october

not sure where august and september went - just crazy mad busy - october is here - everything smells different outside - don't think i am ready for another dark winter.......we went to the woods to find beautiful things to cheer us up

real life learning

i am writing up a research report about the importance of engagement with real life experiences outside of the formal classroom context - trying to shake some sense into educators that think they can continue to control children's learning with an island mentality through a transmission of information model that operates in isolation from the rest of the world - somehow we have to influence formal educators towards a pedagogy that embraces life as meaning making activity :

‘Learning power depends on developing certain dispositions, qualities and capabilities; but, as with all other knowledge and know-how, these are embedded within a shifting intuitive sense
of when, where and for what purposes they are best employed ……Knowledge and know-how that are learnt intellectually have to be re-embedded through reflective practice in the functional networks of the brainscape before they can turn into fluent expertise.’ (Guy Claxton 1999;338-9)

we only really know something when we use that knowledge in real life - so the process of learning should be less about accumulating and rehearsing knowledge and much much more about developing our understanding in response to the problems and challenges of real life - the phrase 'use it or lose it' comes to mind !

guests

great to be guests in london for the weekend - uncle russ was happy to be at the wireless festival in hyde park - bit of a busy time - we stayed at the grosvenor house on park lane - nice to have a bit of 5 star luxury alongside some pretty five star guests (does not occur that often in the wilson household) - on saturday we were guests at aelta for the ladies final - quite a wee battle between the sisters going on there - saw some great doubles too

nice to see the robinsons is still popular ! - after brunch on sunday we walked through the parks to westminster (no traffic as there had been a big charity road race early on) - finished with a classic anna's afternoon tea - gosh i love champagne !! had a great time and came home exhausted - being guests is very hard work you know, even just for a weekend !

a summer's day

a lovely summer's day in ripon yesterday to celebrate ian's ordination - the cathedral was packed, overloading my senses and bringing to my mind all the different experiences i have had in the church with celebrations and sadness - right now is a sadder time for me, but it was so good to stand with ian and witness his vows and cheer him on - he will be a fabulous nsm in a yorkshire dale - half way through his wife linda leant over and whispered in my ear 'can you believe we're anglicans after all our many journeys ?!?' - they are ready to do this - though i am not sure if the c of e is ready for them !! congratulations ian, a fine occasion for a summer's day - a very merry celebration

- i have been away from this blog for a wee while - things have been very busy - overwhelming actually - but i was thinking in all that busy business about what has really been happening this past month or so - there is a lot of mustard seed stuff that goes unnoticed but is very clearly there - i am reminded that all the surface dashing, to-ing and fro-ing make my body very weary these days - but the underneath, where God is always mysteriously and marvellously at work, in more ways than i can possibly imagine, is incredibly energetic and lively - an abundance of creative energy - from little mustard seeds, bigstuff grows !

daydreamer

i was wondering today, how long it is since my chidlren had a chance to really just sit and do nothing and daydream - life is so busy for them at school - there are so many pressures and stresses - it is difficult to feel like there are any moments when nothing is expected of you - this is one of my favourite relations listening to the grown ups and enjoying a wee daydream - i wish there was more time for that !

sadness

we were thinking about all the sad things that weigh us down and make us heavy in our hearts - there was quite a pile by the time we had finished - a lot of little drops of sadness - all the hard stuff - sometimes that is difficult to let go of...........but it can be done

fun with maths

i have been having fun today creating several different surveys for some research into creativity and maths i am doing - one for teachers and then eight others for different classes of children - all of them are trying to collect information about confidence and enjoyment in maths - it is going to be very interesting to see what the results show - my job has been made much easier by the marvellous inventions of the organisation survey monkey - i was rubbish at data handling and statistics at school - survey monkey make it all beautifully easy and the results are actually quite elegant !

a creative entrepreneur

just finished reading andrew mawson's book - the social entrepreneur - very exciting, as it is about his real experience of transforming communities through investing in life bringing relationships - this book is really threaded through with the message that genuinely reciprocal relationships count if we want to live transformatively in our neighbourhoods and in our broader society - andrew speaks plainly about the paucity of relational awareness demonstrated by local government officals, processes, structures and initiatives - you have to get to know some people if you are going to make a difference in a community and government bureaucracy takes no account of that

andrew recounts several shameful examples of wasted time, resources, energy, ideas, not to mention money, squandered on projects that began as well intentioned ideas, but because of relational negligence, end up coming to nothing - this is a frustrating reminder for those of us that have ever experienced the pain of empty committee life and endlessly dehumanizing red tape - mawson makes an excellent argument for the radical re-vamping of a funding/procurement system that is unethical - wasting time and money on 'hollow' consultation and evaluation processes, at the expense of allowing those who have proved over and over again that they can 'deliver the goods' and bring about real change, is downright unjust - and making room within procedures and processes to really 'listen' and 'respect' and 'take a risk' is crucial - mawson points out that you can't 'change the world through a policy paper at little personal cost'

i found this book to be a really inspiring, simple account of one activist's journey to live true to a vision for shalom amongst our friends and neighbours - even in big business or national political circles, that is possible, and indeed probable, if we are able to turn our 'passion into practice' and create genuine community and a sense of trust in our neighbourhoods - entrepreneurs are not always cold hearted, hard nosed, bottom dollar businessmen - people who depend 'on building deeply resilient human connections and being absolutely attentive to the detail of life' can't really be all that bad eh?!

the flourishing of humanity

a real pleasure today to listen to bart mcgettrick (emeritus professor of education at glasgow university) stimulating debate at a national conference on 'leading by values in education' - as always, bart was thoroughly provocative and entertaining - a man of many wonderful stories - amazingly, listening to him today was even more inspiring than usual - bigstuff has kind of made its name around the issue of raising spiritually nourished children and a lot of relational investment has gone into helping grown ups to understand that it takes a spiritually nourished adult to raise a spiritually nourished child - so much of what bart was talking about today affirmed the importance of holding true to that vision - faced with almost 200 professionals from health, education, local authority policy makers, leaders of government initiatives etc, bart spoke about the purpose of education being 'the flourishing of humanity'; schools that are fundamentally concerned with raising children of hope, wisdom, justice and compassion; the creation of environments and communities for learning that have the formation of people at their heart - people of love, care and compassion, with a deep sense of hope, who appreciate beauty and wonder and who will serve the world by their gifts - at one point he actually used the phrase 'values need to be incarnated in our relationships with children' and made reference to the many ways that formal schooling can be relationally destructive and can serve to 'deform' people - i haven't heard anyone in education speak about that kind of stuff for such a long time - it all resonated really strongly with me and made me glad that, even against all the odds and through many struggles, i have continued to promote and pursue a vision of education as a wholly spiritual enterprise - maybe things are becoming easier ???

the best life ever

have been amusing myself between jobs today, trying to create a nametag for our wee baby church group here - we all have had thoughts to contribute and the word we are working with is 'life' - so i was thinking about what that means for Christians given that we believe that 'Jesus came to bring the best life ever' - my mind was drawn towards what the best life ever means for those who are trying to follow in the way of Jesus - if 'God is love and those who live in love, live in God and God lives in them', we should all be capable of living hugely relational lives that are larger than life, because they are infused with God - years and years ago, gerald coates spoke to us about 'investing our lives in one another' so that we become vibrant, creative, connected communities of hope that embody God's love and demonstrate God's Kingdom here on earth and in heaven - there is something about that concept of investing when it is expressed in relational terms that really excites me - SO, this is as far as i have got today, but if our wee baby church is going to have the nametag 'life', then life is going to stand for 'Love Invested For Eternity' - just need one of you groovy graffiti artist types to turn that into a logo please !!! send me your attempts if you dare !!

i have been planning some work on education for sustainable development for older children and community groups to play with together - there is some really good material out there that is produced by aid agencies, so it has been fun crawling and trawling for stuff - thought it might be useful to record the main sites i used, just in case some of you are launching summer term community projects where you are working with the global citizenship theme - worth looking at are :

cafod - for primary schools

global gang - for children - Christian aid

learn for educators - Christian aid

oxfam education

cool planet (for children and educators) - oxfam

save the children

actionaid

food and agriculture organisation excellent manual for planning a community garden

tearfund youth

worldaware

if anyone is starting a community garden or outdoor education project, i have found grounds for learning, learning through landscapes and the eden project to be very friendly and helpful for ongoing advice - hope you have fun with this stuff !

first gathering

a friend on the scottish network has called a first gathering of local church reps to discuss 'youth outreach' in her neighbourhood - she asked for some suggestions so i gave her mine, which for any first gathering are :

1) work hard on the venue and the welcome in terms of comfort and hospitality (good food/drink, comfy seats and a not too overbearing greeting are essential given that people make their minds up about something in the first four minutes) - make it NICE for people - give them a treat - spoil them a bit - they are not used to it in Christian circles so plan to communicate some of the outrageous generosity of God through the physical set up and environment

2) plan to be relentlessly inclusive - make room for the small voice, the less confident, the bizarre, the impractical, the different, the outraged, the entrenched and the depressed view in equal measure - you will get them all, but sometimes people just need a chance to say where they are at and let you know who they are before they are ready to listen and to collaborate with others - let them dump their big issues and know that they have been recorded, noticed and accepted as important - don't be tempted to try to deal with these issues there and then, but be prepared to show how the issues will form an agenda for action in the future

3) find fun things to do together - have a basic outline for gathering people's thoughts and questions and for collecting evidence of what the issues are locally - it is nice for people to feel that they are coming to something that has been thought about in terms of how the forum is structured - if you can find fun and active ways to do this all the better - make participation a requirement through using post-it notes, mindmaps, pictures/posters, speakeasy, my top ten etc etc - make sure people have an opportunity to contribute in the way that's best for them

4) show them something that will inspire them towards a new horizon - a video clip, someone's story, a really practical example of sustainable outreach in action - raise their sights - give them something that stirs them and heightens their expectations or helps them to look at their situation with fresh eyes - keep it short and snappy - give them a BIG powerful shot of creativity and excitement that will lift their aspirations and galvanise their sense of what they are capable of and of what is possible

5) celebrate what you have achieved right there and then - find a creative way to be proud of any consensus - make sure you focus on that before people go home

6) don't leave before you have a firm plan for the next gathering - people will not want this to be a one off and you can't answer all the questions in one go - make arrangements for collecting people's details and email them all the notes and thoughts as soon as you can - be in contact with each person at least 3 times between the first and the next gathering, even if it is only to say hi, thanks for coming, any more ideas ? etc

7) hold it all very lightly - lead gracefully and pursue peace in every interaction - whatever your thoughts and feelings this first meeting is not about what you want to see happen, so give way to their need to influence the agenda without letting one person dominate or hijack the proceedings - be open, cheerful and accepting of each person's contribution - don't allow yourself to dwell on your impressions of how things went - be determined to encourage others and think well of EVERYTHING that took place

8) trust, in our heavenly Father, who knows what His children need even before they ask it.............and who is able to do more than we can possibly think or imagine

that was my eightpennyworth - am interested to know what others would add to or take away from this list and why - leave a comment and let me know eh?

the circus is in town

cirque du soleil are in town with their new show delirium - sadly i am still in bed, so a trip out will not be possible BUT to keep me amused, my lovely girl AMY, who is very artsy and excitable, made me watch Diqui James' FUERZABRUTA on video in my bed - their show from the edinburgh festival last year called euphoric really is mind blowing - a truly sensual, spectacular treat of theatricality and imagination - made me all excited !! - have to lie down some more now as i am supposed to rest - but they are worth checking out if you want something that will make you feel truly euphoric !

backyard brunch is back

backyard brunch is back for the summer season - quite a crowd at the gathering, but several absent for very good reasons (mr porter in ireland, one family on holiday, one in singapore and a poorly one just had a wisdom tooth out) - we all chose a horse for the grand national this afternoon (winner gets a big bar of chocolate), shared a wooden box full of old fashioned sweeties (remember black jacks and hubba bubba ?) planted sunflower seeds for our growing challenge and of course fenceball is back as competitively as ever !! - going to be a good summer, except that we are losing two families who are moving very soon which is sad - great excuse for two leaving parties though !

how i see things

am confined to bed again with a bad heart - very frustrating - all my plans for today (an end of term party, which was a 'spring visit to paris' with a class of P7 children, breakfast at a cafe, a virtual cruise down the seine, buying fruit at a street market, having a riverbank artist sketch your portrait, dressing up as a famous french person, building a paper monument - all really good fun stuff !!) have not materialised, so i am finding it difficult - but the view of the hills near my home is lovely from where i am lying, so guess i just need to change how i see things and enjoy the opportunity to rest up at home and appreciate the view - sometimes that's all we can do.......eh?

connecting

jim was reminding me yesterday of a book that really influenced me in my teaching and learning - parker j palmer is one of my mentors and the kind of educator that i aspire to be - to know as we are known is a 'thin' book, for educators who are in that uncomfortable, 'thin' place where they are wrestling to bring some congruency to who they really are as people and how they really teach - i find that it is very easy within a fomal education system to feel out of alignment with who i really am - sometimes that sense of dissonance makes for more creativity, but mostly i find that feeling of loss of integrity disempowering - anyway, parker's book is all about recapturing 'hidden wholeness' and the recovery of community in education - he calls that dissonance 'the pain of disconnection' and describes education as a process where authentic spirituality is nourished through the creation of spaces in which obedience to truth is practiced : we become reconnected through the process of living as a community of truth - that is really hard to do in schools right now - there is no time to connect with children and the school improvement agenda ensures we have no option but to comply with directives that for the most part seem to run counter to any attempt we might make at 'wholeness' - however, this book has always inspired me to keep on trying for those things, so i think it is definitely worth a read for those of you that face the same struggles - (thanks jim for teaching me how to embed a link - you are a mighty fine educator !!)

directions

i am delighted to learn that today is a day of new directions for the church of england - a new law enabling a bishop's mission order to be issued, regarding the formation and recognition of new forms of church that ordinarily wouldn't fit within the traditional parish structure, has been adopted - combined with the new ordination category of 'pioneer minister', i find that an enormously exciting direction for the anglican church to be going - for those of us that have been ministering on the frontiers for a while, this presents a wonderful opportunity to redefine what connection to 'big church' means - it doesn't mean we have to conform to that, especially if we are worried about how much that will cost us in terms of losing our identity on the growing edges - but it is quite comforting to have that possibility presented as an option - for those that have struggled within the constraints of the traditional parish system, it must be very exciting to have this new direction opened up as a legitimate course of travel

white sky thinking

gavin (he of three men in a float fame) hosts a great website for the cloud appreciation society at

http://www.cloudappreciationsociety.org/

part of their pledge is to promote cloud watching as an antidote to the dullness of 'blue sky thinking' - i like their quirky approach to living - and i didn't realise there was SO much to learn about clouds

spring into summer

things are beginning to spring up everywhere - i love this time of year - life is so very evident (though missing an hours sleep is not quite as joyous an experience !)

i thank You God for most this amazing day:

for the leaping greenly spirits of trees

and a blue true dream of sky;

and for everything which is natural

which is infinite

which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,

and this is the sun's birthday;

this is the birthday of life and love and wings:

and of the gay

great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing breathing any

-lifted from the no of all nothing-

human merely being doubt unimaginably You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and

now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

eecummings

by the slowest route

i have been listening again to a bbc radio four programme broadcast in february called Three Men in a Float - it is a traveller's tale of three adventurers who journey across england from lowestoft to land's end in a fifties milk float - their antidote to a timestarved, speed fixated world is to trundle along at 15 miles an hour and 'see' england in a different light - author dan kieran, editor ian vince and technical genius prasanth visweswaran make a beautiful voyage of discovery as they 'go slow' and 'prove that dawdling serendipity makes for better travelling than planning and speed' - their strategy (if they have one) is enjoyment and humility - by day they revel in the oblique perspective that a less paced life offers - by night they throw themselves upon the mercy of strangers who allow them to charge up their milk float battery for the next day - listening again, i was struck by prasanth's beautiful descriptions of a world viewed in slower motion and by the generosity and kindness of those they met along the way - great to hear about such scandalous hospitality very much in evidence amongst the english - a real experience of listening pleasure - made me wonder why i cave in to the constant pressure to race through life at breakneck speed !

fledgling

i was reading yesterday about baby falcons and how they take their first flight - despite the dogged persistence of their parents, sometimes they wait an age before risking a launch - it has taken me a long while to begin blogging (despite the consistent nagging of many friends) - finally.......well.........here i go........not sure it will be an impressive launch........but i love that feeling of stepping off the edge of the world into nothingness beneath