Welcome to the 3rd post in our Spotlight Series. A relevant piece, in light of the outdoor experience we have planned for our upcoming exhibit – which will be led by our dynamic group of friends-in-residence. We hope you will join us to discover for yourself at Beyond Words Sep 2-4, 2016.
[ Originally shared May 2015 ]
On Revisiting
Whenever we sit down to write or revisit photos between our busy programming, we realize we’ve learned something new that we need to add! Our ideas are constantly evolving. The story is never over. We could put our initial thoughts into words and send them out into the ether the very next day, but then we would only be skimming the surface. This weekend we had the good fortune of attending an inspiring keynote address by Ann Pelo, author of the exceptional book, “The Goodness of Rain”. Ann spoke about walking in place – about developing an ecological identity – a sense of self in place. She described how revisiting a place over and over again lets us dive deeper under the surface. Sparked by the intimacy of attention, the world narrows and becomes nuanced – which in turn opens up the world.
This is exactly what happens when we revisit the photos and stories from our programs. Every time we return to look closely at an image or slow down and reflect, the learning goes deeper and we see something we didn’t see before. The nuances lead to broader learning – sparked by the intimacy of attention that Ann so beautifully describes. And the same can be said for documentation and inquiry learning. To honour both of these worthy tasks in authentic ways takes time, attention, and revisiting. That's why it's so important to invite children to revisit their ideas in a variety of ways, with multiple tools and diverse mediums over time. Recently, our dear friend and fellow educator, Laurel Fynes, tweeted about Wabi Sabi, a Japanese concept based on transience. According to Wabi-Sabi, everything is imperfect, impermanent and incomplete. And that’s exactly how we feel about our thinkin’. We will continue to ignore the immediacy of social media in favour of diving deeper, and trust that revisiting our learning over and over again will enrich our pedagogy of place – and possibly yours.
Simone and Aviva
On Revisiting
Whenever we sit down to write or revisit photos between our busy programming, we realize we’ve learned something new that we need to add! Our ideas are constantly evolving. The story is never over. We could put our initial thoughts into words and send them out into the ether the very next day, but then we would only be skimming the surface. This weekend we had the good fortune of attending an inspiring keynote address by Ann Pelo, author of the exceptional book, “The Goodness of Rain”. Ann spoke about walking in place – about developing an ecological identity – a sense of self in place. She described how revisiting a place over and over again lets us dive deeper under the surface. Sparked by the intimacy of attention, the world narrows and becomes nuanced – which in turn opens up the world.
This is exactly what happens when we revisit the photos and stories from our programs. Every time we return to look closely at an image or slow down and reflect, the learning goes deeper and we see something we didn’t see before. The nuances lead to broader learning – sparked by the intimacy of attention that Ann so beautifully describes. And the same can be said for documentation and inquiry learning. To honour both of these worthy tasks in authentic ways takes time, attention, and revisiting. That's why it's so important to invite children to revisit their ideas in a variety of ways, with multiple tools and diverse mediums over time. Recently, our dear friend and fellow educator, Laurel Fynes, tweeted about Wabi Sabi, a Japanese concept based on transience. According to Wabi-Sabi, everything is imperfect, impermanent and incomplete. And that’s exactly how we feel about our thinkin’. We will continue to ignore the immediacy of social media in favour of diving deeper, and trust that revisiting our learning over and over again will enrich our pedagogy of place – and possibly yours.
Simone and Aviva
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