Earlier this month I had a wonderful conversation with Dr Mark Weston @shiftparadigm and Nick Brierley @mythsysizer as part of the new podcast – aussieEDcast that we are developing.
Those of you who are active on twitter would no doubt be aware of Mark –aka. Shiftparadigm. Put simply he is one of the kindest, most respected educational voices on twitter and he is the spiritual guide for the aussieED team. His enthusiasm feeds our passion!
During the chat Mark was asked a Star Wars framed question by Nick, which prompted me to do like wise. I asked Mark, “In Star Wars the Storm-Troopers who were under the Jedi mind control repeated ObiWan and said, ‘These are not the droids we are looking for.’ Well, what are the changes you are looking for in education?”
Mark spoke about different paradigms. Some where people refused change and were reluctant to alter their mindset. Another paradigm was where people were keen to explore, try, experiment and discover what a new model, where technology frees teachers from arduous work and enables twice as much learning as was previously possible, looks like. He spoke about these people being revolutionaries! They are the ones changing the status quo, but they are few in numbers and they need to attract others.
Like all revolutionaries those of us who are pushing the envelope will be more successful if we search and find others who are disenchanted with the old paradigm and are eagerly looking for change. This made me think….
Since I was a boy I wanted to be a Storm-Trooper. I never played as Han Solo or Luke Skywalker, to me the Storm-Troopers were super cool. As an adult I appreciate their metaphor. They are hard workers. They do what they are told and the get the job done. Often it’s the job that no one else wants to do! But Mark’s way of thinking changes that. Instead of getting in there and fighting for my beliefs like a good Storm-Trooper, should I embrace the real role of a revolutionary and act as a lightning rod to draw others to the cause just like Princess Leia does? Do I use aussieED and my blog, etc to do this and am I actually already doing it.
In effect am I turning into Princess Leia?
But this Princess Leia phenomena goes further. I feel that I am surrounded by other revolutionaries. Great people like Han Solo, Leonie Bennett, Chewbacca, Starr Sackstein, Yoda and Jena Ball to name a few. It is funny that once you join the revolution your passion seems to draw others in. Are we all becoming Princess Leia?
Brett Salakas
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