Date: 13 February 2007
Time: 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Venue: ABS-CBN Caseroom, Asian Institute of Management
Learning, Being, and Becoming
In 1995, William Damon, Howard Gardner and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi authored the GoodWork Project®, a study analyzing professionals, particularly American white collar workers, who succeed at striking a balance between a flourishing, profit-oriented endeavor that is at the same time highly ethical—a challenging task in this contemporary age where the realms of expertise, skill and inventiveness have become quite sharply distanced from the moral concerns of the majority.
The Scandinavian counterpart, Dr. Hans Henrik Knoop, Professor at the Danish University of Education, has conducted a parallel study involving students of the tertiary and graduate levels, as well as young professionals, particularly from the fields of biology, journalism, theater and social entrepreneurship.
In practicing the context of their own studies, work that is high-quality, socially responsible and meaningful to the worker, advocates of the GoodWork Project®, including Dr. Knoop, intend to expand the study’s coverage to other parts of the world and include the blue collar worker category. Dr. Knoop presented the aspects of good learning and leadership for a competitive country.
What constitutes a happy learning environment? Four factors that foster such an environment are (1) material wealth, high degrees of (2) freedom and (3) equity and (4) access to information. Denmark is the best exemplar of this ideal society as it ranks at the top of the Map of World Happiness by Adrian White of UK’s University of Leicester. Dr. Knoop underpinned this statistic explaining that it is the social cohesion that makes his country the happiest. For instance, out of 100 leaders, only two or three are considered corrupt. In addition, policemen are amongst the most trusted professionals standing at the same level as doctors and nurses.
However, the Philippines’ case is a deviation to White’s standards. A country with only a marginal amount of material wealth, freedom, equity and information still gives birth to a pool of skilled and able human resource, its main instrument for competitiveness. The explanation, according to Dr. Knoop is simple. Learning is intrinsic to human beings. The task of teachers and parents is to facilitate and enable the learning motivation that will become the foundation for good work.
Reactors Mr. Saturnino Belen, Jr., President of the First Asia Institute of Technology and Humanities and Ms. Linda Wirth, Director of the Sub-Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific of the International Labor Organization provided vantage points from places where learning, being and becoming take place the most, the school and the workplace. As a concerned academician, Mr. Belen suggests the reinvention of the educational system to promote the engagement of young Filipinos to learning. A happy teacher’s approach is cruicial as proven by the high scores of students from rural areas in the National Assessment Test. Despite the unfavorable conditions, devoted and innovative educators created alternative ways to keep the learning curve high. Ms. Wirth, on the other hand, spoke about “work force development” that the ILO implements to solve mismatched professions and add appreciation to vocational jobs.
In the end, Dr. Federico Macaranas, Executive Director of the Policy Center, presented his own definition of happiness. He defines it as the balance between one’s emotional, intellectual and spiritual quotient. The best way to practice this is through an interdisciplinary thinking or “an orchestra of different sciences creating harmony.” The best balance is demonstrated by interventionists who impact society positively. They come in various forms, pro-bono development workers, lawyer-statesmen, civic journalists, practitioners of corporate social responsibility and the ‘hippocratic oath’ in the field of medicine. In his own way as an expert, Dr. Macaranas applies this by considering the ideas of non-experts as well. Relating back to the GoodWork Project®, the expansion of the study to cover the blue collar workers is much anticipated in the Philippines, wherein this group dominates its workforce. In the meantime, the country remains resilient and optimistic.
The lecture was made possible by the combined efforts of the AIM Policy Center, Konrad Adenauer Foundation and Mr. Henry Tenedero, Chairman of the International Movement of Development Managers.
Aspects of Good Learning Environments:
a general approach to leading human being and becoming (.pdf)
Dr. Hans Henrik Knoop
Professor, Danish University of Education