Since the publication of my doctoral thesis (McKenzie 2014), I have been asking myself how I can communicate the gist of its complex argument in an accessible and enticing way. I began to think that a worthwhile starting point for some educators could be this question: what are the teaching implications of believing that growth in understanding in the classroom is part of a deeper, wider becoming of a whole human life? More recently, responding to an opportunity to work with primary and secondary teachers through a local (Orange, New South Wales) not-for-profit organisation, I have begun to see how my ‘curriculum of becoming mindspace’ could have resonance and practical application in school education. (The thesis itself focussed on university education for practice, but all along my interest was in articulating a practice philosophy that would have application at all levels of formal education.)
Teachers whose interest is piqued by the suggestion that there could be more to our teaching challenge than meets the eye in this confronting twenty-first century are invited to peer over the shoulders of teachers presently being signed up to the Orange CultureHub’s 2016 ‘i witness’ program. The scope and purpose of the program is outlined in the document, Invitation to Orange district teachers, and the rationale for the program is explained in The thinking behind the i witness program. Both documents can be accessed from the 2016 i witness program webpage at http://orangeculturehub.wix.com/joinus#!i-witness/wu6nx. Further documentation will be added progressively. Orange CultureHub has applied to Multicultural NSW for Unity Grant funds for this program.
Reference McKenzie, A. (2014). Meaning making: A university curriculum framework for the twenty-first century. Saarbrucken: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing. Available here: https://www.morebooks.de/store/gb/book/meaning-making:-a-university-curriculum-framework-for-the-21st-century/isbn/978-3-659-52667-1.