Replying to LO9040 -- Michael Ericson wrote:
> I was not a star performer in his class, I had dropped out of high school
> due to a lot of violence in the classroom-opting to find some other way
> rather than risk being killed (I was beaten into unconcousness on 3
> separate occasions-so this was not an insignificant concern.)
I'd like to say great story - but it's not. How do you people survive and =
_want_ to live in such a society? On the newsgroups I read stories from =
people in the US who talk about going on bike rides and getting shot, your =
story talks about getting beat up in class, and these are considered to be =
"normal" parts of living in society?
The worst schools I have been to in outback Australia seem like convents =
compared to what is going on (or more importantly not going on) in the US.
No wonder this list is so full of threads about values and responsibilities =
- does US society have any (other than chasing the almighty dollar?).
> Vision and aspiration are woven together, while it is the responsibility
> of the individual to develop and hold their own aspiration, I think its a
> shared responsibility to give dreams life, encouragement and support.=20
>
> Beware the dream killer, don't become one yourself
It would seem from your description that life can often take on the shape of =
a nightmare because of society - the reliance on the individual is a great =
thing, but ... isn't there _any_ notion of the values of society, the value =
of accepting some restriction in civil liberties for the greater good of =
society ?? (I forgot, it's everyone's right to carry a gun, right? why the =
hell would you _want_ to carry a gun?).
Yes, yes I come back from a little backwater called Australia which set a =
"world record" for the worst massacre at Port Arthur recently.
However, I can walk down the street, talk to 100 people and if one of them =
has a gun I am very surprised. I can walk into a classroom at any school =
across the country and know that the teacher will conduct a class and I will =
walk out without any violence occuring to me.
Gee, learning is almost "too easy" in this environment.
Rick, there is obviously a need for your continuing good work in running =
this list. But did you ever consider that the biggest problem for the =
adoption of learning organisations is actually the societal values that are =
stopping individuals learning in the first place?
Maybe what we need to start on this thread is a list of societal "norms" and =
"unnorms" from different societies across the planet. Where people can =
comment on what is good about their society and what is bad. Somehow we need =
to surface some of the hidden assumptions that schools are for learning =
(aren't they?), that people have a responsibility to each other to live in =
peace and harmony with their neighbours (or at least not worry about being =
physically attacked every day).
I've said too much already, and will probably accused of being =
nationalistic, xenophobic, or some other discriminatory term. But I find =
Michael's story (and society) so hard to relate to ....
[Host's Note: Thanks, John, for replying from the heart. On one hand, the
discussion of what's good and bad in society is too broad for the LO list.
On the other hand, many of us feel that our mission in this work is not
just about organizational performance, but to change the world for the
better. As a parent of a 19 year old, this larger mission is often on my
mind. ...Rick]
John O'Neill
DSTO C3 Research Centre, Australia
email: John.ONeill@dsto.defence.gov.au=
--"John O'Neill" <jao@cook.dsto.gov.au>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>