Pedagogista: Ideas in the Wind

Ideas in the Wind:  

Educational Relationships Across the Country

I am struck today, as I watch a hurricane toss leaves--gold, orange, green, autumnal--across my backyard and into my neighbors', how like this is to our experience as educators at Sabot.  Our ideas--bright, myriad, new and old, alike in so many ways yet different--caught in the winds of progressive education, spreading to our neighbors; and coming from our neighbors all in astonishing gusts.

David Kelly at the Blue School.

This week I visited my friend, David Kelly, at the six year old Reggio-inspired Blue School in New York City.  Now in its architecturally stunning new digs at the city's old seaport, the work I saw there makes me eager for April when Dave will come and share his particularly deep brand of ideas on relationship with many of us at our spring institute.

 Dave introduced me to Val and Katie,  the teachers in a classroom of three year olds.  He stepped back as these bright young women told me the story of a parent evening, where they invited parents into the work of the children, but not their own child, the child instead, of another family.  And there it was, an idea we had  already put our own stamp on--that the work of one child informs us about all children-- but,their project offered a new way in, a clue about how to make this idea resonate more fully. 

 Katie and Val share their work.

Only a few months past, Anna and two teachers visited the Opal School in Portland, Oregon and returned with new insights on how to strengthen our ability to ask good questions, the over-arching questions that lead the work of children but guide the teachers as well. Now those questions are visually popping up everywhere in the preschool(PS)  and were the substance of  a PS faculty conversation last week--a rich and exciting interchange. I expect no teacher went away without a deeper understanding of their own practice.

 Images  from the Opal School in Portland, Oregon.

Last week, I heard from our friends Lella Gandini (the U.S liaison to Reggio Emilia who is eager to speak about teacher reflection to our institute in  April) and  Lynn Hill (the editor of  many books on the Reggio approach) who stopped by for a late afternoon visit.  And Grant Lichtman  dropped by, a new friend, who blogged about our school (  learningpond.wordpress.com  ) on his sabbatical trek across America, sharing our story and others' with  the educational community.  And then there is Paul Tough who writes about the value of a relation-based education and who Sabot will sponsor in a community forum in June and John Hunter (an old friend and band-mate of Pippin's) who will share his extraordinarily creative work on peace education this summer at Sabot. The leaves of ideas are a-swirling across the campus, and across the world of education.  

But returning to my window, looking through the rain speckled window, I can still see, beyond the blowing leaves, past the rain and swirling winds, a world I am familiar with, a structure I know, a landscape that shifts gradually, or sometimes even suddenly, but at the heart answers to physical and natural laws.  And so too,  in this landscape of educational change, with concepts flying, we at Sabot look into the new ideas--just a little deeper--and see that our work still answers to the laws of a democratic education--shared, respectful interactions, built on acquiring habits of mind which support learning for the individual within the group. As true for teacher-researchers as for children.  But meanwhile we are grateful we have both new neighbors and old whose trees of experience and wisdom add the organic matter that gives our yard a brighter look, and an exciting, energized feel.

Posted by Marty Gravett