When Addition Becomes Subtraction

Public education supporter Jamie Vollmer notes that during their first 260 years, public schools played a very narrow role: "they were created to teach basic reading, writing, and arithmetic skills, and to cultivate values that serve a democratic society (some history and civics implied)."

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Categories: Education | Leadership | Family

20 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 7:30 AM

When Opportunity Beeps

It takes time and practice to see things that can hide in plain sight, like addiction and opportunity.

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Categories: Creativity | Entrepreneurialism

18 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 3:32 PM

Guest Post: Recess First

by Laurel Anderson, Youth & Schools Manager, The Orfalea Foundations

Schools set a good example for students when they apply new knowledge in practical ways. We have learned, for example, that rescheduling recess just before lunch improves the eating habits and classroom behavior of children, providing a better environment for learning, and builds better habits for healthy kids.

Several Santa Barbara schools have acted on this information, including Washington Elementary, Franklin Elementary, Cesar Chavez Charter School, Adams Elementary, the Santa Barbara Community Academy, and early adopter McKinley Elementary, which started with this new schedule at the end of last year.

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Categories: Education | Nutrition | Family

7 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 8:57 PM

Develop An Eye for Opportunity

Because I couldn't read well as a youngster, I learned from direct experience. Experience is a harsh teacher, since the test comes first and the lesson follows. Still, I embraced every chance to participate in life. I started businesses, like my vegetable stand. I skipped school to watch my father's stockbroker at work. One thing I saw for myself was that to succeed in school, you had to be good at everything, but to succeed as an adult, you only had to be good at one or two things.

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Categories: Creativity | Education | Disabilities | Entrepreneurialism

6 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 3:37 PM

Ethical Quandaries Build Ethical People

We take it for granted that schoolroom assignments, quizzes and tests improve a child's education by forcing him or her to practice skills. Why, then, do we go out of our way to prevent children from experiencing the sort of daily conflicts and challenges that test and improve their judgment and ethical development?

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Categories: Education | Ethics | Family

9 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 8:24 PM