Sunday, February 23, 2014



What is Power?
Today, I had the honor and pleasure to attend +Hendrix College  #TEDxHC.  We all think we recognize power.  
But, do we really?

According to Barb Allen, Powerful leadership is moral leadership.
According to Todd Brogdon, @WestrockCoffee, Powerful companies are for profit, but reinvest in their people/communities because they ask the right questions.
According to Amy Cuddy, @Amyjcuddy, Power poses can be faked until they BECOME real. Interestingly enough, the Science supports this idea.
Hendrix College junior, Sami Kennedy, suggests that collaboration is powerful.
Hen Mazzig, @HenMazzig, used the childhood experience of violence to shape a future built on #HOPE and #ThePowerofGood.
1992 Hendrix alumnus, Stacy Sells, @stacysells, talked about the power of a great college.
Bryan Stevenson's TED talk suggested that Power is just.
To wrap up the event, Mark Gilman talked about the connectedness of humanity to the earth. Our decisions have an impact. Humanity can choose to be powerful or destructive.

So, how does this all translate to education? Education should be moral, questioning, collaborative, humane, and  just,  which should be faked until it BECOMES real.  As long as we continue to evaluate test scores by subgroups we are continuing to see our world with blinders. Let's take off the blinders and see the wholeness of our schools and communities. Perhaps, then, education will finally become humanely powerful.

I welcome comments! Please share your ideas for powerful education communities.

Suzanne Rogers