I wanted people to understand that I am back at my blogger's post, perched high above the Presidio and just to the left of the Golden Gate Bridge. I'll be reviewing and working on educational issues and explaining some of the circumstances around leaving the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas. Yet, that's just a small part of the work. There's so much more out there to tell you.
The circuitous route back to the Bay Area began last fall with a phone call from an acquaintance. I was expecting to be leaving the desert at some point, but I was only a year into a five year forced march.
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"Do you know anyone who'd be interested in being the next Director of the Presidio Hill School?"
Questions from out of the blue are fascinating because they tell you more about yourself than statements do. As usual, I was interested in leaving. I had to be because my family was languishing. Dying a slow death of sensory overload and cultural deprivation. I was also disinterestedly interested in getting the hell out of Vegas, yet my sense of duty precluded me from leaving, as usual. More on loving Vegas in a later post.
Have you ever felt like you needed to stay in something long after the handwriting on the wall (or the slap upside the back of the head) tells you, like the house in "The Amityville Horror," to "Get out!!" As most of you know that's from one of Eddie Murphy's stand-up stand-up movies (I forget which one); I like to give credit where credit is due.
The thrust of this post is not about car wrecks along the side of the highway. I'm also not about kissing and telling (relax, Perry Rogers and Andre Agassi). The reason I'm writing this blog is to start the engine again (based on being directed by the universe to get in the car to leave).
So, "Learning By Heart" teaches what it's like to follow the impulse of the human heart. Not quite one of those blink moments exactly, but something stronger than that. Like a song you just can't get out of your head.
The nexus between education as it will be reframed and the willingness to find out about one's self is very strong. Creating learning communities that work is the aim of this blog. Forget the educational reform movement stuff. You'll find some of that here, but much more. I'm writing to inform, entertain, and preach a lttle bit, high above my historic perch. The Golden Gate was not just about letting people in. It also let some things out too. I need to keep that in mind as I try to craft something out of whole-cloth.
The current public education system was designed to keep those who have gone through it in a state of ignorance, but you knew that didn't you? Perhaps our system of education is like some of those diet pills where you feel full, but in actuality you are starving yourself to death. There I go again, breaking the fourth wall.
Someone told me last week that young African American men have discovered John Dewey. Imagine that, the father of Progressive Education being resurrected via Generation Hip-Hop. Well, Howdy-do. I get what it's about. Perhaps we'll explore Dewey and Diddy a little later.
My life is neither young but it is about discovery. Let's see what we can find together, shall we?
Respond to this post if you are a Dewey-file (not as in the card catalogue Dewey) or you just dig hearing about Open Source Learning Communities.
