{"id":1839,"date":"2011-02-24T06:34:16","date_gmt":"2011-02-24T11:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=1839"},"modified":"2020-07-25T18:59:25","modified_gmt":"2020-07-25T23:59:25","slug":"introducing-the-daily-papert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=1839","title":{"rendered":"Introducing The Daily Papert"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A few weeks ago, I quietly launched a new site, The Daily Papert<\/a> to bring Seymour Papert’s powerful ideas to our short attention-span culture. I am gratified by the response The Daily Papert<\/a> has received and hope you will take a few minutes to read the posts already on the site AND subscribe<\/a> to its RSS feed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Three provocations inspired the creation of this site honoring the work and powerful ideas of Dr. Seymour Papert.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>First provocation<\/strong>
\nIn August, 2010, I attended the Constructionism 2010<\/em> conference in Paris. The conference gathered hundreds of educators, researchers and scholars in a celebration of the theory of constructionism originated by Seymour Papert. Old friends, colleagues and disciples who never met Dr. Papert spent several days sharing their knowledge and 40+ years of recollections, but one person was missing \u2013 Seymour.<\/p>\n

Seymour Papert was in Maine where he continues recuperating<\/a> from a terrible accident<\/a> he experienced in 2006. However, his presence at the conference was unavoidable. As each of the esteemed conference attendees presented their work formally during sessions or informally over meals, the enormity of Papert\u2019s influence overwhelmed me. Each of us and our work represents but a tiny fraction of Papert\u2019s legacy. It might take thousands of us to assemble the quilt that is the life and legacy of Seymour Papert.<\/p>\n

Second Provocation<\/strong>
\nOn more than one occasion I have been accused of making an argument based on Papert\u2019s work. Colleagues have exclaimed, \u201cThe answer to every question in education isn\u2019t Seymour Papert.\u201d However, Papert was so ahead of his time, so thoughtful, prescient, bold, creative and often times right, that I do find that he either predicted current problems confronted by educators or offered solutions. In many cases, he did so decades ago.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Third Provocation<\/strong>
\nWhile Papert\u2019s innovation, scholarship and wisdom is widely recognized across the globe and among scientists, his half century of contributions to his major field of choice, education, is largely invisible. It is not that educators disagree with Papert\u2019s theories or recommendations, they just ignore him entirely. This \u201cidea aversion\u201d (a term of Papert\u2019s) is manifest by Papert\u2019s absence from teacher education texts, educational technology publications and school reform literature.<\/p>\n

I hope that this site offering bite-size nuggets of Papert wisdom will inspire educators, parents, scholars and citizens to investigate more of Papert\u2019s work in years to come.<\/p>\n

It is the least I can do for a friend, mentor and colleague who has transformed my thinking and given purpose to my life for three decades.<\/p>\n