mountain masala

live broadcast site

thanks to rob, I've just signed up at kondoot, a simple live video broadcast site. get a free account. use your computer's inbuilt camera or an external one and start broadcasting. you can set up your own page (like mine), 'friend' people, and then broadcast! ao i imagine that you can film any kind of thing live and broadcast it easily, and you can also record the broadcast. the settings make it easy to share the broadcast on facebook or twitter. how about a few other folk sign up too and we can have a play together?

apprenticeship #2

"It seems typical of apprenticeship that apprentices learn mostly in relation with other apprentices. There is anecdotal evidence that where the circulation of knowledge among peers and near-peers is possible, it spreads exceedingly rapidly and effectively. The central grounds on which forms of education that differ from schooling are condemned are that changing the person is not the central motive of the enterprise in which learning takes place. The effectiveness of the circulation of information among peers suggests, to the contrary, that engaging in practice, rather than being its object, may well be a condition for the effectiveness of learning."
J. Lave and E. Wenger, "Situated Learning", Cambridge University Press, 1991, p93.

If this is correct, a key role of educators is to establish peer learning environments whereby learners have siginifcant freedom and resources to explore what it means to engage in practice, drawing upon the expertise of the teacher as required. I take the last point as meaning that performance is not simply a result of good teaching, but rather a requirement within a peer-oriented learning process. It is important to note that, as Lave and Wenger's case studies demonstrate, the nature of those 'apprenticeship' processes may vary significantly.

The authors also refer to the ways in which the masters or experts may withhold both expertise and opportunity to learn as a way of maintaining power (not simply as incentive to the learner).

None of this is dissimilar to the kinds of things that Greg Whitby and others are saying about the ways in which technology is helping to shift teaching and learning to a more learner-centred philosophy and practice.

Of course, Christian educators have been teaching in such ways in the past in various settings. Yet the more 'academic' the setting becomes, the less such kinds of apprenticeship have been evident (IMHO).

The question is what this means in a congregational setting. To what extent to leaders/teachers create peer environments or opportunities in which purposeful experimentation around discipleship practice take place?

apprenticeship #1

Lave and Wenger's "Situated Learning" (Cambridge University Press, 1991) includes 5 quite diverse studies of apprenticeship - Mexican midwives, Liberian tailors, US navy quartermasters, butchers and members of Alcoholics Anonymous.

"In all five cases described in the preceding chapter researchers insist that there is very little observable teaching; the more basic phenomenon is learning. The practice of the community creates the potential "curriculum" in the broadest sense - that which may be learned by newcomers with legitimate peripheral access.

Learning activity appears to have a characteristic pattern. There are strong goals for learning because learners, as peripheral participants, can develop a view of what the whole enterprise is about, and what there is to be learned. Learning itself is an improvised practice: A learning curriculum unfolds in opportunities for engagement in practice. It is not specified as a set of dictates for proper practice. In apprenticeship opportunities for learning are, more often than not, given structure by work practices instead of by strongly assymetrical master-apprentice relations."

 As I read this stuff, my brain is running both training for ministry and equipping for discipleship through the authors' lens. In terms of discipleship, it seems to me here that 'strong goals for learning' and 'engagement in practice' are key dimensions - in other words, purposeful participation. When I consider ministry students, learning as improvised practice seems critical. The relationship with a mentor or supervisor is less critical than is the opportunity (and responsibility) of 'playful' and experimental involvement in aspects of leadership.

There is so much other good stuff in this book. I skimmed it a few years ago and am now re-reading it properly.

simple moussaka

one of the things that our girls have an allergy to is eggplant, so i have to wait until they're not home. we didnt have any lamb mince and i couldnt be bothered making a white sauce, so i did this instead in a baking dish.

bottom layer - 1 onion, sliced and sauted
2nd layer - eggplant sliced thinly and sauted
3rd layer - potato sliced and microwaved
4th layer - pour bottle of pasta sauce on top
5th layer - grated cheddar cheese and breadcrumbs
6th layer - proscuitto (or bacon or spinach or whatever)
7th layer - eggplant sliced thinly and sauted
8th layer - potato sliced and microwaved
8th layer - grated gruyere cheese (or parmesan), a drizzle of cream and breadcrumbs

Bake in a moderate oven for 25-30 mins. I covered it for the first 15 mins and then uncovered for the next 15. Yummy.

 

the future of youth work in australia

the australian youth affairs coalition, our peak non-government youth body, has just released a paper about the future of youth work. get a copy here.

snow in wellington

thanks to duncan for this stunning link...

Miniature Earth

This animation used to be for sale. Now its on Youtube. Excellent.

the story of bottled water

Learning and Performance

"Given a sufficient disjunction between the skill being taught and the acutal performance situation, one could imagine an actor who becomes expert as a learner - that is, who becomes a master at managing th learning situation - but who never actually learns the performance skills themselves.... The apprentice'a ability to understand the master's performance depends not on their possessing the same representation of it, or of the objects it entails, but rather on their engaging in the performance in congruent ways. Similarly, the master's effectiveness at producing learning is not dependent on her ability to inculcate the student with her own conceptual representations. Rather, it depends on her ability to manage effectively a division of participation that provides for growth on the part of the student."

William Hanks in the Foreword to Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation by Jean Jave and Etienne Wenger, Cambridge University Press, 1991.

the key

Trevor Wright's short film animation "The Key" is a stunning portrayal of despair, doubt, suport and discovery using the themes of light and dark. Trevor will be known to South Australians as youth worker at Sunset Rock UC and half (with Grant Wildman) of the former clown duo "Rivet and Tuft". In recent years Trevor has turned his hand to film, directing the short film "Train Runner" which was a finalist in the 2006 "Short Screen" Awards in SA, and won the award for best sound design.

The Key is filmed with marionettes and has no dialogue. It was filmed on a tiny set using HD still cameras (Canon I think..) The story unfolds slowly and gently, and the vieweer if left to ponder their own place in the symbolic narrative. Perhaps the ending is a bit obvious, but as a metaphor for liberation (of some kind), it seems both inevitable and necessary.

Trevor's film company is called Peel Media. He has submitted the film in a number of festivals overseas and it has done pretty well. The film has recently been included in a resource kit for exploring Christian faith produced by the Uniting Church SA. The SA Synod had copies of the film produced on DVD to give to congregations

Here's a preview of the film: