Articles by Terry Ryan

The Initiative focuses on the issue of community at the very beginning of this program for several reasons. One is pre-eminent…children in the Western World spend no more than 20 percent of their waking hours in a classroom between the ages of five and 18-years.

Introduction The last decades of the 20th century saw countries around the world make the dramatic transition from closed, state-dominated, economies towards open, free-market, economies. ... Read on

It is now obvious to those working in the fastest growing segments of the increasingly global economy that work at the beginning of the 21st century is radically different.

The history of education has been driven by a value system based on the centrality of Man. Education has been the most anthropocentric of all enterprises and its interests – family, school, church, businesses and state – have determined educational goals from the very beginning. It is true that educational means, methods and organization have changed over the years, but the process has always been secondary to the goals derived from our anthropocentric values. It appears that the power of information communication technologies will also operate firmly within our pre-existing values. Yet, should this be the case?

1) What we mean by learning and the significance of life-long learning. A successful education involves both content and process; these are separate but inevitably ... Read on

Following is the introduction to John Abbott and Terry Ryan’s book to be published in England by Network Educational Press (2000), and in the United States by ASCD (2001).

Those people familiar with the Initiative’s work, and in particular with the book The Unfinished Revolution, will know that we have been struggling to understand what significance, if any, a better appreciation of the evolutionary sciences may have for those wanting to improve children’s learning. We’ve charted this path even though some have warned us away: “We already have a science of learning,” one of our friends argued. He despaired for us, “Why do you need to get into the contentious area of evolution.”

“What can we do on Monday?” is a question I hear often from teachers in the United Kingdom as we discuss the future of education and learning in their individual schools and communities. In trying to answer that question for myself I have formulated a list of six questions developed below that I hope can be part of the dialogue about the future of education and learning. However, before I go any further I need to briefly explain how it is that a young man from central Illinois has actually come to the point where he spends time speaking with teachers, principals, supervisors and policy types from England.

TOPIC 1: Short history of ideas about learning and education. Readings: First two chapters of The Unfinished Revolution: society, learning, compromise and paradox by Terry Ryan ... Read on

This article by John Abbott and Terence Ryan appeared in the November 1999 issue of Educational Leadership. The emerging brain research that supports constructivist learning ... Read on