Pedestals for Sale at Big Ideas Fest

2010-12-06T17:44:00.000-08:00

Here at Big Ideas Fest in Half Moon Bay, there are very real examples of innovation in education at every level -process, delivery, offering, finance (in Doblin Consulting's words). Inspiring, motivating and even emotional, Big Ideas Fest is also a little disarming for me.

I'm totally in that the role of the teacher is to guide the student to and through their own learning experience. But now what will I do with that collection of tall pedestals that I've been dragging around all these years? If the professor is no longer the all-knowing idol on the pedestal, if the multiple graduate degrees shouldn't be revered, if the decades of experience are not to be envied, and indeed I am on par with him intellectually and only need him to guide me to my full potential... what do I do with that motivating worship-factor?

I think I got the worship thing from my father, who seemed to elevate people and institutions across all life sectors on his own "best of" list. Miles Davis and Stan Getz in jazz. Kareem Abdul Jabbar in basketball. Harvard, Yale, and if you have to, University of Chicago for universities. Dickens and Dostoyevsky for literature. I remember long, highly-charged monologues that usually ended with "that cat was a monster". I interpreted those long descriptions and the brands named within as benchmarks to hit. I've been admiring and measuring myself against the smarts of others ever sense.

So Sunday night as I listened to Dr. Mitra describe the Hole in the Wall project and today as I listened to one of Diego Navarro's students at Academy for College Excellence say "I used to wish I were other people, but now I'm really excited to be me", I realize that I may have misinterpreted my father. I should have been looking within for that motivation to find the excellence of Dostoyevsky in myself.

My dad is probably shaking his head at me affectionately as he hangs with Fyodor quoting his new found friend: "Man, so long as he remains free, has no more constant and agonizing anxiety than find as quickly as possible someone to worship."

What will we do with all those pedestals?

McMorris Consulting

Pedestals for Sale at Big Ideas Fest