The Three Pillars - Education, Business, Community
Tue, Apr 12, 2005; by Bill Coppinger.
.....Alice came to a fork in the road. "Which road do I take?" she asked.
"Where do you want to go?" responded the Cheshire cat.
"I don't know," Alice answered.
"Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."
~Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
As human beings we have many different ways of representing meaning, many kinds of intelligence.
Since the beginning of the last century, psychologists have spoken about a Single Intelligence that can be measured by an IQ test; my research has defined 8 or 9 human intelligences (linguistic; logical-mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist, possibly an existential intelligence). We all possess these several intelligences, but no two of us--not even identical twins--possess the same profile of intelligences at the same moment.
In most countries throughout history, school has focsed almost exclusively on language and logic. All of these "Frames of Mind" are there to be mobilized; if they are not, one could well call education "half-brained."
~Howard Gardner
An Education for the Future: Science & Values
Excerpt from paper presented to The Royal
Symposium, Amsterdam, March 13, 2001
The Board of Directors of the Central Ranges Local Learning and Employment Network staged its very successful Annual Members and Industry Forum for 2005 on Friday 13th May, with the theme:
"The Three Pillars" - Education, Business & Community – Education for Tomorrow, today.
PodCast
A full 'podcast' of the event can also be downloaded, see below.
PodCast
Professor Howard Gardner CRLLEN - Annual General Meeting and Industry Forum " The Three Pillars"
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Listen
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Why the Three Pillars?
Since completing some of the most detailed research of its kind over the last two years, looking into the educational and employment outcomes of young people in our region, we are now looking for new ways to structure post-compulsory education and training, new roles and partnerships for business and community stakeholders and specifically, new opportunities for young people and the communities in which they live.
The Board's commitment to establish the most detailed and accurate evidence-base for education and training planning in the Shires of Macedon, Mitchell and Murrindindi is paramount.
We assembled an international panel including:
- Dr. Howard Gardner, Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education
- Dr. Dahle Suggett, Deputy Secretary, Office of Teaching and Learning, DE&T [Panel Chair]
- Dr. John Prince, Community Partnerships, Transfield Services
- Mr. Howard Kelly [Ret. General Manager of Post Compulsory Pathways Division]
- Mr. Andrew Hocking, Manager, Corporate Community Relations, IBM Australia.
- Mr. Ray Griffiths, Director, Kangan Batman TAFE.
- Ms. Leah Sertori, Castlemaine Secondary College - "Enterprise Teachers for the 21st Century." project.
Some of the questions posed to Dr. Gardner, Dr. Suggett and the panel included;
- What does 'MI Theory' suggest about methods of instruction?
- What should be taught?
- How should it be taught?
- What structures and methods are required to prepare young people for the future?
- What role does Business, Industry and the community play in the learning institutions of the future?
- What are the implications for the communities served by the Central Ranges LLEN?
A cold and dark, yet clear morning greeted members and their guests as they arrived prior to 7:00am for the breakfast forum. Over 80 guests [a record attendance for the CRLLEN AGM] braved the morning conditions and for many, a drive over country roads pre-dawn, is not for the faint-hearted!
Representatives from business, community and education providers from across the the Shires of Macedon, Mitchell and Murrindindi Shires were in attendance. This included many school principals, Shire councillors, Ecomnic Development Managers, teachers and many interested community representatives.
A magnificent breakfast was once again provided by the wonderful staff and students from the Goulburn Ovens TAFE Hospitality and Commercial Cookery Students. Courses in Certificate 111 in Hospitality [Commercial Cookery] and Operations are available at the Seymour Campus and are extremely popular. Congratulations again to the team for providing such warm hospitality and a wonderful breakkfast!
Professor Howard Gardner - Mulitple Intelligences and Minds for the Future
Professor Howard Gardner was introduced to the forum, live via video-conference from Harvard University, Boston, USA.
From the outset, Dr. Gardner's succinct and elegant presentation style captured the attention and imagination of those attending the forum. Dr. Gardner emphasised the need to approach education with a focus much more on the individual.
Dr. Gardner said:
"If the MI theory is even approximately true, we should individualise education much more. Schools used to be uniform schools, that teach everybody the same thing in the same way, you test them in same way and that seemd to be fair. But I propose that is completely unfair, because it delivers school entirely in the vain of the people who are good in language and logic.
So, if we really want to educate every person, we need to know much much more about his or her intellectual configurations and how to teach and assess in ways that are friendly to that person.
Professor Gardner also outlined his new work, 'Five MInds for the Future', outlining his own concerns and observations about the 'types of minds needed in the future'.
Panel Session
Dr. Dahle Sugget [right] chaired the panel session and discussion session, engaging directly with Dr. Gardner's presentation on his theory of Multiple Intelligences and his new work, "Five Minds for the Future".
Dr. Suggett highlighted the importance of communties across Victoria taking the opportunities available to them in a highly devolved education system, to fashion and construct relevant and unique individual supports for key groups in the community. Dr. Suggett indicated that with the continued support of the Local Learning and Employment Networks for another four years, the Government had provided additional resources to allow communities to take control of their unique needs and opportunities.
Dr. Suggett emphasised the critical importance of focussing on the needs of the individual and not succumbing to establishing structures that served the needs of institutions before individuals. Dr. Suggett's remarks built strongly on the results and views expressed by Dr. Gardner in his presentation.
Each of the panel members made interesting and relevant observations, asking a range of questions relating to Vocational Education and Training, teaching and learning, the skills needs of business and the importance of directly involving community in all planning and discussions.
Purchase Dr. Gardner's research and writings online at Amazon.com
If you do not see a list of Dr. Gardner's published works, please 'refresh' your browser or web page to reload the link to the online store.
Links to Howard Gardner's Work:
- Howard Gardner
- Howard Gardner - Harvard Graduate School of Education
- Project Zero - Harvard University
- Inclusive Schools
Some additional useful links
- CRLLEN Environmental Scan 2004
- CRLLEN 'OnTrack' Student Tracking
- Victorian Essential Learning Standards
- School Based New Apprenticeship Alliance
- Community Based VCAL
Some thoughts on education!
- Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it. ~Andre Gide
- I am a part of all that I have met. ~Alfred Lord Tennyson
- When the student is ready, the master appears. ~Buddhist Proverb
- Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school. ~Albert Einstein
- Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing worth knowing can be taught. ~Oscar Wilde
- It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. ~Aristotle
- When a subject becomes totally obsolete we make it a required course. ~Peter Drucker
- Education: the inculcation of the incomprehensible into the indifferent by the incompetent. ~John Maynard Keynes
- The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. ~Alvin Toffler
