despite their schooling--not because of it

How to develop innovators. That's the tag line of Tony Wagner's recent article in the Wall Street Journal.

Samples:
"Learning in most conventional education settings is a passive experience: The students listen. But at the most innovative schools, classes are "hands-on," and students are creators, not mere consumers."

"In most high-school and college classes, failure is penalized. But without trial and error, there is no innovation."

"In conventional schools, students learn so that they can get good grades. My most important research finding is that young innovators are intrinsically motivated. The culture of learning in programs that excel at educating for innovation emphasize what I call the three P's—play, passion and purpose. The play is discovery-based learning that leads young people to find and pursue a passion, which evolves, over time, into a deeper sense of purpose."

How do you spell "entrepreneur" in Canadian?

--illustration from Marine Magnetics, where Doug Hrvoic,former Montessori kid, is the president and technology director.

"The Creativity Gap: Maria Montessori: guru for a new generation of business innovators"--From the Toronto Globe and Mail

"Being a Montessori child is a gift for life."

Montessori kids saving the world one pumpkin at a time

Halloween for innovators.

what is it about this moment in time?

Last week it was You Tube. Yesterday Harvard Business Review. Today in Forbes business writer Steve Denning blogs a wake-up call to Bill Gates who has spent $5 billion trying to improve education. "Think Bigger," Denning says.

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If you read deep enough into his blog, you learn, "Schools practicing this new culture of learning don't have to be invented....the new culture of learning takes place in thousands of Montessori classrooms every day."

Montessori Builds Innovators

Harvard Business Review. blog by Andrew McAfee, author of Enterprise 2.0.

"When I got too old for my Montessori school and went to public school in fourth grade, I felt like I'd been sent to the Gulag. I have to sit in this desk? All day? We're going to divide the day into hour-long chunks and do only one thing during each chunk?"

Montessori Mafia

Author, pilot, and Montessori dad, Trevor Eissler, bemoans Montessori's "peace, love, wimpy" image. "Montessori's not wimpy," he says. Montessori education is rigorous. Montessori education emphasizes personal responsibility -- and that is certainly not wimpy."

Now comes the perfect antidote: The Montessori Mafia toughens up the Montessori image in a "sticky" way.