I imagine a school system that recognizes learning is natural, that a love of learning is normal, and that real learning is passionate learning. A school curriculum that values questions above answers...creativity above fact regurgitation...individuality above conformity.. and excellence above standardized performance..... And we must reject all notions of 'reform' that serve up more of the same: more testing, more 'standards', more uniformity, more conformity, more bureaucracy.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of a natural and passionate approach to learning over standardized testing and conformity.
Tom Peters advocates for an educational system that nurtures a genuine love for learning and values creativity and individuality over rigid standards and conformity. He criticizes traditional reform efforts that merely perpetuate existing flaws in the system, suggesting that true learning thrives in environments that encourage curiosity, passion, and personal expression rather than bureaucratic uniformity.
In practice
In a discussion about educational reform, one could quote this to emphasize the need for innovative approaches to teaching.
My half-baked reading of history is that we continue to go through these waves of entrepreneurial explosion followed by merger mania and consolidation. Out of that come big sluggish companies that eventually collapse under the weight of what they've created, and are killed off by the next wave of entrepreneurs.
The simple act of paying positive attention to people has a great deal to do with productivity.
Nearly 100% of innovation-from business to politics-is inspired not by "market analysis" but by people who are supremely pissed off by the way things are.
Leaders don't create followers, they create more leaders.
The little people will get even, which is one of a thousand reasons why they are not little people at all. If you're a jerk as a leader, you will be torpedoed. And usually it won't be by your vice presidents; it will be on the loading dock at 3am when no supervisors are around.
Champions are pioneers, and pioneers get shot at. The companies that get the most from champions, therefore, are those that have rich support network so their pioneers will flourish. This point is so important it's hard to overstress. No support systems, no champions. No champions, no innovations.
Mathematics is being lazy. Mathematics is letting the principles do the work for you so that you do not have to do the work for yourself
When I am reading a book, whether wise or silly, it seems to me to be alive and talking to me.
I look at [books] as a child looks at cakes - with glittering eyes and a watering mouth, imagining the pleasure that awaits him.
To teach in a manner that respects and cares for the souls of our students is essential if we are to provide the necessary conditions where learning can most deeply and intimately begin.
Our children are our only hope for the future, but we are their only hope for their present and their future.
If we want to invest in the prosperity of our nation, we must invest in the education of our children so that their talents may be fully employed.
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