Yesterday I arrived in Dakar, it was late, dusty and bustling. I sit now peacefully in the garden of the hotel awaiting my first day to begin pondering my two weeks ahead. I am here on a consultancy with ImagiNation Afrika who since its inception in 2011, has, through its creative and educational programs, created learning spaces where children experience themselves as active learners and producers of new, valuable knowledge through play. ImagiNation Afrika believes in a world of African children changemakers solving the problems of development, and imagines Africa of 2025 powerfully led by young people who can critically think and creatively problem solve.
I am so encouraged that there are people all over the world who have at their heart a rich image of the child, a child who is an active learner, a producer of culture and knowledge and co-protagonist in learning where teacher and child learn from each other.
I hope to blog about my experience here, wifi willing and time of course. I have visited schools and sites of educational encounter and exchange in different countries such as Singapore, China, Sweden, Greece, and Italy and I always learn so much form the places I go. Like Suzanne of Interaction Imagination recently who visited schools in Palestine, I plan to listen, absorb, listen more and LISTEN to the patterns of interaction, the patterns of nature and the patterns of mind.
An adventure in learning awaits…
