Betwitx and Between: Reflections on Northern Voice 2009

Posted on February 28, 2009 by Barbara

As the months slip between me and my many years within the safe (?) confines of higher ed, it is tempting to forget what it was like to work for change from within the system. Honorable and important, frustrating work. I applaud the brave souls who continue to show deep patience and maintain faith that [...]

Filed under: community, Conferences, Emergence, Leaving School, Local community, transitions | Tagged: , , , , | 28 Comments »

The New Year: Resisting Action

Posted on January 2, 2009 by Barbara

As I learn to follow my own nose around the land instead of depending on Finn to set both pace and direction for my daily wander, I am coming face-to-face with some interesting lessons on the pull of inertia, and the challenge of creative thinking. I’m also finally grappling with my uncharacteristic (and to myself [...]

Filed under: Leaving School, Questioning, transitions, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , | 7 Comments »

Taking Stock of the First Six Months Beyond the Walls: I Had No Idea…Really…

Posted on November 12, 2008 by Barbara

I taught my last class at Middlebury College in May, six months ago almost to the day, packed up my office, said goodbye and left. What a gift, I thought: to be 51 and launched on an adventure to explore learning and communities outside the safe, constricting walls of higher education. I escaped. But, to [...]

Filed under: community, creativity, Emergence, Leaving School, Local community | Tagged: , , | 13 Comments »

Moving Past Cynicism: Inspired by a Former Student

Posted on November 6, 2008 by Barbara

I’ve recently received several emails from non-blogging friends with links to Paul Boutin’s Wired Magazine article announcing the death of blogs. I, of course, send them right to Alan Levine’s response and then shrug and also point to some of the blogging my former students are doing now that they are out in the world. [...]

Filed under: community, Leaving School, politics, Students online | Tagged: , | Leave a Comment »

Walking the Land with Hard Thoughts

Posted on October 30, 2008 by Barbara

One of the greatest gifts I’ve received from leaving the Academy is a clearer perspective on what matters. As layer after layer of those years slip from my shoulders, I can see, breathe, think more fully than I have in a long time. I often feel delighted by the promise of what is possible. And [...]

Filed under: Emergence, Ethics, family, Image Work, Leaving School, politics, Questioning, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , | 1 Comment »

From Academy to Community and Back Again: On Being a Visitor

Posted on October 14, 2008 by Barbara

Three times this past month I have traveled back to school all while steadily journeying far far from that world. What a strange feeling to have so much I want to say and explore with people still on the inside while rejecting the structures of formal education. My closest colleagues, even in the Centers for [...]

Filed under: Emergence, Leaving School, Questioning, Teaching and Learning, transitions | Tagged: , , | 7 Comments »

Thoughts as We Near the Fall Equinox, The Time of Between

Posted on September 19, 2008 by Barbara

I am lucky to live in a place as beautiful as this–from my door every day I walk for miles across the farmlands. An 18-mile loop trail crosses our neighbor’s land, but mostly I prefer to range pathless with dog and camera across fields and scrublands. And without the burden of frustration welling up from [...]

Filed under: CCDL, community, Emergence, Ethics, Leaving School, Local community, Projects, Questioning, transitions | Tagged: , , , , , , | 11 Comments »

From Outside the Walls: In Search of Form and Meaning in Extreme Times

Posted on August 19, 2008 by Barbara

Be forewarned, this post is more of a personal reflective narrative about where I find myself than an exploration of ideas and practices of our times, so if you don’t like that sort of thing, go ahead, bow out now. My blog, morphing into an open laboratory, will include some messier-than-in-the-past posts about my doubts, [...]

Filed under: CCDL, creativity, Emergence, Leaving School, Questioning, transitions | Tagged: , , | 12 Comments »

There’s No Doctor in This House, Just Someone Who Asks a lot of Questions: Where I’m Headed, Part One

Posted on July 18, 2008 by Barbara

“…for most [people], the right to learn is curtailed by the obligation to attend school.” (Ivan Illich, Deschooling Society, 1970 p.xix) I’m an unabashed generalist. A near novice in any field. Now that I’ve left my teaching position, I’m no longer qualified for it–I couldn’t even apply, wouldn’t make the interview round. No joke. A [...]

Filed under: CCDL, community, creativity, Emergence, Leaving School, Local community, Projects, Questioning, Teaching and Learning, transitions | Tagged: , , , , , , | 15 Comments »

Since Leaving School…

Posted on June 26, 2008 by Barbara

…I have not blogged, letting a couple of months pass, to clear the shatter of thoughts and feelings tied up with leaving formal ed, waiting, too, for the language to wash over me that could explain where I am and where I’m going. I searched for the words during three weeks with family in Europe [...]

Filed under: Leaving School | Tagged: , | 14 Comments »

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