Metabolic ontology begins from a simple observation: nothing lives by remaining what it is. Existence persists only through continual transformation, through the conversion of decay into the conditions for further life. Entropy is not disorder but the movement that makes order temporary. Biology calls this metabolism: the exchange of matter, energy, and information that maintains [...]
Mastery- and competency-based assessment are the same old sorting and ranking system just in sheep’s clothing.Both start from the same ontological delusion: that something can be mastered, that we stand apart from knowledge, that learning is a discrete event that can be demonstrated once and then carried across every context. It’s the fantasy of decontextualization, [...]
Many of us think of sustainability as finding equilibrium. Let’s be carbon neutral. If we take stuff, we need to make sure to replenish materials. Let’s leave the planet in as good condition as we found it. Sustainability often means shooting for zero. The Brundtland Commission’s 1987 report Our Common Future, popularized sustainability as “meeting [...]
This article was published in IntrepidEd News on 6 January 2024. No two persons ever read the same book.—Edmund Wilson My grandfather passed away when I was 11 years old. He was a remarkable man, as I recall, and since I was raised by a single parent, he served as the most important male figure [...]
This article was published in IntrepidEd News on 28 December 2023. All things are subject to interpretation. Whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth.—Friedrich Nietzsche I used to teach Global Politics. One of the throughlines of the course was the concept of power. We started the year [...]
This article was posted on IntrepidEd News on 23 March 2023. I sometimes wonder whether reading is the cause of my insomnia. Reading is often what people do to help them fall asleep, but in my case it wakes me up. I can’t remember the last time I slept past 5:15. That feels luxurious. Getting [...]
This article was published in a slightly abridged version on IntrepidEd News on 1 August 2023. No two journeys are ever alike, because no two pupils are ever alike —Daniel Quinn I spent the best two months of my life during the summer of 2019. I’m not suggesting it was the easiest or most relaxing [...]
This article was published in IntrepidEd News on 2 Feb 2023. No one can tell from which infinitesimal traces things unfold, but it is certain it is not from chance— philosopher Jean Baudrillard Ideas are alive, not static or perfect. They never take a definite form because they are like a stream with infinite tributaries. [...]
This article was published in IntrepidEd News on 13 March 2023 under the title "Where do we begin and where do we end?" Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilisation. —Mahatma Gandhi Shortly after the birth of my daughter, I picked up one of those [...]
This article was published on Intrepid Ed News on 30 Sept 2022. At the point of encounter there are neither ignoramuses nor perfect sages; there are only people who are attempting, together, to learn more than they now know. —Paulo Freire I find myself in awe sometimes of how smoothly and confidently some people speak. [...]
This article was published in Intrepid Ed News on 25 August 2022. Part 1 Part 2 Sometimes you just need a good ol’ crisis to shake things up, to get things moving. It’s like the story of the frog you put in tepid water and slowly turn up the heat. The frog won’t ever realize [...]
by Charlotte Hankin As I type these words on my laptop, I am sitting in a wooden chair at my dining room table. I am not ergonomically positioned and as a result, I sense a dull ache in my lower back. I hear the gentle whirring of the fan trying to cool the room down. [...]
Coconut Thinking 