Recent

I heard some expatriate kids the other day say that they should "bounce."  I mention that I wasn't on US or Canadian soil as I'm not sure that "bounce" is a perfectly current term, though it very well may be.  I don't seem to bounce terribly high or long in the world of contemporary teenage slang, refusing to lose the thread of the right term long past its expiry date....

For years I believed that we were all united by commonalities. That the fact the we all endeavoured to eat three times a day and have certain nice things and basic necessities were uniting factors (and that, as a consequence, we could latch on to these things and be brought together). But I soon realized that what drew me to people as I have traveled the world over the years...

When you’re involved in a new venture of any kind, one of the most important elements of your work is to “spread the word”. Those of us closely involved in transforming THINK Global School from the vision of its founder, Joann McPike, to a fully-realized school have, therefore, been very diligent in sharing information about TGS in a variety of ways: website; meetings with educational, technological, and service organizations; newspaper...

One of my happiest reflections since we launched THINK Global School, is that both great schools and great ideas are fuelled by great coffee. I have been a fan of amazing coffee (and have stayed away from bad coffee) for as long as I can remember. I'm actually 6'9". It's only a thirty year love affair with coffee that has stunted my growth to a modest 5'10" and ended my...

One of the great points of intersection between education and entrepreneurship is that you sometimes don't know that you're looking for something until it's staring at you in the face.  The really elusive solution may have been elusive because it didn't dawn on us to focus our view close up. We at THINK Global School were invited last week to take part in the @elemenous Future of Education Global Awareness Panel....

I read a very good and well-received piece written by Leo Babahuta tonight. The argument really grabbed me - until the solution: "unschooling."  I loved the assertion that creativity is alive in children.  The concept of teachers as facilitators grabs me every time I read it and write about it myself.  And the discussion of the workplace of tomorrow being so very different is something we've written about extensively here...

In designing the academic program for THINK Global School, I have been thinking a great deal about curriculum lately. Curriculum – the collection of courses studied at a school, or the collection of courses studied during one’s career as a student. Curriculum Development is the creation of such collections of courses. My job with Mosaic Curriculum Consulting is to create such course collections to express the mission and vision of...

I'm writing this from 11,500 metres above water, above solid, pure dark.  Not long after we took off from Sydney at 14.55 local time, it began to get dark and stayed dark until about two hours before landing. While those who know me well know that I have traveled over a million miles and can be very relaxed about it, getting on a plane in one city and, say, 14...

The concept of risks often goes hand in hand with that of opportunities. In risks, we can find opportunities; and opportunities also carry a certain level of risks. I have often been amazed by the risk taking culture here in Asia. A very simple example that I can draw from Hong Kong is the enthusiasm in horse-racing. As one of the largest racing organizations in the world, the total turnover...

A few blogposts ago, I mentioned how I felt about leaving home and the fear associated with it. Today, here I am again, sitting in a Boeing 777 aircraft, 30,000 feet high, but this time, I’m going home – the home where I originally came from. Imagine yourself as a THINK Global School student. You are in a completely foreign city for 3 months, spending every day with your peers,...