Association of National Teaching Fellows WRITER’S RETREAT!
19 NTFs came together for two days at Pelham House in East Sussex for a writer’s retreat. This was the first retreat organised by the association, and participants had all written abstracts outlining aspects of change, innovation and collaboration, and this was the starting point for a rich first day of discussion and development. Areas of expertise ranged from geomorphology to dentistry, medicine, business, sport, music, design, working with deaf children, employability, cognitive styles and the outcomes were equally exciting and reflected this diversity.
The facilitators had devices to aid the writing process, and in no time, Clive’s hexagons began to tessellate.
The initial book had emerging themes and working ideas for titles: “Space for Change: Where minds meet”. “Making educational change and innovation in HE happen”. “Empowering innovation in L&T in HE”. During the retreat, lots of ideas and section abstracts came together centered around various aspects of ‘space’ such as physical space, imaginative space, diologic space and how learners and teachers work within these, and ideas also explored the concerns and issues that arise in these areas. As the time progressed, editors were chosen and progress felt real.
During the process, other ideas for publications – books, journals, collaborative projects – all began to emerge and the desire to include more NTFs grew. People put forward pitches for other publication ideas.
Brainstorms and mind maps filled the room as cells of people discussed ideas.
In these two days, we came together, made connections, stimulated each other, and found common passions in education!
Will Katene embodied what we all felt with what he said at the end of that video clip:
It is all about working together. You have got to work together to achieve a common goal, and look what we have achieved in the last couple of days. Thank you to the organisational committee for what we have been able to do in such a short space of time. Look at the impact that we’re going to have when we share this collaborative practice. (words in Maori) Thank you!
Exciting, explosive, watch this space!
Blog article by Laura Ritchie.
