Want to change the world? Learn another language

For the past 7 or 8 years I've been contemplating the relationship between leadership and language learning. I spent most of my late teens and 20s studying literature and learning other languages. Then I went on to teach Spanish for a number of years, focusing in on that one language, and learning more about Hispanic culture.

During my Ph.D. I delved deep into issues of leadership and educational administration.

I always puzzled over the relationship between language learning and leadership. I knew they were related in a profound and meaningful way. Figuring out how has become a quest over the past 7 or 8 years. The ideas, readings, research, teaching and life experience have begun to gel.

Last year, I had an article published in a newsletter for language teachers, "What Gandhi knew about language promotion". The response to that one little article encouraged me to keep working on the topic. This year I gave a presentation at the University of Calgary on the topic. The full-text copy of the paper for that presentation has been archived on the ERIC database.

A colleague has since asked me to submit an article to a journal she edits. I have prepared a draft and sent it off to her.

Here's a YouTube video (less than 2 minutes) that captures the key ideas that I've been looking into over the past several years:

Want to change the world? Learn another language.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3vTeqUgb9c