From The Continuity of Change article by Dr. Bateson

As I read this articles about The Continuity and Change: Two sides of a Paradox I envisioned a sports commentator watching and announcing a runner win a race and stating the obvious of the race. The winner is…… A definite in our journey through life and learning. Dr. Bateson argued that the educational system is not a race to be won or more correctly quoted “games that can be won”. Challenged by the perception of the end result of education and educational reform, or for this matter any reform. I too agree that education is “not a game to be won”, yet a to be strategize. This article awoke a sense of articulation for the demonstration of what I understand about learning styles. I believe that learners learn best by educators focusing on their learning styles. Even more so specifically that David Kolb who theorized the development of the four learning styles does not have all the answers. What about the child with Emotional Behavior Disorder, or Oppositional Defiant individual; maybe consider the extreme illiterate beyond third grade. Let us expanded that thought to understand that the real perception of success is truly learning and being a student, always.

The metaphors that Dr. Bateson used to explain the how educational leadership ought to be perceived though “raising a baby” was the most precise. We never know that a baby would be born without a limb, autistic, colicky, deaf, mute, or other disabilities that would hinder the use of conventional knowledge that could be derived from reading a “How to raise a child” book. The analogy of Growing old could possibly have several collations to precursors that are early onset behaviors and patterns, its more predictable.

Walking a tight rope in my opinion is by far the least descriptive of the continuity between educational leadership and the change of it. A tight rope walker could tell you that they have experienced the things that would indicate a fall and that anything shy of science fiction acts could be expected.

When Mary Bateson compares the education system to that of a cybernetic system she draws images of education swaying between the same issues and reforms. This pattern is repeated to return to the more dominant ideology of the common thing, the comfort zone. In a cybernetic system is an evolution equation that creates clever ways to takes and disburses information, much like the educational system where information is taught and stored, and disbursed the same and different ways a controlled pendulum.

Author Whitehead’s definition of misplaced perception is partially true according to the text read in this article. As I read that misplaced concreteness is really abstract thinking, I realize that this to is the basis of reform in Continuity and Change. Creating lesson plans and using rubrics as Mr. Whitehead explains are things to get excited about though they hold little value in the true issues of education.

Dr. Bateson hold critical understanding as to how the educational system is dissonant and lacking in unstructured, unapologetic learning without educators and the educated being penalized for not being concrete. Your concreteness should exist in what you understand not what you know, when it does then we are become learners and educators.