Page 57 - To know things we have to have the world inside us
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How to proceed?
Identifying significant moments/threads offered insights into the teacher’s experience. It became clear that, for
many, assumptions had been challenged. The agency of things~objects~materials was recognised, the predictive
nature of the brain acknowledged, the richness of connection and relations, the power and influence of many ways
of knowing something was discovered.
How could we as a group and each person as an individual, continue to deepen our sensitivity to our own
knowledge building processes?
Our (Chris and Margo) experience of being ‘in research’ began during the 2012 International Study Tour in Reggio
Emilia. We participated in ateliers where our eyes were opened to, among other things, the complex beauty and
richness of the natural environment and, in particular, trees. Previous visits to New Zealand had made us aware of
what, for us were very unusual forms of plants and trees. Our participation in the 2015 REANZ conference in
Te Anau, New Zealand, again brought trees into focus. The familiar again was made unfamiliar for us. Our
sensitivity to the identity of ‘tree’ continued to grow. We played with these ideas, ‘coming~to~know’ a stand of
bamboo in a backyard. These encounters revealed that trees are a rich subject for research. With these insights,
experiences and understanding we decided to offer a proposal of coming~to~know a tree.
Seventh proposal
Find a tree that you are drawn to and/or that is interesting for you and make friends with it.
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