Benefits of Creative Classrooms: 10 Years After Ken Robinson Report in UK

[23 May 2009 - BBC - UK] Creativity benefits results in other areas, research suggests. ... Ten years ago this month a 243-page report on the importance of promoting creativity and culture in schools landed on ministers' desks. It had been commissioned in the heady early days of the Blair government to recommend ways to make progress in the "creative and cultural development of young people" both in and out of school. The review was led by Sir Ken Robinson and included leading scientists, business leaders, and key figures from the arts world. It was widely acclaimed. It argued that creativity was a skill that could be taught. It was not about progressive teaching or loose discipline. Nor was it in any way an alternative to the essential skills of numeracy and literacy. Rather it was about encouraging pupils to be innovative and to develop the ability to problem-solve in all areas of the curriculum, from maths to technology. It argued that such skills were essential to individuals, employers and the whole economy. But what has happened since? More

Ode's 2009 Organic Top 20

[May 2009 - Ode Magazine] A garden of earthly delights -- Ode's annual pick of products that are good for your body, your soul and the planet. More

Creating Positive Community

Check out the Playing for Change Web site, CD and DVD of musicians collaborating around the world to promote positive change and peace.

Former Foes Unite to Bridge the K-12 Achievement Gap

[May 2009 - Stanford Knowledgebase] Liberal and conservative groups are forming unprecedented alliances to improve K-12 education in the United States, sparked by a study from McKinsey & Co. that put a $700 billion price tag on the education achievement gap, Jonathan Schorr told the 2009 Stanford Business of Education Symposium. (Includes Video) More

Cheerful music 'can make everyone around you look happy'

[10 May 2009 - The Telegraph (UK) "Results showed that happy music 'significantly enhanced the perceived happiness of a face.' Further studies of the volunteers' brain waves revealed that the effect of the music was almost instantaneous. It took just 50 milliseconds for changes to take place - too fast to be under our conscious control." More (h/t Arts Journal)

On Sustainability and Collective Intelligence

[23 April 2009 - All Together Now (or, Can Collective Intelligence Save the Planet?) - MIT Sloan Management Review] Interview with Thomas Malone: "'Sustainability' as a concept doesn’t take into account that sometimes things are sustainable but aren’t good, and sometimes things are good but not sustainable. ...  Radically open computer modeling will be a key way to harness collective intelligence toward bigger picture goals." More

Multiple-intelligences theory helps charter teach children to learn

[April 2009 - Edutopia] A charter elementary school in Georgia is helping children better understand their learning styles, strengths and weaknesses under the multiple-intelligence approach. "In order to motivate and teach a child, you have to find out where their strengths are and what they're passionate about, and use that to move them in the direction of learning new skills," said Sally Meadors, the school's former principal. More

It's Time to Bring the Green Movement Back to the Neighborhood

[24 April 2009 - Project for Public Spaces] Another Earth Day has come and gone, and in following this year's events I thought back to 1970, when I was coordinator of New York City's first Earth Day celebration. It was a time of high ambitions about what the dawning ecology movement could accomplish. Those of us organizing events in New York and other cities around the country were excited about environmentalism as a way to preserve nature and curtail pollution but also to launch a powerful citizen's movement that would create what we now call "livable" and "sustainable" communities. When founding Project for Public Space several years later, I envisioned the organization as a part of the broad sweep of environmental consciousness that was changing the face of America and the world. More

The Culture Of Poverty

[23 March 2009 - NPR Talk of the Nation] Scholar and author Sudhir Venkatesh and sociology professor William Julius Wilson help solve the culture of poverty puzzle. Can a little money can make a difference to those who were born and live in poverty? And is poverty something you have control over? More

Author: Educated girls are key to peace

[14 March 2009 - Inservice, ASCD Blog] Author and activist Greg Mortenson says he places high value in educating girls around the world, pointing to statistics showing that in countries where girls are educated, infant mortality is lower, population growth is more sustainable and the overall quality of life is improved. Mortenson says education is a conduit to peace because ignorance fosters only hate. More