learning

Increasingly my teaching practice is focussing on blogging for a wide range of learners and contexts, including:

• Adult education
• Young adult learning enrichment
• Academics
• Early years (group blogs to display a range of creative outcomes).

Here is a general, introductory message about the tailored courses available.
Come and join the global conversation. Blogging is a profound, effective new way to express yourself, connect, learn and be heard. It’s a process and an outcome, supporting personal, academic, business or organisational growth.

Many and diverse people, all around the world, are successfully blogging online about their:
- learning
- lives
- diverse interests and hobbies
- businesses
- electorates
- public roles, and
- creative pursuits.
Blogs (or web logs) can include words, images, sound and links as well as comments back from your new-found audience.

This is your chance to find out what blogging is all about and get your very own (or a group) blog working for you. Suitable for anyone that can use a basic word processing package that has used the internet before. You do NOT need to be an experienced writer, as you will be developing this skill in your own style. Within three sessions you can have your own free blog site up on the internet.

By the end of the course, you will have found your voice and be confidently blogging. Join in and watch yourself and/or your business grow. Plus, learn how to have people find your blog when you are ready.

……………………………………..
About your Teacher

Libby Davy has over 15 year’s experience working professionally and teaching communications – for individuals and organisations. She contributes to several blogs and was a pioneer blogger at www.barkingowl.com/learning and other spaces.

Currently studying a Masters in Person-Centred Education at the University of Sussex, Libby is interested in how blogs support life-long learning through their open, reflective and communal nature. Libby is a co-founder of one of the internet’s most exciting new online communities www.scouta.com, where she hosts groups on Education and Brighton.

After gaining a degree in communications and media Libby eventually went on to teach writing, editing and publishing at a university and community level. She is a published and awarded short-story writer, and has had her work broadcast on national radio. For many years, Libby worked in strategic communications, marketing, organizational development and business coaching.

Libby is a fun, friendly, Australian mother with a passion for education and human potential.

Contact 01273 540 023 or 07968 687 107 to book a place or arrange a tailored workshop series.

Are you a curious person? If so, does this help you learn more? Do you think it is a blessing or a burden? How can you harness it to educate yourself, in the fullest sense of the word. What is learning?

These questions and more are examined in the learning biography I’ve just submitted to Sussex University’s Institute of Innovation in Education towards an MA in Person-Centred Education.

The language is somewhat academic, but there are lots of poetic moments. That’s integration for you!

It was a transformative process of deep learning, and testimony to the benefits of person-centred education, despite the university’s inevitable challenges in embracing the whole person.
Here’s the first page and the full .pdf

Towards Integrated Learner Curiosity

We need to create a culture that leaves room for the constant “contamination” of a hundred subjective and objective experiences, in an atmosphere of reciprocal help and socialisation. Implicit in this thesis is a decisive response to a child’s need to feel whole.

Feeling whole is a biological and cultural necessity for the child (and also for the adult). It is a vital state of well-being (Malaguzzi in Reggio Children 1996, p 34).

Synopsis

This learning biography uses narrative to explore personal knowledge being formed about the cause, nature and function of curiosity and its relationship to learning, within a cycle of inquiry into spirituality.

Looking closely at pedagogues Paulo Freire and within the Reggio Children project, along with psychologists and philosophers such as Carl Rodgers and John Macmurray, it begins to articulate a vision of integrated learner curiosity and a personal expression of an ancient way of looking at knowledge.

It also critiques a university’s early beginnings in practicing emerging theories of person-centred education and challenges academia to embrace the potential of the Reggio “hundred languages” in understanding adult learning.

…………………..

Having lived a life rich with curiosity and learning, I am now curious about curiosity. From my earliest memories, I engaged deeply with the world around me. I have been highly motivated to learn through being curious. I have felt great joy and great sadness through this trait and state, and have come to embrace it – and consciously, carefully harness this Promethean flame.

More…
Learning Biography

I could talk passionately about all the reasons why this new post-grad degree at Sussex University lured me, finally, back into ‘formal’ learning. Reasons both internal and external.

Suffice to say it sang out loud and clear. Right place, right time.

Speaking of which, it’s time for bed, so will just post a short excerpt and leave a .pdf for the course outline for those that like to look further into such things.

What is Person-Centred Education?

Person Centred Education puts people at the centre of the educative process.

Our current systems of schooling have drifted too far away from this belief about the centrality of broad and deep notions of educating the whole person and this programme seeks to recentre and rearticulate a more holistic approach within a 21st century context.

Through ways of working in a learning community as well as through research and academic study this Masters Degree will both draw on and extend our knowledge and practice of person centred education in a range of organisational settings.

Will be writing lots more about it and within it over the next 2 or so years as the learning journey continues.

MA Person-Centred Education - Course Outline MA course outline

About Michael Fielding (Prof.) - who was a major catalyst and founder of the course, and still a beautiful and active member of our extended “Learning Community”.

About The Guerrand-Hermes Foundation for Peace - co-sponsors of the course through their Secretary/Research Fellow Dr Scherto Gill.

About Sussex University, Centre for Innovation in Education.

MA Curriculum Vitae

Academic Interests (2006)

… as you can see, evolving steadily from this point. I guess the categories created for the posts will be one obvious way to access updates on this.

Scanning back over the two (sporadic) years of blogging here, I can see the learning biography theme has been in place from the very beginning. From the Reggio experience and beyond. No wonder I was so attracted to this MA in Education and the very special approach it is taking.

I just have to wonder, could the University establishment be able to accept the blog as my learning biography down the track? …after closer links with relevant texts has been made more distinct. I guess the futurelab folk might like to help us reflect on this.

Hmmm.

We shall see…

Well it’s been a week since we were inducted to the MA in Person-Centred Education at Sussex University.

In addition to the welcoming and procedural stuff, we had a great session lead by my new postgrad supervisor called Dr Carol Robinson. Carol has worked with that dear Michael Fielding (Prof.) chap on Student Voice and other erudite, emancipatory matters.

Carol got us thinking in new ways about the benefits of keeping a learning journal, in preparation for our first 5,000 words - a Learning Biography. (All of which links into the MA so I will update a previous post with more on what that entails. Wonderful.)

So when to right in the private learning journal, when to write on the Learning blog, and how to start linking with critical theory and practice in putting together the assessment piece (Learning Biography)? All links with the Reggio project’s strong focus on documentation and social construction on learning/meaning making.
Private v public. Who are we writing for and why? How do personal and communal utterances of ’self’ create identity. Is it all just irrelevant navel gazing? These seem to be recurrent themes as a writer, communicator, activist type… now budding academic? The blogosphere offers a rich site for these questions.

Scroll to the end of About this site re: this too.

I’ve had an abstract accepted for a conference in Denmark this March too. European Society for Research on the Education of Adults - Network on Life History & Biography - “Concepts of Learning?”.

For better or for worse, this will NOT be the Australian Denmark where Lee Loo’s wine making love now resides, but far colder climes.

So that is a whole other dimension on who to write about the self, about one’s thinking and journey for a whole different audience. But not so much writing as conceptualising.

I guess I’m having a bit of a quantum leap in human becoming when it comes to the formalisation of my learning and thinking.

I guess it is important to head for whatever outlet, audience, medium feels the most compelling write now (intended).

I guess I will continue to learn and become in communal connection with you all around me - friends, family, colleagues, learning partners.

One of the key aspects of the session at Concepts in Learning will be to look at this notion of how we learn in community. And I will be inviting everyone that attends the session, and others, to call a Danish number I have booked on Skype, or come to this blog, and enter the conversation. The abstract is here for those that are interested. ESREA 2007 paper

I guess I will hoping this blog has been given a little better attention before 3 March then. But the biggest question… do I go back and edit out the bits that are not part of the identity I wish to portrait to these new colleagues (eg. Dorking, England oh England) or offer up the whole lot.

I guess the answer is here.

Suffice to say, it’s a tricky line to walk. I come back here sometimes and think… “Hmmm, maybe life would be easier if I was willing to sign up to a unified, codified discipline of identity,” eg. never reveal a thing until it has been fully researched, processed, articulated, edited, peer-reviewed and put into dead tree for posterity.

Looking back over the journey, I guess that’s not to be.

Phew.

Watching with interest the increase in teachers going part-time. Recent article in TES (reference to follow). My dear Mum always drummed into me the importance of finding part-time work, as a mother, as a human being. There is a lot to be said for it, certainly when it comes to raising children.

Everyone’s looking for the life/work balance. And rightly so. So many people under-employed, so many people over-employed. Can’t we share it around?

Teacher’s stress levels seem a good enough reason to look for an increase in a part-time workforce. When we have time away to refresh and reflect, we come back richer for it.

One thing I am noticing at The Dharma School is the number of part-time teachers. It gives them the chance to co-teach, to share their experiences of the classroom. There are also a wonderful group of assistants and specialists moving through the small (75 child) school, enabling a healthy range of relationships.

Today, the biggest issue seems to be the co-teaching one. When we think about learning in community, we think about dialogue and shared reflection.

This was really strong in the school’s in Reggio Emilia I’ve been researching. Every class involved two teachers working together seen as equals, albeit at different stages of development. Then of course there was the local and regional involvement of the Pedagogista who would automatically be able to offer a conduit for the transfer of good practice and a meta perspective.

I want to keep looking at this, personally and in terms of further research.

Wonder what others think?

I find great benefit in considering pedagogy in a social constructivist way, as inspired for me and so many others in early learning by the preschools and infant toddler centres of Reggio Emilia, Italy and increasingly, as translated and transformed into progressive early learning environments (including child care) throughout the world.

To me, this thinking goes to the very heart of how we envision childcare and what image we have of the child. In particular, the child constructing meaning or “learning” in relation to others.

The Reggio experiences have profound implications for thinking, wisdom, knowledge and, indeed, the evolution of human consciousness.

It really is no wonder, then, that when asked to host the 12th International Conference on Thinking, Australia invited Reggio pedagogista Carlina Rinadi to present alongside futurists, philosophers and educators like Peter Senge, David Perkins, Richard Slaughter, Edward de Bono, Art Costa, Guy Claxton, Susan Greenfield and others.

The conference is seen to break through the normal academic barriers to thought.

Melbourne in July anyone?

There is also a smaller 2-day event being co-ordinated by the Reggio Emilia Australia Information Exchange with Carlina and Eujlalia Bosch, among others. Both their biogs are on the conference website.

Conference convenors Karin Morrison and Jane Stewart both come from senior roles in education, so that will be a key theme/sector.

9th and 10th July
Hilton on the Park, Melbourne
Carlina Rinaldi and Eujlalia Bosch will speak on both days.

We also have three other confirmed speakers

1. A Doctor of Chinese medicine who will speak about
“Listening to Ourselves: mind and body
2. Boori Pryor an Aboriginal performer and speaker - Listening to the Past and the future can we hear peace.
3. The impact of listening to stories in understanding ourselves and others.

These titles are only the gist and still to be worked out.

We have also invited Li Cunxin (Mao’s Last Dancer” Listening to the movementt of the body. this has still not been confirmed.

$440.00 including GST

These are both unique and powerful opportunities.

It would be great to see debate about the advancement of these notions in a childcare context as Dr Pat Patrie did at the National Child Care conference held in Perth earlier this year.

We need to start removing the artificial barriers between care and education.

As far as ongoing WA opportunities go, the conversations being facilitated by Anna Alderson and Marie Martin are open to all.

Jan Phillips (ex-Penrhos ELC) is the WA convener for the Reggio Emilia Australia Information Exchange and has been generous enough to share her thoughts and resources over the last couple of years. She is now working fulltime on her PhD in Early Learning (with a Reggio emphasis). Really quite an amazing woman.

My undergraduate studies were in communications and cultural theory, looking at Berger, Sartre, Barthe, de Bouviour, Said etc and whilst I do find much of this material dense, I choose to have an image of child care teachers/workers/educators as capable of engaging with the heart of these ideas if presented in the right way.

I can imagine an enrichment programme (including study scholarships for conferences, study tours etc) to be a very achievable outcome.

I can imagine a vision of childcare that embraces the idea of children learning in relationship with each other, with their parents, with their teachers, with their environment, with their local community.

It’s about the journey.

Here are my musings after returning from an advanced study tour to Reggio Emilia in 2003. Printable version here.

This article appeared in “The Challenge” - the national journal of the Reggio Emilia Australia Information Exchange. These are the people to talk to if you are interested in study tours or direct dialogue with the Reggio project.

Reggio & Buddhism

Has it ever occurred to you there are strong parallels between the Reggio experience and Buddhist philosophy? This confluence came back to me again and again during a deeply affective week in Reggio this October 2003.

It seemed we were being invited to:

See the immense potential of questions, and

Question everything - within our OWN context - before accepting, then to keep questioning.

Listen…listen…listen.

Enter into ongoing dialogue.

See loving relationship as a key. See the interconnectedness of life. Of children and families and teachers and their environments, their culture/s.

Look deeply into the present (the eternal moment), with respect for the past and thought for the future.

Respect thinking as a process, and as a discipline.

Embark on an inner journey.

All of this rings true for the invitations Buddhism presents. At least that’s how I’m seeing it. I wonder what others think?

One of the last times I gave myself the chance to sit - thinking and listening - for days on end was during His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s visit to Australia in 2002. This wise and gentle man spoke of such elements coming into play if we are to develop wisdom and compassion.

In the spirit of all this, a question or two (out of hundreds) that remained with me. How can I continue this journey of awe and thoughtfulness whether I am in Reggio Emilia or not? How can I understand and respect my own context better, my own Australian culture, values and community?

One thing’s for sure, I’m preregistering for the 12th International Conference on Thinking in Melbourne, July 2005 where Carlini Rinaldi is presenting, along with Edward de Bono, Richard Slaughter and other leading thinkers and philosophers. (See www.thinkingconference.com for information.) I’ll also be dreaming of the possibility of returning to Reggio Emilia in the next year or two to continue learning within that very fruitful community.

Thank you to Jan Millikin, Marie Martin, Jan Phillips, Sarah Lovegrove (nee Giambazi) and everyone in Reggio Emilia who help create such rich soil for our own gardens to grow.

Libby Davy

Libby is working on a Reggio-inspired project in Fremantle, Western Australia - to set up a progressive childcare centre for children 0-6 years. She is the mother of Beatrice (three in January) and has a background in cultural studies and communication theory, ethical business and stakeholder relations. Libby was a co-founder of the Sustainable Business Network (Aust.) in 1998.

There is much being discussed and thought about the profound implications of the work being done in the infant toddler centres and preschools of Reggio Emilia, Italy.

For an introduction to this educational project, which is an essential point of reference for anyone looking at early learning, start by going direct to the source.

If you ever have the chance when travelling near or far to experience The One Hundred Languages of Childhood exhibition, do. It can change your life and ideas about what children are capable of.

“This exhibit
opposes any prophetic pedagogy
which knows everything before it happens,
which teaches children
that every day is the same,
that there are no surprises,
and teaches adults
that all they have to do is repeat
that which they were not able to learn.”

Loris Malaguzzi

“Children have a hundred languages, and they want to use them all. They learn very soon how difficult it is for this right to be recognized and above all respected. This is why children ask us to be their allies in resisting hostile pressures and defending spaces for creative freedom which, in the end, are also spaces of joy, trust, and solidarity.” (from Reggio Children website).