Movie poster for The Men Who Stare at Goats
This year’s $1 million TED Prize was awarded to a novel educational project that encourages small groups of children to work together, using the internet to answer big questions that interest them, while adult mediators intervene as little as possible in the children’s learning. I take a close look at the merits and limitations of this approach in Can you kill a goat by staring at it? A critical look at minimally invasive education, my guest post for the Philosophy Foundation.
Hole in the Wall: Minimally Invasive Learning Stations designed by Dr Sugata Mitra. Photo by Philippe Tarbouriech, Jaipur, Rajasthan.
It’s an honour to have my post featured on the blog of the Philosophy Foundation, an innovative educational charity in the UK which brings philosophy to schools and the wider community and improves educational opportunities for the disadvantaged. Please head over to the Philosophy Foundation blog to read my thoughts on the 2013 TED Prize-winning project and to see some surprising examples of how children can go astray when they rely on the internet for answers to their questions.
The Philosophy Club runs co-curricular and extra-curricular workshops for children in Australia.
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