your fingers don't do what they're told." says acclaimed guitarist, Mark Knopfler . His uniquely brilliant fingerstyle playing is the product of desire, determination, and practice - lots and lots of practice. Like many successful musicians ( Eric Clapton , Prince , Elton John ) Knopfler is primarily self-taught, meaning he has achieved mastery without formal training. His lengthy obsession with playing folk and blues style music trained his fingers to become, as he says, "orchestrated like those of a piano player." Providing provocation in style all his own, Will Richardson , as part of a Change.School conversation asked, " Are you a good learner? How do you know? " The backdrop of this discussion was challenging our assumptions of what we believe about schools. Stripping away the superfluous, educators should be sprouting and nurturing learners.  Reflecting on who I ...

Perpetual beta is the retaining of a program or system in the beta, or unfinished, stage of development for an indefinite period of time. If schools are committed to becoming cultures of learning, then embracing a state of perpetual beta is a constructive mindset. Author and professional learner, Harold Jarche, tells us learning, in a networked world, is complicated without establishing personal and organizational structures. In the words of George Siemens , " creating coherent centers on the web ". PKM (personal knowledge mastery) is Jarche's framework for professional, ultimately personal, learning. His recipe for continuous learning involves three perpetually repeating activities. ( Learning through doing ) Seeking - obtaining and curating useful information Sensing - reflecting, practicing, and personalizing the information Sharing - exchanging resources, ideas, and experiences Work is learning, and learning is the work - Harold Jarche This wee...