Laurie O’Donnell

The back cover of this political thriller sets the scene for Rogue Nation by Alan Clements:

‘The year is 2014. The Republicans have recaptured the White House, the Conservatives have just won a second term at Westminister and hardliners dominate Russia. In a small corner of north-western Europe, the Scots have just narrowly voted for independence, a decision they immediately regret.’

Nothing in the above looks too far fetched. Add in the notion that the English are happy to see Scotland make its own way in the world – breaking the political union but retaining the social union – and we have a highly credible  backdrop for a work of fiction.

The book’s structure makes it easy to read (the pace of Dan Brown meets the erudition of The West Wing) as the author takes us on a journey: from the White House to the Kremlin; through the streets of Edinburgh to the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood; from Dennistoun to the BBC at Pacific Quay in Glasgow. Covering everything from party politics, religious sectarianism, nationalism/unionism; the army to the global military power struggle.

The novel is sprinkled with great quotes from Benjamin Franklin – the subject of the main character’s thesis. One of my favourite quotes has a very contemporary resonance to it:
‘Those who would give up liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety’.

A great summer read and an admirable first novel. I look forward to the movie – hopefully starring somebody Scottish!

I am starting to make some progress through my pile of summer reading as detailed in this week’s Times Educational Supplement Scotland and  finished ‘What Would Google Do? by Jeff  Jarvis over the weekend.

Since visiting Google HQ in Mountain View, California last August I have been  interested in how this company, which is barely 11 years old, is contributing to the remaking of our economy, culture and society. Is Google the corporartion of the future?  I described it earlier as like a university run by the students. What are the implications for education if success is measured on the basis of 21st century creativity, innovation and ingenuity rather than passing exams that test 19th century skills and knowledge?

Jarvis writes the new media column for The Guardian and keeps the www.buzzmachine.com blog. His own post on the book talks about reverse engineering the Google approach and then applying the principles to a range of industries.

Jarvis starts the book by picking out what he calls ‘Google Rules’ which include:

• Put customers  in charge  – they can be heard around the world and make a massive impact on companies
• The mass market has been replaced by a mass of niches
• Traditional product marketing has been replaced by conversations
• Enabling customers to collaborate is the new premium service/product
• Build networks and platforms
• Openess is the key to success

Jarvis then considers how Google applies these rules across its business and provides a fascinating insight into how the company works and the trends it is both driving and adapting to. The section on how Google ads work is worth the cost of the book in itself. I found it absolutely fascinating to see the maths behind Google ads. Google has reinvented advertising, disrupting the old economic model that newspapers and tv have relied on in the process.

The section ‘If Google Ruled the World’ is a speculative piece as Jarvis considers how the Google approach might be applied to everything from the media, retail and manaufacturing to education and public institutions. At times the argument is a bit thin and to his credit Jarvis accepts the limits of both the approach and his imagination. Again the attempt is well worth it and full of valuable insights about the trends we can expect to see over the next few years.

As a final thought I noted that Google looks for people with 5 sets of skills:

• Analytical reasoning
• Communication skills
• Willingness to experiment
• Playing in teams
• Passion and leadership

How well are we preparing our children, young people and students for this world? How well would a Scottish school leaver or university gradute be able to compete in this new world?

Just finished reading Carol Dweck’s ‘Mindset – The New Psychology of Success’.

I think this is an important book for anyone involved in education and very worthwhile for the general reader. Her theory is that there are two basic ways of looking at the world – or ‘mindsets’. One is a ‘fixed mindset’ in which intelligence, talent, ability and skill are fixed. Success in the fixed mindset is about showing how smart you.  The other view is the ‘growth mindset’ where success follows learning and failure suggests more effort is required rather than being a statement on any innate qualities.

Dweck draws on the creative sphere, sport, business leadership  and importantly from the world of education and parenting to construct and illustrate her argument.

Lots here for teachers and parents especially around positive and negative labels. Most teachers and parents understand how negative labels, eg stupid, clumsy etc, can be destructive. Dweck’s research also points to the destructive nature of positive labels, eg clever, smart, skillfull, talented, creative etc. These positive labels tend to build a fixed mindset, create a fear of failure and consequently hinder both learning and long-term success.

Dweck has recently been working with Winning Scotland Foundation and LTS is currently exploring a small scale pilot of her Brainology computer program.

I had the had opportunity to hear Malcolm Gladwell’s keynote on his then recently published book ‘The Tipping Point’ at NECC 2004 in New Orleans. LTS had taken 10 ICT Masterclassers to the event as part of a study visit to see what was happening in the world of educational technology beyond Scotland. We all really enjoyed watching this great storyteller hold an audience of 10,000 absolutely spellbound.

His latest book ‘Outliers – The Story of Success’  is very accessible, he really knows how to craft a story. From an educational perspective some of his themes are very interesting and make this a very worthwhile read:

•  The 10,000 hour rule  – I think has resonance with all learning from languages and maths to playing a musical instrument
• The importance of the month in which you are born – what a difference a year makes when you are starting school aged 4.5 rather than 5.5 years old!
• The language of mathematics, school holidays and much more…

His main message is around the often unacknowledged factors that lie behind high achievement. As always with with a book like this the reader is left with more questions than answers – Gladwell does not pretend to be a scientist (or even a social scientist). Nonetheless this is a thought provoking book and a lot of fun to read.

Gladwell is is going to be speaking in Glasgow in June and I am really looking forward to another evening in the company of one of the world’s best public speakers.

Another book I picked up on holiday was Andrew Carnegie’s autobiography ‘My Own Story’. What a remarkable story of the man born in Dunfermline in 1835 of ‘poor but honest parents, of good kith and kin’ who becomes one of the richest people in history (a good story in itself) and then gives it all away.

After his father’s home based steam weaving business collapsed the family emigrated to the USA in 1848. Andrew started off working as a bobbin boy in  factory then delivered telegraphs before building investments in a range of industries including the railways, bridge building, oil, iron and most significantly steel.

In 1901 he sold his steel mills and ‘resolved to stop accumulating’ and start ‘the infinitely more serious and difficult task of wise distribution’. By the time of his death 18 years later he had endowed 3,000 libraries, 30,000 church organs, provided funds for scholarships and pensions, created the Temple of Peace in The Hague and famously bought Pittencrieff Park for the people of his home town and much more.

I am  mindful that autobiography does not always provide the best source of historical record and his Wikipedia entry covers a number of controversies from his life. Some may say that all he did was give back what he gained from the labour of others. A remarkable man and a remarkable life nonetheless.

One of the books I read on holiday was Barack Obama’s ‘The Audacity of Hope – Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream’.  It is well written, especially for a politician, and an easy read.

By the end of the book I had gained some insights into the constraints (self?) imposed on a mainstream US politician and  a better understanding of where he stands on many of the major issues that divide his country (he is against the war in Iraq and also against same sex marriage).  Despite my scepticism I warmed to the optimistic, open and pragmatic approach he has taken to navigating a ‘third way’ (reminiscent of Tony Blair in the period 1995-97 after John Smith’s death!).

There is no doubt that his manifesto represents a bit of a challenge to the status quo in the US . It won’t be radical enough for many and far too radical for  others. I wouldn’t like to bet on the result of the US Presidential race in November – enough to say that I got it wrong on the last two occasions.

The second book in my pile of books to read over the Summer was Charles Leadbeater’s ‘We-Think’.

Charles is signed-up to be one of the keynote speakers at the LTS organised Scottish Learning Festival in September. The inside cover of the book describes Leadbeater as ‘one if the world’s leading authorities on innovation and creativity’ so just what we need to inspire the 7,000 teachers and others who will be at SLF2008.

I have enjoyed reading Leadbeater over many years and admire the way that he carefully constructs and illustrates an argument rather than just asserting an opinion.

To my mind this is one of the best books on the wider implications of the web. Most of the books I have read overplay what is different about the web, i.e. they have no sense of history. They also tend to see the web as either entirely positive or completely negative rather than a complex set of tools that will be used by people with conflicting motives to meet contrasting ends.

Leadbeater rightly points out that ‘many thoughtful and sensible people … have grave reservations about the impact and implications of the web’.  He argues, however, that whilst being mindful of the dangers the web is on balance a positive force for democracy, equality and freedom. I think this is right as tyranny thrives on controlling information, denying access to  knowledge and constraining communication.

The We-Think website  claims that the book  ‘explores how the web is changing our world, creating a culture in which more people than ever can participate, share and collaborate, ideas and information.’ Leadbeater put this into practice when he published a draft of the We-Think online for comment and inviting further collaboration on the text via the website.

At the heart of ‘We Think’ is the concept that ‘ideas take life when they are shared’ and the web makes that process both instantaneous and global.

The book and website are well worth a read/visit. It made me think a lot about how much further we have got to go to embrace mass collaboration in Scottish education and our wider society.  I am looking forward to briefing Charles prior to SLF2008 and to hearing what I am sure will be a brilliant keynote on Thursday 25 September in Glasgow.

PS The next book on my Summer reading pile is lovely new translation of ‘War and Peace’ that I got as birthday present. I loved reading Tolstoy’s ‘Anna Karenina’ last year and if ‘War and Peace’ is half as good then I’ll be delighted. However at over 1300 pages it might be some time before I get around to blogging about it

I took  most of this week off to catch-up with stuff around the house and the garden. It was the first week of the school holidays in Dundee so a great time to be on leave.  I still haven’t got over the feeling, from my time as a teacher, that the first week in July is the start of the summer.

I associate the school summer holidays with reading and have just finished Oliver James’ ‘Affluenza’. It is a good read and makes a lot of sense but left me thinking that there was not much that he had to say that I didn’t already know.

His basic premise is that we have become infected to a greater or lesser extent with what he calls a ‘virus’ that makes us confuse needs with wants. As a psychologist he goes on to claim that the values of what he calls ’selfish capitalism’ are closely associated with growing levels of ‘emotional distress’: ‘the extent to which a developed nation is Selfish Capitalist and infected by Influenza is crucial to the well-being of its inhabitants’.  He makes a lot of the importance of early learning, parental bonding  (drawing on attachment theory)  and the importance of ‘being’ over ‘having’ as vaccines against the virus.

Other vaccines on Oliver’s prescription include:

• Be beautiful (not attractive)
• Consume What You Need (Not What Advertisers Want You to Want)
• Educate Your Children (Don’t Brainwash Them)
• Be Authentic (Not Sincere), Vivacious (Not Hyperactive) and Playful (Not Game-playing)

All sounds like pretty good sense to me. Next step, use the rest of the Summer to educate my children (not brainwash them) so that they only consume what they need (not what the advertisers want them to want)! What do you think my chances are?

My colleague Ewan McIntosh’s post on ‘Quirkology – there is no career path just luck‘ makes for interesting reading.

I left the following comment:
‘My take on what most people call luck is that it’s where preparation meets opportunity. Hard work is (usually/often) a necessary but insufficient condition for good luck. By and large you also need to have the awareness, self-confidence and attitude to risk to make your own luck.’

I think the work of Martin Seligman is important here. Seligman writes on positive psychology and what he calls learned optimism. In the Scottish context the work of Carol Craig and the Centre for Confidence and Well-Being is also significant.

Seligman provides a great message for anyone in education, ie that we can escape from the legacy of low expectations and low self esteem, learn to be more optimistic and as a consequence be happier. The optimism that Seligman promotes is not not blind decontexualised optimism but rather a more balanced approach to life (there are aspects of life and circumstances of living that lend themselves to a healthy pessimism as well as an aversion to risk).

The strength of Craig’s work is that it is located within the Scottish cultural context, is research based, provides a narrative on how we got here and, for me most importantly, does not oversell the benefits of positive thinking.

For Scotland to prosper we need to escape from the self-destructive fatalism that was best expressed by an old school friend of mine who once said: ‘why bother eating healthy food – you might get run over by a bus tomorrow?’

Both Seligman and Craig provide insights that need to be understood and internalised across the Scottish public sector. In the educational context this means getting them embedded into the curriculum and promoted more generally as key components of a Smarter and Healthier Scotland.

LTS has added a lovely set of classroom resources to support the forthcoming movie ‘The Waterhorse’. It has been placed within the context of Scotland’s Culture as the myth of the Loch Ness Monster is one of the first things that people from other countries associate with Scotland. Our talented staff , in particular Patrica Kemp and Mark Oxbrow, have once again shown why the LTS Online Service continues to be the most popular website for Scottish teachers looking for resources to support learning and teaching.

I have just finished Ian McEwan’s ‘On Chesil Beach’. This is a beautifully crafted novel with hardly a wasted word. An acutely observed piece that took me back to McEwan’s early short stories and the exploration of social taboos, eg ‘First Love, Last Rights’. It was one of these books that I just didn’t want to finish – it was all over a bit too quick …

The Cohen Brother’s latest masterpiece ‘No Country for Old Men’ is just great entertainment. Wild, funny and violent in equal measure. They are back to their best with this movie which for ranks beside my favourite of theirs ‘The Big Lebowski’. Tommy Lee Jones is wonderful as the Sheriff – he doesn’t need to act but just plays himself in whatever movie he is in and whatever part he has.