Succeeding When You're Supposed to Fail - The 6 Enduring Principles of High Achievement

This primer for teachers (prospective and practicing) asks readers to question the historical present and their relation to it, and in so doing, to construct their own understandings of what it means to teach, to study, to become "educated" in the present moment.

Curriculum theory is the scholarly effort – inspired by theory in the humanities, arts and interpretive social sciences – to understand the curriculum, defined here as "complicated conversation." Rather than the formulation of objectives to be evaluated by (especially standardized) tests, curriculum is communication informed by academic knowledge, and it is characterized by educational experience. Pinar recasts school reform as school deform in which educational institutions devolve into cram schools preparing for standardized exams, and traces the history of this catastrophe starting in 1950s.

Changes in the Second Edition: Introduces Pinar’s formulation of allegories-of-the-present — a concept in which subjectivity, history, and society become articulated through the teacher’s participation in the complicated conversation that is the curriculum; features a new chapter on Weimar Germany (as an allegory of the present); includes new chapters on the future, and on the promises and risks of technology.

Jack Elliot nearly choked when he realized those words had come from his lips! What had just happened? How had Kayla White gotten the most confirmed bachelor in Chicago to propose?

Maybe it was her cool facade and quick temper that were so tempting. Jack knew he could awaken the passions simmering below her surface. And he wanted to be the one Kayla turned to in her time of need. But still…marriage? Then Jack thought of waking up with Kayla every morning and he said…

"PLEASE?"

"An essential addition to any library of Canadian art history." -- National Post

A Globe and Mail Top 100 Book for 2010 and Shortlisted for the 2011 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction

"Ross King's collective look at the Group of Seven not only paints vivid portraits of the individual artists, but it reaffirms their place in Canadian cultural history and offers a clearer understanding of what it was like to persist in artistic activity." -- Globe and Mail

Beginning in 1912, Defiant Spirits traces the artistic development of Tom Thomson and the future members of the Group of Seven, Franklin Carmichael, Lawren Harris, A. Y. Jackson, Franz Johnston, Arthur Lismer, J. E. H. MacDonald, and Frederick Varley, over a dozen years in Canadian history. Working in an eclectic and sometimes controversial blend of modernist styles, they produced what an English critic celebrated in the 1920s as the most vital group of paintings" of the 20th century. Inspired by Cezanne, Van Gogh and other modernist artists, they tried to interpret the Ontario landscape in light of the strategies of the international avant-garde. Based after 1914 in the purpose-built Studio Building for Canadian Art, the young artists embarked on what Lawren Harris called "an all-engrossing adventure": travelling north into the Canadian Shield and forging a style of painting appropriate to what they regarded as the unique features of Canada's northern landscape.

Rigorously researched and drawn from archival documents and letters, Defiant Spirits constitutes a "group biography," reconstructing the men's aspirations, frustrations and achievements. It details not only the lives of Tom Thomson and the members of the Group of Seven but also the political and social history of Canada during a time when art exhibitions were venues for debates about Canadian national identity and cultural worth.

Neuroscience shows that instinct has a leading role in complex decision-making, yet imaginative play is the most direct means of activating our creativity and problem-solving abilities. Based on over 20 years of Cholle's wide-ranging professional experience and insights, The Intuitive Compass offers a fascinating new approach to innovative problem-solving, decision-making, and sustainable value creation. Through a concept known as Intuitive Intelligence, Cholle shows how anyone can improve creative brainpower by harnessing the balance between reason and instinct.

• Explores the tension between linear efficiency and random play, and the synergy between reason and instinct
• Helps us realize our natural tendencies to think holistically, think paradoxically, notice the unusual, or lead by influence
• Shows these tenets in action through case studies of the luxury house Hermes, Paris; Google and its paradoxical work culture; Virgin America, and its ability to notice the unusual about what matters for consumers and exert leadership in its industry

The Intuitive Compass shows how to thrive within chaos and offers actionable information for reinventing our path to sustainable success.

The Industrial Age has taught us how to break problems into parts, but not how to build parts into solutions. We’re baffled when we’re confronted with complex challenges like recession, political gridlock, climate change, childhood obesity, pollution, and failing schools. We see them as separate ills, each requiring a separate remedy–if we can imagine a remedy at all.

Why are so many jobs disappearing? Why are a few people getting rich while the rest of us struggle? How can we pay for the costs of healthcare? Why can’t our trusted institutions behave ethically? What’s the cause of governmental gridlock? How can we afford to educate our children? How do we stop damaging the ecosystem? Why do we create ugliness?

Author Marty Neumeier suggests that these problems are merely symptoms of a much larger problem–our inability to deal with interconnected, non-linear, and amorphous challenges. It’s not that our problems are too difficult, he argues, but that our skills are too basic. Success in the post-industrial era demands that we move our thinking from the static, the linear, and the step-by-step to the dynamic, the holistic, and the all-at-once.

In this sweeping vision for personal mastery in a post-industrial era, Neumeier presents five metaskills–feeling, seeing, dreaming, making, and learning–that can help you reach your true potential. They’ll keep you two or three steps ahead of the machines, the algorithms, and the outsourcing forces of the “robot curve”. They’ll also bring you greater creativity, higher purpose, and a deeper sense of fulfillment.

Metaskills is more than a manifesto. It’s a compass for visionary leaders, policymakers, educators, and planners. It’s a creative framework for designers, engineers, scientists, and artists. It’s a picture of the future that allows people from a wide range of disciplines, industries, and professions to envision new ways to create value together. Perhaps more important, it’s a long-overdue examination of what it means to be human in the 21st century.

Why does real innovation elude so many companies, including the biggest corporations with top resources? The problem, in all cases, is that they are lacking inspiration. In Look At More, Andy Stefanovich outlines inspiration as a discipline and a systematic approach for innovation that when applied consistently, brings long-term, sustainable results. It is about learning to think differently and getting others to do the same. By focusing on the front end of the Inspiration?Creativity?Innovation continuum, Look at More brings a fresh perspective to a popular conversation that is experiencing fatigue. Inspiration is the most effective way of unleashing innovation and this book shows you how.

• Introduces Play's LAMSTAIH process, which stands for Look At More Stuff; Think About It Harder, a systematic approach for harnessing inspiration
• Outlines the five key drivers for finding new ideas that lead to innovation--Mood, Mindset, Mechanisms, Measurement, Momentum
• Filled with strategies, tactics, insights, and cases that show how to instill inspiration at all levels

CEOs, managers and entrepreneurs alike will find Look At More an invaluable tool for navigating the ever-hungry innovation mandate and turning inspiration into a strategic competitive advantage.