I could work on topic xxx but there is
probably somebody or some group that has already thought about it or
done it. So, if I was to be rational and systematic, I would approach
the existing literature and the main shakers and movers and list the
main claims, concerns and issues of the various stakeholders.
I could then draw on my experience as a
curriculum developer to sketch out the topic's cognitive scope (what
breadth and depth), sequence (where to begin, progress and end) and
pace (how quickly to move through the material).
I could, along the way, refer to a set
of frameworks that help to avoid parochiality – for example:
Expanding horizons: (think
Cosmic zoom) ie Portsoy, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK, EU, global,
planetary (ref Ken Wilber and 'no boundaries')
Level of Enterprises: micro,
small, medium, large (national corporations), trans national
corporations (TNC), UN system esp IMF and World Bank (eg Davos,
Bilderberg)
Organisational Structure:
Voluntary, NGOs, CSO, CBO (community based organisations), mutuals,
cooperatives, trade unions, political parties, QUANGO, PPI, employers
organisation – local to global
ISSUES: climate, environment,
nuclear, vulnerability, facism, sexism, ageism, migration, politics
and economics (right, centre, left), financial sector, race to the
bottom, religions, ETC
Stakeholders: top down, middle
in, bottom up – special interest groups (activists)
My long term quest has been to find
better ways to be human (see below). But that is a huge topic. After
I have sketched the big picture (eg ref the bighistory project) I
could focus on some details. However, the devil will tempt me with
simple slogans and soundbites. And I will carelessly adopt those that
match items of my nurturing as a pre-mature human being in a given
time and place. But forewarned is forearmed.
Noam Chomsky is one of my sources of
inspiration and forewarning. He reckons that there are two sets of
principles - the principles of power and privilege (roughly right
wing eg politicians) and the principles of truth and justice (roughly
left wing eg intellectuals). They oppose each other. Chomsky exposes
the pretences of those who claim to be the bearers of truth and
justice. He shows that in fact these intellectuals are the bearers of
power and privilege and all the evil that attends it.
It is now clear to me that, however
wide and deep, cognitive scope is not enough. The affective dimension
has to be acknowledged and allowed for, especially by the global
shakers and movers. But that line of thinking can be a topic for
another day.
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