wonder weirdly
encourage silly
develop curious
wander wisely
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
#whyIwrite: born to blog
... saw this as a question going around on Twitter, and thought about it. It ties in with my last blog here - but for me (most of my life) it's rather, why don't I write? And why don't people generally write more. I've been finding that my blogs don't get read, but this really doesn't bother me that much. I write as an extension to my thinking, to throw stuff into the world and get feedback... or potentially ... well, you know, since reading is kind of necessary for ... feedback... you know. So a blog is like sharing your thoughts with the world. I've also tried like, diaries and 'private' writing, but to be honest I don't really get that stuff. I'm an extremely extroverted writer so ..... I guess I was born to blog.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Blogging
Now I've been quiet for a while here, I read this one and was inspired to open up again... Seven reasons why teachers should blog and decided to get going. My blogging has been complicated by the fact that I started another blog www.menntamannsi.blogspot.com where I blog in Icelandic and intend to stick mostly to educational matters.
Well, another post on deschooling by Mr. Wheeler who seems to be a very interesting blogger. I recently also watched this fascinating talk by Astra Taylor on the same topic. Now I'm a teacher in a very traditional school and my career has been quite far from these radical ideas. Nevertheless I feel pulled towards them.... and it occurred to me today as I listened to talks at the University of Icelands Centennial Symposium , Kofi Annan and Carol Carmichael in their appeal to universities to prepare youth for future leadership; for an ethical turn in attitudes and a commitment to sustainability, that perhaps a dose of deschooling is exactly what we need. To find a new focus and to foster passionate commitments we need to relax the formalism of education, and most importantly in the secondary schools and higher education. Richard Rorty defined a university as a place where you could find a book on any subject and someone to discuss it with.
I spend a lot of time in a very traditional setting in classrooms, but I also teach distance education and I've slowly been expanding my practice there to try new things. Now I've started blogging (more than before anyway) and I have a highly anarchic Facebook group for all my students and so I'm possibly opening up new venues for learning and curiosity.... I don't honestly know... but if Wheeler's on the right track then so am I....
Well, another post on deschooling by Mr. Wheeler who seems to be a very interesting blogger. I recently also watched this fascinating talk by Astra Taylor on the same topic. Now I'm a teacher in a very traditional school and my career has been quite far from these radical ideas. Nevertheless I feel pulled towards them.... and it occurred to me today as I listened to talks at the University of Icelands Centennial Symposium , Kofi Annan and Carol Carmichael in their appeal to universities to prepare youth for future leadership; for an ethical turn in attitudes and a commitment to sustainability, that perhaps a dose of deschooling is exactly what we need. To find a new focus and to foster passionate commitments we need to relax the formalism of education, and most importantly in the secondary schools and higher education. Richard Rorty defined a university as a place where you could find a book on any subject and someone to discuss it with.
I spend a lot of time in a very traditional setting in classrooms, but I also teach distance education and I've slowly been expanding my practice there to try new things. Now I've started blogging (more than before anyway) and I have a highly anarchic Facebook group for all my students and so I'm possibly opening up new venues for learning and curiosity.... I don't honestly know... but if Wheeler's on the right track then so am I....
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