Pages

Saturday 3 May 2014

More thinking about thinking

I am in that moment after giving a workshop where I am slowly coming back down to earth... and I am starting to collect thoughts about the experience I have just had standing in the very spot that Lella Gandini had stood just two weeks ago... A bit daunting... I mean how do I compete with that?
with thanks to Diane Kashin for taking this photo...

But that is the beauty of sharing experiences and wisdoms learned... there is no heirarchy... who would have thought people would have been interested in listening to what I have to say... I found out that there are those who are VERY interested in what I have to say, and had amazing questions that allowed me to dig deeper into my own understandings and reflections of my work... To see new perspectives of the work I do with young children and to hear that I have been able to do the same for others... I feel honoured to be a part of a community of learners where my contributions have been appreciated.

I have learned a great deal about myself... During my workshop and over the last few days... what kind of teacher am I? What kind of teacher do I want to be... and the wonderpus glory of so many different approaches to early childhood education that allows me to the opportunity to pick and mix...

I have been talking to Diane (Kashin) afterwards about Reggio and that for me the most empowering part of Reggio Emilia Approach has been the fact that Malaguzzi read and listened to many inpiring theories of childhood, learning and development and chose and mixed together a combination that suited the children in Reggio Emilia at the time... And that this would be forever evolving as new research would come out, or the dynamics of the setting, the children, the city would change and therefore so would the pieces needed to support the learning, the third teacher... etc (i feel like I am not explaining this as elequantly I would like) - but for me it means that I look at the children, listen to their needs, their interests their learning and if the setting and myself are not meeting them and not challenging them appropriately then I need to look for new pieces of theory to add to my practice, or maybe rethink some of them that are already there (afterall we should not be doing things just because we have always done them that way... But because they are relevant and meaningful for the children) .

Again I find myself in that place whe my mind is filled with thoughts and I need more time to reflect and maybe even debrief after all of this - just to be able to start the sorting process of my thoughts...
afterall I have been talking about thinking pauses today... we adults need to give them to ourselves too.

So I am going to leave this post here... because to be honest I have so much to share, so many thoughts and it is begining to get jumbled up and my string of thoughts that make up these posts of Interaction  Imagination are going to be even more all over the place than usual...










5 comments:

  1. And I would love to correct the mistakes here but the ipad and I are not getting on as well with each other on my blog (or twitter) as I would like... So I will be fixing and tweaking when I get home to Sweden... until then... enjoy this collection of raw thoughts and spelling and grammar...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Suzanne,

    If I could channel the energy that was in the room today as you gently cracked our eggy brains open and stirred... I was jus telling my husband how if it were possible to take a brain scan today, you'd likely see the brightest, hot colours all over my brain (and those of all of us present). He has a teacher whose drum lessons have the same effect: he can't play right away after those hours, he needs to process and realign. I'm experiencing delightful (painful?) cognitive realignment this evening. Your honesty and clarity about philosophy and the way you listen to children so closely shows what both Malaguzzi and Hawkins identify as the most important quality in a teacher: your image of the child as capable learner shines through in all you say and do.
    Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am lost for words... and that doesn't happen that often.
      Thank you for those words... Is all I can muster for now....

      Delete
  3. A full rainbow appearing at Winston Churchill and the 403 ends a perfect day of epic proportions at Acorn School. You bring with you a rainbow of ideas which I tremendously appreciate. Many thanks for deciding to talk with us here in the GTA.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for your words, they are appreciated...
      And what an amazing end to the day... a rainbow, how glorious.

      My mind was too filled to the brim and blown away with the amazing questions and thinking and the opportunity for me to think...

      I had to debrief when I got back to sort out all the thoughts...

      Thank you

      Delete