The first step would be adding some sort of meditation practice. Dan Siegel makes a case for adding Reflection to the the 3 R’s (reading, writing and arithmetic). I think introducing this early on is key. Also, I think there is an abundance of research to teach a second language from the start.
One of my main complaints in high school and the university was the track system. There really was a minimum amount of individualization to my education. I think it produces a bunch of “jacks of all trades, master of none”.
Obviously, there is an emphasis of left brain domains (math and science) but at what cost? Can you stamp that into people that might be dominant in other lines? Why not foster those lines?
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Rob Macleod is the teacher’s name! He IS still on Facebook. He can link you to everyone!
Under the “Reflections” category on this site, check out the topic “Could Teachers Be The Secret Weapon of Cultural Evolution? What Can We Do To Help?”
Rob Macleod’s posts are there, as well as a link to his podcast “Reinventing Education,” well-worth a listen.
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I also reached out to his profile on here if he is still active.
Here is the thread @IntegralExplorer 
Also here is the link to David’s thread:
Could Teachers Be the Secret Weapon of Cultural Evolution? What Can We Do To Help?
An idea that I was thinking about in between the last post was bringing in a couple of different points.
One of the ideas is thinking about how education doesn’t have to be contained to “within the walls” of an actual institution. So much of my education happened outside of the normal classroom environment.
Also, the idea of centralized (dept of education) vs state autonomy in the role of education. This subject in and of itself doesn’t really interest me because it is more of a political discussion, but I understand it has played a pivotal role in where we are today.
I started an education program with “integral inspiration” that seems to be stalling out despite the fact we were given a state-wide pilot opportunity. The reason it’s stalled out is that I couldn’t find anyone to work on it.
What I see happening is that there are so many ideas and no perseverance in developing them. It’s a post-modern symptom of fragmentation, a lot of ideas and no focus. Developing new systems will take a lot of time, a lot of mistakes, corrections, more mistakes and so on. Development is messy, clunky and uncomfortable. This process is not something post-modernism can handle, and the reality of who I am around is that is where they are. A program is critiqued and ripped apart before it has a chance to breath life into itself.
BUT the interesting thing is where many people think the problem is, the “system” not wanting new ideas, is not at all what I encountered. What I experienced with the DOE was a door wide open and a please, if you have ideas come develop them…they know they need help. At least that’s a light of hope.
I think perspectives can be taught using integral theory, I have done lessons in my middle school as a school counselor on the quadrants and levels and lines of development. The ego, the ethno and the world centric perspectives can also be related to teenagers using anecdotes for each perspective. For at risk students, the perspectives coaching is useful because understanding a four year olds egocentric perspective as true but partial has a way of helping them cope with the chaotic homelife. The third person perspective is useful and helping students cope with situations where students are being talked about by other people and how uncomfortable that can be for the 14 year old.
There is a lot of opportunity here, it’s the way to use the terms in ways that (in my situation) 11-14 year olds can understand. They get holons, they get subject observing an object- they are very open because they are impressionable and anxious- not rigid in their thinking.
I’m open to help developing these areas for the adolescence. Thank you for posting this topic.
Brewster
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What was the program you started? @Michelle
@bjbrown I work with young men 17-24 on parole and probation. I’ve introduced spiral dynamics into our behavioral management system. I also give skill building in reflection exercises like journaling and meditation.
I think in the same family as reflection is addressing antisocial behavior as special education- requiring the funds and attention they deserve.
I really like the system it seems like they have in Europe where they start to split the course of professional development (trade vs university).
I would love to empower teenagers to pick their direction.
And I am all for Bernie’s plan on having free education post secondary school.
It’s not a program, just some lessons that I use at my middle school where I work in richmond va, USA. I use integral theory in my daily life and at work try and apply it to situations and classroom settings. Over the years, as my understanding of integral theory has evolved, I’ve come to rely on its tenets to help students understand levels of development and give students an understanding of shadow work. Integral mindfulness is especially useful and articulating ladder-climber-view is one of my goals for this school year.
Students easily absolutize situations at ethno, world and pluralistic stages. Because their cognitive development is often at these levels, I find the students under stress at these levels are more susceptible to integral theory because the dissonance they feel is pushing them to seek. It can be the working class or the gifted middle class or the upper class kids- if they feel the dissonance and frustration with living today- you can help them with integral theory.
The distinction between relative and absolute self is also very helpful (I think) for students. Acknowledging interiors is very helpful as well because you can tell them their thoughts are real and arise as a result of multiple factors (AQAL)
Im not familiar with European or big educational trends so I try to be student centered and focus on my community of students. I do think family dynamics play a significant role in student lives and while skill acquisition is the primary driver of secondary education (I think) there is a sense that students crave a deeper meaning beyond the separate self sense and while they may harbor mythic, rational and pluralistic sensibilities, they are frustrated when they look at only their relative identity and believe they can’t be famous (myth), get into an Ivy (mythic rational) or the world they inhabit is insensitive and uncaring (pluralistic).
I don’t know if 12th grade or 18 years of age should be the last step before you are “on your own” in terms of doing something for your community or yourself without having to pay for something. Maybe if basic needs were met lots of students would gladly work in a farm or play mahjong with the elderly. Affordable summer camps would be great too, most kids are not working in the fields in the summer anymore but I think a lot would love that.
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You are right on target. The school I was working with brought in the first German Apprenticeship program to Georgia. This is the new direction, targeted education.
The group I was working with was the “between-ers”. The kids who wouldn’t become welders or doctors. The kids who could go to college but were getting worthless degrees that back in my day was 4 years of partying, making life long friends, growing up and all and all good experience so not actually worthless, but 30 years ago you came out with 20g of debt not 150g of crippling debt. Will Bernie’s plan get off the ground to solve this, I doubt it. I think we need an Integral solution, not a green solution. Integral education is a better direction.
The program I ran for two years was bringing social good entrepreneurs with real companies and real problems into the classroom digitally and setting up design think program for solving business problems. I tinkered with Integral models and direct lessons and mindfulness with it too. It worked great.
The state-wide program was going to look at how to bring this digital platform idea to rural communities and provide more structured workforce development programs.
There are Integral education opportunities all over this. I am not finding any resistance to Integral in the system at all, the world is ready, integralist just need to stop talking and start doing:)
@Michelle What exactly did these “betweeners” do, or get taught (was that the social entrepreneurs)?
@bjbrown That sounds like some really good stuff.
The program was setup in business and entrepreneurship classes, so that was the basic curriculum. I came in as a directed project support person so instead of doing “mock business” projects or internships that are about making coffee and copies, the kids got to run “real world mock projects”. The businesses incorporated a lot of the ideas and we learned a lot about the new needs of the upcoming market…these kids are different.
Working in this direct way we can also meet the emergent needs quicker. The thing I saw was so much education reform is directed at what was wrong with the education of the people who are now reforming. They are responding to their childhood needs not met instead of the needs of the kids today. The other issues is we are trying to find a one system solution,“reform the broken system”. This is where we need integral because reforming the system is not what is needed at all. What we need are multiple systems.
Reestablishing apprenticeship models is a great solution and will meet a certain population perfectly. Integrally, we are pulling back into the system the traditional level. Modern education is great and not broken in the least for those needing that modern path to law, medicine, finance, engineering, etc.
There are a world of people who fall between and they need a integral system. They need self exploration to find their path that may not be so clear cut but in a directed way that isn’t going to bankrupt them or leave them floundering for decades.
Using integral models we can work with this population in an explorative way where we discover the emergent needs of business, non-profits, government agencies, etc and design programs to meet those needs in real time. A collaborative, co-creative work force development program.
I have the state on board, I just needed people and funding:)!!!
Cant the state provide the funding or does it have to grants?
I thought a bit more about the direct question…what was taught? Nothing really, there was no exact “knowledge from on high” that was being imparted to them. Instead I provided a creative space for them to explore.
What was produced was kids engaging themselves with the program. I had kids who loved music writing songs. Kids interested in AR design app ideas. Industrial design projects where they worked with other professors outside the class and when they hit the limitations of the school they reached out to colleges for help. They made movies, designed Snap Chat filters. I had one group design a coffee bus. I had a community garden project. Kids engaging their churches with outreach programs.
They really got into it. It was wild to watch them go from being bored lumps sitting in chairs to electrified designers and collaborators in the space of a semester. I don’t really know what I was “teaching them”
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There is money at the state level, but without help I don’t have the direct knowledge of education to move forward. I think the state money wont be enough and I would have to supplement with grants and corporate support. I don’t think it would be hard to get, but again, I need help doing all of that.
I have a university interested, so it may still move forward. Stalled but not dead yet!
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As far a design goes (assuming you had all the funding and support you would need) how would your design be different than what is currently being offered?
Some of this type of questioning is where I need that orange expertise because I am not an educator so I have no idea how to answer that and the process that governments and education goes through for funding is something that requires a language system that I am not interested in learning, I’m too old:) My partner was doing this part, but she has personal stuff that’s making her unavailable.
But this is what’s interesting to me about integral and designing new systems. There is a internal language system in everything, so education and governments have this system of “evidence base” proof of concept stuff to demonstrate what you are doing and how its better and so forth. My field does not. How do you know something is better in design, you feel it.
How did I walk into the Georgia DOE and in one hour walk out with a statewide pilot, I think because they could feel it. That system in my field makes total sense, but my partner was completely thrown off balance by it because its a lot faster to feel difference than prove it. She kept saying “that never happens, you never walk into one meeting with DOE and get a statewide pilot”. She thought this would take a year, it took an hour.
I am applying my design system to education. I think this is what is needed for systemic change, it’s not about reworking systems in the same way with the same processes , it’s about integrating different processes into systems, its a cross pollination of different meaning making systems.
It’s been interesting. It may not go anywhere, but we will see…
What field are you in?