‘I will take the Ring,’ he said, ‘though I do not know the way.’ — J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, “The Council of Elrond” Frodo setting off on a nearly hopeless trip to Mordor or the knight taking up the quest for the Holy Grail are, intentionally or not, setting out… Continue reading The Rewards of Risk
Month: August 2022
The Joy of Failure
The best games make failure fun. In much of life, failure can be costly, even deadly. Games get to define what failure looks like. In games, the blows of failure are softened, so that the player is safe (more or less), but they are not eliminated. Games — and education — grant us a crucial opportunity… Continue reading The Joy of Failure
Education as Transformation
Conformation → Information → Transformation Education is a risky undertaking. It has the power to change us, to lead us out of one state into another, most commonly out of ignorance into knowledge. Indeed, if it does not change us, we might question whether the undertaking is really education. When we are children or students,… Continue reading Education as Transformation
Education as Game
Recently, an e-mail list participant recommended a book which I’d never heard of—Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse. While waiting for that book to arrive, I revisited Johan Huizinga’s wonderful book Homo Ludens. And I also read Karl Oles’ Scholars Online blog post before it was posted. Both of the books address play as an important part… Continue reading Education as Game
Education as Love
Education as Love. Nearly everything we learn about has a historical dimension. History and biography are obvious examples. Science too has a history. New advances depend on prior work. Newton said, “if I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” In 1915, Einstein proposed a test to support his theory… Continue reading Education as Love
Education as Adventure
“This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, and found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours’ respect, but he gained—well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end.” — J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit Education is an adventure. As a metaphorical truism, the image… Continue reading Education as Adventure
About Education
Over the next few months, we plan to share with you our thoughts and approaches to education – what we think it is, and how we try to provide education to our members. We recognize education has many facets, and to start, we’ll offer different visions of education, beginning with education as adventure. Other articles… Continue reading About Education