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| Planning
tomorrow's schools |
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as core-curriculum providers. Here our own research points strongly to
the need for a four-part curriculum, as important in continuing education as it is in
childhood and teenage years:
1. A personal-growth curriculum,
involving self-confidence, motivation, communications skills and relationship skills.
2. A lifeskills curriculum, including
self-managing, creative problem-solving, career planning and replanning, economics,
conflict-management and computer-based technology.
3. A learning-to-learn and learning-to-think
curriculum, including the type of brain-compatible "how to" skills
covered extensively in this book, so that lifelong learning can be fun-filled, fast and
effective.
4. A content curriculum, with integrated
themes.
Although all are interrelated, we have purposely placed
content last - reversing most current school practices.
We have placed personal growth as first, for major
reasons:
 Nearly everyone has learning blocks, but traditional
schooling has succeeded in only one major way: in turning most people off, at a time when
their enthusiasm for learning is vital.
Emotion is the gateway to learning - and each person's
emotional state is affected by communications skills, relationship skills, motivation and
self-esteem: the personal-growth skills. If those aspects are not addressed, the gate will
close.
Real listening and speaking skills are of high importance
in all aspects of life and work, yet are downplayed in many educational institutions.
Self-confidence and self-esteem are vital to all learning,
and education that fails to address them will fail in its other tasks.
In a world where everyone needs
to be a self-manager, practical lifeskills training also needs to be included in all
education, from pre-school to advanced business study. These skills include: creative
problem-solving, critical thinking, leadership skills, global perspective, the confidence
to play a full role in determining the future of society, and the ability to plan one's
life in an era of incredible change.
Learning-how-to-learn has been a
continuing theme of this book and is the bridge to all content learning. Learn how to
learn and you can apply the principles to anything. Yet this most important of all
specific skills is seldom taught in school.
Contents Page Preface
Introduction
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