We REALLY have to listen

Tune in to this interview with one of New Zealand's most successful businessmen, Michael Hill.

As I was listening in the car on Saturday morning these things crossed my mind...

What drove his mother to agitate at the school about his class placement? Why did that teacher cross the road to tell him and his family he would amount to nothing? It took 40 years for him to shake it off!

Why is it that you can predict how this story goes as you listen to it? Because it sounds like that of Peter Leech (Mad Butcher), John Britten (world leading motorcycles), Richard Taylor (Weta Workshop) and many other very successful New Zealanders who did not fit the school mold.

We really do miss the impact of the complexity of understanding music on children's brain development.

Teachers...do we value every talent and strength of children in our care?
Parents...what does pressure on only reading and writing and maths do to your children?

Worse things can happen than have kids grow up to be the millionaires mentioned above.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Mike,

    it resembles Sir Ken Robinson's story on ted:
    http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

    Marc

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  2. I know, the world is full of stories like this, they follow a sadly predictable pattern. Are we listening? What we are doing as a result is our challenge.

    Cheers
    Mike

    ReplyDelete