Notes from the UnConference: Part 1
Do children still learn from books? Plus Lifelong Learning, and Transformational Educational Experiences
Here we are with the first session notes from the UnConference. More to follow, and if you haven’t sent yours yet, please do.
Do Children Still Learn From Books is attached here as a PDF—thank you
—and Lifelong Learning and Transformational Educational Experiences notes from follow below. Enjoy! And if you know someone who might be interested, please feel free to share.Lifelong Learning
We spoke about perpetual reinvention; one person had gone from dress-making and fashion into technology, another into welding (for metal sculpture) at age 67 and contemporary dance at 68, another from technology into philosophy :)
We spoke about the fact that parents are fined/penalized for travelling with children even though travel is known to be highly beneficial educationally
We noted that lifelong learning shouldn't start at retirement
We challenged the purpose (telos) of learning, saying that it can be considered an end in itself
We opposed competition and credentialism
We distinguished between episteme (knowledge about a subject), techne (how to do something), and phronesis (practical knowledge of how to live)
We spoke about John Holt's Instead of Education (1976)
Action with reflection; learning by doing; doing over learning
Library of Things; mutual aid
Buber’s I/thou
First, second, and third-person learning
Ready meal model of education versus education as learning to cook
6 as the magic number for a peer support group
Two types of questions: "Why are you doing this?" which leads to a more abstract level of beliefs/motivation, versus "What stops you?" which leads to a more specific level ("What if you did something different?" is another more specific question)
How to support a person unconditionally as a human while challenging them to change their behaviour
People respect each other more 100% of the time after hearing each other's experience
Transformational Educational Experiences
We often speak about education as unfolding over months, years, or decades; but what about transformational days or weeks?
"A-ha!" moments, like learning how an essay is supposed to make a single point rather than just be a discursive ramble
First two years of parenting as entirely transformational, stressful, and utilizing skills that are not at all taught by education
One person shared about writing a dissertation, at 21, being their first experience of fully free rein within the British education system, as in, they got to research/write about whatever they wanted, had a great experience with an advisor, proud of their work, learned to love libraries in the process
Another shared about attending a farm school after boarding school; at boarding school she was good academically, but the farming school in Vermont was hands-on, connected with the environment, and she felt welcomed into the community, valued and useful. Grew food and ate the food they'd grown.
Another described a camping experience where groups of kids were split into different camps. They were each given part of what they needed to make food (fire-making equipment, clean water, rice, and so on). He was put into the "refugee camp" which only had blankets. They all had to team up to make food, without any instructions from adults. This galvanized and bonded them, though he remembers a lot of arguing throughout the day, when they'd made the food he remembers a serious sense of accomplishment and connection.
Another person shared that Nowhere and Burning Man provide this kind of experience for adults. He mentioned that most attempts to do this kind of trial within a school setting is actually too safe; there needs to be some sort of risk of failure.
Another described a four day storytelling workshop, culminating in each young person telling a story at the end. They're always terrified, and there's always a desire to quit before they do the performance, but in the end, everyone tells a story and gets a lot from doing so.
Another described how the combination of structure and nature in scouts has helped kids with autism.
We spoke about how sometimes transformation might be achieved by expansiveness (taking a group out into nature) but at other times by removing something (creative constraints).
We spoke about how much groundwork in the preceding months and years may be required for a single moment to feel transformative; and also the fact that some transformations are only seen in retrospect, not felt as transformative in the moment. We spoke about conversion experiences
We spoke about Zen practice, how transformative it can be to consider a single question like "Who am I?" over the course of a week.
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