Three main words describe my feelings from today – Elation, Contentment and Inspired …
It was very heartening to see and meet the children today. Tiny they were, but inspiring nonetheless. They ‘played’ and interacted with us in a way that was magical. Saying their names, albeit, shyly for some and most enthusiastically for others, but we shared, played and sang our hearts out …
I think the terminology that came to my mind was uplifting … I had not felt the feelings of soaring like a bird in the sky for quite some time in my life, but this was and is one moment in my life where I will look back and say that for that very brief time, I felt wanted, needed, appreciated and accepted by children who knew nothing about me, but trusted me in position as a staff member and who enjoyed what ‘we’, Fiona, Mary, Jess, Alison and me could offer them in terms of singing, interaction and fun …
That’s what life is made of and it is important not to loose sight of that no matter where we are in our learning, what career path in terms of choices in our learning and most importantly for me to enjoy learning for what it is …
Phil Race, Lecturer’s Toolkit (2001)
Whatever sort of training we think about, or whatever sort of educational experience we consider, the one thing they all need to have in common is that they lead to effective learning …
Biggs, Approaches to the Advancement of Tertiary Learning (1989), Ramsden, Learning to Teach in Higher Education (2003)
Knowing fact and how to carry our operations may well be part of the means for understanding and interpreting the world, but the quantitive conception stops at the facts and skills. A quantitative change in knowledge does not in itself change the understanding. Rote-learning scientific formulae may ve one of the things scientists do, but it is not the way that scientists think …
I think both of these concepts apply to me … lost focus … find focus … change focus … in learning language … for change, about change, to change …
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