As I have been involved in NGL, I have been constantly thinking about how this effects my teaching. How do I put this into practice in my classroom. As I teach year 3 students, I have found the concept of using NGL hard to envision. I love this video David posted this week.
I love the simple drawings and the simple idea of each person having ideas that seem “obvious” to us, yet are “amazing” to others. It is such a simple idea, yet it is SO hard in practice. Participating in this course has been great for me, yet INCREDIBLY challenging!
Paul noted he was feeling overwhelmed just completing set tasks. A few of us agreed. Though I find when I complete the set tasks, I don’t want to comment on them publicly or talk about my learning publicly for all to see, as for me, I feel like my thoughts are nothing special. As I read my colleagues blog posts, their insightful analysis and commentary, I feel way out of my depths.
As a student of this course, it has been a steep learning curve. Not only have I found out about NGL, but I’ve also learnt a lot about myself. I’ve learned that whilst I find blogging helpful for my learning. I don’t enjoy it. I don’t want people to see me struggling with ideas, or trying to piece things together.
One theorist I have grown to admire is Paulo Freire. Gordon (2009) reflects on his work and states,
“Freire ([1970] 1994) argues that knowledge is attained when people come together to exchange ideas, articulate their problems from their own perspectives, and construct meanings that make sense to them. It is a process of inquiry and creation, an active and restless process that human beings undertake to make sense of themselves, the world, and the relationship between the two” (p.55).
Hmm, he always hits the nail on the head!
But if I find NGL hard, how will my students cope? Will they thrive? Will they hate it? Will they understand for the first time perhaps, how knowledge works, and take home a deep understanding of learning that they can take with them for life?
Will keep reading!
Gordon, M. (2009) Toward a pragmatic discourse of constructivism: Reflections on lessons from practice. EDUCATIONAL STUDIES, 45: 39–58, 2009. DOI: 10.1080/00131940802546894
Future Learning Musings 
It is interesting how much of Freire’s ideas resonate with NGL. Any thoughts on the factors that make it hard for you and whether or not there are practices/strategies etc that might help?
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