philipgreen
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(continued....) I want to raise my voice in praise of Bryan Hopkins for the courage to dare to be controversial, and maybe even a little mischievous and Devil's Advocate in his approach. I know of few who have contributed so much to corporate L&D than Bryan, and I thank him for his willingness to provoke, as well as inform. I congratulate you too, Craig for sticking to your own beliefs in the face of onsiderable peer pressure. You deserve a bit of a Kipling, so here it is, "If you can keep your heads when all around you...." (You can Google the rest).
Phil
My favourite cartoon of all time was published in the Times Education Supplement about 40 years ago. It showed a girl and a boy aged about 9 in an upstairs classroom. He had turned to her with the caution, "Don't look out of the window; she'll make you write about it".
Now before the earnest responders to your posting turn your blog into an auto da fe, or start burning books or effigies, let's put this whole matter into proportion. I was there, as you know, and I too was blogging, mind-mapping, doodling, and yes, I confess, emailing during Bryan's session, Andrew's and Gill's too. If I find some pearls of wisdom worthy of embedding in my psyche sufficient to note them, challenge them, or check associative links, then I pay the presenter as much homage and respect as if I bore into them with intense eye contact.
I have a horror of censorship of any kind, and I think there is a kind of fascism that lurks inside classrooms, and boardrooms too. It is generally born of the insecurity of the teacher/trainer/manager/faciltator. It is fed by the leader's fear of losing control and passing the power to the audience; of not being in charge of the pace, content and impact of the session.
Personally, I WANT to surrender the power; after all why should I, unilaterally accept all responsibility for the content of my session in a world where knowledge atrophies faster than ever before, and it is beyond my powers to hold everything in my head, or even in my session notes? Whatever would lead me to believe that my own wisdom added up to more than the combined expertise of 38 other professionals, just because they happen to be on the other side of the podium?
Then again, the whole matter is about managing group dynamics in general; it's situational, by which I mean sometimes the task-in-hand may depend upon group collaboration on an intimate, enquiring level that works best with eye contact and deep concentration.
Maybe it's simpy a function of teaching style and leaner personality and preferences. I wonder what Howard Gardner would say? Are the mappers and bloggers stronger on Intrapersonal than Interpersonal Intelligence using his terminology.
Daniel Goleman and the Emotional Intelligence fraternity might have a view too, and my dear old friend Howard Hills would surely find some correlation between Myers Briggs (The MBTI), and the more introspective behaviour of he blogger.
Ultimately, my abhorrence of censorship is attuned with a relentless advocacy for a fundamental human right; I refer to Freedom of Speech and Expression. If the Elearning Network or indeed your blog, ever becomes a cosy gathering of like-minded people, afraid to utter anything other than the same mantra as all their pals, then count me out. (more...)