TED Video: Being Different

February 10, 2010

I found this TED video by Derek Sivers really interesting. He presents, in a simple and somewhat comical way, how we should perceive different people, cultures, practices, etc. He argues, that although we may consider our “way” (way can be defined as object, practice, culture, people, etc.) as an obvious and effective “way”, others with differing backgrounds, experiences, culture, etc. may argue their method as being the most obvious and effective – paradoxically, we may both be right. I think his talk has great insight to how we structure our instructional practices and activities, learning outcomes, evaluation and assessment techniques, etc. It seems many teachers plan for x, evaluate for x, yet when their students learn y, they punish their students with failing grades, etc. Perhaps the error is in the design and communication, not the interpretation. A second issue this video made me reflect on is how today’s students do indeed learn differently than my generation (and of course all previous generations). This is not to say we need to scrap our current educational practices, however, it does invite pedagogical reflection and consideration of current educational efforts, models, etc.