Here we are in the Apple store, Cardiff…wondering who is going to host our website after the demise of MobileMe in July 2012. We are furrowing our brows as we hear that iWeb is going to be discontinued. We have invested a lot of time into getting the site ‘just how we like it’ and Lynne has developed new ‘designer skills’. Time to take a few more steps…
Last October we began work with inspirational practitioners in Dorset. Gary Spracklen is one of those practitioners and has sent us a video clip of learners from Prince of Wales First School, engaging collaboratively in order to solve a seasonal problem.
Please watch and enjoy! Then take a moment to reflect on the skills, attitudes and knowledge needed to complete this task successfully, from all learners involved – children and adults!
‘Samwise Gamgee: Darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you, that meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.
Frodo Baggins: What are we holding on to, Sam?
Samwise Gamgee: That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.’
An emotionally charged exchange between Frodo and Sam in ‘Lord of the Rings – The Two Towers’. Don’t try to find it in the book. The scene was specifically written for the movie. However, it struck a particular chord with me as I watched it (again) during the holidays. (Purists, please keep reading!)
‘I feel ground down.’ is a phrase that we heard too often, from friends and colleagues before the holidays began. Not just because of the normal hurly-burly of the season but because of the imposition of policies and practices which are not congruent with the values of so many educators.
Many, whose passion is to inspire and empower learners on their journey, feel that the opportunities they provide are being systematically eroded or at worst demonised. Under pressure/threat to produce results, some schools are slipping back into a ‘factory’ mentality; desperately looking for foolproof, quick-fix ‘machines’ (schemes, initiatives) that will churn out shiny ‘products’.
And sadly, our ‘products’ are still going to be judged on how shiny they are…not whether they work or have the ability to adapt and grow.
I like systems. I like systems that do the job for which they were designed. I can genuinely admire the systems used by ‘fast food’ chains to improve efficiency and output. However, I strongly question the nutritional value of their products, their contribution to obesity and the subsequent strain on the health service.
So, herein lies the incongruence for many educators. Educators who value fairness (in all its interpretations), emotional intelligence, compassion, interdependence etc. being coerced (often by coerced leaders) to implement systems which do not promote these values and then being monitored on how effectively and efficiently they are doing it. I detect the hand of Sauron…
However, ‘The darkness must pass. A new day will come.’ I don’t know when but I do know that it is worth fighting for. That’s why Lynne and myself will continue to do what we do, for as long as we can. And, if you are in a place that is ‘grinding you down’ through coercion, then the fight is to hold onto what you believe in,
even if you can’t express it…yet.
A Happy and Hopeful New Year to You All.
Filed under Creativity, Education, Learning, Passion, Potential, Quality Learning, Values
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©Single Steps Learning 2012
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