If you've been reading my posts, you know I'm thinking a lot about The Intersection Event. As a young adult I always wanted the chance to meet with writers and thinkers in places of inspiration to share ideas, wonder, write and create. It seemed a far-fetched dream for me and the closest I came to it in college was late night philosophical discussions in dorm rooms. Later, when I worked in the architectural firm, I was surrounded by wonderful, vibrant design endeavor, and since that time I've been creating and designing with young children and colleagues. Then, of late, I've had the chance to think and create online with a wide variety of thinkers who represent many disciplines--that's been awesome. And now, I have the chance to intersect in person with many successful individuals from a variety of disciplines in the inspiring location of Googleplex.
I've been pondering the questions I want to ask, and sharing those questions with colleagues and friends. Surprisingly, the friends outside of education were not impressed with the questions that related to the intersectionalists' childhoods, educational experiences and dreams whereas colleagues in education found those questions to be natural and of great importance.
Educators want to know their students well, and they want to prepare their students for successful futures. One way to do that is to understand the stories, dreams and early life of those who are successful today--what were the ingredients that led these individuals to success, and what were the events and experiences that had the potential to hinder their success? Gladwell looks carefully at the childhood experiences of many in his book, Outliers, as he ponders what it takes to be successful. The study of biographies shows us that many, many famous and successful people first got their dreams as young children. Just last night when watching 60 Minutes, David Kelley, founder of IDEO, shared the fact that he was first inspired at age ten to do the work he does today.
When we teach, we essentially teach "the world" in that we meet with many, many children who represent a wide variety of interests, inclinations, dreams, lifestyles and attitudes. We can know those children better and plan for them with greater intent, if we understand the stories well of those who have succeeded in life. Hence, questions of childhood, dreams and both successful and negative learning experiences are important to us. We want to nurture a generation that looks back on school as a life enhancing, and possibly life changing event--an experience they want to support and recreate for their own children.
