Education's EcologyThe BookAs of 29 February 2024, I closed down further writing and editing of Education's Ecology, the book I have been shepherding for a decade. I let it rest for a few months and then looking into alternatives for publication, and with comments from friends and relatives, I finally got back to the manuscript. I'm still considering a Kindle book or another venture with Barnes and Nobel's custom publications. However, i've recently decided to make the manuscript available on this website with a Creative Commons license. For Education's Ecology, my treatment of public schools, teachers, tests, textbooks and technology is not kind. There are important reasons tor rethinking schooling including failures of our civic standing with democracy, the erratic performances of students as measured by standardized testing, the dropout rate as measured and unmeasured, the direct and opportunity costs of education, the abuse of technologies as well as, most importantly, the anthropocene and our collective planetary imperative. I have been working on releasing parts of the book and will do so on this website. The release will be copyleft; that is to say I intend this website to be and remain for a limited time, Open Source, and licensed under the Creative Commons protocol. You may use any of the content with two main conditions; 1.) your use is non-commercial, and; 2.) you attribute your source. Accordingly, I encourage visitors to the site, to return occasionally to see what may be new and available. I am interested in comments and thoughts about anything I write, so feel free to contact me (bflind58 (at) gmail (dot) com OR bflind (at) cheqnet (dot) net ... using "book news" in the subject line ) if you want to learn more or know about new releases. For several of the chapters posted, there is a "COMMENTS" link you may use to send me an email with your thoughts, comments, suggestions or criticism. Be assured that any feedback you are able to provide will be greatly appreciated, remain confidential and will likely influence future revisions. To access content of the book, click HERE. I've included a complete listing of chapter titles to provide an overview of where this is going. Every chapter as drafted contains between 2,500 and 5, 000 words. Once a chapter is uploaded to the Education Ecology website, an active link to this content will be provided using the Table of Contents. — Education's Ecology is about—perhaps all about—relationships within a framework or paradigm of connections and actions. It is also about the enormous complexity that surrounds this "thing" we casually, and too often unthinkingly, label as "education" when we may actually mean inform or indoctrinate among many other misuses. Ecology is also commonly used to advance notions of complexity involving networks and systems. Education Ecology now gravitates broadly toward systems thinking and explores the importance of Social Systems Design for the Future of Education. Thank you for visiting and we hope you will explore these Education Ecology links, which are BLOG POSTS. Please join with us in thinking about education with new lights.
Bruce Lindgren bflind58 (at) gmail (dot) com OR bflind (at) cheqnet (dot) net ... www.brucelindgren.com ... and visit additional Blog entries at TGIF Any Day! You may also find related thinking about education ecology at IDEA Consortium.com ... Last revised 9 April 2023. |