1. Breakfast Talk 4/26/2014
Marie Bjerede | Bobbie Jager | Mary Kremer
BackChannel:
https://todaysmeet.com/Etwportland or
http://goo.gl/SjkUIP
#etwportland
Guest Wifi: Mimosa (no password)

2. why women, and not men?
one reason: we bring a
different, authentic, and
important voice that is
suppressed or altered in
the presence of the
dominant culture/voice
if this is true…
if we are here to explore and raise our voice, let’s spend some time today honing it

3. why is the edtech discussion so shrill?
pundits and politicians making
hay while playing with kids’
future?
entrenched interests putting
profit ahead of children?
institutions imposing their will
and taking our autonomy?
maybe so.
or just maybe…
when it comes to our children, we react instinctively from our morals as much as our intellect

4. this book explores the genetic and evolutionary foundation of morality, and why we cant
understand why good people disagree with us about the most fundamental and important
things
http://righteousmind.com

5. when faced with taboo
questions, e.g. “is it ok to tear
up an old flag for cleaning
rags?” many people have
such a strong reaction
against it that the reasons
they articulate against it
make no logical sense – they
are poorly executed
rationalizations. some people
are literally “dumbstruck”
because it is so inconceivable
that anyone could think that
was ok, that they literally
have no words to express it
what would someone have to
pay you to do the things in
column B- note they are
intellectually equivalent to
column A?
from The Righteous Mind

6. did any of the “taboos” in column B give you a sense of moral outrage? here are the
evolutionary bases of those moral senses - different people have these to different degrees.
from The Righteous Mind

7. your moral balance is correlated to your political affiliations
note that the author later split “fairness” into two categories. 1:Liberty/Oppression: rejection
of attempted domination and banding together against bullies which supports the
“egalitarianism and antiauthoritarianism of the left, as well as the don’t-tread-on-me and give-
me-liberty antigovernment anger of libertarians and some conservatives.” vs 2: Proportionality
from The Righteous Mind

8. what if our sense of moral outrage when faced
with these discussions has an evolutionary basis?
can we use that
knowledge to better put
ourselves in other
people’s shoes with
more empathy and
insight?
can we understand each others’ arguments well enough that we can stop arguing against
“strawman” versions because we are blind to portions of the argument?

9. lets burn the strawman
let us seek better arguments and deeper understanding; more systemic approaches and more
holistic vision; let us move from fallacies to intellectual honesty and inquiry; let us lend each
other our eyes to serve as rear-view mirrors in our blind spots; let us construct some
knowledge. together.

10. Burning the Strawman - Topics
1. Common Core Standards are good for schools
2. Common Core aligned assessments are good for schools
3. Gaming is a good way to learn
4. Flipping the classroom improves teaching and learning
5. Kahn academy is a wonderful innovation
6. Families deserve universal school choice
7. Competition among public and private and charter and on-line schools leads
to a better school system
8. Students should have their own personal mobile device for use at school and
at home
9. A quiet, orderly classroom means great teaching
10. Student test scores are a good way to measure teacher quality
11. MOOCS are the future of higher education
12. College is not the best investment of time and money for many kids
13. Software developers should have access to anonymized student data

11. Burning the Strawman – Part I

12. Burning the Strawman – Part II
• Now make the argument for your own side
• Be sure to include thoughtful responses to
ALL the concerns from the other position
• If you can find someone who took the
opposite position, see if your argument was
made any more persuasive by the exercise

13. Contact:
Marie Bjerede
@mbjerede
marieb@e-mergents.com
Thank You