The Art of…TEACHING. Where and how to push this New Education {Lesson 2}

I am so lucky. Since late winter developing and constantly (re)shaping my poetic self as a staff member of Sisters Academy* that will open for students and researching teachers in 2015 in Malmo and late summer 2017 in Copenhagen. I can use art – an interactive performance universe – as a method and an entry point for research on alternative approaches to education. I can, through being a performer, explore what it feels and means to be a teacher and an activist (here is blog written by me as Academy staff). I can keep designing my life journey in a more creative and holistic way. That’s why I am lucky. And I want to share it. I am reeducating myself, filling important gaps school didn’t find important to teach. So I have to do that myself.

My adult life journey as a second education. Together with others. Through interaction. Cause we all have to fill our own gaps. For example what is value in and ways for real Intimacy. Sexuality. Responsibility… for yourself and others. Cooperation. Conscious leadership. Authentic Communication. Life. I am so curious what your second education would be. What holes to fill for you to make you into a more whole being.

I have some ideas. And even more questions. Let’s start here, it’s good.

 

If it’s true that the majority of educational models is based on old paradigms, let’s build awareness around it and experiment with new models. But without criticizing and pointing fingers – this is not a constructive activism. Let’s instead acknowledge that this (still used) old model was probably built on expertise, innovative ideas and best intentions to fit current needs. Back then.

But wow it’s time to redefine and transform. Cause – as Ken Robinson explains in the film – this mindset of ‘degree-leads-to-job’ is not valid anymore. And there’s a growing common  belief amongst pupils that school distracts them from what is really important or interesting for them in life, instead of supporting and enhancing it. We maybe feel that in present times there’s a need for different skills and values. Cause we have long moved forward from intellectual culture of the Enlightenment and economic situation of the Industrial Revolution. Human value and social class is still judged according to a specific view of the mind: academic (smart) vs. non-academic (not so smart). The film mentions ADHD as a modern fictitious epidemic, and an unfortunately common practice of curing it is hurting brilliant or potentially brilliant people…by numbing them to make them more focused at school.

Deadening also pupils’ ability for untamed aesthetic experience – experience often provided by art.** – where “senses are operating at their peak; where one is being present in a current moment; one is fully alive(…)”.

I agree that schools’ real mission is awakening pupils to their full potential, instead of ‘shhh’-ing them when distracted or “too” energetic.

I also agree that best learning happens in groups, so atomizing*** people is artificial and failing to give any real evaluation, Therefore more sensuous education for me means one that supports wholeness …of being, of experiencing. The sensuous is what Sisters Academy will manifest and research on.

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Here is another take on the future of education and I feel inspired to quote below the author’s points (****) as many overlap with my own approach to workshops I myself design …

INNER-PRENEURSHIP
EDUCATION TO UNLEASH HUMAN POTENTIAL
Personal development and individual growth will become the cornerstone of any educational program.

GLOCAL AGENTS
CONTRIBUTING TO OUR GLOBAL VILLAGE
(…) the ability to think and act systemically and understand the interdependence of our global village,

VISUAL THINKING
EXPERIENCING LEARNING IN NEW WAYS
Cognition and our capacity to understand new ideas and concepts will become a highly sensitory and engaging experience. We no longer need just to “think” about an idea.

FUTURE THINKING
USING THE FUTURE AS A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION FOR THE PRESENT
Unpredictability will make future thinking an increasingly relevant skill (…) Being able to imagine, envision and forecast future landscapes

SOCIAL LEARNING
THE POWER OF THE COLLECTIVE LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Information is accessible as ever before. (…) learning is becoming by essence a highly social and collective experience. Education will play an influential role in helping us learn how to communicate better and use the power of language to establish dialogue with others in a generative manner.

CONNECTIONS OVER MEMORY
LEARNING HOW TO LEARN
More than requiring us to memorize and retain data, education will be responsible for helping us master the art of learning how to learn. In a world where everything we need to know is just out there, the (new) ability is to make connections between bits of data and consciously explore and navigate complex waves of information.

BETTER FASTER DECISION MAKING
CURATING DATA THAT DRIVES BETTER CHOICES
Being capable of rapidly curate and synthesize information and transform it into applied knowledge (…) New digital tools and mental processes will help us filter and distinguish relevant content from just noise.

ONGOING LEARNING
EDUCATION AS A CONTINUOUS PRACTISE THROUGHOUT OUR LIVES
Just like health, wellness or spirituality, education will be a continuous journey throughout our entire lives. The capacity to design and implement long term sustainable learning experiences will be a relevant competence.

LEARNING FOR ELDERS
PROVIDING AND SUPPORTING HIGH QUALITY LEARNING AFTER RETIREMENT
What it means to age and what you do with your late life will change. Elders will be eager and hungry to learn new things and gain new perspectives

VIRTUAL LEARNING EXPERIENCE
A NEW LONG DISTANCE LEARNING LANDSCAPE                                                       Advancements within the virtual reality wave (…) a new long-distance educational landscape to  emerge, allowing us to provide and receive content in a highly engaging and participatory way.

CLOSE TO NATURE
THE CLASSROOM OF THE FUTURE IS JUST OUT THERE
Being close to nature helps us, human beings, be more relaxed, focused (…) The closer we get to our screens, the closer we need to get back to the natural environment.

PLAYFULNESS
HAVING FUN IS SERIOUS BUSINESS
Our bodies will be the platform where effective learning takes place

EQUALITY WARRIORS
CREATING A MORE JUST AND FLOURISHING WORLD
Our planet is becoming increasingly divided as it is interconnected. Education will need to rethink its purpose and see itself as the answer to the creation of a more just and fair world. Educational institutions will have the responsibility to take a stand for their values, and the obligation to prepare, educate and train change makers

RADICAL INCLUSION
FINALLY, EDUCATION AS AN EFFECTIVE HUMAN RIGHT
making education more accessible to large population groups that only a few decades ago were impoverished and abandoned. Education is one of the most powerful instruments for reducing poverty and inequality.

CO EXISTANCE
LIVING, CREATING AND THRIVING, TOGETHER
Our world is becoming increasingly diverse (…) Learning how to to collaborate and thrive together will be a determinant factor for success in organizations, communities and societies. Education will play a relevant role in helping new generations be more empathetic, tolerant , caring and appreciative of diversity and difference, and understand it as an asset for progress and development.

 

Very interesting visions! I see it as a contemporary reflection on new values and education’s important role to emphasize them: inclusion; engagement; sustainable, life-long learning; “breeding” responsible change-makers, nature; virtual learning; playfulness, more… I am happy for seeing such a transformative direction. I also want to contribute to push it forward. And I know many that want the same. And they do. We do. And it’s contagious 🙂

It is, though, important, I feel, to start from the beginning. And at the beginning are the above mentioned values, not methods or content. One can teach playfulness, effective communication skills, virtual technology or tantra, but it is values that make us use those skills in a specific way.    And such awareness, values and real motivations for our actions are my point “0”.                   Old paradigms, myths, separation, limitations to personal expression, unhealthy competition mindset and ego patterns can only transform if we first start educating with values – not techniques – as an entry point.

I keep changing my mind and seeing more angles to it. And I will keep you updated.

 

 

Sisters Academy

 ** I want to by the way extend this palette of sources for aesthetic experience to include for example mindfulness, games, tantra, but not in this article.

*** …well, atomizing anything is artificial – I believe – it’s my own take on quantum mechanics (going beyond fragmentation). A reflection not for this article, though.

**** http://www.bespokecph.com/futurelearning#intro

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