Toward Collective Praxis (TCP)

Toward Collective Praxis in teacher education: Complexity, Pragmatism and Praxis.  I delete the teacher education bit because the thesis now applies to community education and much more. 

This is a link to Elaine's thesis from 2003.  (The link is not direct - just wait while it chugs through to the correct place - I aim to fix that someday!) 

Background to this writing - this is a history of how this thesis has led to Networking for Well-being - and how the ideas from the thesis sit behind the overt development of N4W. 

1.   The thesis has changed me, the way I view the world, and my way of living in this world.  I have a confidence that the ideas from my thesis are valuable in fostering stronger communities and working toward social justice and the common good. 

2.   After the earthquakes and my shift away from the academy I began voluntary work in Addington.  The most relevant and insightful work came from Mike Peters and his vision for Addington Action Incorporated (AAI). 

3.   When Mike resigned and AAI was closed,  I was the transitional coordinator for one thread of the operation.  Christchurch South Fruit and Vegetable Collective (CSFVC Inc) was created.  I gained heaps of ideas from Mike and Craig Dixon, and used the insights from my thesis to foster the Collective.

4.  Networking for Well-being (N4W) was established when CSFVC(Inc) closed down.  The aim was to carry forward the emancipatory goals of the organisation forward.  N4W survived in name only, as a network of people who understood and valued the (not clearly identified) vision and concept. 

5.  When 7Up was formed (on 07/07/2021) it was based on the interests of Ian Johnson, I found an opportunity to blend my understandings of adult learning with insights from my PhD thesis (TCP) to gradually work within 7+ to develop N4W. 

6.  Late in 2021, 7Up became 7Plus, and thanks to that networking (and related happenings) the opportunities to explore ideas from my thesis have exploded. 

7.  During Covid lock-downs (2022) the 7Plus network were running series of a dozen workshops on Zoom - this was Flourishing - resources developed by the Third Age Foundation.  With their encouragement we held a workshop day to celebrate The United Nations day of the older person on Sunday, 1 October, 2022. 

8.  In 2023 we held a meeting on the first Sunday in October at WEA - and plan to do so on the first Sunday in October this year, 6 October.  Setting a pattern around dates is one example of a pragmatic decision that helps build collective learning - this day has become a pivot point which has driven our annual celebration of what we have achieved, and our following

Move this elsewhere - 

The pages in this blog 

1. The TPC page (this page) is Elaine's. This means that Elaine can write about the key ideas of TCP and link the ideas to emerging stories and adjust ideas as we go. 
   
2. The N4W page is owned by the network.  The page is an index to ideas that grow through stories that arise as blog entries - it summarises the emergence of N4W.  Its vision is "working together to help each other". 
   
3. Similarly with other pages.  All the "Plus" networks, like Te Reo Plus, and Seven Plus can summarise their stories on a page.  They fit within the broad umbrella of N4W but they each develop their own ways of "working together to help each other" and fostering networking.  Some stories will linked to TCP and my understandings, other stories will be from other sources and other people's understandings, and some stories will be collective stories, stories that emerge as we go.  

The stories appear as blog posts.  Perhaps a very brief post followed by conversation in comments.   I do not know how well this will work - but we can experiment.

 N4W and 7Plus have lives of their own within this blog. (By that, I mean that their summary stories appear as pages within this blog, and their incidental stories appear here with labels.)