Ask yourself, what do these results–Dr. Scott McLeod’s 2008 Education Blogosphere Survey Results–mean? That’s what I’m asking. I have to resist the ho-hum factor. Collecting the information was important, wasn’t it? I don’t mean to sound critical, I’m impressed by the way it’s arranged–very impressed–but I’m not sure the information really tells me something…when Scott sits back to see what conversation develops, I wonder what story he’s made up to explain it all. So, like the cartoon above, why the silent treatment, Scott?

I realize that I’m looking for is more of a story of what this means. Here’s the facts folks, but now, tell me a story about them. What do they mean to us?How could this information be shared with us that would be intellectually and emotionally satisfying? I don’t know, but this is my attempt to, as Robert McKee writes, make sense of the anarchy, not of existence, but of data:

1) What has compelled teachers, more than any other group of respondents, to engage in introspection?

At a time when educators are struggling to make sense of too many rules that too many perceive to be meaningless around them, 135 of the 419 respondents claimed teaching as their primary vocation. The other major group included technology coordinators (55), with parents and students lagging far behind. If we can equate the power of learning and reflection with blogging of any sort, it’s clear that teachers, more than any other group who responded, value learning and reflection. What terrific forces force such introspection, that helps us see what teaching and education are like from the inside? For that is one incontrovertible fact–teachers (especially secondary) those people with a deep desire to make sense of living and working in beleaguered schools, are on the inside looking out…liked caged birds.

2) Is this biased perspective worth listening to, outside of the bulk of respondents or should those outside the U.S. ignore the 94% white, middle-aged, U.S. respondents message?

With only 6% non-white, ranging in age from 30-59, and centralized in the United States, the perspective of the Edublogosphere is race, age and culturally biased. Simply, the “haves” of America continued to triumph, and we should very well ask, should their concerns be our concerns? Properly speaking, should the Non-Caucasians and those from other countries be held back by the singularly monotone story of American respondents to Dr. Scott McLeod’s 2008 Education Blogosphere Survey?

3) In a society where read/write literacy is so highly valued, why do we make so little time to do it?

Lack of time to write and read are among the highest reasons why people find blogging difficult. What’s the relationship between failing to read and reflect through blogging (writing) and our failure as a nation to maintain an education system that can compete with the likes of New Zealand or other education systems? Robert McKee writes in Story that knowledge gained from reading and study equals or outweighs experience, especially if that experiences goes unexamined. But then, he goes on to say that one of the keys to writing stories is self-knowledge, which equates with life plus deep reflection.

It’s no wonder that education fails among the 94% Caucasian, mostly U.S. respondents who do not make time to read, reflect and blog. Finally, our fascination with distractions comes home to roost, our “I’ll do anything to avoid answering one of the profound questions of life–How should a human being lead his/her life? (Aristotle’s Ethics as cited in Story). Of course, that is but one point of view. Since I’ve mentioned McKee already, it’s worth bringing him up for another part. We’re all searching for an audience, and without that audience, the “creative act is,” per McKee, “pointless.”

Since I disagree with that perspective and instead value personal learning and growth (248 respondents cite this reason in direct contradiction to the 409 claiming the most difficult thing about blogging is writing and reading) above the insight of the audience, it makes sense that our desire to make sense of what is happening, what we are learning is GREATER than our desire for an audience.

In other words, my need to make sense of Scott’s collected data is greater than my wish for you to read my sense-making. How can we encourage the 409 to set aside the desire for an audience as the primary reason for blogging, and instead, have them embrace personal learning and growth?

Simply, how can we encourage the mass of respondents to become that which all educators profess is the goal of Education; that is, to become lifelong learners? How do we assess our results to encourage that understanding that recognizes, as our children already know, that life plus deep reflection–the “examined life”–is valuable?

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