Projects, pens and passwords

Excitement and apprehension. I can’t tell the difference between them when I embark on a new learning project. I'm curious, nervous, overwhelmed, underwhelmed, speedy and immobilised; somehow all at the same time. Then the doubt creeps in. Stomps in actually, and makes its presence known.

With all that going on, I'm never sure how I manage to start moving in the right direction. Usually I organise myself by getting a hold of new notebooks (with blank pages full of as yet unwritten possibilities) and making lots of notes about the project. I confess to still being a paper and pen person; more often it’s a fountain pen. It makes me somewhat archaic I know. 

Last time I did any formal academic study, there was no such thing as the Internet, or eBooks. It’s a different world to explore and navigate. It means that I'm not only focussed on topics, but on the mechanics of finding information in multiple ways. At least I'm willing to have a go at the new forms of digital technology, and while I'm daunted at one level, I love the opportunity to feed my curiosity. My late mother, who was denied access to formal education as a child, had managed to maintain fierce curiosity for the world throughout her life and by personal application, became literate in three languages. Her sense of awe and inquisitiveness for everything around her is a legacy I adopted with ease. I'm sure it will serve me well. What’s really bothering me is the myriad passwords that I need to remember for multiple online access.

I guess I’ll have to write all of them down on paper with my faithful fountain pen. 

Treat yourself to a writing spa

On the eve of my return to teaching for this year, I was reflecting on all the different ingredients that contribute to a student’s learning. I don't just mean in the neurological sense, there are other eloquent experts already contributing to that discussion. I was thinking of in-class, online, intensives or residential, formal or informal places to learn. 

Classrooms allow students to interact with each other and bounce of the collective input. They have their down sides too. There’s many a teacher who has tried to coax the too shy students in the corner, or battled to stop the unruly student who seems determined to disrupt everyone else. Online can be a wonderful place for those who want to manage their own workload, given other commitments. It can also be a lonely place for some and it just doesn’t work for others.

In a sense there are many classrooms around us. Life in general being the largest. While we are gathering all our data and assimilating it, we sometimes need an opportunity to really focus on what we are trying to improve. Enter the residential workshop. For writers, these are opportunities to mix with like-minded people in an intensive situation where the main focus is on writing. The world outside is left behind for a while and the only thing participants have to think about is their craft and how to develop it. There are opportunities to bond with other writers, develop networks and come away inspired with new ideas and directions. Just like a spa day works on the body, the residential writing workshop works on the writer’s mind.  

My writer friend Sherryl Clark runs a number of these events. The next one coming up in May is a Writers’ Residential Weekend. Might be worth escaping for two days and soaking yourself in words.

In the meantime, as the new higher education year starts, happy learning to those enrolled. To those still taking lessons in Life’s School, I'm a student along with you. 

Soak it all up and remember to give yourself a spa day every now and again. 

Full marks for learning

Most of today I spent marking assignments for my online writing students; exhausting and exciting at the same time. It’s encouraging to find people who are enthusiastic and committed to learning, who ask questions, who do the work, who take on board feedback and apply it. Who come back for more! When I think of 15-year-old Malala Yusafzai, shot by the Taliban because she campaigned for girls’ education, it reminds me how often those of us with access to education take it for granted. Many a parents are familiar with their kids groaning about school; how school is boring and where, according to many teens, they generally do nuthin’ and learn nuthin’ all day. I acknowledge that for some an academic environment doesn't suit their learning style and that for others life circumstances make it hard. Yet missing out on education is often a profound regret for many as they get older.

At the end of my high school education, my English Lit teacher, Rod Daniels, encouraged me to write professionally. To my everlasting regret I didn't listen and it took another 30 years before I had an opportunity to write. Now I've come full circle. It’s not just that I learn from having been a student but I also learn from being a teacher. Interaction with students forces me to examine my own work, what I am sharing with them in terms of my knowledge, my experience and what I know of the writing craft. It's thrilling to see students thrive and develop and to know I've played a part in that.

The older I get the more I value learning. Partly because the older I get, the more I'm aware of how much there is know. Lifelong education is important at many levels. It's not just about skill development. It's also about adapting to a changing world. It's about keeping our minds fresh and alive with ideas. As we are living longer, we are challenged to face new ways of working, in fact extended ways of working and often across a number of different careers. All of this involves learning in some form. So get yourself into an online course, go learn a language, teach one if you can, get onto U3A, go to TAFE, do a community course, get into your local library for one of the many free sessions they run. Share what you know. Keep learning.