 |
|
|
|
A Teachable Moment: Our Common Story This is a teachable moment for the United States and the world. We have an educational opportunity of global proportions brought on by the international economic crises, the dangers of runaway environmental problems, the number of violent conflicts in the world fought with weapons of increasing destructiveness, the exponential growth in wealth and knowledge experienced in the last decades, and the spread of new ideas and values in a world of conflicted cultures. This is also a teachable moment because of the election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. Overnight “Brand USA” has changed. So if people are ready, and the whole world is watching, what indeed should learners learn and how? In terms of content, my vote is for six learned competencies that might well be expected of all undergraduates, their professors in all disciplines, professionals of all kinds, clergy of all faiths, journalists of all perspectives, and engaged citizens of all persuasions. Without some understanding of this new “Big Picture,” we will not really understand the changes in the world around us, nor be able to effectively craft a healthier and safer future. These six core competencies are 1) the history of nature; 2) the macro history of humanity over the last 20,000 years; 3) the evolution of warfare and its constraints on our future; 4) contemporary economic literacy; 5) systematic ecological literacy; and 6) new capacities for civil disagreement, dialogue, and problem-solving. Obviously there are all kinds of other competencies to teach and learn, but these six broadly address basic literacy in science, history, and the “civil” part of civilization. Some knowledge in each of these areas might be expected of any “educated” persons in the 21st century. Imagine with me a semester-long curriculum for the world. Let’s call it “A Short Course on Everything for the Twenty-First Century” or more simply “Our Common Story”. Here is my syllabus, including six books that I wish all students everywhere – of all ages, disciplines, professions, nationalities, and religions – would digest, discuss, debate, and delight over together in the next six months. Call it the first “global teach-in”. It is “Our Common Story,” because it is increasingly universally true, albeit open to multiple and divergent interpretations. The six books are:
These books were chosen because of the way they brilliantly and clearly raise the questions that must be addressed in the domains mentioned above, not in order to advocate some simple meta-narrative that frames simple answers. The purpose of the course is to promote basic 21st century literacies and not particular ideologies or policies. The curriculum should be supplemented by other expertise and perspectives. The content should be accessible in multiple modalities, including television and film, lectures, symposia, multimedia, study guides, special events, Internet sites, and more. This teachable moment requires broad transdisciplinary expertise and multiple pedagogies. Note that most of these ideas and insights are quite new to human civilization. None of the books above could have been written even forty years ago, although all of them embody millennia of human cultural achievement. For the first time in human history, it is now possible to tell a unified and increasingly factual story of humanity, the planet, and our universe. Every time we pick up a cell phone or pump 200 million-year-old fossil fuel into our cars, we affirm this story in deed if not in thought and understanding. Integrating this new evolving, scientific story is key to our common future at a dangerous moment in the cultural evolution of our species and the natural history of our planet. How can we solve epic problems in the world today, if we do not understand the epic of evolution in which we have come to thrive and may yet fail? Reframing human history in the context of the evolution of life and the universe, including the cognitive, cultural and technological evolution of humans, will help to re-orient humanity away from bitter ideological and ethnic conflicts of the past towards pragmatic problem-solving in the future. This teachable moment is a special opportunity for the Obama Administration to redefine the contours of debate and the fundamental questions asked at home and abroad, as it seeks to develop practical solutions with sufficient political support and effective implementation. I imagine that the U.S. State Department would take the lead by sponsoring seminars for the 13,000 members of the U.S. Foreign Service. And while we are at it, let us invite the diplomats of other nations to join with us in this process of study and debate at the 256 U.S. embassies, consulates and missions around the world. That would also be a good strategy for developing new working relationships with other countries. We might also enlist the support of the European Union, the United Nations, other national governments and networks abroad. This curriculum might be adopted as a vehicle for delivering educational assistance and technological transfer to poor countries. At home the Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, NASA, and other federal agencies as appropriate would also get involved. Appeals would be made to the 4200 institutions of higher education in the United States, as well as others around the world, to support the “global teach-in”. Endorsements and participation of university presidents and faculty would be sought and interdisciplinary courses created on campuses around the world. Professional scientists, science educators, national academies, and international societies would be enlisted. Business schools, executive training programs, union shops, and industry giants would be involved. Opinion leaders of all persuasions would be invited to read and debate “Our Common Story” at public forums, on the Internet, in magazines and journals. Religious institutions, including clergy, seminarians, and lay leaders, would also form study groups. K-12 teachers, school boards, teacher colleges, and other educational associations would consider these core competencies for the 21st century. The networks of campaign volunteers mobilized in 2008 for the elections can be given a new job. Celebrity networks would be involved in the global teach-in, as well as artists, performers, musicians, and others. Corporate sponsors would be sought to support these initiatives, focusing, for instance, on booksellers and technology providers such as Amazon or Apple. This Short Course on Everything for the 21st Century gives new meaning to the marketing slogan “Think Different”. The world’s largest bookstores could sponsor the world’s largest book club. Think of it as Google Earth history 101. The teachable moment would further leverage the news media and the Internet. The strategy is more about the viral spread of ideas, rather than enormous expenditures of funds and effort. This new story includes important new insights about human cultural, technological, and economic evolution. It includes important new insights about war and violence, including the technological, psychological, economic, and biological evolution of conflict in human history and how we may yet evolve into more peaceful societies. It includes new insights about the storied nature of our religions and ideologies, including critical questions about who gets to interpret this new epic of evolution and how. It includes new insights into how complex, distributed economic systems function, dysfunction, and produce both incredible wealth and new forms of incredible poverty. It includes insights into how natural systems also function as complex, distributed systems, and the dangers of runaway environmental problems. It includes insights about the deep time of the Earth and the Cosmos and the unique moment in space and time in which we humans find ourselves. It includes practical knowledge about the great problem of the 21st century and fundamental principles that inform how these challenges might be successfully addressed. Our Common Story is key to our common future. Our Common Story need not be antithetical to great religious traditions since these traditions have been central to this story. Indeed, the propagation of this new history of nature and humanity can help stimulate a great revival in religious learning and service, faith and practice. It is vital and appropriate that this new story be told in a way that affirms religious traditions and cultural differences, remembering that the interpretation of this story is essentially a religious activity. All of this can help to take the edge off bitter ideological, nationalist, and religious conflicts around the world. The absorption of this new understanding of the universe, our planet, and the evolution of humanity stands on the path to addressing many of the great challenges of the 21st century. The propagation of this new story would be a great boon for United States and the world. It would help stimulate educational achievement in our societies and others. The propagation of this new story would also help create a more civil and educated political culture here in the United States and abroad. A teachable moment is a terrible moment to waste when we all have so many new ideas to learn and critical problems to address together.
See related essays:
|