To everything, turn, turn ...

Reflection Friday #6. The autumn season of the Smata Bulletin begins: culture, mood music, the bedrock of learning and vā.

Hello,

So, quickly it’s March, which means that in New Zealand we’re officially in autumn. As I write the southerly wind is cranking, right on cue.

This morning (Wednesday) I had to take our old dog to the vet for her monthly arthritis injection. The wind was whirling, drizzle dappled the windscreen. I should have worn a jersey.

Change is afoot and I’m feeling the coming season already.

Are you?

I’ve been thinking lately about taking a thematic approach to the paid content on the Smata Bulletin to help give it a bit more focus. Funnily enough, one of my thoughts was about splitting it into blocks that reflect the school terms and it occurred to me this morning that blocks are akin to seasons.

Thanks, today’s weather, for opening up a whole metaphorical world of thought!

Autumn: a time of contrasts, festivals and preparation

Yes, yes, I can hear you thinking. Very nice and everything Bevan, but I’m here for the pedagogy, for the link to learning.

Indeed …

Stay with me. I’ve thought this through.

Look at those characteristics of autumn - they’re all to do with culture. Likewise, the start of the school year is about culture too.

Thus, we have our theme for the autumn season of the Smata Bulletin :)¹

Over the next 6 weeks, we’re going to explore the importance of culture when it comes to learning, and we’ll do it through an autumnal lens. That means we’ll look at contrast, which in education we call diversity, with the key question being how space can be opened for it to flourish and be embraced; festivals, which in education we call celebrating learning, but also has a lot to do with the spaces we’re in; and preparation, which in education we call making plans and getting focused.