Face-to-Face With Malcolm Gladwell at NECC 2009
Zachary Saale
The first keynote speaker of NECC 2009 was critically-acclaimed author Malcolm Gladwell. He wrote some bestselling books, such as The Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers. Gladwell chose a topic that seemed very special to many of the audience members, which surrounded the idea of “meaningful learning environments.” He discussed this topic in a rather unconventional manner;
the popular band Fleetwood Mac served as Malcolm’s vessel in which he ferried the audience’s attention. Zach Goodwin was also on hand to live-blog the event and provide a litmus-test of the audience’s reactions.
Fleetwood Mac has always been known for its quick rise to fame after they released the album “Rumours.” This collection of songs proved to be the big ticket that this somewhat unknown band had been looking for. Gladwell told this tale, but then he made an enlightening observation:
Not only had Fleetwood Mac made other albums before their self-titled “Fleetwood Mac,” and their follow-up, “Rumours;” they had produced a total of 15 previous albums.
This brought Malcolm to his first point; creating a masterpiece often takes a long time, and a great amount of work.
Fleetwood Mac did not create their best-selling album on their first, or even second, try; it took 16 tries to get it right. The same applies for many of the world’s greatest artists and scholars. The pattern, as Gladwell explains it, is that it usually takes at least 10 years of experience to create a great work.
The Beatles played 1200 live shows before ever becoming a big hit.
Learning and succeeding requires much more than just talent or “smarts;” it requires a great deal of work. Students who put more effort into their schoolwork generally succeed at a greater rate than those who don’t. KIPP school programs throughout the country have had great results in using the “more effort” model. Students enrolled in KIPP schools spend 60% more time in class on average than their public school counterparts.
Like
Fleetwood Mac, students also need to experiment with ways of learning to find what works best for them. Strict regimental methods of teaching are ineffective, as every student is different and need to find their “groove.” Students also need to build on their weaknesses instead of their strengths; compensation will work much better than capitalization. More effort is required, thus making the student more likely to succeed, rather than slide by. Malcolm used entrepreneurs as an example; nearly 30% of all entrepreneurs were, at some point, diagnosed with a learning disability. Those disabilities forced these people to create the skills necessary to be succesfull in the business world. In place of reading and writing, different skills developed; such as communication, delegation, and problem-solving skills.
Finally, Malcolm brought all these points together with one closing lesson: Feedback is a necessary part of any successful learning environment. Timely and targeted feedback is crucial in creating an environment that nurtures meaningful learning.
http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/06/...-at-necc-2009/