And I Quote . . . .

The students in the Independent Project . . .  are remarkable because they demonstrate the kinds of learning and personal growth that are possible when teenagers feel ownership of their high school experience, when they learn things that matter to them and when they learn together. In such a setting, school capitalizes on rather than thwarts the intensity and engagement that teenagers usually reserve for sports, protest or friendship.
~Susan Engel, "Let Kids Rule the School" (New York Times)

When people fail to change. it's not usually because of an understanding problem. . . . American automakers in the early twenty-first century knew they were too dependent on the sales of SVCs and trucks . . .but they didn't innovate. . . We know there's a difference between knowing how to act and being motivated to act.  But when it comes time to change the behavior of other people our first instinct is to teach them something.
~Chip and Dan Heat from Switch


Like so many other aspects of life,  teamwork comes down to mastering a set of behaviors that are at once philosophically uncomplicated, but extremely hard to put into practice day to day.
~Patrick Lencioni  The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Right now we are taking from our children all the time they need to develop self-knowledge.  That has to stop.  We have to invent school experiences that give a lot of that time back.  We need to trust children from an early age with an independent study. perhaps arranged in school, which takes place away from the institutional setting.  We need to invent curricula where each kid has a chance to develop private uniqueness and self-reliance
~John Taylor Gatto from Dumbing Us Down . . . 

Work and play are words used to describe the same thing under differing conditions
~Mark Twain

As soon as children become able to evaluate themselves, so of them become afraid of challenges.  They become afraid of not being smart.  - Carol Dweck