Friday, May 27, 2011

Kenai Fjoirds National Park, AK....Pep Talk



Found this picture today of a conservation work crew of amazing young people I Co-Led with my wife in Alaska.  Everyone was quite uncertain about our pending 1500 foot assent in 1 mile with this 20 foot plank (to fix a bridge damaged in spring melt)....Que pep talk.

24/7 with young people in the back country of AK=ubiquitous learning.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

A razor's edge


Listen closely to the "lesson I want to get across" at minute 6:31...."There is no opting out of new media....it changes a society as a whole....media mediates relationships....the whole structure of society can change....we are on a razor's edge between hopeful possibilities and more ominous futures...."

At min 8:14 Wesch describes what we need people to "be" to make our networked mediated culture work, and the barriers we are facing in schools.  Wesch is right on. Corporate curriculum, schedules, bells, borders, and "teaching/classroom management" are easily assisted by technology. Yet to open learning and deschool our educational system represents the hopeful possibilities Wesch imagines and has acted on.  What we accept from industrial schooling, how we proceed in our educational endeavors, and what we do, facilitate, witness, and promote in our actions in education mean so much to learners of today and the interconnected and interdependent systems we are all a part of.




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Thursday, May 12, 2011

Young People, Action and Education

I was moved today by a video of young people taking action in support of indigenous rights, cultural rights and self determination:



This example of student driven action goes well beyond adult organized marches, or adult driven activity for social justice. Many of these young people show an enduring understanding of their interdependence and interconnection with a nation and the world. For example, at minute 11:00 in the video a young woman articulates a distinct article of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (More on the declaration and UNPFII here!)


For all of us who see open and free learning as a fundamental human right, it's important to recognize that there is global deliberation and decision making on issues well beyond neoliberalism happening in the UN and in other spaces....How we participate in these movements and with others around the world on these issues will shape the common bond we have as humans in the 21st century. As ecological and economic overshoot continues, understanding how to participate and network for education and global civic culture will increase in importance.

Note:

Since [UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples] adoption, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States have all reversed their positions and now endorse the Declaration.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Collective Joy

I was inspired today reading through The Blended Lifestyle a blog linked to the Dark Mountain Project site.  One of the things that drew me to Dark Mountain was the hope that Dougald Hine (a project founder) exudes in his writing (site, blogs, Twitter). I have been digging into Dark Mountain and enjoying what I find. My research into the site took a pleasant and unexpected turn as I linked out, and perused the favorite movies and books at The Blended Lifestyle.  After my last post of yesterday (writing that temporarily pulled me into a short malaise) I am overjoyed to get present and breath deep of my life today. I also look forward to reading Ehrenreich (2006) Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy....

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