According to a news report, a certain private school in Brisbane was recently faced with a unique problem. A number of 12-year-old girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom. That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick they would press their lips to the mirror leaving […]
Category: teaching story
Because Kikuyu culture was oral, refined methods had been developed of passing knowledge to, and shaping the values of, future generations through, among other activities, stories. Many of the stories had become very elaborate and subtle, like myths, because they had been told in various forms over many generations. Kikuyu stories were filled with animals […]
Categories
A well planned retirement
Outside England’s Bristol Zoo there is a parking lot for 150 cars and 8 buses. For 25 years, its parking fees were managed by a very pleasant attendant. The fees were for cars: £1.40, for buses: £7. Then, one day, after 25 solid years of never missing a day of work, he just didn’t show […]
“The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease” Voltaire (1694 – 1778) Narrative medicine is not something you’ll easily find on the ‘net and if you do, information is sparse. But would it surprise you to know that the techniques employed by both Western allopathic medicine and African traditional healers […]
Daiju visited the master Baso in China. Baso asked: “What do you seek?” “Enlightenment,” replied Daiju. “You have your own treasure house. Why do you search outside?” Baso asked. Daiju inquired: “Where is my treasure house?” Baso answered: “What you are asking is your treasure house.” Daiju was delighted! Ever after he urged his friends: […]
I was staring into the distance at nothing in particular when it occurred to me that everything is a story, a narrative. Each one of us is a unique narrative with a beginning and an end. In that narrative there are chapters, sub-sections, paragraphs, sentences and words. But it’s a juicy story, filled with pictures, sounds, […]
This story was developed for a large organisation that had, at the time, a number of IT outsource partners that needed to work together more efficiently within the same infrastructure. Everyone had a very different view of “what was going on” and there were frequent conflicts and system problems. Rationalisation and downsizing was in the […]