Remembering… What Exactly?

May 4th, is our national Remembrance Day. It’s officially the day, we in the Netherlands remember those who heroically gave their lives during World War Two. A good and honourable thing to do; you would think.

Practice Still Makes Perfect And The Arts Still Needs To Be Mandatory

With the onset of industrialisation, our educational system changed to suit the market. And The Arts has been gradually crossed out as an essential basic of our curriculum and increasingly set against The Sciences. But with us now long gone having entered the Information Age; where technology ridden societies cry out for analytical perspectives, interspersed with innovative thinking; isn’t it high time for us to reconnect the two?

Looking for Prince Calling

An old colleague of mine had a tear-off block calendar hanging on the wall, next to the door. It was one of those with an inspirational quote for each day. And whenever I’d walk into his office, I’d take a peak. Well, one day one wise quote read something like:

One who is in constant pursuit of Bliss will invariably be lacking in Happiness.

The Writing on the Screen

Originated some 5 thousand odd years ago in ancient Mesopotamia, our handwriting evolved from the classic cuneiforms —by way of the Egyptian hieroglyphs, Greek alphabet and (Roman) Latin script— to the shapely cursives we know today. Ironically our writing started out as a simple accountancy tool before it became the tool of choice for scribes and poets and the art form of monks. Reserved for the educated few, good penmanship meant power and prestige.

Teacher My Teacher

For decades now educators have contended with cutbacks disguised as education reform policies. And also for decades, educators are witnessing a gradual negative shift in their work domain and how they are perceived in society. So it must come as no surprise, that there is a breaking point where an educator says: “Enough is enough.”

Interview: Learning Agency Network

It was the summer of 2009, when I first met Rolf Reinhardt on LinkedIn. He was at the time the executive manager at the European Foundation for Quality in E-Learning (EFQUEL) and was organising their first conference on long distance learning. Reinhardt has since then become only more involved in Adult Learning —if that’s ever possible. Characteristic of him is that he operates on an international level.

In this interview he discusses among other things: his educational projects, his views on Adult Learning and the importance of networks.

It’s all a question of Trust

“You know what your problem is? You believe that everybody thinks and acts as goody-goody as you do.” The look my colleague gave me as he said this, made me feel quite uneasy. It was a sort of ‘ah ye naïve old fool’ look. Coming from anybody else I would’ve considered this comment a layered compliment. However, coming from him it felt like a downright warning.

Why can’t you break away?

One of my favourite pastimes is observing people. I do this on the streets, at train stations and bus stops and even while waiting in line at the grocery store. It does sound kind of quirky, I admit. On the other hand however, you do learn a lot about communication and the human species just by taking a closer look at the people around you.

No Dogs, No Blacks, No Jews…

The notice ‘No Dogs, No Blacks, No Jews’ was a fairly common one only just a few decades ago. Generally used to indicate the likes an owner wanted —but most of all didn’t want— in his establishment. Some things have changed since then. People don’t openly say this nowadays. What I’m wondering though, has the leopard really changed his spots? Or can we now extend the list with ‘…No Arabs. No Polish’?