Don't Be the Minotaur

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Teaching the myth of Theseus to 9th graders is a wonderful opportunity.  Their lives are social mazes to which they often lack a solution.  Our role as teachers is to provide the ball of wool that will enable safe navigation. 

Too often, however, we become the minotaur, intent on devouring the boys and girls that are sent our way.  These children become sacrificial lambs to the monster of our own egos or stubbornness.  Particularly in the realm of technology, we tend to hold onto our tried and true solutions, hesitating to recognize that those solutions only work for far simpler mazes.  The flow and availability of information coupled with the collaborative nature of learning make for intricate designs and near impossible exits for the students of the present and future.  As Mitchel Resnick wrote; "However, schools are only one part of a broader learning ecosystem.In the digital age, learning must become a daylong and lifelongexperience. National education initiatives should aim to improve learning opportunities not only in schools, but also in homes, community centers, museums, and workplaces."
Too academic?  it is also the challenge Cobb firstlays out for Ariadne (!) as her 'interview' in the film Inception  demonstrating that the mazes of the present are complex - unable to be solved by simple formula or rote definition.

As the Great American Teach In approaches, and students, educators, administrators and communities prepare to reflect on ideal learning environments, how many participants will identify their current paradigms as labyrinthine?  Our challenge as educators/parents/students is to construct webs and pathways, networks and connections that will allow free entrance and exit through the mazes we face on our learning journeys.