To build a Scene that collaborates emergently to reinvent learning, helping us come alive and live in a world built by us all.
There are many barriers to living in a world built by all of us: the modern one-size-fits-all school system, the misunderstanding that learning only happens to "young ones" or "from the outside in," economic inequality, systemic racism, lack of available tools and supportive environments, a mismatch between learner style and learning method (mislabeled learning disorder, actually a schooling disorder), etc.
There are also many opportunities we can run with: a plethora of physical and digital creative tools that exist and platforms to create more of them, unprecedented cross-cultural & cross-time wisdom available, a general feeling that education needs to move beyond the industrial age, plenty of communication tools that allow us to transcend time and space to collaborate and inspire, etc.
To address these barriers, take advantage of these opportunities, and enjoy life we are building a Learning Reinvention Scene [see below for more on "scenes," but yes a scene as in a music scene or an art scene] of playful professional friends who each have a learning reinvention practice. We will get to know each other's talents and dreams, and form trust through playshopping together. Out of that Scene, adhoc groups may naturally be inspired to arise to solve wicked problems and/or make something wonderful.
Everland Sanctuary, Colorado
Create dense interconnections of trust and knowledge of each others' dreams and talents by playing together in a community of practice. Each member has their own, likely professional, practice of reinventing learning, and is enlivened by the resonance of the community. We create the scene through repeatedly playing together:
See Play Dates page here.
From vision papers to tools and learning environments to movements, we can build inspiring new ways of learning and highlight or incorporate underappreciated old ways. When wicked problems arise, or beautiful opportunities coalesce, we will be prepared to join together In a decentralized manner in part because of our existing Scene. Each project will prove in at least some small way that learning as we know it is reconfigurable.
I once heard the amazing Geetha Narayan answer a challenge, "But how will you scale?" She answered by saying he was assuming her education ideas had to scale industrially. But by scaling virally each new village could take the parts of her vision that were most resonant and mold them so that they could afford them and implement them in their own way. If an idea is so good that people have to have it, then they will adapt it and find a way.
Believing we can all change how learning happens is step 1.
A scene inspires and lubricates a group of creators with an enlivening social context that ties into the tribal nature of being human.
A scenius, not unlike a mastermind, but still going beyond just the "mind" part of the meta-organism, describes the magical creative potential of an intertwined community of practice.
From Austin Kleon's site (Image and quote from: https://austinkleon.com/2017/05/12/scenius/):
"The ability, intuition and creative intelligence of a community, group, society or organization."
"There’s a healthier way of thinking about creativity that the musician Brian Eno refers to as 'scenius.' Under this model, great ideas are often birthed by a group of creative individuals—artists, curators, thinkers, theorists, and other tastemakers—who make up an “ecology of talent.”
“The only alternative to making mistakes is for someone to make all your decisions for you, in which case you will make their mistakes instead of your own.”
"The pupil is ... ‘schooled’ to confuse teaching with learning, grade advancement with education, a diploma with competence, and fluency with the ability to say something new.”
"The child gives us a beautiful lesson – that in order to form and maintain our intelligence, we must use our hands."
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation and JoyLabz
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