Adult Education Theories & Tools
Branch Out by Vrindy Spencer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
|
Branch Out by Vrindy Spencer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
|
...continued. I believe that creating ones own path requires creativity and my creativity often comes in the form of poetry. I’d like to share something I wrote for my thesis: For as long as I can remember I have coasted past people and places that might have held me Or let me grow In favour of following an internal compass That pointed towards opportunities waiting to be gathered. As I kept moving away My anchor lost its tethering from lack of use, And I feared drifting alone forever. So, I made rafts out of driftwood And welcomed other wary voyagers aboard. As I wrapped them in my skin to shelter them from the wet and cold, They shared their stories of time at sea Easily. I equated staying afloat to helping others, Constantly keeping quiet about how the wind bit at my bones For fear that the heaviness of my burdens Would exceed the capacity of their rickety lifeboats. -- An iceberg in my path caused me to Question my course. As I unveiled holes in my craft, I realized I could let the gaze and warmth of others in. They provided a haven for skeleton-me By lending me their clothes, Until I stepped back into the skin I almost forgot I carried around my waist And finally felt the itch of isolation I had attempted to ignore. I am a hybrid, The Only One Of My Kind on Noah’s Ark, But the more I look the more I realize… Everyone is a black sheep in a flock Of seagulls. But that doesn’t mean we cannot be embraced. I want to use my cold hands And warm heart To build-up the icebergs that are melting, For swimmers To have a place to rest amongst The fellowship of other creatures All looking for a space to dock their feet, paws, or fins. We are not alone in our search for togetherness And we do not need to tread in loneliness while lost in the currents Of our solo journeys. It is clearer to me now that I have a huge interest in creativity, expression, and belonging. That I want to do curriculum development, coordination, and facilitation, that I want to work with my peers, and that I want to investigate myself deeply and support others in their self-explorations.
I recognize that there are messes everywhere, but the fears, stress, and anxiety around being in them are optional. I'm not at that acceptance stage yet, but I do know that it is of vital importance to my wellbeing that I create a meaningful life. Right now my reasons for walking include: having people in my life I can rely on and that can rely on me connecting with people in ways that go beyond words, such as social dancing. And creating programs to increase the sense of self-worth and efficacy of individuals. Even without a clearly defined population to support, I continue finding more clarity in “the mess” of meaning.
0 Comments
The topic of motivating students has inspired me to reflect on my own motivation for looking into the topic of adult education and personal development: Growing up I had this idea that I needed to figure out my “group”; the population I can best support, something like youth, immigrants, or people with disabilities. I had this idea that I couldn’t be whole and complete until I knew my specific place in the world in relation to what cause I am most passionate about supporting. I still have not found that population. I took a math class in university where the professor talked about the concept of "the mess." It was a problem-solving course where we were given math riddles to solve. “The mess” was the period of confusion between when you know what a problem is and when you've come to a solution or next step forward. My professor explained that this concept translates into pretty much every aspect of our life. He also shared that it is better to enjoy the experience of the mess rather than being frightened or overwhelmed by the unknown I still have not found my population, but through my investigation of the mess of “meaning” in my life, I realized there was something not quite ordinary about:
…to be continued.
Here I am in the final course of the PIDP program, where my experience transformed from being like a tree -grounding down and branching out- into more of a race to the finish line, because of new deadlines and positions that opened up for me. I am currently a program coordinator for a program called Go Girls with Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland and a program coordinator for a program called Conscious Connections with Low Entropy. I began the journey with the Provincial Instructors Diploma while in between contracts, wanting to expand my skills and knowledge as a facilitator and program developer, with an interest specifically in adult education (/personal development). Now near the tail end (one more course and the capstone to complete), I have discovered a lot about education, adult learning, and many ideas about best practice. Read more about my history here It's been a true joy to learn more about adults and supporting them through learning. These last blog posts will be in an area that I already know is one near and dear to my heart -- Engagement, more specifically sharing and discussing resources related to instructional strategies and student engagement techniques. I look forward to sharing my journey with you.
|
AuthorI am passionate about creating experiences of personal growth for adults through self-reflection and connection with others in groups. Archives
March 2018
Categories |