“Never before in the 33-year history of the World Economic Forum

1. Living on the Edge of Chaos Hans Henrik Knoop 2003, The Danish University of EducationContact: knoop@dpu.dk

2. “Never before in the 33-year history of the World Economic Forum has the situation in the world been as fragile, as complex and as dangerous as this year” Klaus Schwab President of the World Economic Forum January 24th 2003 2003 Hans Henrik Knoop

3. Fragility, Complexity, and Danger as Main Time-Stressors Increasing socio-culturalfragilitypushes increasing sense of insecurity that induces heightened alert and thus more time is spent on watching out for potential social breakdowns. Increasing socio-culturalcomplexitypushes increasing demands on cognitive computation/attention and thus more time is spent adapting to the environment. Increasing dangermakes everyone more afraid and thus more time is spent worrying. Children may be stresseddirectly through improper use of media and indirectly through their affected parents, caregivers and peers. 2003 Hans Henrik Knoop

4. Universal(?) Complexity Growth- nature, culture, society, workplace, individual Degree of differentiation / diversity Over-differentiated Complex system system High (Disharmonious / (harmonious) fragmented) Simple Over-integrated system system Low (harmonious) (Disharmonious / rigid) Degree of integration / unity Low High 2003 Hans Henrik Knoop

5. People under Pressure - The risk of excessive outer locus of control (”Visionary”) Politico-Democratic Forces Organization Person Market Forces (Blind) 2003 Hans Henrik Knoop

6. (”Visionary”) Increased outer Politico-Democratic Forces People under Pressure - The risk of excessive outer locus of control, and general insecurity Organization Person Risky choices Unclear conse-quences Unclear basis for decisions Heightened alertness Forhøjet alarmberedskab Increased outer Market Forces (Blind) 2003 Hans Henrik Knoop

7. Meaning, Joy, and Effective Learning ∞ Anxiety A3 A4 High Flow Challenges A1 A2 Low Boredom 0 0 Low Skills High ∞ Flow: The natural balance between challenges and competence (Knoop 1997 after Csikszentmihalyi, 1991) 2003 Hans Henrik Knoop

8. The Basis for Flow- After Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, 1993 Environmental conditions that are likely to produce flow: • Clear, liberating, goals • Clear, manageable rules • Possibility of adjusting the opportunities for action to our capacities • Clear information about how well we are doing • The screening out distracting elements Personal skills that are likely to produce flow: • The ability to set manageable goals for ourselves even if there does not seem to be anything to do at the moment • The ability to understand, follow, and create manageable rules • The ability to match our skills to the opportunities around us • The ability to read feedback that others fail to notice • The ability to concentrate easily and not get distracted 2003 Hans Henrik Knoop

9. Recent publication Andersen, P. Ø. & Knoop, H. H. (red) (2002). Børns liv og læreprocesser i det moderne samfund. Værløse: Billesø & Baltzer. Andresen, B. B. & Knoop, H. H. (2003). Pædagogisk brug af IT i folkeskolen. Undervisningsministeriet / Forlaget ved Danmarks Pædagogiske Universitet. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. Knoop, H. H. & Gardner, H. (1998/2001). Good Work in a Complex World. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University. Findes online på http://pzweb.harvard.edu/Research/GoodWork/GoodWork7.pdf Knoop, H. H. (2002). Børns indflydelse og møde med magt. Artikel i: Knoop, H. H. (red.) & Andersen, P. Ø. Børns liv og læreprocesser i det moderne samfund. Billesø & Baltzer. Knoop, H. H. (2002). Børns liv og læreprocesser. Artikel i: Knoop, H. H. (red.) & Andersen, P. Ø. Børns liv og læreprocesser i det moderne samfund. Billesø & Baltzer. Knoop, H. H. (2002). Børn og maskiner. Artikel i: Knoop, H. H. (red.) & Andersen, P. Ø. Børns liv og læreprocesser i det moderne samfund. Billesø & Baltzer. Knoop, H. H. (2003). Computerspil – et stærkt pædagogisk potentiale med alvorlige risici. Tidsskriftet Kognition og Pædagogik, 13. årgang nr. 47. Knoop, H. H. (2003). Computerspil – til- eller frakoblet?. Publiceret i det elektroniske medietidsskrift eJour 7 på adressen: www.djh.dk/ejour/sep07/07JournalistikP.html Knoop H. H. (2000). En harmonisk kommune er kompleks – om balancen mellem individ og fællesskab. Publiceret på Internettet via Undervisningsministeriet, TESS / HIKOSA på www.tess.dk/hikosa/kursus/kommunalt/artikelhhk.htm. Knoop, H. H. (2001). Journalistik på kanten af chaos. Publiceret i det elektroniske medietidsskrift eJour 7 på adressen: www.djh.dk/ejour/sep07/07JournalistikP.html 5 sider. Også publiceret i: Kruse, H. N. Journalistik på nettet. AJOUR, 2001. Knoop, H. H. (2002). Leg, læring og kreativitet – hvorfor glade børn lærer mere. København: Aschehoug. Knoop, H. H. (2001). Livslang læring – menneskeret eller politisk krav. Tidsskriftet Uddannelse, Undervisningsministeriet, November. Findes online på: http://udd.uvm.dk/200109/udd200109-02.htm?menuid=4515 Knoop, H. H. (2002). Play, Learning & Creativity – Why Happy Children are Better Learners. Copenhagen: Aschehoug. 2003 Hans Henrik Knoop