An Education (System Redesign) for Shared Leadership


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“We have been slow to understand that a system cannot do anything else than what it was designed for… Our current educational system was designed for the industrial machine age of the nineteenth century. It was designed as an assembly-line factory model, well suited to train workers for the assembly lines of the Industrial Age.” (Bela H. Banathy)

“Designing educational systems for a new millennium begins with reconsidering who we are and what we want humanity to be…” (Patrick M. Jenlink)

“…a humble host to humanity – a servant of the Earth and an ever-vigilant conscience of the people. Such a ‘servant’ leader is as mindful of the process and purpose of life as she or he is aware of the goals… In the work of such a leader there is complete harmony between what is to be done and how it is to be done… We are all potential leaders, because we can all lead our own lives in the right direction.” (Satish Kumar)

“Leadership can be a shared phenomenon. Indeed, for many ancient societies leadership and decision-making is a shared process, with all members contributing a voice, from the oldest and wisest to the youngest and most curious.” (Sharon Turnbull)

“In the current educational reform movement, people still practice the kind of social planning that aims to reduce the problem to `manageable parts’, seeking a solution to each. They believe that an incremental, piece-by-piece addressing of what is wrong in the system will correct the larger issue they aim to remedy. But systems designers know well that `getting rid of what is not wanted does not give us what is desired’.” (Bela H. Banathy)

“We have to create opportunities and programs for design learning, for the development of design competence. People empowered by such learning will become competent individually to design their own lives and, collectively, to design the systems in which they live and work, design their communities and design their systems of learning and human development.” (Bela H. Banathy)

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Posted by at 3am on 1/14/11 | no comments; | Filed Under: Uncategorized | read on

Balancing the Commons, the Market and the State

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“They hang the man and flog the woman that steal the goose from off the common, but let the greater villain loose that steals the common from the goose.” (English folk poem, ca. 1764)

THE COMMONS, n., gifts of nature and society; the wealth we inherit or create together and must pass on, undiminished or enhanced, to our children; a sector of the economy that complements the corporate sector.” (The Commons Rising 2006, a report by the Friends of the Commons)

“The market needs a counterpoise with a different calculus. The ideal counterpoise isn’t the state. It’s the commons… The state’s role is to nurture both the commons and the market, and to maintain a healthy balance between them.” (The State of The Commons, a report by the Friends of the Commons)

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About Nooventures

  • Namaste

    The word nooventure is derived from the Greek nous meaning mind, and the English venture meaning an undertaking that is of uncertain outcome, daring, or dangerous.

    "Our life is shaped by our mind. We become what we think", a great teacher once said. To it, may be added that, "what humanity thinks, civilization becomes."

    Thus, the quality and outcomes of both our individual and collective nooventures sets the course civilization took, is taking and will take, and many of our thinking is in dire need of change, for a flourishing civilization to emerge.

    My name is Wibowo Sulistio and this is my personal ventures in noosphere, in the quest for a life-sustaining civilization design. Hope you find something of value here.

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The Big Picture

  • A New Design for Human Enterprise by William McDonough >>

    "When we look out today at the design of our world, it is leading us to tragic consequences. We need a new design. A strategy of change requires us to understand that we must become humble, because we do not know what to do."

    One for All and All for One, a World-Changing Revolution in the Making >>

    "A war without a battlefield, a war without an enemy, a war that is everywhere, a thousand civil wars, a war without an end.... It's rewriting the rules as to what counts as truth, and what constitutes value. Just as antibodies rally when the body is under threat, people are joining together to defend life on Earth. This movement of movements may be the last, best hope for humankind, and non-humankind likewise."

    The Earth Charter >>

    "We stand at a critical moment in Earth's history, a time when humanity must choose its future. As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future at once holds great peril and great promise. To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny. We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace. Towards this end, it is imperative that we, the peoples of Earth, declare our responsibility to one another, to the greater community of life, and to future generations."

    A Life Lived Whole by Parker Palmer >>

    "Living integral lives is daunting. We must achieve a complex integration that spans the contradictions between inner and outer reality, that supports both personal integrity and the common good. No, it is not easy work. But, by doing it, we offer what is sacred within us to the life of the world."