What do you get if you add self-education, adventure, reflection, motivation and tall ships. Answer you get Captain Bob!
Tall-ships training – just one of Captain Bob’s projects for youth
I found this remarkable man and his site whilst looking for stuff on motivation. It is a treasure-trove of great ideas.
There is much to learn from him re many areas of life.
Here are his ‘revolutionary’ (but common-sense) views concerning the way we deal with (abuse) our youth. He is talking about the USA abut things are about as bad in the UK and other countries;
Our Society is at WAR with Our Youth!
The following articles illustrate the urgent need for education reform. Teenagers, in increasing numbers, are walking away from the public education system. Some high schools have a 70% dropout rate. More money is not the answer, the answer is found in alternative education methods.
We are at WAR with 30% of our teenagers, the one’s who drop out of high school. We are loosing this war, because our weapon is to pass MORE laws that pressure them to comply with the system. This has not worked and never will. These young people need alternative opportunity, NOT JAIL CELLS! After all, there is not much difference between a classroom where one is not wanted and a jail cell where one is not wanted. To many, a classroom is a prison without bars.
Many of these teenagers are highly intelligent, but they cannot adapt to passive learning environments, they reject the classroom form of education, therefore, they simply choose to walk away from the system. Through self-fulfilling prophecy they consider themselves failures and become a burden on society. In a different learning environment they can discover their natural talent, develop it and become productive citizens.
- Mindset of Street Gangs
- They are highly intelligent, ambitious, want to learn, and be recognized as an achiever.
- Wiz Kids go to Jail
- Wiz kids are put in jail because they refuse to conform to passive classroom learning environments. Because the education system labels them FAILURES, they turn to criminal activity to be recognized.
- Drugging Students to Accept the Status Quo
- Society is now drugging our youth with behavior control pills, nulling the skill that makes them creative. They learn to accept the status quo. This new generation may make a comfortable living, but they will have lost the ability to be innovators. Soon, America will have a generation of people who can earn “A’s” in the classroom, but have no vision in the real world.
- Teaching Young Students to be Failures
- The typical high school teaches 30% of its students to be failures. This is because the curriculum only recognizes academic skills and students intelligence is measured by this standard. Non academic skills and associated intelligence are ignored, skills these students could excel at.
To go to Captain Bob’s website including the ‘let’s-care-better-for-our-youth’ section click HERE
His Table of Contents is useful because it is a large site
Is this the No 1 site on experience-based motivation?
I think it is pure gold. The issue is how to get local governments and communities and education authorities to listen – really listen and really committ sving the millions that youth-gone-toxic cost our societies – let alone thir own misery!
He’s collected some pretty good quotes as well. E.g.;
“Leadership is constantly changing, and survivors learn to change with it.”
“Yesterday, natural resources defined power. Today, knowledge is power. Yesterday, leaders commanded and controlled. Today, leaders empower and coach. Yesterday, leaders were warriors. Today, they are facilitators. Yesterday, managers directed. Today, managers delegate. Yesterday, supervisors flourished. Today, supervisors vanish.”
– Dr. Denis Waitley, The Toastmaster, December 2000.
—–0—–
SEE also Learning Motivation for Success
All postings to this site relate to the central model in the PhD.
Summaries are HERE
Two thoughts: 1. The substitution of politically motivated policies for sound principles of education in American public schools hinder the ability of students to gain an education appropriate for success in modern society.
2. A change in perception is required in which public educaiton is perceived as a privilege, rather than a governmental required “right”. You may note that school aged children in Iraq, and other parts of the world where access to public education has long been denied, are most eager to actively participate in the learning process once given the opportunity. American children, by contrast, often perceive their attendance at school as being forced against their will. No wonder they choose the path of non-participation and drop out at the earliest opportunity.
Have you noticed how often children behave in opposition to directives? The application of a little reverse psychology, perhaps denying access to esteemed schools until students freely “choose” to attend, might provide needed student motivation for greater academic success once they are enrolled.
Substantial insight to the potential, challenges, and obstacles that currently litter the public education landscape in America may be gained from reading the novel, The Twilight’s Last Gleaming On Public Education. The author constructs an intriguing, socially relevant, and enlightening story, which possesses may of the elements commonly found in just about every school systems throughout the United States. You may view a portion of this book online by contacting the publisher at http://www.Xlibris.com, clicking on their Bookstore link, then Searching by title. More than a few strategically placed, unexpected twists, should maintain your interest throughout the reading of this fascinating story. Check it out for yourself. Then help spread the call for improved educational opportunities.
Comment by edbooked — June 25, 2008 @ 4:25 pm