“Every idea that you have is physical — because you think with your brain,” said keynote speaker, George Lakoff, during the closing session of Big Ideas Fest. In outlining what that meant to the educational community, the well-known cognitive linguist and UC Berkeley professor explained that neurons in the brain travel on circuits, which in turn form our thoughts. Those circuits, a physical part of our bodies, are fixed in early childhood.
I did not land at ISKME by accident. My interest in our mission to transform education, and particularly my passion for research that bridges theory and practice, can be traced to one key influence: my father, Dr. Daniel Detzner. Since before I was born, my dad has focused his career on making higher education more accessible, on improving teaching and learning in his own classroom, and on mentoring and collaborating with colleagues.
From the moment I met Emmy Negrin during dinner at Big Ideas Fest 2011, I knew that I liked her. We hit it off quickly, sharing interests in LGBTQ issues, backgrounds in international education, and enthusiasm for our Action Collab groups. I learned she had previously been an instructor with Outward Bound and had come to BIF to explore what her next move could be. Great conversation aside, I appreciated the easy, confident attitude that Emmy exuded.
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A special ed teacher who practices inclusion is like an aerial trapeze artist, swinging from bars to balance beam with a grace that defies the conventions of gravity. For 30 years, my youngest sister, Evelyn Margolin, has been bouncing from class to class, working with her students at all levels of ability to adapt the curriculum for their special needs while communicating with their parents and caregivers and teaming up with other teachers and assistants.
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In music, call and response is a technique where one musician offers a phrase and a second player answers with a direct commentary or response to the offered phrase. The musicians build on each other’s offering and work together to move the song along and create a sound that’s inventive and collective. Outside of instruments, speakers and listeners also tap into call and response when statements (calls) are accented by expressions (responses) from the listener.