Change University

http://web.mit.edu/catalog/inter.resea.mprof.html

http://bigthink.com/ideas/26707

Well, it seems that my ideas are all already happening somewhere on this planet. I know that I can do it here in my community and that would be important – for some reason I feel like I have to come up with something that is different than everyone else. Why do I need to do this? There isn’t any reason for that.

I think the biggest issue with this whole education thing is that we have a national system for education that is broken and there are communities all over the nation that are fixing their part of the system by working around it and going through the loop holes. Why can’t we just fix the whole system instead of having to circumvent the system. Doesn’t that make us have to do more work in order to get things fixed?

I can’t believe children at my son’s school don’t go on field trips. I was fortunate and my children are fortune that I take them to places that would be where they’d go on field trips but there are so many kids whose parents aren’t able to or just don’t expose their children to these types of things and these kids don’t get the valuable exposure. I wish this was the part that was fixed for sure. If we can’t take the kids to the places can’t we have some element of the places come to the kids? This all cost money that the system doesn’t have any more. I can’t believe they don’t have enough money to expose our children to positive and important things.

There are a lot of baby boomers out there who I want to convince have valuable experiences and skills that they can use to interact with the kids of their community. Wouldn’t that be wonderful to have those boomers mentor and interact with this generation? This current generation is lost and they need some help. This partnership would be wonderful for both generations.

I wish this happened in communities all over the nation. Let no baby boomer be left behind. They’d only need to commit to one session a week. Maybe a day or a few hours. They could be trained before they went in so they’d have a good experience. We’d have a mechanism for reflection and exercises for growth for both generations. It would be a learning experience for everyone.

I wish I felt strong enough to make this happen – for some reason I have put the brakes on this. I think it is because I feel too overwhelmed about the process. I think I need to divide it up into categories and put them into priorities. How about surveying the generations and see what they think? Maybe asking the boomers if they think they have something to offer and if they do what? If they don’t think they have something to offer, maybe ask why they think this? We could just start first with oral history projects. Then the kids would learn about them and they could ask for specific assistance based on what they learned from the oral histories.

Who do I know that knows how to do an oral history?

Aughghghs;lkjf#$_)@($-098235098sdfj239rweojfa; s I really need to do this don’t I? Why does the universe keep pointing me in this direction. Sometimes I feel like Jesus…...

I was up a lot last night trying to get to sleep after I had put #2 down but I couldn’t fall asleep so I laid there working my brain to calm down and rest. I started day/dreaming about this “Change University” of mine. I was working it all in my mind. I was thinking I need to get up and write this down. I should have. I should have allowed the flow of the universe to go through me so that I had the info of my day/dream on paper and could use it as a guide to get started. I know that there is a reason for this idea in my mind’s eye and I know that I have everything around me to get this done and become a reality. I just need to do it. I am starting to get a bit pissed off and eventually I’m going to get angry enough to do something positive about this.

Well, I’m ok with what is happening because that is what is supposed to happen. I just get frustrated a bit sometimes.

The little baby is sleeping so soundly – I hope #1 doesn’t wake him up. :) I think #2 is able to sleep through a lot. He is well trained in that realm already. I just don’t know about vaccuuming around him yet.

So, the ideas I have for this is that there are a lot of things that students don’t know that they need to know in order to be successful at a four year research institution or any other institute of higher learning that a lot of 16-19 year olds don’t have (hell, even older students who are returning from being in the “real” world need to know some things) that Change University could act as a stepping stone to allow these people to know what they should know in order to be more successful when they are getting their batchelor’s degrees. I could customize Change University to meet these needs. I could also branch it out to be something that encompasses my idea of bringing multiple generations together in learning. I could include all types of people to enroll so that it does just that. I need to create a plan in writing and then start showing it to my key people in my life who are totally able to help with this and then create a venue for dialogue about it.

Here is to getting to work on this – cheers!

I want Betsy to come teach at Change University – she ROCKS!

http://erinrussek.typepad.com/one-piece-at-a-time/2010/11/love-this.html

http://newamericanuniversity.asu.edu/blog/2009/08/rise-to-the-challenge/

http://www.navaching.com/

the part I first noticed was the mind juggling but then I looked at the site more…..

I need to pull in my networking to its fullest. I am going to have to create a bigger momentum on this.

Just listened to THIS AMERICAN LIFE (Thanks oye_vey)

and I’ve found another role model for my University – the creator of Harlem Children’s Zone.

Yeah! I’m not alone!

so you think you are going to get a college degree so it will guarantee a certain outcome for your life. You attend the university/college and get a degree of a specific subject and then try to find a job in the field or discipline you studied.

But come to find out you have no guarantee what-so-ever that your degree will generate any type of outcome and you find yourself getting any type of job that will do. Then you realize that there are skills you have not obtained and you aren’t a happy person. Well why is this? Is it because you don’t have the outcome you wanted? Or is it because you’ve gotten disenchanted with how the world works and you want a good job that will pay the bills? Wonder why you don’t have the work ethic or the motivation to keep going? Do you question your confidence and abilities? Should these issues be things you learn before you go out into the world? When are you supposed to learn these things?

Parents are charged with the responsibility to prepare you to be a responsible adult, but not all parents are equipped to do this nor are they interested. What guarantee is there out there that a person will grow up knowing how to make positive decisions for themselves? There is no guarantee. Whose responsibility is it for the up and coming generation to be taught? Just the parents or the community that the child lives in? What should happen?

I believe this is the need for change university.