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Rev. Jack P. (Mickey) Elliott's Page

Profile Information

First Name:

Jack

Last Name:

Elliott

Hometown:

Mendon Mtn, Vermont

School/Organization Name:

Cognitive First

Job Title:

Executive Vice President, Strategic Initiatives

City:

Denver and Colorado Springs

State:

Colorado

My Ideal School is a Place Where:

...Learning has replaced instruction as the End of Education. Teaching must be understood as the means to a student-centric, first-person learning. Teaching is not dishonored nor diminished when placed in the servant-leadership role

The truth is we can no longer keep up with the pace and plethora of data and information available to us. There is no historical precedent for our age of complexity and change (unless you count the first year of life as an age which I guess it is)....we can no longer assume what we think our children should know is more important than how well they can learn.

It is my opinion, we must begin to reframe our understanding and definition of education in light of the planetary civilization we have created and the culture that is emerging (they are not the same).

As we dynamically move from an age of discovery to an age of mastery, the three pillars of science (matter, mind and life) have achieved revolutions in quantum, computers and genomes. Our economy, ecology and culture suffer from senory overload, unable to recalibrate fast enough to keep pace or lead.

Our notion of education is not immune to that phenomena and must evolve with the time and for the times in which we live. In order to steward our history (our "watch", if you will) we need to prepare our kids (through their schools) for the future we will become.

To the point: Are we as a culture asking the wrong question in our approach to education? To put it in a less pejorative sense: Is there a more basic question we need to ask before proceeding with more of the same? In any educational endeavor isn’t the first, primary and sustaining question to be asked not just “How much do you know?” (Academic performance) but rather “How well are you learning?” (Cognitive capacity)

Education, in my opinion, has not kept pace because it seeks to teach: transmit and transfer information and knowledge rather than define and develop itself as learning. Learning is not just the utility through which we acquire knowledge, skills and experience. Learning is more than the things we are taught, in fact, learning is more than the things we learn.

Learning needs to become the end (goal) rather than the means (tool) of education. In the not to distant future, learning will be measured not by how much you know (academic performance) but by how well you are learning (cognitive capacity and brain function, re: health of learning). Testing and accountablility will be oriented toward brain fitness and learning capacity before it measures academic performance.

The world of the future is what our children will learn it to be. Our children (and the ideal school as a living organism) must come to understand: not only do I learn but I am learned.

This will be a Copernican mindshift for education as brain fitness and learning capacity will be an integral part of our healthy (or unhealthy) lifestyle. Education as Learning will become a stewardship issue in the same sense that 'presence' has become an ecological issue.

Continuous, adapting, adjusting and reconfiguring the brain so that learning is an inside-out participation rather than an outside-in instruction.

My Religious Views:

Christian (work in progress)

My Political Views:

Fiscal and Social Conservative, Religious Orthodox, Political Independent

My Favorite Freedom:

Religion (belief and conscience)

My Personal Heroes:

Abigail Adams, Condi Rice, Vernon Grounds, Frederick Buechner, Max Stackhouse, Jerry Handspicker, Clyde McDowell, George Peck, KevinMcGee

My Personal Motto:

Ad majorem Deus Glorium

My Favorite Journey:

The Sacred Journey

Rev. Jack P. (Mickey) Elliott's Photos

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Rev. Jack P. (Mickey) Elliott's Blog

Are we asking the Right Questions in our Race to the Top?

The following is a Perspectives Piece submitted and scheduled for publication in the Denver Post. Comments and feedback welcomed.

“The U.S. secretary of education’s call to “turn around” the nation’s 5,000 worst-performing schools has found a warm welcome among educators and policymakers who see that focus as long overdue. But it has also sparked debate about how—and whether—such an enormous leadership and management challenge can be accomplished.” This was the lead paragraph in a national ed… Continue

Posted on August 20, 2009 at 8:38pm — 2 Comments

Comment Wall (4 comments)

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At 8:10pm on September 10, 2009, Bridget Carruth said…: Hi. Would you mind taking a look at my blog Internet Education System-a computerized methodology I invented to deliver and process preschool through Grade 12 via the Internet-and give me your feedback? Thank you.

At 11:55am on August 12, 2009, Sam Chaltain said…: Thanks for the feedback, Mickey -- and I think you're right. The book has gone to press (bad news), but I'll intentionally reference your clarification when I speak about it publicly. It should be available by October.

At 10:33am on July 25, 2009, Sam Chaltain said…: Mickey! good to see you here, sharing ideas and images. There are a lot of kindred spirits in the network -- and from all corners of the globe.

At 11:48pm on July 23, 2009, Kim Carter said…: Hello! and welcome to the Five Freedoms Network. It's great to have you here -- how did you hear about us?

As you can see from the world map on our home page, we have a growing, eclectic community of individuals from across the globe -- from Brooklyn to Pakistan, from North Dakota to China. Thank you for taking the time to add your voice to that fascinating mix.

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