"A View from the Future"

On September 24, 2012, The U.S. Naval War College invited acclaimed futurist Edie Weiner speak to their students. They posted her lecture "A View from the Future" on YouTube for the public to enjoy.

IGNITE: The Cost of Learning

“There are some things which cannot be learned quickly, and time, which is all we have, must be paid heavily for the acquiring.” - Ernest Hemmingway, author


Photo: Mann Gulch/George Risko/Florida Forest Service

IGNITE: Training the Mind to Think

 

"Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think." ― Albert Einstein

Photo: Steve Lozano/BLM

IGNITE: Teach for the Student's Future

Teachers should prepare the student for the student's future, not for the teacher's past. - Richard Hamming, American mathematician

[Photo: Union IHC]

IGNITE: Exercising the Mind

 

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. - Joseph Addison, English essayist

[Photo: Steven Bunt/USFS]

Challenge #31 - 2022 WFLDP Campaign

Challenge #31: Effective teachers have good command presence.

• Click here to listen to Monica Morrison and Travis Dotson talk about command presence.
• Click here to learn about command presence on the WFLDP blog.

Challenge #30 - 2022 WFLDP Campaign

 

Challenge #30: Effective leaders create ideal learning environments that engage learners.

• Read “Creating the Ideal Environment – How to Maximize Time, Resources, and Engagement.”
• https://trainingindustry.com/magazine/issue/creating-the-ideal-learning-environment-how-to-maximize-time-resources-and-engagement/
• Answer the following questions:
• Do leaders set the daily work environment and create a positive learning climate?
• Are learning spaces free from distractions and interruptions?
• Are teachers prepared to teach?
• Are learners engaged?

Challenge #28 - 2022 WFLDP Campaign

 

Challenge #28: A good learning environment is characterized by open communication; mutual trust and respect; freedom to raise issues and engage in debate; clear and obtainable goals, objectives and teamwork.

• With your team or via self-reflection, respond to the following questions:
• What is the learning climate of your unit?
• How do you—regardless of your position—contribute?

Challenge #26 - 2022 WFLDP Campaign

Challenge #26: Effective teams ensure multiple perspectives of an issue and solutions are considered.

• Watch Paul Bridle’s video “Playing Devil’s Advocate.”
• Refer to Read Write Think’s guide “How to Play Devil’s Advocate.”
• Establish the use of a “Devil’s Advocate” as a regular part of your decision making.

Opportunities for Inquiry and Dialogue - "Is Yours a Learning Organization?"

In a March 2008 article in Harvard Business Review, professors ask, “Is Yours a Learning Organization?” The authors propose that an environment to support learning has four characteristics:

Opportunities for Inquiry and Dialogue - Summary on Learning Organizations

All wildland firefighters need to undergo similar entry-level training and then career progression training and education designed and implemented as an acculturation process. This common lifelong learning experience provides all firefighters shared situational awareness, a proud heritage, a set of values, and a common bond of comradeship.

Basic individual skills are an essential foundation for fireline effectiveness and must receive heavy emphasis. All firefighters—regardless of their specialty—must be trained and educated in basic firefighting skills.

At the same time, organizational skills are extremely important.

Leaders must establish concrete learning processes and practices, and reinforce the value of a learning culture. The next section of this publication helps you to do just that by establishing a framework for learning.

These are not simply an accumulation of individual skills. To be sure, adequacy in individual skills does not automatically mean organizational skills are satisfactory.

Crews and teams must experience learning together so they can collectively improve their knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are in keeping with our leadership values and principles.

IGNITE: Learning History versus Learning Lessons

“Learning history is easy; learning its lessons seems almost impossibly difficult.” — Nicolas Bentley, British author

[Photo: Devil's Canyon Veterans Handcrew]

IGNITE: Learning and Sharing

In a learning organization, every member of the team is responsible for leading themselves in learning and sharing what they know with their peers. - Learning in the Wildland Fire Service, p. 22

[Photo: Midewin IHC]

Clocks and Clouds

 

Philosopher Karl Popper mused that anything we study can be divided into two categories: clocks and clouds.

Clocks are easily broken down into individual parts, what each component does and precisely how changing that component will affect the clock’s performance. When trying to find out why a clock is not working properly it is simply a process of finding the malfunctioning part.

Learning to Learn from Accidents

Accidents—and the reviews and investigations that follow—have been part of the wildland fire service since the time before the pulaski. And over the years, the focus and the tone of accident reviews have changed.

Challenge #14 - 2022 WFLDP Campaign

 

Challenge #14 - Students of fire have a desire and responsibility to learn.

• Review your learning plan.
• Break opportunities into two categories—desired learning and responsible to learn.
• Work with your local training officer to set goals and register for learning.
• Never stop learning.

Challenge #13 - 2022 WFLDP Campaign

Challenge #13: When planning and conducting teaching and learning, leaders target behaviors for change. Be better!

• Assess your leadership environment.
• Identify weaknesses in the organization.
• Ensure team and individual behaviors are ethical and align with organizational values.
• Seek an outside source to ensure that perceptions match reality.
• Develop a plan for behavioral change.
• Implement the plan.

Challenge #12 - 2022 WFLDP Campaign

 Challenge #12: Good teachers craft great learning experiences.

• Visit the Tactical Decision Game Library and facilitate a sand table exercise with your team.
• Interplay questions and answer and problems and solutions to produce tangible results.
• Ensure participants get to be teachers and students.
• Conduct an AAR with your team.

Challenge #11 - 2022 WFLDP Campaign

 

Challenge #11: Good leaders look for new opportunities for inquiry and dialogue.

• Discuss the difference between training, education, and experience (TEE) with your team.
• Look for ways to artfully combine TEE into a well-crafted opportunity.
• Seek opportunities to be a teacher and a student throughout the campaign.
• Share your experience with your team members and in your journal.

IGNITE: New Opportunities Daily

 

Every day presents new opportunities for inquiry and dialogue—new opportunities for learning. ♦ Learning in the Wildland Fire Service, p. 16 ♦

Photo: Ruby Mountain IHC
#fireleadership