You are late.

You are running to your car and you are late.

You are late for that presentation that you have been preparing for.

You are splashing through a puddle and the puddle has a rock.

You trip on the unseen rock in the puddle that you are splashing through. Maybe it was an imaginary rock (it probably wasn’t).

Your index cards are all a jumble. That could be a real problem, couldn’t it? The whole purpose is now enfolded upon itself. An accordion with no wind.

Things are out of order. There is no order. You stumble across Pt. 2 of a sandbox that explains the purpose of the sandbox that begins in Pt. 1. But the sandbox is imaginary. You find mention of All Time Educational Buzz Word #1. ATEBW#1 makes you suspicious – this is not my beautiful house!

You’re wary because ATEBW#1 is duplicitous. It and the other ATEBW#1 contenders (“social justice” “culturally relevant” “reform” “standardized” “benchmarks” “engagement” & “authenticity” for instance) are the kinds of words that are fixing us in place. We’re not able to grow from here and you’re the only one who knows this. You’re very sharp, after all. A presentation. A presentation is what’s needed.

You were going to change the world! You made index cards, dammit! Why can’t anyone fix the goddamn potholes in this city anyway?

We need to fix these puddle gaps. We need to fix these puddle gaps because a hole in one’s logic and a hole in the street are just as faulty. Is one any more real than the other? Is there any other way to fill a (w)hole than to supplicate it with the real? How would your request be addressed? A supplication of asphalt? A supplication of new knowledge?

We’ve got the shovels. Let’s fill in some holes. No more puddle splashing and splayed index cards.

Invite a friend. Bring a hard hat (best to also tell your friend to bring a hard hat). It’s time to landfill:

Beyond Pedagogy Meeting Dates
3/20 – Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram
4/17 – Blank Slate by Steven Pinker
5/8 – Inventing Kindergarten by Norman Brosterman
6/5 – Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism by Jay Lifton
6/19 – Operating Manual For Spaceship Earth by Buckminster Fuller
7/?? – Dialectics of Seeing by Susan Buck-Morse

The meetings are all scheduled to run from 5-7 p.m. at the Mentor LA Offices located at 1035 S. Grand Ave., 2nd Floor Los Angeles, CA 90015. Please park in the lot on the corner of Grand and 11th.

All are welcome!