So after returning back home from the Moose Jaw Learning Party, one of my valued colleagues asked about “this technology guru” that I had seen. My answer was that he (Ewan McIntosh) was not a guru, just a guy with some good stories and experiences with technology enhanced learning to share. That got me thinking about our tendency as people to ascribe some manner of elevated status or enlightened wisdom to people whom we admire but don’t know. I do admire Ewan’s articulate expression of some of the issues and practices regarding the use of technology and prior to meeting him I might have considered him an educational technology guru and microcelebrity. Having met him, though, my impression of him is that he is a decent, intelligent person with a terrific sense of humour. Do I consider him a guru? Not really. I think of him as one of the terrific people that I spent time with in Moose Jaw.
I’ve had the chance to meet some of my educational technology “gurus” and heroes over the past year, including some people I’ve been reading since the elder days of the edublogiverse (around 2003-ish – that’s like 5000 internet years). They’re all great people – smart, funny, articulate – but I don’t want to consider them gurus anymore. I also hang out and podcast with some pretty smart people whom some might consider gurus, but I don’t think of them that way; to me, they are my buddies – some smart, cool people that I know and I like to talk with. Putting someone in the guru category limits our ability to see someone as a fellow human being, inevitably a much richer way of seeing someone. Just because someone writes provocative and thoughtful blog posts about some of the things I am interested in shouldn’t lead me to think that they sit on a mountain top in a state of blissful enlightenment. I don’t want to think of anyone as a guru. I’d rather think of them as a smart, cool person (why would I read them otherwise, right?) and maybe even, if we’ve met and shared a pint or looked at pictures of each others kids, as an edublog buddy.
The opposite side to this is that everyone is potentially a guru. I think the key difference is that Ewan and others have chosen to be transparent and share their learning and have gained some notoriety at a global level.
I’ll bet there are teachers in every school who have plenty to share and are seen as gurus in their field, at least at a local level. Having the courage to share is the beginning of the path to “guruness” whether it’s in a staff room, a party or a blog.
Thanks for coming and being my podcasting and audio guru.
The opposite side to this is that everyone is potentially a guru. I think the key difference is that Ewan and others have chosen to be transparent and share their learning and have gained some notoriety at a global level.
I’ll bet there are teachers in every school who have plenty to share and are seen as gurus in their field, at least at a local level. Having the courage to share is the beginning of the path to “guruness” whether it’s in a staff room, a party or a blog.
Thanks for coming and being my podcasting and audio guru.
I agree with about the importance of transparency and sharing, and that everyone is potentially a guru, but I wonder if we could use a more apt term. There are most definitely teachers (and students – we’re all learners I hope) everywhere who have something to share. I’d even go so far as to say that all teachers have something to share. But I think of a guru as someone who has access to special, enlightened knowledge, like Yoda in Star Wars. I don’t think Ewan or you or anyone else (especially me) is a guru. What you or I know doesn’t require some kind of mystical revelation. We just take time and make an effort to share. Generous, not guru. That’s definitely within everyone’s grasp.
My skills and knowledge at audio and podcasting are available whenever you need them, Dean. Just don’t call me a guru, OK?
I agree with about the importance of transparency and sharing, and that everyone is potentially a guru, but I wonder if we could use a more apt term. There are most definitely teachers (and students – we’re all learners I hope) everywhere who have something to share. I’d even go so far as to say that all teachers have something to share. But I think of a guru as someone who has access to special, enlightened knowledge, like Yoda in Star Wars. I don’t think Ewan or you or anyone else (especially me) is a guru. What you or I know doesn’t require some kind of mystical revelation. We just take time and make an effort to share. Generous, not guru. That’s definitely within everyone’s grasp.
My skills and knowledge at audio and podcasting are available whenever you need them, Dean. Just don’t call me a guru, OK?
I think you hit it on the head when you say that some of us just make the time (or find the energy) to look into some things deeper and then share them. You and I choose to do it on this, others do it playing football or making sculpture in their “own” time. I also have trouble with the term guru as nothing is really, truly, original thought in this world. We all just put it back together in different ways from the next person.
Rob, I followed you here after seeing your quote at Jen’s post about web 2.0. Your comments got me thinking more about the positive ways I use “guru,” with this as one result. I don’t think we’re disagreeing; we’re looking at different facets.
And I really like Bright Shiny Object Syndrome, which in its contagious form leads rapidly to the Bandwagon Effect.
Rob, I followed you here after seeing your quote at Jen’s post about web 2.0. Your comments got me thinking more about the positive ways I use “guru,” with this as one result. I don’t think we’re disagreeing; we’re looking at different facets.
And I really like Bright Shiny Object Syndrome, which in its contagious form leads rapidly to the Bandwagon Effect.
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