The Regeneration Lab Education as Life-Affirming Practice || Michelle Holliday
In this episode of The (Re)generative Education Podcast I chat with dr. Michelle Holliday, international consultant, leader and author of the acclaimed book The Age of Thriveability.
In this chat we engage with what thriveability means in the context of higher education as the intention and practice of allowing life to thrive. First we need to understand what are the fertile conditions that life requires to thrive, then we need to set that as our clear intention and then bring it our education as an ongoing life practice. Collectively and individually. Michelle argues that following the patterns of life can allow for learning environments that are more empowering. These learning environments welcome and invite practical play in relationshipping. She sees education as a place to play games that purposefully serve our learning.
In this discussion the following systemic barriers and opportunities emerged:
- The importance of nurturing the conditions conducive for life to thrive in our educational approach. Learning from the patterns of life when designign educational experiences.
- The power of inform, intent and practice as a basis for life-affirming education.
- Each living system consist of parts, relationship, emergent wholes with dynamic characteristics not found in lower level of parts and that it is powered by life (self-organizing, self-managing and self-healing.
- The importance of being a steward or gardener in learning environments, that nurtures and cares for the conditions that are fertile for learning.
- The power of taking care about the biophysical surroundings and environment of the learning environments that allow for thriving learning.
- The setting of shared purpose when learning together and enacting in practical play.
- The power of having faith that valuable learning will happen even if it is not pre-planned and explicitely delivered by you.
- The combination of reverence of the magic and mystery of living things and responsible for the potential of living systems.
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