I was delighted to join a wonderful panel with the Better Future Forum at Noisily Festival in July. Chaired by Peter Barden, with co-panelists Hetty, Bruce Parry, Flo and Dan. The topic was “Earth in Mind” with each of us sharing our personal story of education systems, our imagining of what could be possible and a call to action.
Hetty shared her experience of motherhood and home schooling, the nature-connectedness of learning, doing and playing outdoors and the stark difference of her children starting in UK primary school education. Bruce shared his experiences of living with Indigenous communities and the intergenerational learning with place and land. How indigenous thinking and ways of being are interconnected and interdependent with the cycles of each place, and how we could find ways of re/learning for a more ecological future. Flo explored her experience of early years education and motherhood, especially exploring how as a parent one does have the power to define the educational experience of one’s children irrespective of what schools or settings are available. Dan shared his connection with Ivan Illich’s ‘Deschooling’ (1970) and what can be learnt from this approach 50 years after it’s publication.
I have been most interested in ‘origins’ or ideas, thoughts, concepts and philosophical perspectives and how these initiate and affect the emergence of systems. The key question I posed was:
What would education systems look like if the origin was Earth centred and not nationhood, militaristic and economic origins?
These following three key themes emerge in my own exploration with an Earth centred education system and what it might look like, or ‘feel’ like to inhabit.
Land
What might our lives ‘feel’ like if we had common custodianship of land? For me this questions shifts the entire relationship we have with place, resources, housing and learning, as well as the importance of how community building is intrinsic to educational practices. With common custodianship the wellbeing of place, planet and people is centred. Educationally there are already elements of these pedagogical practices being tagged onto formal and informal learning spaces through outdoor education, place-based education, woodland kindergartens, Forest Schools and thematic or project based learning in connection with ‘real-world’ challenges.
Democracy
What might. our communities ‘feel’ like if we had citizen action networks, regional assemblies or more meaningful participative democratic systems? With a background as a citizenship teacher I have explored a range of educational practices to embody just and democratic dialogue, living as plural societies and where social justice underpins the ethical complexity of society. To achieve this there has to be space given to complexity and time for exploring key issues faced by everyone’s lives, not simplified into systems that are unrepresentative or reductionist. All ages can participate in dialogue, critical thinking and encounter complexity across beliefs, perspectives, needs and rights, but without those spaces for dialogue there is less opportunity to find consensus or work collectively for place, planet and people.
Wellbeing
What might our lives ‘feel’ like if we centred the wellbeing of Earth and people above economy? Education is entangled with society, influenced by one another and schools are a conduit of socialisation among other aims. The education system necessary for a just future is reliant on a society transforming itself alongside system transformation, where housing, nutritional food, safe water, energy and wellbeing are central to the community. Wellbeing is a ‘doing’ with people and place throughout life; regenerative across all ways of being and with all beings.
After all the weaving of themes across each panelist and with awareness of the potentiality of what we bring into being and become-with, I closed with Hannah Arendt’s well known quote:
“Education is the point at which we decide whether we love the world enough to assume responsibility for it and by the same token save it from that ruin which, except for renewal, except for the coming of the new and young, would be inevitable.”
Arendt brings to mind for me the realisation that each generation brings a potential with them to regenerate communities, society and global interconnectedness. To reflect, review and ethically consider if what has been before emerges into something entirely new and unknown. This is hope, leaving open the future and not constraining it to the world we already inhabit; especially not constraining it to ways of living that are not upholding social or ecological justice.
Thank you Noisily Festival for having me I am grateful to have being part of the ongoing weaving of conversations throughout the weekend bringing even more vitality and inspiration.
With thanks to Michael Buckley for the photo