random thoughts & quotes

writing..as described by Paulo Freire

"For me writing has become a deep pleasure just as it has also become a duty that I cannot reject for it is a political project that must be met!

"I never live exclusively to write since, for me, writing also implies reading and rereading. Everyday, before I begin writing, I have to rearead the twenty or thirty pages of the text that I last wrote and presently, little by little, I feel obliged to reread the entire text that I have written thus far. I never do one thing at the time. I live intensely the impossible relationship of the false dichotomy between writing and reading

"writing should never be viewed only as a question of personal satisfaction. I do not write simpy because it gives me pleasure. I write because I feel politically committed."

Letters to Cristina: reflections on my life and work - By Paulo Freire

The long haul

I finished the book last week.
Thank you Ilene Alexander for introducing me to M. Horton.His ideas are worth fighting for. He knew it. he fought for them. He led by example.

I wrote these notes on one of the blank pages of the book; my summary of it, and what I believe education is/should be about:

Trust.
Believe.
People
Are of worth.
Take strong positions; be yourself.
Share your convictions.
Don't impose;
Empower.
People.
The goal is beyond you.
Collective effort and distributed leadership:
Democracy.
Trust.
Believe in
People.
They are worth it!

In the back of the book I translated two lines from a PT song I love:

Dying because I have to;
Not because I've reached the end.

(Mafalda Veiga)

The Long Haul - words of wisdom

Learning was more important than graduating. P.14

I was working on the idea that you learn what you do and not what you talk about . P 16

I also knew that if people have a position on something and you try to argue them into changing it, you are going to strengthen that position. If you want to change people's ideas, you shouldn't try to convince them intellectually. WHat you need to do is get them in a situation where they'll have to act on ideas, not argue about them P.16

[Lessons from Denmark]

• students and teachers living together
• Peer learning
• Group singing
• Freedom from State Regulation
• Nonvocational Education
• Freedom from Examination
• Social Interaction in nonformal setting
• A highly motivating purpose
• Clarity in what for and what against

I would like to see a school where young men and women will have close contact with teachers, will learn how to take their place intelligently in a changing world. In a few months, free from credit and examinations, utilizing only such methods as individual requirements called for.... P56

That's how you learn anything - by doing it. P57

I've always been afraid of over structuring things because I've seen the spirit of organisations killed by rigidity... like the rest of us didn't believe in hierarchical structures P65

The Long Haul - "Beginnings" (chapter one)

My dear friend and mentor Ilene Alexander has just presented me with the book: the long haul.

It came so timely, as recently several episodes in my life have made me consider the value of education in the society we currently live in. As I have reflected sometime ago, for me education is about unlocking potential in people... and more than that, it's about enabling them to enhance and acquire values which will make them better people, helping therefore to make the world a better place. Who knows me, will also know what I think about certificates. I know I shocked many when I finished my first degree and again when I finished all the other formal courses I took. Many think I am obsessed with education. Indeed, I am. Yet, that is totally a different story from being obsessed with certification of allegedly acquired knowledge and titles. Those I can live without. It's the results of the experiences of being involved in given situations that I value; the lessons I personally extract from the contexts in which I actively co-exist, the links I establish, the conversations in which I take part. The certification per se... is nice, but does not necessarily confer honour or dignity ( I know it does not!) to one's deeds. If all that education has not produced any change us, and most importantly, if that change is not materialised in what we do thereafter, what's the point?.

Anyway, rants apart. I am spending the day reading Ilene's present as a form of fighting writer's block. So far, these are the passages I have underlined in the book and which I identify myself with. I thought I'd share them here. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

"... there is a difference between being able to read and being intelligent". P.2

"...education is meant to help you do something for others". P.3

"She [Horton's mother] was the best-loved person around there. I've always antagonized people with some things I do. I make enemies as well as friends, and I take strong positions...". P. 4

"Love your neighbor. That's all it's all about" ... Love was a religion to her, that's what she practiced. It was a good non-doctrinaire background, and it gave me a sense of what was right and what was wrong. (...)
If you believe that people are of worth, you can't treat anybody inhumanely, and that means you not only have to love and respect people, but you have to think in terms of building a society that people can profit most from, and that society has to work on the principle of equality. Otherwise, somebody's going to be left out." P.7

"... you have to to have trust in people, and you have to work through it to to the place where people respond to that trust". P.8
" I learnt a lot growing up. My people were farmers, sharecroppers, factory workers, clerks - anything to make a living. When I heard people insulted by the factory owners, it hurt me personally. I didn't feel a bit inferior to the guy who owned the factory. I felt just as smart, in fact I knew i was smarter than he was. Who was he to talk about people like me and my family? I guess I got as much help from the opposition in firming up my beliefs as I did from my positive sources." P. 8 

Horton, M., Kohl, J. & Kohl, H.R., 1997. The long haul: an autobiography, Teachers College Press.

About my name.

This is one of those blogpost that is more relevant to me than to you. Why should you care about my name, right?  But if you care a little bit about me, do read it. It might make things easier for me in the future.

I have probably got the most common name on earth: Cristina is a name common across many, if not all, languages. Yet its spelling varies slightly. I have seen my name taken the following variants: Christina, Kristina, Christine…when in matter of fact it is Cristina.

But that’s the least of my problems!

The real problem is with my surname. You see: in Portugal, where I am originally from, we usually get at least (!) two surnames, but we often only use the last one (just to oppose to the common practice in our neighbouring country, Spain, I guess!). Unfortunately, when I came to the UK, I was given what is probably the longest email in history, because people – I think – felt obliged to use it all. And it was too late to change it when I noticed it. Well, that’s the short story of how I ended up with this email: c.mendesdacosta@ salford.ac.uk

All fine and dandy. It’s just an email address. It’s not the easiest one to spell, but people kind of get used to it. The problem doesn’t end here though. In my email information my surname has been hyphenated! Well, that is just a British invention (!) and not an accurate one at all. But it seems I cannot change it anymore.  

I have two surnames and they are separated: Mendes da Costa. This gives me the freedom to use just one of them. I’ve opted for the last one.   

Where am I getting at? I sign all my publications as Cristina Costa. All my digital footprint is also ‘supposed’ to be branded in the same way, but because of all the confusion my email has created (despite my email signature reading only two of my names) some people have been inadvertently creating a parallel identity for me! :-) Thank you, but I could do with just having one identity.

So, can I ask you to stick to Cristina Costa, instead of Christina Mendes-da-Costa, Christina da Costa, Christina Costa da Mendes (I guess this one is Spanish influenced :-) ) or which ever way you decided to spell my name.  

Using Cristina Costa woud make my life so much simpler.

Thanks :-)

Cris (for friends)

Bourdieu, Bourdieu...mais oui

  The older I get, the more I feel pushed to crime

(Bourdieu in an interview in La Monde 8th May 1998 cited in Callinicos 1999)

Now you know why Bourdieu and I connected instantly

More about Bourdieu later!

  The older I get, the more I feel pushed to crime

(Bourdieu in an interview in La Monde 8th May 1998 cited in Callinicos 1999)

Now you know why Bourdieu and I connected instantly

More about Bourdieu later!

The reflective practitioner

The traditional professional-client relationship, linked to the traditional epistemology of practice, can be described as a contact, a set of shared norms governing the behavior of each party to the interaction. These norms, some of which have a formal basis in the legal system and others basis in informal understandings, enable professional and client to know what they can expect from one another. (p. 292)

Just as reflective practice takes the form of a reflective conversation with the situation, so the reflective practitioner's relation with his client takes the form of a literally reflective conversation (p. 295)

(...) his [the reflective practitioner] claim to authority is substantially based on his ability to manifest his special knowledge in his interactions with his clients. )p.296)

The practitioner agrees to deliver competent performance to the limits if his capacity; to help the client understand the meaning of the professional's advice and the rationale of his actions, while at the same time he tries to learn the meanings his actions have on his clients; and to reflect on his own tacit understandings when he needs to do in order to play his part in fulfilling the contract . (p. 297)

Schon also talks about the practitioners repertoire - as a collection of examples, images and understandings derived from one's practice (experience)

Can we say that the epistemology of practice is anchored in evolving experiences, perceptions and reflections as part of one's lived history?

Is an epistemology of practice part of one's transformative process?

Schön, D. 1983, , The Reflective Practitioner. How professionals think in action

Donald Schön's Presentation, "Educating the Reflective Practitioner" to the 1987 meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Washington D.C.

The reflective practitioner

The traditional professional-client relationship, linked to the traditional epistemology of practice, can be described as a contact, a set of shared norms governing the behavior of each party to the interaction. These norms, some of which have a formal basis in the legal system and others basis in informal understandings, enable professional and client to know what they can expect from one another. (p. 292)

Just as reflective practice takes the form of a reflective conversation with the situation, so the reflective practitioner's relation with his client takes the form of a literally reflective conversation (p. 295)

(...) his [the reflective practitioner] claim to authority is substantially based on his ability to manifest his special knowledge in his interactions with his clients. )p.296)

The practitioner agrees to deliver competent performance to the limits if his capacity; to help the client understand the meaning of the professional's advice and the rationale of his actions, while at the same time he tries to learn the meanings his actions have on his clients; and to reflect on his own tacit understandings when he needs to do in order to play his part in fulfilling the contract . (p. 297)

Schon also talks about the practitioners repertoire - as a collection of examples, images and understandings derived from one's practice (experience)

Can we say that the epistemology of practice is anchored on evolving experiences, perceptions and reflections as part of one's lived history?

Is an epistemology of practice part of one's transformative process?

Schön, D. 1983, , The Reflective Practitioner. How professionals think in action

Donald Schön's Presentation, "Educating the Reflective Practitioner" to the 1987 meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Washington D.C.

The reflective practitioner

The traditional professional-client relationship, linked to the traditional epistemology of practice, can be described as a contact, a set of shared norms governing the behavior of each party to the interaction. These norms, some of which have a formal basis in the legal system and others basis in informal understandings, enable professional and client to know what they can expect from one another. (p. 292)

Just as reflective practice takes the form of a reflective conversation with the situation, so the reflective practitioner's relation with his client takes the form of a literally reflective conversation (p. 295)

(...) his [the reflective practitioner] claim to authority is substantially based on his ability to manifest his special knowledge in his interactions with his clients. )p.296)

The practitioner agrees to deliver competent performance to the limits if his capacity; to help the client understand the meaning of the professional's advice and the rationale of his actions, while at the same time he tries to learn the meanings his actions have on his clients; and to reflect on his own tacit understandings when he needs to do in order to play his part in fulfilling the contract . (p. 297)

Schon also talks about the practitioners repertoire - as a collection of examples, images and understandings derived from one's practice (experience)

Can we say that the epistemology of practice is anchored on evolving experiences, perceptions and reflections as part of one's lived history?

Is an epistemology of practice part of one's transformative process?

Schön, D. 1983, , The Reflective Practitioner. How professionals think in action

Donald Schön's Presentation, "Educating the Reflective Practitioner" to the 1987 meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Washington D.C.