Wow. Thank you for this, not only for the fine precis of the current US political scene, but also for your very personal account of your own motivation and practice. As a Canadian, I sometimes get lost in the details of the who's who of American political interactions, but I am glad that the picture you paint is very similar to the one I receive from the media here.
Our current federal Government, Conservative party, is similar to your previous administration. Our provincial (British Columbian) liberal Gov't is also right wing. Currently I am working with at risk /disenfranchised learners in the Public Education system in British Columbia. On Wed, Nov 2, 2011 at 11:51 AM, <[email protected]> wrote: > To a certain extent the Obama administration still continues to be > substantially on the side of local grassroots organizing and the so called > 99% and has been supportive of higher education and especially community > colleges. He has used the resources of the Executive Branch fairly well, > but the Congress is very divided and even many Democrats really support big > business, big banks, and the growth mentality. The Supreme Court was > "stacked" with conservative Republicans during the G.W. Bush years (partly > because of a quirk of fate...the more liberal judges retired or died and > the sitting President had the right to nominate new ones). lThe chaos of > Congress and the alignment of the Court with big business makes it hard to > really work with those in power in any but the most general ways. The > various "Occupy" movement have rattled a few cages and have won some > skirmishes but do are struggling to define an agenda or even agendas that > are clear and supportable. I find that since I have limited personal > energy and resources I tend to focus on enabling my undergraduate and > graduate students to be active in their own geographical communities and > communities of interest while encouraging them to connect with the world > through various meta-organizations on the net. In my own life I have > chosen to be active in a couple of local areas and to support wikieducator > and the OER-u and associated movement as best I can. It may not change the > world profoundly but I find it a fairly satisfying way to invest the time > of my life. Good to talk with you and to join with you and so many other > wikieducators in our common vocation. Joyce McKnight, Associate Professor, > State University of New York: Empire State College > > [email protected] wrote: ----- > > To: [email protected] > From: Don ** > Sent by: [email protected] > Date: 11/02/2011 02:19PM > Subject: Re: [WikiEducator] Comments on the US College Scene: OER > directions > > > Thanks Joyce- Always interesting to have a conversation with someone > thousands of km away in another country. Of course it is really cool when > the grassroots organizing and the direction from "on high" work in sync. > > On Tue, Nov 1, 2011 at 2:32 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Good point Don. I have nearly given up looking for "salvation from on >> high" at least in the US, but I believe firmly in grassroots organizing and >> the work we are doing at wiki-educator and the OER-u is a great example of >> that...even if the grass is literally spread all over the world. JMcK >> >> [email protected] wrote: ----- >> >> To: WikiEducator <[email protected]> >> From: Don Beadle ** >> Sent by: [email protected] >> Date: 11/01/2011 04:45PM >> Subject: [WikiEducator] Comments on the US College Scene: OER directions >> >> referencing The Chronicle of Higher Education, >> http://chronicle.com/article/2-Year-Colleges-Get >> Details-of/126006#top 2-Year Colleges Get Details of $2-Billion Grant >> Program >> >> In 2009, President Obama announced his hopes that post secondary >> education, at least a years worth, would again become widespread in >> the USA. His program, the American Graduation Initiative, was designed >> to support Community Colleges, to the tune of $50 Billion. This sum, >> diminished due to various government interactions, was reduced to $2 >> Billion spread over 4 years, between 2011 and 2015. The idea, >> supporting institutions that are examining, refining, and improving >> their practice is fine. As is the student oriented goal of providing >> access to a level of education that will help the recently >> dispossessed gain skills and credentials to make them more employable. >> >> But, the whole process is an example of how a top down approach can >> get bogged down in bureaucracy and inertia. Compare this to the >> international, consultative and bottom up approach of OERu. >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >> Groups "WikiEducator" group. >> To visit wikieducator: http://www.wikieducator.org >> To visit the discussion forum: >> http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected] >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected] >> ** >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >> Groups "WikiEducator" group. >> To visit wikieducator: http://www.wikieducator.org >> To visit the discussion forum: >> http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected] >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected] > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "WikiEducator" group. > To visit wikieducator: http://www.wikieducator.org > To visit the discussion forum: http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]** > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "WikiEducator" group. > To visit wikieducator: http://www.wikieducator.org > To visit the discussion forum: http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WikiEducator" group. To visit wikieducator: http://www.wikieducator.org To visit the discussion forum: http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]
