Wednesday, April 25, 2018, 04:35 PM - The Solidarity Economy & Microfinance
Just had a great conversation with a friend Jayme about economics. She made me think of the Doughnut Economics approach by economist Kate Raworth.
It takes into account environmental elements (thresholds), social elements (found in the HDI) but including social capital and supports not often included or easily measured and more traditional economic measures. The weight is put on social and environmental, living well within our means.
No country, as you can imagine, is completely in the "zone" but Vietnam is an extreme outlier in being close. The question is: could you live like that? With that close a relationship to food and resources.
I have some critiques about the indicators they use (and in many iterations such as the online platform) leave out around equity and gender, but broadly it is more on the right track than anything we currently have. And truer to the Latin root of the word economic which actually means household management of resources. Pulls in Schumaker, Polayni and others around the importance of attention to scale and where we find that sweet spot in embedding our resource management and use in solid, trusted relationships.
See more on the link below...
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Saturday, April 21, 2018, 03:29 PM - Adult and Popular Education
Excited that Sisters Ink is working with the Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) on their membership strategy. Momal Mushtaq is leading the contract and I am more in a mentoring role which is also neat. Good learning for me. Part of the work is how their online platform can support their organizing and movement-building. Also very excited about online mobilizing and transformative learning spaces. Most people who have worked with me know that my work and thinking is greatly influenced by the Rao & Kelleher feminist framework that I learned from AWID. | related link
Tuesday, February 20, 2018, 09:32 PM - Adult and Popular Education
Facilitating an online course for the Carsey school of Public Policy, Small and Microenterprise Development Institute at the University of New Hampshire.
According to the 70-20-10 principle, 70 percent of learning and development comes from "on-the-job" assignments that "stretch" us, 20 percent from mentoring or social supports and 10 percent from the classroom or information. Of course, these %s vary by context, organization and nature of work but the broad strokes are important. Our course is uniquely designed along this ratio of activities taking advantage of what e-learning uniquely offers. It focuses on their own self-directed inquiry alongside of peers. Participants have the time and space to engage in the field with groups real time while learning with and from others around the world. Critical reflections help participants ground their analysis in self and social awareness, gender and power.
Saturday, February 17, 2018, 04:10 PM - Inspiring
Rebecca Thomas has been an inspiring Poet Laureate. Perhaps one of the most touching and historical moments in Halifax was the removal of the Cornwallis statue last weekend. Click on the link below to hear her poem that moved Councillors to vote for the removal. Social norms and what we sanction can be changed slowly if we keep, as Rebecca says, "tough skin and soft hearts." Also such a powerful reminder of the role of art in our collective imagination. | related link
Friday, January 26, 2018, 02:08 PM - Adult and Popular Education
A key element of transformative learning is experimenting with real-world problems. David Kolb's experiential learning cycle continues to be central. Yet cycles, even spirals, don't capture the dynamism now possible with online and blended learning. Frames have never had more possibility to engage with such a complex range of realities and inter-sectionalities. But emergent paths are also unclear and frustrating, subject to norms. How to bring critical pedagogy (andragogy) to these spaces? Working on a paper to extend the learning cycle with a hologram which helps to capture online multi-dimensionality.
Holographic visualization offers multiple dimensions, movement, refraction, doubt. Likewise, online learners can be supported to move freely where they find meaning between their online community and their own deliberations. All the while, they are embedded in life and work. This shared reflexivity and muddling is key to the transformative potential of online learning. The lag between insights and experimentation, negotiation is gone. The space also collapses gender and power dynamics in interesting ways as learners shape their own paths and voices at their own pace for reflection. Framing is even captured to better support both self-directed and collective learning. Facilitators and peers can act more like coaches, real-time in real messiness.
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