Goodwork Toolkit :: Blog

In Search of Corporate Heroes...

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

In one of my books, published in 2004, I singled out for praise John Browne and BP for its initiative in going 'beyond petroleum' and having a flat, transparent organization. And so I fully deserved it when my irreverent son said to me "So, Dad, what about your heroes now?"

In retrospect, I realized that while I had spoken to some BP executives, and read some of their materials, I had relied way too much on the conventional wisdom, and had not at all used any investigative journalist techniques to probe behind the story that BP wanted to tell.

We live in a time of publicity, public relations spin, and it is extremely difficult to find out which of the leaders in any sector who are singled out for praise (or for castigation) really merit these characterizations.

I don't think we lack any CEO heroes. But I suspect that the true heroes are largely unsung, and prefer to remain that way. They prefer to give credit to others, to remain behind the scenes, to avoid grandiose statements and predictions and promises, and to perform better than anyone expected them. And the ultimate test of these individuals may be the extent to which they plan for an orderly succession, to individuals who share the desire to remain out of the limelight, rather than to attempt to dominate it, and quietly but responsibly, to do good work.

This blog originally appeared in the Washington Post column on leadership.

Children and Good Work

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Very young children appear to embrace Good Work with greater enthusiasm than their older classmates.

That was one of the surprising conclusions of my recent Sonoma State University Master's project, "The Peace Crane Project: How Children Can Be Inspired To Do Good Work." The project's mission was to: (1) create an environment and provide guidance for children to do good work, (2) provide stimulus and assistance for children to develop their innate artistic abilities, (3) offer an environment and guidance for children to develop their social consciousness, 4) teach children to express their feelings through art-making and (5) honor the extraordinary contribution to world peace by Sadako Sasaki.

This project first saw light in my kindergarten classroom at the Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts. As a way to pay tribute to victims of 9/11, kindergartners decorated giant pre-folded origami cranes and wrote reflections responding to the prompt, "My wish for the people of the world is..."

The success of the kindergarten 9/11 peace crane art exhibit inspired me to expand this activity to my fourth-through-eighth grade art specialty classes. By folding and decorating origami peace cranes, these older students added their artistic voices to a Japanese tradition that was over one thousand years old. Completed peace cranes became part of a year-long traveling exhibit that ended in Japantown, San Francisco on International Peace Day, August 6th.

To enhance their understanding of the peace crane symbolism, children studied the activism of Sadako Sasaki, who was two years old when the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. Sadako used traditional crane-folding as a way to heal spiritually. She died from leukemia at age twelve. Her activism and bravery encouraged children globally to work together for world peace and inspired my inquiry: "How can children learn to do good work?"

The kindergartners hurled themselves into this project with triumphant abandon. Moreover, their responses were drawn from the heart: concerns about wellness, safety and personal responsibility. Examples: "My wish for the people of the world is for more fireman to help out." And "My wish for people of the world is bread for everyone." But eighth graders played back "pop" media-inspired slogans, such as "Peace out!" and "Have a great day every day!", short-circuiting their hearts. One could chart a descending line of joyful participation, from the kindergartners' eagerness, to the eighth graders' conditioned reflexes.

Seiko Fujimoto, international peace activist and Hiroshima bombing survivor, told me, "Children are the hope for peace because their minds are still clear. When children ask for peace it ís different than when adults ask for peace. Kids care more and have more ideas for peace."

The Peace Crane Project was finally about fusion. For nine years in elementary and middle school, we teach our students about numbers and dates and places. Then on weekends some of the students go to church, temple or synagogue to address their spiritual selves. The twain rarely meet. The project sought to join the two worlds, to help children get in touch with their better angels, to open their lives to the possibility of wonder.

I emerged from this project with a profound sense that children come to earth with a built-in need to do good things for others. Before grown-ups show them all the things they cannot or should not do, they see things purely. They cherish their connection to others and are happy making others happy.

Google and Goldman

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 00:00:00 EDT

At least until the spring of 2010, two lines of work have been particularly seductive for 'the best and the brightest'—the graduates of our leading colleges and universities. One professional option has entailed work at the cutting edge of the technology sector—for Facebook, Apple or Google. Complementing Silicon Valley, the other option has been to work on "The Street"—in investment banking, hedge funds, or some other branch of the financial industry.

One attraction, of course, is the possibility of making a lot of money, preferably soon. While the salaries may not be exorbitant, the possibilities of options, bonuses, or "striking it rich" are patent: many young adults dream about becoming the next Marc Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, or the next John Paulson, the trader who made billions shorting the mortgage market (technically, collateralized debt obligations).

How does one think about these career choices with respect to the execution of GoodWork™? As defined by my colleagues and me, the good worker embodies three qualities. He/she is technically Excellent: knows what to do and how to do it in the sector under consideration. The good worker is Ethical: thinks about what is the right thing to do, not just for oneself and now, but for the broader society and in the long run. Finally, the good worker is Engaged: likes the work, looks forward to it, finds meaning in it.

While I don't have expertise in either field, I will assume that those who are recruited for these sectors—Google or Goldman for short—know what they are doing. In terms of good work, they may be deemed Excellent. They are informed and thorough students; they work hard to master material; they can pass the formal or informal tests that are posed by potential employers; and, thrown into a new situation, they are able to make sense of it, ask the right questions, finish the task expeditiously and move on to the "next next thing".

But good work does not depend exclusively on excellence. One ceases to be a good worker if the work loses interest, on the one hand, or if one cuts ethical corners, on the other. With respect to school teachers in demanding urban settings, there is the risk of burn out. While they may still be excellent and ethical, these teachers find the job demands too difficult and eventually they become disengaged. Only those who have ample collegial support systems, or very strong religious or idealistic principles, are able to remain as engaged good workers. In the case of many professionals, the desire for fame and fortune—especially Warhol-like fame and Trump-style fortune—can come to 'trump' ethical considerations. Every day in the press, one reads about compromised or unethical work on the part of doctors, lawyers, professors, or engineers.

Which brings me to the young persons who want to work for Google or Goldman (or perhaps both!). Whatever attracts these individuals initially, it is clear that, once hired, they have joined a very exciting enterprise. At Google, they are developing the technology and technological applications of the future, and are even granted a day a week to focus on their own projects. At Goldman, they work along side the best and the brightest to analyze business and financial opportunities and to make the 'best bet'—the decision that will result in additional riches for the company, and for themselves.

To borrow the terminology of my colleague Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, working opportunities within Google or Goldman are rife with the possibility of 'flow'—that pleasurable psychic state where skills and challenges are in mesh. The problem with the state of 'flow' is that it is distinctly amoral: one can have flow equally in resecting a tumor, climbing a mountain, or cracking a safe. I submit that the flow opportunities at these cutting edge companies are so alluring that they risk undermining sensitivity to ethics, rendering one prone to ethical violations.

However, engagement need not occur at the expense of ethics. Until 1999, Goldman Sachs was a partnership. Partners did well, but they had an investment in the long term growth of the company and in the preservation of its excellent reputation. And so, no doubt with some exceptions, workers at Goldman Sachs behaved in an ethical manner. But once the company became public traded, and once the power began to flow to the traders, Goldman's ethical muscle became flabby.

Google's motto is "Do no evil"—an injunction to watch what one is doing, morally, ethically, and legally. There have been ethical lapses at Google; indeed some of the firm's policies of advertising, and of sharing of data, have been widely criticized. Yet Google has not always taken the easy solution. Confronted with evidence that China was censoring websites and spying on the digital footprints of dissidents, Google made the difficult decision to stop working in China and to direct users to the uncensored Hong Kong site. In this instance, I would argue, Google has taken an ethical stance—one that would not necessarily have been taken by companies with a different ethos or companies with eyes glued to the next quarter's profits.

Fifty years ago, there was a common view of American newspapers. In this view, it was too bad that the New York Times was controlled by the Sulzberger family, and the Washington Post was controlled by the Graham family. Better that these firms become publicly held companies, not subject to familial whims. In retrospect, of course, the opposite has been the case. Today, virtually the only widely respected newspapers are those that remain under family—as opposed to public traded—names. Apparently it matters whether and how your name is being used.

In this respect, there is an interesting distinction between Google and Goldman. While Google is public traded, it remains in important respects the fiefdom of founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Their imprimatur remains strong. In contrast, Goldman is no longer under the directorship of individuals who are integrally connected to the past and the conscience of the company. CEO Lloyd Blankfein may be sincere in believing that the firm is doing "God's work" but few would argue, any longer, that it is doing good work.

Lay It on the Table

Wed, 26 May 2010 00:00:00 EDT

I attended a fairly small public high school that graduated roughly two hundred or so kids every year. One of the more memorable moments at my graduation came as a result of a well-intentioned classmate, who, in honor of our departure, followed through with his regrettable urge to re-write the lyrics of Simon and Garfunkle's "Bookends". The Vienna Boy's Choir are the only folks I can think of who could manage this tune, which, incidentally, possesses all the celebratory joy of Leonard Cohen at the dentist. Nobody could sing it. Nobody wanted to sing it. We didn't even bother to mouth it. Most folks used the moment as a bathroom break. Another notable juncture occurred later when the seemingly endless awards' portion overlooked me. They gave out awards for every possible character trait or career choice. Everybody received at least three scholarships or commendations, even the kids who had dropped out. To endure this, I convinced myself that what I was witnessing was really a raffle.

The end of the year for graduates is understandably pretty much all about them, but to be honest, sometimes we all can lose perspective down the final stretch. Any student who gets accepted into Nobles (many do not) and then successfully navigates the Sisyphean demands required to maintain their place in this school (not everyone makes it through) should realize that their diploma is in itself an honor. I cringe a bit on those rare occasions when I hear folks mutter that their son or daughter got the shaft because someone else got the nod. Anything beyond a Nobles diploma really shouldn't be expected. Yet, I do expect every graduate to take the time and effort to express their appreciation, whether it be to classmates or faculty members, for all that they have been given. Truthfully, every student should do just that every year whether they are graduating or not.

But often it's the parents of graduates who get overlooked in the waning weeks of the school year---mostly by their own children who are rushing happily from one celebratory event to another. In a perfect world, the run up to graduation would include a Mardi Gras of sorts in which the parents of Class I students could be given a well-deserved tip of the hat for all they have done. To be fair, there are moments at various events prior to graduation that parents get their due. That said, it is unrealistic for us to expect our seniors to fully appreciate all the anxiety, heartache, and sleepless nights that came with our unbridled joy in raising them. Nor can they completely understand how their departure leaves our world in some ways just a little less than what it was. But at this crucial transition it is imperative that each of you carve out a quiet moment with your soon-to-be-graduate and share with them in no uncertain terms everything that they have always meant to you, how they always will, and how that being their parent has been the greatest gift that you have ever known. Lay it on the table and give your child both the means and the moment to do the same.

What are your thoughts during this graduation season?

On Being a True Activist

Tue, 11 May 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Students often misplace their stuff and, when an initial search proves futile, an anxious email is often sent out, a day's worth of movements are retraced, and aspersions cast. It doesn't take too long before the words "someone took my…" are uttered. The truth is that most of the time missing items reappear. We don't often hear that side of it. No one sends out an email announcing that they eventually found their backpack exactly where they last left it. While books and small items do indeed get swiped from time to time, calculated theft is rare; when it does occur, folks agree that those who steal need to be stopped and answer for their actions. Few students would balk at turning in a peer if that peer were a thief. Everyone is pretty much in agreement that doing so would not result in social ostracism. Besides, most kids would agree that those who steal someone's Ipod or computer or phone deserve what they get. Everyone knows the havoc that one thief - and they usually act alone - can create in a community such as ours.

So how is it that when a thoughtless student repeatedly steals another kid's dignity with ridicule and verbal slices, many of us either treat it as a right of passage or find a way to put this universal experience into a digestible perspective? Both approaches are tough to swallow, especially if you are the kid on the receiving end. If anyone accused you or your child of placing greater value on material goods over another child's rightful place in this community, you would be insulted. Rightfully so. Yet, many students and parents feel it would be a form of social suicide to call out a bully on their actions, and I would argue that this perspective is more often than not learned behavior. But I get it. No one wants to be seen as that person, the rat. No one wants to navigate the endless whispers and cold shoulders that surely would follow from some quarters. (Why any adult would allow the opinions or the perceived status of some folks to hold them hostage is a topic for another day.) Most folks, students and the like, believe that being systematically ostracized, humiliated or bullied for any length of time is arguably the worst thing that could happen to anyone during their time at Nobles. Who would argue that one? Clearly, we adults have the power, ability, and belief to make sure that our ethical and moral obligations to our children do not wither for the same reasons that hold our own children in check.

A while ago I put forth the proposition that there are no innocent bystanders, that those who sat idle while classmates were being humiliated or taken advantage of against their wishes were a major part of the problem. Our students will forever hesitate to stand up for what is morally right if they perceive a social cost, and they may never do it if the adults in their world do not stand up with them and for them in their formative years. That said, like it or not, kids are influenced more by their peer group than they are by adults. But in the world of bullying and systematic humiliation, the adults of this community need to be trusting partners and activists in their own right. We must make it our priority to address all situations in which a student's dignity is undermined with clarity, action, and courage so that our children can not only take better care of themselves but of each other.

Useful links:

commonsensemedia.org/cyberbullying-tips

netfamilynews.org/

nytimes.com/2010/05/06/us/06formspring.html

Inspiring for Change: GoodWork for Mexico's Children

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 00:00:00 EDT

My name is Yael Karakowsky; I am from Mexico and have been a preschool teacher for the last 3 years. I often ask myself how many "dreamers" are out there … doing everything they can, walking that extra mile, never missing a chance and always seeking to do a little bit more. I consider myself a fighter, a dreamer and sometimes … a person that expects more than what is actually possible. Being a good citizen and a dreamer in Mexico can be a little hard, since we are dealing with a society full of contrasts. This could be even harder when you are working with children and pretending you can inspire them to change the world, since "children are the future".

Mexico is a beautiful country full of welcoming, warm-hearted and family-oriented people who love to be surrounded by family and friends with high moral values. So then, what is wrong with this picture? The fact is that we always pretend to be the "perfect family" (everything happens behind closed doors), we love shortcuts and easy things, labor is cheap and there is a high lack of education. At the same time we face serious economic issues: money is concentrated in approximately 13-17% of our population, while according to some estimates, 40%-60% of the population lives below the poverty line (OECD) and 60% households are below 6 minimum salaries. This added to the actual economic worldwide situation ends up in educational backwardness, unemployment, sickness, and much more. All this results in: a) very successful parents - in business - with no time for their children; b) parents that have to work hard – many times in more than one job, since labor is cheap and not well valued; or c) unemployed parents that may end up sending their kids to work.

In Mexico, while schools can be doing great efforts, the entire society strives to keep on the traditional path - grow up, study something 'good' for your future, get married and have kids. It is rare to find someone who finds the time to actually analyze his future, his professional career and goals, as well as someone who wants to be a responsible parent, as opposed to just wanting a child. Years ago we faced authoritarian and chauvinistic families - women were supposed to stay at home and educate children, the father was the economic support and his word was the law at home. Children were not allowed to ask, listen or talk at every time. There were unlimited rules and "because I say so" was the last and -never under discussion- word. I wouldn't dare to say that we are not chauvinistic anymore, but I do think that the Mexican society as many others, has passed to the total permissiveness, dragging a high lack of values. Since everyone is a parent and there is a high rate of unemployment, passion in life is lost and it is hard to transmit or inspire. So, many could have the opportunity to study a career, but as said before, there is a high lack of passion in each person's own life and goals.

This is what I mean by saying there are great contrasts. Children may have the opportunity to attend good schools, but they would be dealing with ambivalence when facing a very different reality in their daily lives, at home, and when dealing with the entire society. We can inspire children to think and analyze, but if parents and outsiders act differently, stop their initiatives and get the same results, children will be affected and our future, too.

As school leaders, we should go further. We should involve parents, students and the entire society. It would be only this way in which we can make an effort to make it as a whole and not just as part of a change. Children should face real dilemmas and start analyzing, thinking and resolving them by themselves. We should encourage new generations to break with the established, to live instead of pretend, and inspire while doing so.

So,are we probably focusing too much in the results, without analyzing the way and the procedure it takes in order to get there? We are probably either:

-Too worried to teach, to educate, to set a good example… that we are missing our own goals, our own happiness, which could be a good option to follow in order to be able to reach what we are looking for and transmit and inspire others to do the same.

Or,

-Too immersed in ourselves, trying to get the results we are looking for; the child we are expecting to have, the medals on our shelves, and the "perfect society" … that we are forgetting how to be human, how to connect with children and with ourselves?

Comments welcome here or on the Forum:

Inspirando al cambio: GoodWork para los niños de México

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Mi nombre es Yael Karakowsky. Soy mexicana y he trabajado como maestra de preescolar durante los últimos tres años. Constantemente me pregunto ¿cuántos soñadores hay allá afuera?... personas que salen de la norma, que no descansan hasta dar ese paso extra, intentando no perder oportunidades y siempre buscando hacer un poco más. Me considero una de estas personas; una luchadora, una soñadora y en ocasiones… una persona que podría esperar más de lo que es realmente posible. Ser un buen ciudadano y un soñador en México podría ser un poco difícil, dado a que vivimos en una sociedad llena de contrastes. A nivel personal, trabajar con niños implica un reto en mi vida. Más aún, cuando pretendes inspirarlos a cambiar el mundo en el que viven, ya que "los niños son nuestro futuro".

México es un país hermoso, lleno de personas cálidas y acogedoras. Para la sociedad, la familia es un valor fundamental y buscamos siempre estar rodeados de personas cercanas, con valores morales similares a los nuestros. Pero entonces, ¿Qué hay de malo en esta imagen? La realidad es que siempre perseguimos o pretendemos ser la "familia perfecta" (los problemas suceden a puerta cerrada), somos profesionales a la hora de cortar caminos o buscar soluciones más simples a nuestros problemas, la mano de obra es barata, el trabajo es poco valorado y existe una gran falta de educación. Al mismo tiempo enfrentamos serios problemas económicos: el dinero esta concentrado en aproximadamente 13 – 17% de nuestra población, mientras que de acuerdo algunas estimaciones, el 40 – 60% de la población vive por debajo de la línea de pobreza (OECD) y 60% de los hogares ganan menos de 6 veces el salario mínimo. La situación de México, sumada a la situación económica mundial termina arrojando desempleo, retraso educativo, enfermedad, entre otras. Esto provoca: a) Padres muy exitosos en el ambiente empresarial – sin tiempo para sus hijos; b) Padres que tienen que trabajar mucho – en ocasiones en más de un trabajo, dado a que la mano de obra es barata y el trabajo poco valorado; o c)Padres desempleados que podrían terminar enviando a sus hijos a trabajar.

En México, mientras las escuelas pueden esforzarse en realizar un gran trabajo, la sociedad se esfuerza por mantener el camino tradicional: crecer, estudiar algo "bueno" para la vida y tu futuro, casarse y tener una familia. Es raro encontrarse con alguien que realmente se tome el tiempo para analizar de forma sincera su futuro, su carrera profesional y sus metas – así como alguien que realmente quiera ser un padre responsable, en lugar de sólo querer tener un hijo. Años atrás nos enfrentábamos a familias autoritarias y machistas – las mujeres debían permanecer en el hogar y educar a los hijos, el padre era el soporte económico y su palabra era la ley en la casa. A los niños no se les permitía preguntar, escuchar o hablar en cualquier momento, había un número de reglas ilimitado y "Por que lo mando yo" era la última palabra, nunca bajo discusión.

No me atrevería a decir que el machismo se ha quedado atrás, pero si creo que la sociedad mexicana, como muchas otras, ha pasado del autoritarismo a la permisividad total, arrastrando consigo una gran pérdida de valores. Mientras todos podemos ser padres de familia o modelos a seguir, al mismo tiempo hay grandes índices de desempleo… la pasión por la vida se ha perdido y se vuelve difícil transmitir o inspirar. Entonces, muchos podrían tener la oportunidad de estudiar una carrera, pero como se menciona antes, hay una gran falta de pasión por la vida, por crecer, por alcanzar y conocer las metas personales.

Esto es lo que intento decir cuando hablo de contrastes. Los niños pueden tener la oportunidad de asistir a buenas escuelas, pero al mismo tiempo se enfrentan con un mundo de ambivalencia al toparse con diferentes realidades en su vida diaria, en el hogar, en la escuela y en la sociedad. Podemos inspirar a los niños a pensar y analizar, pero si como padres y sociedad en general actuamos diferente, ponemos un alto a sus iniciativas y terminamos por obtener los mismos resultados, los niños se verán afectados, al igual que nuestro futuro.

Como líderes educativos, nuestra responsabilidad es ir más allá. Debemos involucrar a los padres, a los estudiantes y a toda la sociedad. Sería sólo de esta manera en que podríamos generar un esfuerzo en conjunto, y no conformarnos con ser sólo parte de un cambio. Los niños deberían enfrentarse a dilemas reales y comenzar a analizar, a pensar y a resolver por ellos mismos. Como adultos, deberíamos animar a las nuevas generaciones a romper con lo establecido, a vivir en lugar de pretender y a inspirar a otros en el camino.

Entonces, Es probable que estemos enfocándonos demasiado en los resultados, sin analizar el camino y los procesos que nos toman llegar a ellos?

Esto es, que estemos:

- Tan preocupados por enseñar, por educar, por ser un buen ejemplo… que nos estamos perdiendo nuestras propias metas, nuestra propia felicidad – Lo que podría ser el mejor camino a seguir, a fin de lograr inspirar a otros.

- O probablemente, demasiado sumergidos en nosotros mismos. Tratando de obtener los resultados que buscamos: el niño que esperamos tener, los trofeos en nuestras repisas y una sociedad "perfecta" … que nos estamos olvidando de ¿cómo ser un ser humano, cómo conectarnos con el niño y lograr conectarnos con nosotros mismos?

Can We Trust Goldman Sachs?

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Goldman Sachs is widely acknowledged to be a leader in its field and has certainly been successful by most commonly applied criteria. But it has to decide what business or profession it is in. If it is just a business, whose goal is to make as much money as possible for partners and shareholders, then it needs to make that clear. "We will do anything legal that we can,"--and, implicitly, cut as close to illegality as we can without crossing the line.

But if it claims to be socially responsible, if its partners claim to be professionals, then it has to apply much stricter standards to its own actions and take full responsibility for the consequences of these actions. By most accounts, so long as Goldman Sachs was a partnership, it behaved in a professional manner and was justifiably respected for its behaviors. But it is clear from recent events in the post IPO period, that it is strictly a business, one that aims to make as much money as possible, by any and all means, including ones that involve deception of its customers.

Goldman Sachs does not need a new strategy or a new public relations gimmick. If it wants to become a respected firm, it needs to alter fundamentally its hiring, its training, its reward systems, its accountability, and its transparency. Absence a new leadership, with a wholly different set of ethical standards, that won't happen-- even if the firm claims to be doing "God's work."

Visit Washington Post Blog for additional perspectives.

GoodWork in Nursing

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EDT

My name is Joan Miller. I have been a nurse for over 35 years. I currently teach in a baccalaureate nursing program at Bloomsburg University, Bloomsburg, PA. I entered the profession with a desire to provide excellent care for my patients. I wanted to be known as a caring nurse, one willing to work hard, listen well, and show that my patients were always my top priority. I've worked hard to foster professional growth and excellence among my students. However, much to my dismay, many new graduates become disillusioned when they enter the work place. In today's changing health care environment, new graduates experience what many call a 'reality shock.' They lament the fact that they do not have time to listen, to be present to those who are vulnerable, and to achieve the level of excellence that they had hoped to achieve.

-What attracted you to the profession?

-Why do you think new graduates become disillusioned when they enter the practice environment?

While preparing for a sabbatical, I read a review of Wendy Fischman's book, Making Good: How Young People Cope with Moral Dilemmas at Work. This book sparked interest in the research being conducted at Good Work Project at Harvard University. Using the Good Work Project research methodology, I studied the perception of good work among nurses at different levels of professional development. I explored how it is that excellent nurses ride out storms in the profession while remaining committed to excellence.

-How do you define good work in nursing?

Veteran nurses talked about the strategies they used to overcome adversity. A Chief Executive Officer for Nursing in a large teaching hospital told me she "had to be a risk taker." She was asked to help stabilize an economic downturn in the hospital. She was unwilling to sacrifice the values that informed her identity as a good nurse and an excellent administrator. Her solution: build a team of leaders who share the same values and commitment to excellence. She stated, "If my nurses are good nurses who do the right thing, people will want to come here for their care." She accomplished her goal and continues to lead nursing into the future at this medical center.

The young nurses I interviewed spoke of the dilemmas they face at the bedside when they are expected to produce more with fewer resources. Early one morning I met a new graduate in the hospital coffee shop after she had finished a 12-hour night shift. This new graduate, whom I will call Jamie, told me how she went home earlier in the week and cried for hours knowing she had not been able to comfort a troubled patient who simply needed a caring presence. When asked if she ever thought of leaving the profession, Jamie responded, "No, I will never leave. I just focus on the reasons I came into nursing. That's what keeps me going."

-What strategies have you used to overcome adversity in the practice environment?

Jamie's experience is not unlike the experience of many nurses around the world. Nurses in every culture are dealing with the global nursing shortage and its impact on patient care, safety, and job satisfaction. It is important to consider reasons nurses enter the profession. What values prompt selection of nursing as a profession? How can we sustain those values? Why do nurses leave the profession? Some nurses, just as Jamie implied, become disillusioned as they transition from the academic to the practice setting.

-Is it possible to arrive at a common definition of good work in nursing across cultures?

I have been using the GoodWork Toolkit® as a curricular strategy to help student nurses focus on the values and vision that initially brought them into the profession. The GoodWork Toolkit® provides an opportunity for beginning students to reflect on themes and strategies that will support good work in nursing. Students learn about the meaning of values, beliefs, and integrity. They reflect on the influence of role models in their lives. They learn a new vocabulary. I believe that students who engage in a dialogue around the concept of good work will be better prepared to cope with the frustration and difficulty they may experience in fulfilling the goals that prompted nursing as a career selection. Dialogue is needed to identify interventions and/or practices that have supported the development and sustaining of values essential to good work in nursing. I suggest that educators consider integrating the GoodWork Toolkit® into the curriculum as a means of promoting good work in nursing.

-What tools do you think new nurses need to overcome adversity?

-How best can we prepare the next generation of nurses for the challenges they will encounter in the work place?

Success in Teaching

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST

Today is the second day of the Expeditionary Learning (EL) National Conference 2010, in Kansas City (where the temperature outside seems to be "warming up" to a whopping 30 degrees!). The conference has been inspiring and powerful thus far, and even more so for us on the GoodWork Project because of its focus on "good work."

Lynn and I are facilitating two "master classes" in which we have about 40 participants in each—teachers, administrators, and counselors at schools engaged with EL practice. (For more information about this organization, please visit their website, link below). We planned a similar course outline to others we have facilitated in the past. In the course, we ask educators to reflect on their own work lives and to consider their own goals, objectives, and interests in education. Participants pair-up and interview each other with 5 questions:

- What initially attracted you to your work?

- What kinds of things are you trying to accomplish in your work right now?

- What are you hoping will be the greatest impact of the work you are currently doing?

- How do you define success?

- What direction do you see for the future of your own career?

Although each course takes different shape, participants share similar feedback about this activity. Specifically, they report that considering these questions is a helpful and rare opportunity to think about their own work, and that the question about success is the most difficult. This is not a surprise to us, we hear this from most participants.

Why is it that it is so hard to define success in this domain?

We frequently hear educators struggle with the definition of success. For most educators, it is defined through the actions, behaviors, and performances of the students, and rarely about themselves (even though educators' work is focused on students). So, for example, students' improved test scores, engagement of students who are not usually "present" in the classroom, or students coming back to thank their teachers for the impact they had on their lives —are all indicators and signs of success for educators. But what about the educators themselves?

One participant in the EL conference talked about a personal dilemma he faced in teaching. At one point in his career, he taught individuals who were going into teaching. There was at least one student that he felt was not ready to become an independent teacher—he was concerned about his lack of skills for future students. This participant was faced with the decision about whether to pass this student or to confront him with honesty and hold back his career plans. This dilemma reminds me of the story of Steven in the Toolkit, an engineering professor that faces a dilemma about grade inflation. Even though he was in a university setting that supported grade inflation to move students swiftly through the program, he refused to compromise his values of honesty and integrity—and only gave students the grades that reflected their work and progress, even if these grades were not always favorable. We've heard similar pressures from other educators who have participated in our courses. For example, an administrator told us she was pressured by a superintendent to fabricate attendance records of students in an inner city school. And a teacher, who when she covered for a colleague on maternity leave, discovered that students were not being graded fairly. She struggled to decide whether to make other administrators aware of this (and jeapordize her colleague's job) or just let it go.

In all these cases, the stories are complex. One EL participant stated that she likes to let students know that lives are complicated—there are not always going to be easy "right" and "wrong" answers, but that students should be equipped with experiences and skills that help them make the best choices at that time. This is exactly the purpose of the GoodWork Toolkit. And we believe that with these genuine, real complexities, thinking about tough choices in terms of levels of responsibility is helpful: responsibility to self, responsibility to others (colleagues, peers), responsibility to workplace, responsibility to domain, and responsibility to society. These different responsibilities do not necessarily make decisions any easier, but they do provide a framework that can be used to think deeply about the choices with which we are confronted and the consequences of our decisions.

All of this gets me back to that pesty topic of success. I believe it is hard for educators to talk about success because there is no alignment in the domain about this issue. In general, politicians believe success is favorable numbers (test scores, attendance numbers, etc.). Students strive to excel and move to the next grade. Parents may define success as having their children get into top colleges and eventually get good jobs. For teachers, it is different. At least for teachers involved with EL, success is about thinking deeply, being able to solve problems, being a "good" citizen, and pushing the boundaries. We have a lot to learn from this group.

"Good work. It's what we're all about."

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST

Expeditionary Learning 2010 National Conference

Wendy and I are attending the Expeditionary Learning Schools National Conference in Kansas City. An amazing group of educators, and an inspiring series of discussions. This year's focus is on good work and we're honored to be a part of it. For those of you who aren't yet familiar with Expeditionary Learning, let me tell you a little bit about it, because it's growing, it's having impact, and that impact is of exceptional quality. What was once a small group of schools now seems to be a movement: 165 ELS schools now serve over 46,000 students.

Ron Berger, Chief Program Officer of ELS and a treasured colleague of the GWP, explained how good work appears in Expeditionary Learning Schools as follows. Their schools are good in quality: they have academic rigor, accuracy, craftsmanship, and beauty. They are good for the soul: they are engaging and fulfilling for students and for teachers. And they are good for the world: they provide contributions that go beyond the classroom, they build character, citizenship, and 21st century skills. Expeditionary Learning is all about the student work; it is on display at this conference in abundance, and it is beautiful. I have only words – no pictures - to describe some of the visuals I've seen today, but I'll do my best by relating one of Ron's many stories about student projects.

Years ago, 3rd graders at the Capital City Public Charter School in Washington DC asked a simple question. In their school, they were taught to treat everyone with respect and kindness. And yet, every day on the way to school, they passed homeless people and never said a word. They questioned themselves and wondered why they treated homeless people differently than they treated one another.

They began with research, asking how people become homeless, and wondering what they could do to help. They interviewed police, workers in shelters, and eventually the homeless themselves. They decided they wanted to create a product to educate very young children about the homeless, to teach them that "homeless people are people too."

Working with a grant from a local foundation, these 3rd graders wrote "The ABC Book of Homelessness". Each page has a watercolor illustration and text addressing an aspect of the issue. For example, "H is for Heart. Homeless people have heart. They help other homeless people." This book was published and sent to schools around the DC area. Some cynics might ask what, if anything, was accomplished by this work. Did the homeless population decrease? Did anything change? According to one child involved in the work, "everything changed." As he explained it, "now we know the names of the homeless people and they know our names and we say hello to each other. Everything's changed."

Indeed, something registered in the minds of these students. Several years later, now in middle school, some of these students remembered their project on homelessness vividly. So vividly, in fact, that when the President and First Lady came to their school, this was the work they wanted to show them. I know I don't remember anything that formative from my own 3rd grade experiences … do you?

We spoke in a session on Good Work this morning about people that inspire us: individuals that we believe truly exemplify good work. We brainstormed together about their qualities: they are brave, visionary, humble, honest, collaborative, trustworthy, hardworking, creative … the list goes on and on. An intimidating list of qualities and sometimes, as we hold these standards up to ourselves, the list seems unrealistic and impossible. How can anyone be "all that?" But interestingly, the exemplary "good workers" looked up to by our group were neither famous nor, by some standards, extraordinarily accomplished. When asked to tell us more about the people who inspire them, we discovered that they were thinking about their parents, their students and their colleagues.

So, I guess a couple of lessons learned today in Kansas City. First, when we're pushed beyond our comfort zone, (for example, to interview the homeless), we learn about ourselves. ELS students are regularly pushed to accomplish more than they ever imagined possible. Second, we don't need to look too far to find inspiration. There are examples of good work all around us. It's just a question of seeing it, learning from it, and trying to help it grow.

Digital Media and American Youth

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST

Have the digital media changed American youth? That's the question that a group of researchers, including members of Howard Gardner's research team at Project Zero, met to discuss last December in Princeton, New Jersey. The MacArthur Foundation’s Digital Media and Learning Initiative sponsored the day-long event, which gave researchers from a variety of disciplines the chance to share their research and reflections on the changes over time in youth’s interests, experiences, and development that appear to be associated with their digital media practices. Katie Davis, a researcher at Project Zero, wrote about the event for MacArthur's Spotlight Blog. Her full report on the convening is also available from the link below.

Surface Manifestations of Leadership

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST

Surface Manifestations Can Make it Difficult to Judge Good Leadership...

With President's Day around the corner, it seems a good time to reflect on the nature of leadership. Below, we share Howard Gardner's responses to some questions recently posed by an Italian journalist.

Until the 20th century, most citizens had no idea of what their leaders looked or sounded like, and certainly did not feel that they had any personal relations or connections to the leaders. This did not matter so much, because most countries were not democracies, and even those that were usually had parliamentary systems rather than direct election of leaders.

We live in a time of more direct voting for leaders and where most citizens have access to the media-- first radio, then television, now a 24-7 news cycle which includes Youtube, Facebook, Twitter etc. Even though leaders themselves do not know that many citizens, citizens feel that they know the leaders. Indeed, they might well want to use the first name with Tony or Bill or Silvio because they feel that they have an intimate relationship to the leaders, even if the relationship is obviously one way and largely illusory.

Also, politics in terms of parties has declined universally. Fewer and fewer people ALWAYS vote Labor, or Christian Democrat or Communist. Indeed, as the world now knows, my home state of Massachusetts, regarded as the most liberal state in the United States, just voted in a Republican Senator by a wide margin. In most elections, only a tiny minority of voters actually know the stated positions of the candidates, and even fewer understand the issues well enough to paraphrase a law (like health care legislation) or a policy (on immigration, on nuclear test ban, on carbon emissions etc).

Accordingly, we now have a state of affairs where elections are significantly 'beauty contests'. Just as voting on television programs like "American Idol" have a lot to do with how comfortable the audience feels with the performers now invading their living rooms, so, too, elections often hinge on how likeable and simpatico are the candidates. It is not that most Americans thought that George W. Bush was MORE competent than Al Gore or John Kerry. They liked Bush better and that sufficed for him to win two elections, against individuals who were arguably more competent and certainly more knowledgeable, but with whom the voters would not have liked to 'share a beer'.

Your questions focus on the faces and on the body language of leaders in the world today. In ordinary life, we do judge people in terms of how comfortable they seem to be with themselves (that is signaled by body language) and on how sincere and friendly they seem (and that is signaled by eyes, mouth, and facial expression). With respect to the British case, it is clear that the smiling, comfortable charming Blair wins out over the rather dour and awkward Brown. And Cameron also wins in that comparison against Brown, and perhaps that is why he is the head of the Tory party.

Turning to France, Sarkozy comes off as too active, too energetic, too frenetic, but with the passage of time, people are getting used to these personal characteristics and, for his part, Sarkozy has calmed down a bit.

Obama certainly comes off as likeable and as comfortable in his own skin, and those are major reasons why he was elected. But there is something about the presentation of self that is rather distant, rather professorial. Obama likes people well enough but, unlike Clinton or Blair, does not seem like he NEEDS to have people around him. And that sense of distance-- which served Charles deGaulle well-- does not play well in a determinedly demotic, populist environment.

Which leaves Silvio Berlusconi. Truth to tell, most of the rest of the world cannot understand why Berlusconi remains a popular leader, despite his checkered past and his obvious personal and professional involvement in shady activities (financial, sexual). I have to think back to Latin leaders, like Juan Peron, for a similar example. And of course, Berlusconi cannot really be a 'man of the people' with his billions of dollars and control of the media.

I suspect that Berlusconi prevails for two reasons: l) There is no viable opposition (Sarkozy benefits from this lack of opposition as well); 2) His rascal personality and behavior has an appeal to the Italian population, particularly older males-- just as Zuma's persona in South Africa justifies sexism on the part of macho males. This is not just an Italian or South African phenomenon: Both Scott Brown in Massachusetts and Arnold Schwarzenegger in California benefit from this male chauvinist persona.

As an American with little sympathy for Berlusconi or Zuma, I like to quote Abraham Lincoln: "You may fool all of the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time; but you can't fool all of the people all the time." There will be a post-Berlusconi era!

Howard Gardner in Mexico City

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST

Last October, Mexico City had the pleasure of receiving Dr. Howard Gardner. Banamex, one of the most important Mexican Financial Groups, invited him to their "2009-3rd Encuentro de Educación Financiera "Respuestas de Pe$o" Ser, conocer y hacer para vivir juntos". Dr. Gardner's lecture "Five Minds of the Future" gave participants new alternatives to develop strategies within ourselves, and everyone who is devoted to education in a formal or informal way. He focused on how ethics must be present in each of our goals in the fields of knowing how to be, how to do, how to know and how to live, introducing his GoodWork Project to our Mexican society. In this forum, participants worked to find new answers for big questions such as: how to get new resources, how to administrate those resources, and how to create and save a legacy to our people.

Some participants in the forum were Alonso Lujambio, secretario de Educación Pública, who opened the event. Also, Enrique Zorrilla, General Director of Banamex, Alejandro Werner, subsecretario de Hacienda, Javier Arrigunaga director corporativo de Jurídico y Desarrollo Institucional de Banamex, Andrés Albo, director de Compromiso Social de Banamex y Loreto García Muriel, directora de Educación Financiera Banamex.

Dr. Gardner's presentation contributed to analyze our social and economical situation from another point of view, giving to those who are concerned about education and about our global situation the opportunity to make deep reflections on our personal behavior, and how our daily work has a big impact on others, considering ethics, respect, creativity, synthesis, and discipline as the stones to construct a better future for mankind.

Some conclusions were: that we must work together to increase financial stability to Mexican families, giving them access to education through different cooperative programs, to promote GoodWork in order to make people realize how important it is for a country to work with its principles, and make a link with personal values to develop their financial situations, educating through values, and through the "Five Minds for the Future" principles, acting and working hand by hand to make that happen in every way, within each one's job, family, government, society, school, mass media, and corporations.

We thank Dr. Gardner for being among us, and for his guidance in making a better Mexico.

See Howard Gardner discuss 5 Minds for the Future at the RSA in London in December of 2009.

The Ministers' Misconceptions

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST

Of all the findings from cognitive psychology that are relevant for education, one stands out. That is the repeated demonstration, across a number of disciplines, of the prevalence of misconceptions and the difficulty of getting rid of them and replacing them with more powerful and more veridical conceptions. The most famous examples occur in physics. Students at outstanding universities, who have studied the laws of motion and have done well on standardized measures of achievement in physics, are asked to explain a new phenomenon—one that they have not studied but one governed by the laws of motion. Not only do these star students typically fail on these performances of understanding. More dramatically, their responses are often indistinguishable from those obtained from students who have never studied physics. Comparable examples can be found in biology, astronomy, psychology, economics — indeed across the disciplinary spectrum.

These difficulties can be blamed in part on inadequate instruction, but they also reflect a disturbing reality. When young, without the need for formal instruction, nearly all human beings develop 'folk theories' of how the world works: the physical world (if an object is broken into tiny, no-longer-visible parts, it ceases to exist); the biological world (all organisms were created at a single, pre-historical moment) and the social world (people who look different from me are to be feared and shunned). More effective theories can only be constructed in the mind of the learner through effective teaching and significant involvement with the materials (object, data) for which the disciplinary understandings are appropriate.

Nowadays almost everyone goes to school. And even in the remaining unschooled societies, there is informal tuition. Nonetheless, misconceptions continue to hold sway. Here are the some of the powerful misconceptions about learning and teaching that characterize the folk theories of human beings:

Education involves the transmission of ideas and skills from older and more powerful persons to those who are younger and under the control of their elders.
The young mind is a blank slate on which correct ideas and needed skills need to be implanted.
Learning should occur bit by bit; to the extent possible, errors should be identified, discouraged, corrected.
The best way to teach—indeed, the only effective way — is to reward correct answers and punish wrong ones.
On any dimension worth considering, you can array people from the best to the worst (a so-called 'league table').
If someone does not do what you want them to do, just ask them to do it, louder and louder, over and over again.

Now, since misconceptions like this are part of the human condition, it is not surprising that most children and most parents believe them. But that does not mean they are correct, any more than that the world is flat or that all creatures were created at the same moment. Indeed, considerable social-scientific research over the last century calls each of these so-called truisms into severe question.

It might seem reasonable to expect that those who are in charge of educational policy should have moved beyond these misconceptions. And indeed, if engaged in quiet discussion, at least some policymakers reveal their awareness of the research. And yet, in observing ministers of education all over the world, I find them remarkably tied to these powerful, though erroneous ideas. Indeed, I sometimes think that for most Ministers of Education, their only goal is to improve the performance of their nation in the international comparisons, independent of the worth or utility of that comparison. In fact, I've recently encountered a new ironical twist on this: The absolute standing of Scotland is less important than its relative position vis-a-vis England. Better to be 20th if Britain is 21st, than to be 10th if Britain is 9th.

Going beyond this 'league table' mentality, I am constantly surprised at the persistence, in ministerial talk and writing, of allegiance to the 'transmission theory' of education; the focus on rewards (even monetary ones) and punishment; the lack of openness to multiple answers, productive errors, creativity; and the preferred solution to bad performance on tests—the administration of more and more tests. It is like the misguided belief that if the patient is sick, the royal road to health involves repeating measurement of temperature.

I don't mean to demean all Ministers of Education. As already suggested, some of them know better, and a few try to do better. It may be that there is something about the air in the ministries of the world, and in their all-too-frequent meetings with one another, that reinforces the worst of these misconceptions and repeats them endlessly to the public at large.

Of course, we do know a great deal about what actually brings about strong achievements in education around the world; plausible goals, understood and subscribed to by the range of constituents; awareness of the changing nature of knowledge and the need to prepare learners for an uncertain future; respect for teachers who, because of their knowledge of content and pedagogy and sensitivity to individual differences, merit respect; regular parental involvement; instilling in young people a love for learning that endures throughout life, even when no one is looking. If I were trying to determine in which school system to send my children or grandchildren, I'd beware of Ministers bearing misconceptions, I'd look instead for ones who understand these equally simply, and yet surprisingly elusive powerful ideas.

Press Release: On Teens' Online Activities

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

NEW REPORT REVEALS IMPORTANCE OF ADULT INVOLVEMENT IN TEENS' ONLINE ACTIVITIES

"Meeting of Minds" reports the result of cross-generational dialogues between adults and teens on ethical behavior

New York, NY/San Francisco, CA - Global Kids, Harvard's GoodPlay Project and Common Sense Media today released Meeting of Minds, a report that highlights the ways in which parents, teachers, and teens relate to the emerging ethical dimensions of life online. The report is the result of a series of cross-generational online dialogues held this past spring about digital ethics, and reveals the critical importance of active adult engagement with teens to help develop healthy attitudes about online behaviors that often have long-lasting and far-reaching effects.

"Youth are largely navigating these new online spaces on their own, without any real adult guidance," said Rafi Santo, Senior Program Associate in Global Kids' Online Leadership Program. "We wanted to facilitate genuine conversation between generations about real-life issues kids are facing, such as how to present themselves online and how to relate to intellectual property. Adults often feel like they're in the dark about new technologies, and teens need guidance navigating the ethical issues associated with them. We hope the report will help to bridge this gap."

"Both adults and teens have important points to bring to conversations about digital literacy and citizenship. Adults bring their wisdom about the world, while teens bring their comfort and understanding of technology," said Linda Burch, Chief Program and Strategy Officer at Common Sense Media. "We are so happy with the quantity and the quality of participation in this dialogue. It's our hope that other groups will follow our lead and facilitate their own conversations between adults and teens on these online ethical issues over the Internet, in classrooms, at dinner tables, through community forums, and even at the policy level so that young people are empowered to be good digital citizens."

The findings from the report revealed that teens' biggest concerns in ethically challenging situations online are repercussions for themselves, rather than the implications of their actions for larger communities. Adults, on the other hand, are more concerned with responsibility to others and to communities when discussing digital dilemmas. For example, a teen who makes a fake profile page about her teacher might think it's funny, while adults are more likely to point out how such an act might hurt or damage the teacher's reputation.

The cross-generational dialogues, the first of their kind, included more than 250 participants from around the world and 2,500 posts from members that yielded rich information about the greatest points of connection and contention between teens and adults. Throughout the dialogues, adults and teens discussed their varied perspectives on how to behave in a digital world through a variety of scenarios concerning online ethics. Conversations ranged from illegal downloading and the creativity associated with remixing, to the factors that go into deciding to meet an online connection face-to-face.

About Global Kids, Inc. Founded in 1989, Global Kids' mission is to educate and inspire urban youth to become successful students, global citizens and community leaders by engaging them in academically rigorous, content-rich learning experiences. We educate youth about critical international and domestic issues and promote their engagement in civic life and the democratic process. Through our Online Leadership Program we provide teens with opportunities to address community needs, raise awareness about global issues, and develop 21st-century skills through the use of new media. You can read about this work at globalkids.org

About The GoodPlay Project at Harvard's Project Zero Supported by the MacArthur Foundation, the GoodPlay Project is an initiative focused on the ethical contours of young people's digital lives. Led by Howard Gardner, we are exploring five issues we believe to be ethically charged in the new digital media: Identity, privacy, ownership/authorship, credibility, and participation. In our research, we study the ethical stances of digital youth with respect to these issues. We also create curriculum to scaffold greater ethical thinking online. Download the white paper on digital ethics that framed the Focus Dialogues.

About Common Sense Media Common Sense Media is dedicated to improving the media and entertainment lives of kids and families. We exist because media and entertainment profoundly impact the social, emotional, and physical development of our nation's children. As a non-partisan, not-for- profit organization, we provide trustworthy information and tools, as well as an independent forum, so that families can have a choice and a voice about the media they consume. Common Sense Media also works with educators and policymakers to build programs that empower kids to become good digital citizens. Visit commonsensemedia.org for parent media tips, media reviews, and educational resources for classroom use.

A Choice with Real Value

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Choice and opportunity are emblems of freedom. But researchers tell us that the myriad options available to us are no longer liberating but quite oppressive. Studies indicate that the number of decisions we make every day - in the cereal aisle, at the espresso stand, on our cable TVs - are literally exhausting us. Perhaps more significant is the implication that the constant stream of relatively minor decisions we make may lead us to make poorer choices across all areas of our lives.

I wonder whether the number of choices available to us is the real problem. Maybe choice has become so challenging because we aren't really equipped to make decisions, or because our communities don't encourage a habit of using knowledge and tools that may help us. Most of us make daily decisions quite automatically: we eat what our families ate, what our friends eat, what is readily available, or what is on sale this week. And yet we all have decisions we just won't compromise on, such as eating organic food, being loyal to a brand, or supporting family businesses.

What we care about deeply can be an invisible hand that guides the big and small decisions that we make: our human inclination is to bring our actions into alignment with our image of ourselves. Throughout life – and certainly throughout the K-16 years - this "self" is a work in progress. A tough choice for educators is whether and how to explicitly help young people develop not only self-understanding but to help them acquire tools for checking-in on who they aspire to be as students, community members, parents, and employees. You likely found the GoodWork community because of your own commitment to supporting students and/or colleagues in defining what excellence means, exploring meaningful pursuits, and considering how their decisions affect others.

Our research at the GoodWork Project consistently shows that young people struggle to make decisions about major aspects of their lives. Too often they fall prey to the mantra "not to decide is to decide." The latter is certainly true when they follow their close peers into a college major – a trend documented in a study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research earlier this year. We witness them "falling back" on their parents' dreams or the profitable occupation du jour. It is also evident in their stories about taking the path of least resistance – often one down an unethical road – in order to develop traction in their careers. Not surprisingly, students struggle with the "minor" decisions too, choices that pit their personal values against what is the norm in their families and peer groups.

The great news is that most students are grateful for opportunities to stop and think about what they find personally meaningful. They are often surprised that not only can their personal values be a compass to guide decision-making but that, in fact, many admirable adults intentionally make time to think about decisions past and pending in order to evaluate how their choices measure up to their personal dreams, standards, and commitments. One university vice president who I much admire made it his habit to have weekly lunches with the president of the student government association. To a one, these students expressed gratitude not simply for the generosity of the V.P.'s time, but for the his willingness to model and share the ongoing process of aligning the responsibilities of one's position and an organization's dreams while refining personal ambitions, too.

It is similarly encouraging that many teachers, coaches, and parents are finding ways to help students discover what they care about deeply and encourage them to be mindful of how their choices reflect those personal values. We know, however, that this is difficult work at a time when economic decline casts a shadow on students' aspirations and focuses the public's eye on "basic skills" that rarely address how life gets lived or how work gets done. We invite you to use the Toolkit Forum to share ways you are honoring the third "E" of good work by helping young people in your life to discover what is personally engaging while, of course, helping them focus on the implications enacting their dreams may have for others.

Nobel Prize for Mentorship?

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

The recent announcement of the Nobel Laureates in Medicine point to another achievement that deserves recognition: outstanding mentorship. Elizabeth Blackburn and Carol Greider were members of a scientific "lineage" with Joseph Gall at its head. Blackburn studied under Gall; Greider studied under Blackburn. Two very successful women in a field that has been dominated by men, in a field in which mentoring does not typically come first.

In the New York Times interview after the announcement of the award, Greider was asked about the nature of her research with Blackburn, and whether the type of research (on telomeres) was in itself particularly attractive to women. In her response, she specifically credits Gall's mentorship efforts:

"There's nothing about the topic that attracts women. It's probably more the founder effect. Women researchers were fostered early on by Joe Gall, and they got jobs around the country and they trained other women. I think there's a slight bias of women to work for women because there's still a slight cultural bias for men to help men. The derogatory term is the "old boys network." It's not that they are biased against women or want to hurt them. They just don't think of them. And they often feel more comfortable promoting their male colleagues."

In the world of science, especially post-doctoral work, the relationship between students and teachers may be fraught with tension. Unlike other fields (journalism, business, theater, for example), in science students DO have mentors - they are assigned to someone and that relationship may be complicated. We heard quite about this during our GoodWork research. The years post-docs spend working in labs often result in frustration, and this is sometimes the result of a poor relationship with an advisor. One version of this advisor/advisee relationship is as follows:

"I know in an ideal setting it would be true that your advisors would have ways of talking to students and post-docs that separates science from the individual, but it just doesn't happen in the real world. And I think that part of that is that the people who become advisors are selected because they are great scientists, not because they are managers or not because they have well-developed interpersonal skills. So, you get these people who have spent their whole life at a bench and all of the sudden, they're in charge of fifteen people. Where were they supposed to learn?"

Considered within this context, the achievements of Gall, Blackburn and Greider are even more remarkable.

We've learned a lot about mentors on the GoodWork Project. We've learned that most often, people, especially young people, don't have mentors. When we asked them to talk about mentors, instead we heard about "antimentors" - people who came to exemplify qualities they themselves didn't want to develop. And worse, some told us about "tormentors". Our colleagues on the GoodPlay Project have found that young people lament the lack of mentors who are able to help them navigate cyberspace. Young people are digital natives, while the older generation, who may have some wisdom with respect to ethical issues, are "immigrants."

Resourceful individuals develop a practice of "fragmentoring" - or piecing together qualities and lessons learned from various different people in their lives. Mom teaches a lesson about finishing what you started; Coach Andy hammers home a message about follow through; a drama teacher invites you to push your limits, and an unfailingly honest friend inspires you to tell the truth even when difficult. Even individuals who lack bits of positive exemplary behavior find other means - for example, emulating the work of inspirational public figures. In short, what's involved in finding a mentor is changing, what it means to be a mentor is evolving. It's a lot harder to do this mentoring work on your own, however, and it takes tremendous determination and focus.

Who we allow to have influence over our choices, our beliefs and our lives is no small decision. It is not always a conscious one, but clearly it ought to be. Following the examples set by these outstanding scientists is a good place to start.

The Obama Gamble

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Reprint from Newsday.com

I begin with a confession. Away from my home in Cambridge, traveling in London, I must admit, with embarrassment, that when I first saw the headline in a tabloid "Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize" I thought it was a joke. After all, the satirical publication, the ONION, has featured headlines that were less surprising. A bit later, I realized that the joke was on me.

After some reflection, I have come to a different conclusion. The world knows that President Obama is engaged in three 'hot wars' -- in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. There is the possibility of armed conflict with Iran and perhaps even North Korea. As a student of American history and politics, I also happen to believe that Obama is involved in a Civil War in this country. Significant portions of the right wing seem willing to do just about anything to defeat him and his causes. His own efforts to be civil, unfailingly civil, have impressed much of the world and many Americans. They seem to have had no effect whatsoever on the determined, disloyal, opposition—the screaming heads on the cable news, and their tacit supporters in Republican leadership.

I monitor the yearly awarding of the Nobel Prize. Even the prizes in science have political aspects—who gets nominated, who gets lobbied for, which of the people involved in the discovery actually get to divide the money (a maximum of three persons). When it comes to the Prizes in Literature and in Peace, the awarding of the Prize is intensely political. The list of those who got the prize (e.g. Henry Kissinger for Peace) and those who did not (James Joyce, Vladimir Nabakov, Leo Tolstoy, Marcel Proust in Literature) confirms the view that the Nobel Awards committee—knowing that the world is listening and watching—is intent on making a statement.

Whatever you may think of Barack Obama, his election and the early months of his Presidency have been a powerful statement to the world. Be unfailingly respectful, indicate your willingness to walk the extra mile, always seek to confer, consult, reflect, rather than to plunge prematurely into battle, at home or abroad. The contrast with predecessor George W. Bush could not be more dramatic. Certainly, if this approach proves to ease some of the trouble spots cited above, to bring about reconciliation rather than revenge, the awarding of the Prize will have been fully deserved.

In making this possibly premature move the Prize committee has altered the traditional rationale for the prize. Realizing that the world is in perilous shape—and that this time around (as compared to 1914 or 1939) at least ten nations have nuclear weapons—they are trying to shape events, and to prevent events, rather than simply reacting to them.

In this way, the Nobel Peace Prize is more like a Prize with which I have familiarity—the MacArthur Prize Fellowship. When I received the so-called 'genius award' in 1981, at age 38, the award was unknown and so was I. Over the years I've had the opportunity to observe dozens of the several hundred persons who have received the Prize Fellowship. In some cases, the individuals were not affected at all—this is especially true for those who are already established and over 60 years of age. In some cases, the individuals were blocked in their creative process—this is especially true for those who were even younger and even less accomplished than I was. Where the Prize has been most influential has been in giving time and support to individuals who have embarked on a lonely path, with uncertain results. The prize buys them time and a measure of recognition.

Obama is scarcely unknown. But as a leader of a nation, and one involved in both domestic and foreign conflicts, his future course is completely unknown at the present time. Indeed, some commentators take Obama's respect, courtesy, and reflectiveness as a sign of weakness. On October 7 2009 in London's INDEPENDENT newspaper, novelist and critic Gore Vidal issued a severe indictment:

"This kid (Obama) has never heard a gun fired in anger. He is absolutely bowled over by generals who tell him lies and he believes them. He hasn't done anything…You have to go by what people tell you. He's like that. He's not ready for prime time and he's getting a lot of prime time on his plate at once."

Vidal makes a valid point but I believe that he way underestimates Obama's strength and his ability to make tough decisions, even overruling the generals, as President Kennedy (and Presidents Truman and Eisenhower) were able to do. The Prize Committee hopes that, by the awarding of the prize at this time, it can strengthen the more pacific facets, the 'better angels' of Obama's character. Even more crucially, it may give him the resolve to do what is right—even against military pressure and against almost certain castigation by the belligerent right wing in our country. Given the mixed record of the Nobel committees in their more political guise, I believe that this award —-- the Obama Gamble, if you will --- is well worth taking. Should it be successful, the world – and not just Oslo - will have reason to rejoice.

The Road to Hell?

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT

If the proverbial inter-planetary visitor observed educational policymakers around the world, she would soon infer their single preoccupation: “How to raise scores on international comparisons like the TIMMS or the PISA tests.” This mentality also dominates the United States. A focus on standardized tests, how to raise scores, and what consequences follow there from, has become a national, as well as an international, obsession.

That ‘road to hell’ is paved with good intentions. Concern with performance grew out of a consensus that American youth were not getting properly educated. Since the 1980s, leaders from across the political spectrum have joined forces to focus sharply on test performance.

I don’t question their motivation. Policymakers were concerned with the mediocre education in most inner-city schools, the lack of preparation (and sometimes motivation) of teachers, and job applicants who lack skills and a sense of responsibility.

And yet, the consequences of this testing mania have been mixed at best. Impressive, widespread improvement has not occurred. Scores may improve on familiar items but rarely on measures that are differently conceived. Classes focus on preparation for high stake tests, while less attention is paid to the arts, history, current events, humanities—indeed, anything untested. Educators with discrepant philosophies or approaches abandon the public sector, or education altogether. Teaching is becoming de-professionalized; students construe education as a winner-take-all tournament, rather than the opening of the mind and the imagination.

It need not be that way. No country need conceive itself in a ‘league table’ competition. And certainly the richest and most successful can chart its own course;

Visitor: What form might that course take?

My answer:

Start from the kinds of human beings that we desire. We want adults of character: persons who care about their family, their neighbors, the larger, society, the planet— good workers and good citizens. Perhaps at one time, these ethical, moral, and character issues could be addressed at home, on the street, in religious settings, in the media. But no more. If schools do not develop individuals of admirable character, the society won’t have them.

We want individuals who love learning, want to learn in (and outside of) school and will continue to learn throughout their lives. The current system stifles more than it stimulates. Young people gravitate toward learning when the older persons around them love learning and invite the youth to join them. In an age of exciting media and sundry other temptations, we adults have to be their heroes, their role models, their inspiration.

Finally, what to learn? Here I differ most sharply from those who favor fixed curricula, with lists of so-called important facts. Given the ubiquity of digital information sources, there is no need to prescribe materials. Once basic literacies have been achieved, it’s most important to master the major ways of thinking: historical, mathematical, scientific and artistic. Armed with these tools and suitably motivation, learners can achieve disciplined, synthesizing, and creative minds.

Lest one think that a misguided course is restricted to education, consider the current American quagmire in health care. Too many of our citizens, and too many of our leaders are blind to what is expected in other societies—affordable health care for all. Much of our population lacks compassion for fellow citizens and for the ills to be faced by future citizens.

Faced with such thoughts, I take heart from Winston Churchill who once observed “The American people always do the right thing—after they have tried every other alternative.”

Looking for Good Work

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT

A year ago, I was content in California—finishing up graduate school coursework and working in educational program assessment. Based on what I hear from everyone who has ever spent a winter in New England, I probably should have appreciated the sunshine and cool breezes back home (read: the opposite of gray skies and icy wind) a bit more. Yet, I felt strongly about moving here because I found myself in one of those precarious positions—where you know the work you are doing just isn’t enough.

For some people, it might be working against the grain everyday through nit-picking bureaucracies, with difficult colleagues, doing work that doesn’t seem to go anywhere and help anyone, or perhaps, it’s just not something that allows you to grow, it’s not where your passion is, maybe it’s just something you can do but not something you feel drawn to. I felt some combination of these factors, which pushed me to act, to take a risk, and to move towards something else.

After deciding to move to the east coast, I was confident; I had interviews lined up and a place to live. However, like thousands of others this year, I remained unemployed for several months. I was rethinking everything—whether or not it was possible to do work that was more valuable or better than what I previously had and whether it was even possible to pursue my ideal in the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. All the while, I struggled to manage student loans, bills, rent, and this weird social pressure to be building my career, or establishing something, not wasting time. In the back of my mind, I remembered friends complaining about horrible jobs they were “stuck” in, but I kept thinking, at least they had a job. I had to remind myself that I was hoping for something more, but honestly, I’d often forget.

I wondered if the lack of conversation as a student, around the type of work I would do in the future, and the choices I’d be forced to make on the job played a role in my forgetting. Often, the lesson in school is to adjust your efforts to what works, what the teacher wants and expects, but when no one is looking, when we work in our communities or help a friend, these are the times when we know our best matters most. Having conversations around how to bind engagement and excellence in all of our work can prepare us to surpass expectations and manage challenges more proactively as they come—even if these challenges include shifts in economic opportunity restraining our realities and perceptions of choice.

Understanding the diversity of ways people are experiencing this push and pull between what they hope for and what seems possible is important in helping others to strive towards good work. Given my own luck in finding a great match of my skills and interests with the GoodWork team, I feel like beyond it all, things do turn out. And, I hope that through open conversation on this site, we can reflect on what good work means to each of us, so that ultimately, we find and offer that support.

Welcome!

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Welcome to the Toolkit website! This project has been a long time coming, and we are excited to watch what happens as this community comes together. In the past few months, we have been gathering together material for this site, and it's been a pleasure revisiting letters, syllabi, student work, and other materials gathered over the past few years.

When we first piloted the Toolkit materials in 2004, we were fortunate enough to bring together a group of outstanding educators from a variety of different schools and disciplines: a photography teacher from a regional high school, a middle school history teacher from a private suburban school, a choral instructor from a large public high school, a middle school social studies teacher from a private school and a psychology teacher from a large public high school. Gathering together before and after these teachers worked with GoodWork materials in their classrooms, we learned from their experiences and learned too that their ability to talk with one another was a valuable and important part of the reflective process. We are grateful to this initial group and to all the educators we've learned from since. We have gathered many terrific ideas from all of you.

Many years ago, one teacher told us that addressing the concepts of good work, solo, within a large and diverse school was difficult. As she put it, she felt like a single voice, "shouting into the wind." In response to her need for community and for support, we began to work with entire school communities towards building a culture of GoodWork. We imagine this website as a way to expand that culture, and expand the community that we know exists globally: the Toolkit is in countries around the globe, including Taiwan, Germany, Malaysia, Argentina, Australia, Scotland, South Africa, the Philippines, and Mexico. We often share advice that we ourselves have picked up from others who are using the Toolkit, and we can't wait until you all are able to talk with one another directly.

It is our hope that by the beginning of 2010, an elementary school teacher in Texas will be sharing her experiences with educators in Taiwan. We look forward to discussion topics on everything from GoodWork in the Digital Age to Issues of Responsibility and the Admissions Process, to Finding a Calling Post-Financial Crisis. We have heard from so many of you individually; we are excited to see what happens when you're able to talk and listen to a larger and more diverse audience. No more shouting into the wind everyone; instead, twitter and be heard.

What do you do in the summer?

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Upon hearing that we work at a graduate school of education, people often ask us "What do you do in the summer?" "Do you get the summer off?" Our answer back is short: "NO!"

In fact, in many ways, our summer is busier here at work because it is the time that educators have time to breathe, reflect on their work, and think about the academic year that lies ahead. At Project Zero, we host an annual summer institute called The Project Zero Classroom, at which 300 educators from around the world come to hear lectures by Howard Gardner, David Perkins, Steve Seidel, and others, take minicourses about new ideas developed by Project Zero, and participate in study groups with other teachers about how they can use what they learned during the institute in their own settings. This year, we are also hosting a new institute called The Future of Learning. For these institutes, we spend a great deal of time preparing courses and materials for participants, and just when we are exhausted from the preparation, participants arrive in Cambridge, with much excitement and enthusiasm to meet other like-minded individuals.This summer, we anxiously await the summer institute because we are planning to launch the GoodWork Toolkit website. When educators who come to the Toolkit minicourse ask where they can learn more about the Toolkit, buy the Toolkit, and speak to others who have used it, we will finally have a place for them to visit.

Interestingly, the GoodWork Toolkit minicourse has evolved over time. Five years ago, we designed the course as a way to introduce educators to the notion of GoodWork, and to introduce materials they could use in the classroom to help students think about what "good work" means to them. At that time, our primary objective was to "train" educators to use the GoodWork Toolkit. At the first minicourse, in a group of about twenty educators, a high school teacher said to us, "I know these materials have been developed for us to use in the classroom with students, but this story helped me to reflect on my own teaching, the standards I have for my own work, and the messages I give to students about excellence. Other teachers agreed (we had just read the case of Alfred Bloom, the President of Swathmore College, who was considering ending the college's football program) and at that point, we realized that the GoodWork Toolkit materials were not just helpful for students, but for educators as well.

In every course we offer, we ask participants to tell us a story about an instance when they felt torn between conflicting responsibilities or a situation when they were unsure of the best course of action. One elementary school teacher told us about taking over a classroom from a colleague who was on maternity leave. As she familiarized herself with the files on the various students, it became clear that they teacher on leave had kept sloppy records, and that her evaluations of students were very general and in most cases, far too generous. This teacher was in a dilemma about how to handle some of the students (whom she thought needed accurate feedback), the students' parents (whom might be upset if they were told something different about their students than they had heard from the first teacher), and the principal (whom might be upset with the first teacher or with her, if it looked like she was causing too much controversy). The case we had just read in the course, one that focused on issues of excellence, helped this teacher to frame the problem in terms of these responsibilities.

However, these brief courses can only scratch the surface of responsibility in teaching. Year after year, educators tell us that the GoodWork Toolkit minicourse is an opportunity to reflect on their own work, which, as one teacher stated, "is often lost in the fast-paced lifestyle of teachers." In a course evaluation, another teacher explained that the course "made me reflect on my own choices and made me wonder when I should be more aware of my actions and how they affect others." With this understanding, we now introduce the GoodWork Toolkit as a set of materials not only for students, but also for educators, because we have found that the stories, questions, and activities ask people to think deeply about their work, regardless of their age or position. Moreover, we have also begun to use the GoodWork programs and materials with parents of students, as described in more detail on this website (on the In Practice page, Whole School Initiatives).

We hope that just like the summer institute Toolkit minicourse, this website will give educators an opportunity to think, reflect, and converse with others about GoodWork issues they face in their own work. Knowing that we have facilitated this kind of reflection and conversation among educators, and hearing your own stories, keeps us energized (even during the summer months).