A progressive, emancipatory, democratic re-centering

My Personal Learning Environment (PLE) first of all has purpose and principles. I enter into learning in order to foster progressive (Wikipedia), emancipatory (recognising and reorienting where power is drawn from) and democratic (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) relations between people and groups of people. My Personal learning environment is autonomist, supporting self-directed, purposeful learning and … Continue reading A progressive, emancipatory, democratic re-centering

The human other-space between community and identity

With the Covid-19 rush to online, learning environments are suddenly of core concern. We each, student, teacher and staff need to be able to insert our personal learning environments into those of one another. In an earlier post, I considered my Personal Learning Environment (PLE) first a purpose. Here I consider it as a place … Continue reading The human other-space between community and identity

The new normal in the arms of the old

Diversity of working practices must be one way of improving diversity of participation. It may become a factor in survival. In the first week of the Covid19 distancing, on a departmental coffee break in one of the popular meeting applications, colleagues maybe uncomfortable with distributed collaboration and diverse working patterns asked what they had to … Continue reading The new normal in the arms of the old

I am concerned

I am 66 with a history of pneumonia x2, once with the nee naw up to the John Radcliffe and about 8 hours in A&E. And that was two years ago. I have had bronchitis many times until I started getting the flu jab: winter chest infection free for the past 2 years. I am … Continue reading I am concerned

Reflection in action: professional development study visits

How close to the moment can you get? "Be here now," urges 1960s psychologist Richard Alpert. A mythical Google aspires to a perfect concurrent rendering of this reality: in real-time, in software. How much rewinding can we do before anyone notices the pause for thought? Reflection in action often has the effect of: "Oops! Don't … Continue reading Reflection in action: professional development study visits

One notebook warning

One notebook I write. Not as much or as well as I should. But I write. Two very broad forms interest me: poetry and philosophy of learning, knowledge, theory. What is true and good? Do these concepts mean anything? I believe they do. My job, and much of this writing, here, has to do with … Continue reading One notebook warning

Last of the summer wine

Took my last day of annual leave before the new leave year today. So, I spent several hours moving this domain from Gandi.net to WordPress.com and then importing the posts from "My work blog", rworld2.brookesblogs.net. I previously lost about 20 posts two years ago from the previous host of the rWorld2.net domain and personal blog. … Continue reading Last of the summer wine

Shaping an Identity: hacking the human?

Higher education shapes identity on many levels. We can readily identify three: the individual student/academic; the institutional characteristics of the higher education sector; and wider transnational cultural-historical activity. This slicing into comprehensible tranches is characteristic of my pragmatic approach to knowing, characterised by a logic of effectiveness in the present: sure, it is a continuum, … Continue reading Shaping an Identity: hacking the human?

Knowing authentic learning experiences

Evidence is one truth condition. There are at least three others. These give us a way of knowing authentic learning experiences and provide indicators of engagement, participation and outcomes. They are, also unsurprisingly, aligned with conceptions of authority and power. Badiou (2014) recognises four truth conditions: four ways that truths or a truth may be … Continue reading Knowing authentic learning experiences

Scaffolding Ed Dev conversations: a response to Roxå, T., & Mårtensson, K. (2017)

Roxå, T., & Mårtensson, K. (2017). Agency and structure in academic development practices: are we liberating academic teachers or are we part of a machinery suppressing them? International Journal for Academic Development, 22(2), 95–105. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2016.1218883 Roxå and Mårtensson (2017) argue that the discourses of academic development as mediated through formal education and training programmes by … Continue reading Scaffolding Ed Dev conversations: a response to Roxå, T., & Mårtensson, K. (2017)