TEDxDirigo - Zoe Weil - THE WORLD BECOMES WHAT YOU TEACH

THE WORLD BECOMES WHAT YOU TEACH

Zoe Weil is the co-founder and president of the Institute for Humane Education (http://www.humaneeducation.org/) and is considered a pioneer in the comprehensive humane education movement, which provides people with the knowledge, tools, and motivation to be conscientious choicemakers and engaged changemakers for a better world. Zoe created the first Master of Education and Certificate Program in Humane Education in the U.S. covering the interconnected issues of human rights, environmental preservation, and animal protection. She has also created acclaimed online programs and leads workshops and speaks at universities, conferences, and events across the U.S. and Canada. She has taught tens of thousands students through her innovative school presentations, and has trained several thousand teachers through her workshops and programs. Zoe's most recent book, Most Good, Least Harm: A Simple Principle for a Better World and Meaningful Life, won the 2010 Nautilus silver medal in sustainability and green values. She is the author of several other books including Above All, Be Kind: Raising a Humane Child in Challenging Times for parents; The Power and Promise of Humane Education for educators; and Claude and Medea: The Hellburn Dogs, winner of the Moonbeam gold medal in juvenile fiction, which follows the exploits of two seventh graders who become clandestine activists in New York City, righting wrongs where they find them. Zoe received a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School and a Master of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania.

Commentary: On Creativity and Sustainable Restaurants

By Lori Sandefur
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:

TED: Arthur Potts Dawson: A vision for sustainable restaurants
If you've been in a restaurant kitchen, you've seen how much food, water and energy can be wasted there. Chef Arthur Potts-Dawson shares his very personal vision for drastically reducing restaurant, and supermarket, waste -- creating recycling, composting, sustainable engines for good (and good food).

The title initially caught my eye because of the two classes that we attended at Billings Forge Community Works in Hartford, Connecticut. After watching the video, I was impressed with Arthur Potts Dawson and his vision for not only sustainable food being served in his restaurants, but also that the restaurant should be sustainable as well.

He puts a lot of emphasis on what he refers to as the Four Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Refuse and Recycle. He also states that, “everything in nature is used up in a closed continuous cycle with waste being the end of the beginning.” He focuses on trying to connect the “community” of London to the rural food growers.

If everyone could practice even a fraction of this at home and at work, think what a tremendous impact this would have collectively on our environment. The hardest part is initially making the commitment, then starting it and continuing it until it becomes almost automatic.

I am going to try to start going to the indoor farmer’s market at Billings Forge on Thursday afternoons. Even if I start out going every other week, I hope that it will eventually turn into a weekly visit. I am also thinking about giving another try at gardening. Again, the key for me is to start small (and manageable). Every bit helps.

By Maria E. Zapata
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:

TED: Kiran Bir Sethi teaches kids to take charge
Kiran Bir Sethi shows how her groundbreaking Riverside School in India teaches kids life's most valuable lesson: "I can." Watch her students take local issues into their own hands, lead other young people, even educate their parents.

This is an amazing story and I really like the way she is using the word contagious. We need to be contagious with education, setting it  up as priority for the new generations. Education is the number one key to succeeding in life.

The kids are spontaneous and they have fabulous ideas and creativity but most of the time we burn those ideas and creativity because we set up a pattern for them, always telling them the way to do things. We need to trust them, letting them explore and follow their curiosity. Like Kiran Sethi said: “ We need to trust the kids. They will take the power and they will do much better."

We have to spread out the creativity, letting everybody use his or her own way, ideas, curiosity and the new world will be better and happier.

"It is possible to organize cities to teach usefulness, social responsibility, ecological skill, the values of good work, and the higher possibilities of adulthood." (Kiran Sethi)

Commentary: On Creativity and Motivation

By Daniela Petosa
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:

TED: Dan Pink on the Surprising Science of Motivation
Career analyst Dan Pink examines the puzzle of motivation, starting with a fact that social scientists know but most managers don't: Traditional rewards aren't always as effective as we think. Listen for illuminating stories -- and maybe, a way forward.

Dan strongly believes in incentive design or rewarding employees for their performance. He explains extrinsic motivation and that it works -- depending on the situation. He references a concept known as the Candle Problem. He describes how motivation is being free to be creative and flexible. It is natural as humans to feel motivated with an incentive. Dan makes a compelling case on why we need to change our ways. He states that some rewards work well for some and not others. Some rewards work well for simple tasks because the mind is concentrated and has a narrow focus while difficult and more complex tasks narrow our minds and restrict possibility. He mentions that the more difficult tasks should not be over looked by keeping our minds restricted and to be open in our peripherals.

Dan believes there is a mismatch between what science knows and what business does. He believes the science of motivation: “As long as the task involved only mechanical skill, bonuses worked as they would be expected: the higher the pay, the better the performance, but once the task called for even rudimentary cognitive skill, a larger reward led to poorer performance.” He claims that this isn’t a feeling or a philosophy, but a fact. He divides the brain and categorizes people such as programmers and accountants as left-brain thinkers, while the right-brain thinkers as more creative. Organizations today outsource left-brain tasks overseas because it is easy to automate these activities, while the right-brain individuals have their own candle problem they are facing. Organizations are based on assumptions that are outdated. The solution is not to do more of the wrong things. “We find that financial incentives ... can result in a negative impact on overall performance.” Management is an invention that doesn’t last. To utilize management is to engage in self direction which works the best. To strengthen a business and solve candle problems, enhance creativity to drive individuals to do things that matter for their own sake. Dan concludes that IF-THEN rewards can destroy creativity. Organizations in the 21st century need to encourage individuals to be themselves. Perhaps the world would be a better place. ...

Overall, the presentation by Dan is correct. He makes a strong, science-based case for rethinking motivation. He does get the big picture right. He says that people would prefer activities where they can pursue three things:

• Autonomy: People want to have control over their work.
• Mastery: People want to get better at what they do.
• Purpose: People want to be part of something that is bigger than they are.

Top management sets the basic compensation and benefits structure. If that isn't perceived as fair and consistent, then natural, intrinsic motivation won't kick in. I personally applied a reward program at work and added a creative touch to it. I had employees compete amongst each other for prizes and as a result the staff was happier and generated more sales. Organizations need to implement a design where it will both benefit the company, as well as employees. If the employees are happy, the business will succeed.

Commentary: On Learning and Creativity

By Matthew Delaney
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:

TED: Malcolm Gladwell on Howard Moskowitz and the Reinvention of Spaghetti Sauce
Malcolm Gladwell is the best-selling author of "The Tipping Point" and "Blink." In this talk, filmed at TED2004, he explains what every business can learn from spaghetti sauce.

In this video, Malcolm Gladwell talks about his hero, psychophysicist Howard Moskowitz, who is most famous for reinventing spaghetti sauce. Malcolm goes into great detail about Howard's start-up consulting firm and how he was first hired by Pepsi to help find the right amount of aspartame to put into Diet Pepsi for the benefit of sales. Howard found in his studies that there is no "Perfect Pepsi" -- only "Perfect Pepsis," meaning that there are too many variations of preferred taste and preference among people to pigeon hole one perfect type. His findings were immensely vital to the food industry and had an instant impact on how food was created, sold and marketed -- most significantly with spaghetti sauce. However, his true findings were in the diversity of the preferences of Human Kind. As Gladwell states: "Where embracing the diversity of human beings, you will find a sure way to true happiness."

This speech is a wonderful example of how the creative process, in any problem-solving event, can take the solution of a simple problem, on a small scale, and develop it into a possible solution or idea that could spark change on a much greater level. As Biological Matter, we are connected to our surroundings physiologically and every part of our environment is as much a part of us as we are of it. That being said, where as, on a sub-atomic level, the smallest bit of change can start a domino effect that can cause a noticeable change in our lives as we know them, a change in the life of a single person can have the same effect on the world in which we live. As mathematics has proven, any given formula will have the same solution on any scale as long as the ratio of the parts and variables in that formula are constant. Using your creativity to overcome a problem in the smallest form could ultimately become the solution to a problem that could change the world for the better. One might not even realize they have sparked this level of change.

Howard Moskowitz was immersed in his work to find the right flavor of foods. However, his idea influenced Malcolm Gladwell, a well-known writer, teacher and great thinker of this generation. Being a best-selling author and journalist, Gladwell has the ability to reach millions with his thoughts and ideas. In the case of this video, Malcolm is speaking on the ideas of Moskowitz, as well as his interpretations of those findings, to millions. Thus, having an influence and a continuing domino effect on all who view this video. These viewers are influenced by what Gladwell is teaching.

Creativity, along with hard work, perseverance and determination, is vital to the natural progression and evolution of Human Kind. There must always be an embryo status to the creative process and that always begins with an idea. Without an idea, perpetuation of all things will continue. If you want to change the way something is on a grand scale or on a Worldly Level, you must begin with a small lab test. It is the thought that we are too insignificant to make change that hinders our progression. It is the belief that we have no control that damages our social landscape. It is the notion that finds studying the preferences of spaghetti sauce to be insignificant that labels our lives insignificant. Change begins with the creative process. Change begins with you.

"I’m starting with the man in the mirror." – Michael Jackson

Commentary: On Creativity and Food

By Todd Gabriel
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:

TED: Jamie Oliver
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jamie_oliver.html
Read Jamie Oliver's challenge: How can we raise kids' awareness of the benefits of fresh food so they can make better choices?

Jamie Oliver explains very simply how most of the food we eat in America is nonnutritious and highly processed. His focus is on children, stating that every new generation will lose 10 years off their lives through obesity because of the bad food they eat. His mission is to raise awareness of the processed foods we eat as adults and feed our children, not only at home but in schools around the country as well as places of work. He wants to get good, local, whole foods back into our homes and schools.

Processed foods are usually made up of two products -- corn and soy beans. These crops are extremely cheap and can be grown in huge quantities in this country. Most large scale farmers in the United States produce three things -- corn, soy beans and animals that can be ground into processed meats, such as turkey (not the kind you eat at Thanksgiving) to make “turkey products” such as turkey bacon, turkey sausage, etc. The corn and soy beans can be refined to make fillers for a plethora of foods. If you look at the label of processed foods, you will find one if not both of these two ingredients in some form, such as corn syrup, corn starch, corn meal, soy protein, corn oil and hydrolyzed corn gluten, to name a few. They are added because it keeps cost down and adds a flavor of one or more of the three things that the food industry has learned we respond to -- sugar, salt and fat. We crave these things, so if they can some how get these things into the foods they sell us in a cheap way than they have succeeded. What they don’t realize or don’t care about is that it is killing us. And not only through weight gain but by using man-made products that our bodies can't metabolize properly and can lead to many unknown effects.

Jamie Oliver states three major things we can do. First, raise awareness about the foods we eat. Second, to get money and resources to the people who will help change the food environments from processed to whole foods. And third, start cooking at home. He states we lost our traditions of cooking real foods at home and passing down to next generations recipes and the know how of cooking. Children are a focus because they can change and stop the cycle before it continues.

I believe in Jamie Oliver’s cause. I personally look at food as a link in a long chain of fundamental change. If we can learn to understand the importance of sustainable, local foods and environments in our neighborhoods it will benefit us greatly in many ways. Jamie is creative in the way he took a passion for food and turned it into a way to change a country or countries for the better. He’s also creative in his execution. For example, he shows the kitchen he opened that took local, healthy food and distributed it to schools using local people. He put into action what he is speaking about. It takes many creative ideas and ways of thinking to be able to change conventional ways. Jamie is demonstrating this here with his food movement.

Commentary: On Creativity and the Brain

By Renee George
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:

TED - February 2008: Jill Bolte Taylor's Stroke of Insight
Jill Bolte Taylor got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions -- motion, speech, self-awareness -- shut down one by one. An astonishing story. Brain researcher Jill Bolte Taylor studied her own stroke as it happened -- and has become a powerful voice for brain recovery.

Jill Bolte Taylor is an neuroanatomist who suffered a stroke. She experienced herself having the stroke for more than four hours. She studied herself from the inside out. It took eight years for her to have a full recovery. She wrote a book about her experience and has appeared on several talk shows to tell about her story. I found it very moving. I never realized that the left and right sides of our brain store completely separate information. The right side of the brain is where we make our dreams into reality. We decide what we want and we make it happen. Our thoughts turn into energy and we send that energy out into the universe. The universe gives back to us what are thoughts put out. Our cells communicate with one another and with chemicals in the brain. This is how we process information. The right side of the brain is where we are right now. In the present moment. Jill explains that we are energy beings all connected together. I can relate to this because when I dream of something or I put a lot of thought into something, it manifests. It is the energy carried in the thoughts that I put out and the universe gives me what I ask for. This makes perfect sense to me. The right side of the brain is where everything is peaceful and right and beautiful. It is the side where we have the power to choose. We can choose to be whole beings. We can choose to believe that we are all perfect just the way we are. We can choose to get along with one another and let go of our perceptions and judgments. We are at peace with ourselves and with everyone else.

The left side of the brain is very different. This is the side that lives in the past and lives in the future. This is the side where we catergorize and add details. This is the side where we attach memories, sounds and sights to. This is the side that we build on from when we are children. Every experience is a memory and a story and we file it away. The story reoccurs over and over. Everytime an applie pie is baked a certain memory from childhood may pop up. Everytime we hear a certain song or movie we may recollect a memory or an experience. This can be positive or negative depending on the experience. If there is a tragedy in our past and we don’t deal with it, it will haunt us because our left brain does not forget. If someone hurts us, our left brain tells us not to trust that person. We hold on to that. We can’t let it go. Our left brain won’t let it go. This is how tension and resentment starts. We are not able to let go and this is what Jill talks about. We fill our left brain with BAGGAGE. That baggage gets in the way of us being who and and what we want to be. This is is how we become single, solid and separate from the rest of the world. We are not unified. We are out for ourselves alone. The left side of the brain thinks in language. It affects our relationships. It prevents us from connecting and experiencing joy. It holds on to grudges and stories. It does not let us progress as human beings because our minds are always going with chatter and we listen to it and it controls us. It tells us what to do and how to react. It tells us how to respond and how to feel. It is full of interpretations. I feel it can be our enemy if we let it control us.

I was moved by the closing of this video. Jill shared that we can be loving, beautiful, compassionate people who choose to step to the right of our left hemispheres. She talks about taking back our power and how we are the lifeforce of the universe. We can choose how we want to be in the world. We can let go of the chatter in our minds and just be. We can be that GIANT person where we feel on top of the world and nothing affects us. I found it to be liberating. I found it to be refreshing. I found it to be inspirational and motivating. We don’t know how long we have on this earth. Why are we spending so much energy on things that don’t really mean that much in the scheme of things. We are cells! We are dust living in an orbit in space. Most of what we complain about does not really matter. Do we really need to put so much time into fighting a war and guns and killing? When you put things into perspective, the small stuff seems so trivial to me. This video has helped me realize that if I can let go of the thoughts in my left brain and add to the thoughts in my right brain, I will experience nirvana.

Ken Robinson ... TED Part II

Ken Robinson returned to TED earlier this year and talked about the intersection of talents, passion and education.

[May 2010 - TED] In this poignant, funny follow-up to his fabled 2006 talk, Sir Ken Robinson makes the case for a radical shift from standardized schools to personalized learning -- creating conditions where kids' natural talents can flourish. More

As he did in his first TED talk about creativity and education, he sums up in less than 18 minutes key ideas that seem so obvious, yet are so far from the practices we employ in schools and society. Some of Ken's insights from his 2010 talk:

• There is a crisis of human resources -- we make poor use of our talents.
• Many people simply endure what they do rather than enjoy what they do.
• But some people do what they ARE and engage part of their authentic selves.
• Education dislocates people from their natural talents.
• We have to create the circumstances where talents show themselves. Education should be where this happens, but too often it's not.
• Education REFORM is not enough -- reform is only improving a broken model.
• We need not an evolution in education, but a revolution ... to transform it into something else.
  
• It needs innovation, which is hard because it challenges what we take for granted.
• Quoting Abraham Lincoln, Ken talked about "rising with the occasion" and the idea of "disenthralling ourselves."
• Life is organic ... not linear.
• We are obsessed with getting people to college. College does not begin in kindergarten. Kindergarten begins in kindergarten.
• Problem of conformity in education -- like fast food where everything is standardized.
• Human talent is tremendously diverse.
• Passion -- what excites our spirit and energy -- is important.
• Education doesn't feed a lot of people's spirits.
• Education, which is primarily based on a manufacturing model, should shift to one based on principles from agriculture.
  
• Human flourishing is an organic process. We cannot predict the outcome of human development. All you can do is create the conditions under which they begin to flourish.
• Customizing and personalizing education is the answer to the future.
  

And he finished with a poem excerpt from W. B. Yeats about how we spread our dreams before others' feet -- like kids do everyday -- and askied us to "tread softly, because you tread on my dreams."

If you care about the future of children and education and society, show Ken's two TED talks (and this one, too!) to your friends and colleagues and family and talk about how you can begin to act to make positive change in the ways we educate and work. Show these clips in a public meeting at your children's school. Show them in your workplace with your colleagues. Show them at the public library. You'll be amazed who cares about these topics, who shows up and what you might accomplish together. Imagine what if ...

Commentary: On Eve Ensler's TED Talk ... Happiness in Body and Soul

By Tiffany Ayala
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:

TED Conference: February 2004
Eve Ensler, creator of The Vagina Monologues, shares how a discussion about menopause with her friends led to talking about all sorts of sexual acts onstage, waging a global campaign to end violence toward women and finding her own happiness.

Commentary:
I chose to watch this video from the TED Web site because it struck me as a piece that definitely steps outside of the boundaries. Throughout my years as a college student I have come to realize that there are many important issues where light should be shined upon. However, unfortunately the most important issues tend to be the most avoided ones. Diversity, for example, is such an important component for many students and parents when selecting colleges, but under this social umbrella of issues hang many injustices that don’t usually get addressed within the community. One of which is violence against woman.

While in college I was assigned to read The Vagina Monologues, by Eve Ensler, who is the woman in this video discussing how creative forms of art, such as creative writing and plays, have allowed her and others to spread awareness of women's sexuality and violence against women. The book was life changing and her lecture intriguing and moving. Although it is hard to accept, it does not surprise me that one in every three women will be beaten, battered or sexually assaulted in their lifetime. However, what is a pleasant surprise is the fact that through the creative art of performance and speaking out with women sharing their personal experiences, worldwide social change is possible—leading more women to share their stories while spreading the influence, providing others with hope and strength, and helping to find happiness within the body and soul.

As discussed in the course, Creativity + Social Change, there are many aspects of life in which the presence of creativity is beneficial. For example, in education, prison systems, and spirituality.

It was interesting to hear Eve Ensler make a connection to the topic of spirituality within her lecture. She referred to a Buddhist convention, which she had attended and where she was told that she would find happiness by the end of the program. Eve, on the other hand, thought the idea was obscene. She didn’t believe in happiness, and thought that only idiots were happy. How could one find happiness in a life filled with suffering and pain?

I, for one, could somewhat agree and understand Ensler’s opinion. Though at the same time, I wondered how she could say such a thing when all of those suffering women who were brave enough to share their stories with her, as well as the whole world, managed to lead so many other woman to escape; freeing themselves of the pain and suffering to then find internal happiness.

I was glad to hear Eve Ensler end her lecture referring back to the beginning where she referred to the concept of happiness. Throughout her journey around the world speaking to all sorts of women and hearing their stories she had finally come to terms with what she had come to understand as happiness—and for me to hear this was very comforting and inspirational. I would urge everyone, men and women, to think about this deeply, and consider it in your own lives, no matter who you are or what you are going through.

Ensler closes her lecture saying that happiness exists in action, through telling the truth, and giving away what you want most. Most importantly, she emphasizes that social change comes about when we give to the world what we want the most, and as a result, we heal the broken part inside each of us.

Commentary: On Ken Robinson's TED Talk ... Schools Kill Creativity

By Brooke Smith
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:

TED Conference: February 2006
Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson challenges the way we're educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence. In this talk, he makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

Background:
I watched a video presentation from the TED Conference. The ultimate goal of TED is to highlight, study, and show how one can use the gift of human imagination. The man giving the speech was Sir Ken Robinson. He grew up in England and moved to California later in life. The speech was easy to listen to and humorous. Sir Ken Robinson used to be a university professor but now writes and speaks about creativity and education. The speech took place in Monterey, California, in February 2006 during a four-day TED Conference.

Commentary:
This video relates to our class in many ways. Sir Ken Robinson spoke about the main goal of changing our education system and how we use this system to teach our young children. He believes that creativity is the backbone to every individual and that traditional education teaches children how to conform to become studious while losing their creativity. According to him, the definition of creativity is, "the process of having original ideas that have value." In class, we spoke about this exact concern with the educational system. I believe that teachers should modify the way they attempt to conduct their classrooms. According to the video, education was created before the 1900s to meet the needs of industrialization. The most useful subjects back then were reading, writing and mathematics. This time period began steering children away from things they enjoyed because there was no future in being a musician or a dancer. Instead, the goal was to force everyone to become academic and find careers that they may not enjoy but will obtain financial success.

Sir Ken Robinson said: "We have a huge vested interest in [education], partly because it's education that's meant to take us into this future that we can't grasp." I agree with this statement. Traditional education and the subjects it deems important have become outdated. The times have changed and it is time we revamp the goal, focus and purpose of education. If we do this, we can better prepare our children for the uncertain future and the necessary skills needed to be successful today.

The speaker believed that children "all have tremendous talents, we [adults and education] squander them." How do we create schools and education to stop dismissing creativity and talent? This question was asked in class. I do not believe that there is just one change that would fix the educational system. Instead, it is many little changes such as teaching style, use of technology, etc., that would help begin a new style of learning. Children are full of imagination and talent. This is the main reason I love my job. I go to work every day and learn more from the children than they learn from me. They may not know that they do this, but I love their innocence, imaginations, ideas and passion. Children are very passionate about most of the things they do. "Kids will take a chance, even if they don't know how to do something or why they are, they still try," Robinson said. It is only through our educational eystem and adults telling children "No" that we hinder and/or stop children's creativity.

I took down many interesting things that Sir Ken Robinson said. These are just a few of the quotes that stuck with me.

• Creativity is as important now as literacy.
• If you not prepared to be wrong we will never be original.
• The challenge is how to remain an artist, because we were all born as one. (quoting Picasso)
• Highly brilliant people and brilliantly creative people no longer think this way because of being STIGMATIZED in school.

This video was easy to watch and full of valuable information on why the need to change the educational hierarchy is necessary to adequately prepare future generations. Instead, we are setting children up for failure. A degree no longer holds as much value as it once did. Everyone has them now. Instead, you have to continue your education and obtain higher degrees like a master's degree or law degree. It is time for a change to our system. How can we as individuals begin this change? Will it help future generations if we do?

A Tour of 'Creativity and Social Change' in Society ... Creativity and Education

• Ken Robinson @ TED - Are Our Schools Killing Creativity? (video)
  

• Creativity Force - Articles by Dr. Berenice Bleedorn