Gatherings of/with/in Collectivity Session 1 Tuesday, December 3, 5:30pm-7pm Location: Harry Lou Poy Bldg Atrium Potluck (please bring small item for sharing) Reading/resources: FreshEd podcast #180; Peter Moss (2014) pages 89-91 from chpt excerpt, Sylvia Kind, Collective Improvisations
My image of the educator is similar, ‘rich’ and competent with enormous potential, and active learner co-constructing knowledge in relationship with others, not least children, with the school as ‘a place where adults and children learn together’ (Hoyuelos, 2013, p. 126)…This educator is a reflective practitioner, a theorist and critical thinker, aware that ‘when you do practice, it’s because you have a theory…[and that when you] think, it’s because there’s a practice behind it (ibid, p. 191)…She is also a researcher and experimentor, seeking new understandings, new knowledge, new ideas, these identities manifested in various ways: ‘as a way of thinking of approaching life, of negotiating, of documenting’. (Moss, 2014, p. 89)
What does it meant to de-centre the educator in ECE practice? How do we do this in a way that honours educators as participants in the process of learning without leading us into the trap of making ourselves disappear in the process of engagement? Is there a line between engaging children in conversation and imposing our beliefs on them?