Page 114 - To know things we have to have the world inside us

Diti Hill

“There was a child went forth every day and the first object he looked upon and received with wonder or pity or love
or dread, that object he became, and that object became part of him for the day or a certain part of the day...or for

many years or stretching cycles of years” (Walt Whitman 1819-1892).

As I reflect on Walt Whitman’s poem and my participation at various levels in the 2017 professional learning, I think
back to how fortunate I was growing up, exposed to rich life experiences, day after day and year after year. These
experiences over seven decades, have been both comfortable and uncomfortable; all have contributed towards who I
am today. They became part of who I am but also, as I am reminded by my professional learning experience, of who I
am still becoming. I now realise how vital it is to always continue learning alongside others and thus strengthen the
capacity for full participation in an always changing world.

At the start of the professional learning, I was focused on researching the learning of the teacher participants, taking
notes and photographs, and quite happy that ‘I had done this before’ and ‘knew’. Being encouraged to be an active
part of the Pedagogy of Relations experience occasioned me to think deeply about how, exactly, I relate to the human
and the ‘more than human’ world at more than one level and how these levels are integrally related to one another.
Although my life experiences have brought understandings, dispositions and sensations to who I am now, living life
every day continues to challenge my ‘self’. Every encounter experienced as a human being in the material world,

whether as participant, teacher or observor/researcher, affects me in a vital way.

The best example of this is the close relationship I now have with ‘my tree’, an old pohutukawa tree that has always
dominated the bottom of my garden. This relationship was consciously created as part of the professional learning. It
has become an irreversible relationship, as a result of moving from experiencing the tree vicariously as ‘just a tree’ to
a friend in time; a daily and humble reminder that this is ‘someone’ who was there before me and will be there long
after me. The relationship with my pohutukawa tree has deepened my disposition to see- every day. I can say that I

am morally committed to my tree; I feel responsible for its well-being. The tree has become part of me. In much the
same way, I can say that I have developed a deeper appreciation of other participants’ experiences as they share these
during the course of the research on their learning.

Helen Aitken

For me, this was certainly an experience of coming to know – coming to know others, coming to know materials and
things in nature, coming to know myself, and coming to know more of research.

At the beginning I had anticipated that my role as a REANZ trustee was going to be one of researcher/observer -
perched on the periphery, watching, noting and listening to the experiences of the teachers who were experiencing

the PD. However very quickly the REANZ trustees present (of which I was one) in dialogue with Margo and Chris,
realized that we also needed to experience for ourselves – we needed to be a part rather than just sit apart.
Immediately there was a shift for me. I understood for myself the importance of materiality and coming to know.
This dual role was a privilege to experience and be a part of.

More than a year has passed since this professional development opportunity with Margo and Chris ended and yet a
number of aspects have stayed with me. I appreciated and valued the movements between self-reflection, individual

documentation and coming-to-know, coupled with small group and larger group experiences and ways of knowing.

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