The Nerds of EduNerdNight

"the making of adaptable, curious, open, questioning people has [....] everything to do with humanisitic and scientific studies" (Postman 1995 p 32).

(in alphabetical order)

Andrea :

Ainsley:For those of you who don't know me, I am a recently departed parent from Wilton playcentre. The page is very smart, Susan. I just wanted to suggest a book. Members studying education at varsity have probably read it: Piaget J (1948/1976) To understand it to invent: The Future of Education Penguin. Lily and I have been wondering what makes for good education for our school age children, and find we don't have any basic principles to base decisions on - the 'end' that Postman talks about. I asked Chris Athey (of Extending Chldren's Thought (UK)) if she has any recommendations of good writing in that area, and she suggested it. She also said we need an `epistemology` a good theory of education , over and above `pedagogy` which is more to do with style than substance. Get some key words then search the net...write down the odd gem and develop from there. The UK is hopeless...totally under the control of the politicians".

Michael : I'm about to start a masters degree in something to do with education. (any ideas?) I am ending my second and final year at Taita College. I am very interested in Paulo Freire, complexity theory and how I can use some of these ideas in the teaching of history. I'm disappointed at the lack of time, opportunity and incentive to discuss educational ideas in secondary schools.

Nikolien : I have a background in Primary teaching, an arts degree in history and politics, and three children. I am a Playcentre parent, and will start my last paper for my masters in Educ next trimester(2006). I am also doing some part-time research for a research contract in Wilton Playcentre, and am looking forward to getting started on the final report write up in the next 3 months.... I'm enjoying reading Postman again, and want to read things like Dewey, Parker Palmer, and other books recommended to us in our Theoretical Foundations of Education paper. Currently enjoying Celia Lashlie's book " He'll be okay".I also have ideas that I'd like to explore further - enactivism, discourse analysis( maybe), complexity theory...I look forward to hearing what others have been reading and thinking, and I value having permission to ask 'dumb' questions...

Susan: Philosophy degrees, ECE practice, previously enjoyed sf and Minds, Machines, and Metaphysics reading groups, 2 small children, at Wilton Playcentre. I'd like to read Kirsh's "Intelligent Use of Space", I suspect that the rest of the educational world could learn from ECE's approach of fixing the environment first.