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Vision Creed Why not just go to college? Slow Thinking How I Came to be Slow Creativity Workshops Professional Workshops
How I Came to be Slow Intentional Learning, Unintended Outcomes My Vision for Community and a Brief Personal History Patricia Kambitsch I always loved learning, but hated going to school. So, naturally, I decided to become a school teacher. I believed I could change the world by changing education, one class, one lesson, one child at a time. For over twenty years I taught in urban public schools. I taught nearly every academic subject, from science to social studies, literature to math. I taught every grade level, preschool through 12. Like any teacher, I made significant impact in the lives of the students under my guidance. My career in schools has been rich and varied. The only dull moments were delicious, rare minutes of rest afforded by the administration of state mandated standardized tests. After twenty-odd years of classroom experience, I've continued to love learning, but I've also endured bureaucratical nightmares reminiscent of the Terry Gilliam's film Brazil. Much of the true and joyful learning that took place in schools seemed subversive. Passionate inquiry, natural to young human beings, is slow and messy. As teachers we are encouraged to teach our children to be quick, clean, and ever more like everyone else. I loved teaching, but I love learning more. So I left my modest, but comfortably compensated tenured position to develop my own personal learning plan. I examined curricula of what I believed to be the most progressive schools in my chosen field (arts and new media) and I found that these programs tended to be
These programs also required much student initiation and intention. For example, many programs require students to locate and recruit the engagement of experts who serve as mentors. These mentors are then compensated as adjuncts to the university. This sounded wonderful. Student centered learning. Learning from experts. Creating my own personalized learning plan. So why go back to school? What use is an MFA behind my name? Couldn't I hire my own adjunct faculty and learn as much on my own? My years of teaching in public schools taught me that no one learns completely on their own, least of all extroverted creative types like myself. I would hire my own adjunct faculty. I would choose goals with intention, and I would also establish a community of like-minded learners who could help me. I would develop a model for learning that I could put to work for myself, and then offer to others. I would develop an intentional learning community that celebrates unintended learning, learning that takes time, learning that is slow, learning that connects communities, learning creates new possibilities. That's the dream, the vision: Slower Learning.
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