Digital P - unlearn - play - rediscover

Good evening class, I am Juffrou Gibson and I would like to begin by saying that the more I read about Digital P (My abbreviation for Digital Pedagogy cause it sounds so rad and like a Vitamin you should take that will make you spontaneous and fun!) the more it sounds like the art therapy of education, I quote, form Jesse Stommel's article: "Digital Pedogagy is less about knowing and more a rampant process of unlearning, play, and rediscovery" [Decoding Digital Pedagogy, Pt.2: (Un)mapping The Terrain - by Jesse Stommel]. Whilst the other article by Sean M. Morris talks about Pedagogy concerning itself "with the instantaneous momentary vital exchange that takes place in order for learning to happen" [Decoding Digital Pedagogy, Pt.1: Beyond The LMS - by Sean Micheal Morris]. Think about this for a second.

So, Morris just threw another curve ball our way, one I feel Fyfe also touched upon, it says basically that simply using technology does NOT make us digital pedagogues (Just when I thought I got the hang of the word Pedagogy...). And there is a difference between just being a teacher and being a pedagogue. I mean, a pedagogue is a teacher, yes, but not all teachers are pedagogues. What is a pedagogue? Morris explained, when you are just a teacher, teaching will inevitably begin with authority and expertise. When you are a Pedagogue, teaching will begin with inquiry. Throughout the articles I highlighted a few terms that for me stood out in describing a pedagogue and pedagogy and digital pedagogy, these included:

• Playfulness
• Improvisation
• Collaborative
• Dynamic
• Responsive by nature 
• Participative
• Catalyst
• Inspires
• Nourishing
• Mindful
• Facilitates

And I think probably the one that encompasses all of it the best:

• Can't be pinned down in a stable definition

I think this means it is what you make of it, as long as you know that as the same time that it shouldn't necessarily be anything specific, it should be ever-changing, like this world, like the kids we will be teaching year after year. I think that is why Stommel says that "....expert digital pedagogues learn best by forgetting - through continuous encounters with what is novel, tentative, unmastered, and unresolved." Because if we are going to get use to one way of doing things and keep doing it that way we are not going to reach the kids of tomorrow. And we might think we are young and hip we can do this digital pedagogy thing, no problem! But think about it, what about in 20 year, heck what about in 10 years, or 5 years! Will you be able to forget and reinvent you pedagogy, improvise, be once again spontaneous? But you JUST learnt how to awesomely incorporate holograms into your teaching practice to engage learners now that is boring to the new generation and you need to change your game, cause the playing field keeps changing. We can't even imagine the awesome tools we will be able to use in a few years time, and that is actually exciting.

Speaking about tools, this also stood out to me: That the best tools to use in digital pedagogy is tools that inspire you to even use it in ways that the designer never even dreamed of. AND it is very important not to become obsessed slaves to our technology/tools/machines or whatever, but at the same time that we should not be worshiping them we can also not just ignore them all together. Balance, balance, balance. We need to also use our noggins, think critically about the tools we use and how we use them, this makes so much sense, I mean it is no use just using a tool cause it is a tool. Why are we using it? For THIS specific lesson? How will it engage the learners? How will it inspire them? We have to think, how is this technological element going to ENHANCE the experience of education for my learners? Is it going to change anything? What if I use THAT tool instead, what would the different impact be?  Oh and remember, tools do not necessarily have to be technology or digital.

To end of, just a few more thoughts. If we are to be true pedagogues, and digital pedagogues at that, we should be ALWAYS adaptable, ready to improvise and respond to a new environment, happy to experiment. No, the only thing about this life is that nothing ever stays the same. Nothing. Everything is constantly moving and evolving and growing and shifting and twisting about, so the only place to be comfortable is in the knowledge that you will experience some discomfort as you witness your surroundings change in front of you with no chance of stopping it, so adapt, grow, change, improvise, be spontaneous. This extract out of Morris' article really speaks to me "The digital pedagogue looks at the options, willing to improvise, respond to a new environment, to experiment. "Her practice is mindful of the landscape". And as Morris says, Digital P is so rad exactly for the reason that is is our reminder that the (always) new landscape of learning IS mysterious and therefore also, (always) worth exploring. Go for it!

I'm going to end of with the the visual image of Pedagogy that Stommel describes, and I urge you all to look for this visual images in the students in front of you (and in yourself!) when you do your Glaskas,  "...a teacher or learner puzzled, hands-at-the-ready, mouth-agape, pausing just as they're about to speak or take action. It looks like careful planning without attachment to or fetishizing of outcomes. It looks like failure. And wonder."

Okay, we are beginners at this but hey, Challenge Accepted.

My thoughts on Digital Pedagogy Unplugged, by Paul Fyfe.

Okay so for those who don’t know, I am doing my PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate of Education) with the aim of becoming the most awesomest art teacher. I can go on and on about how this decision came to existence and how I ended up on this path and how magical I think creative expression is and how I think all kids should have a space where they can express themselves and so on it is just unbelievably good for them (young and old!)(maybe in another post!) if you’ve read my blog before, or my bio, you know! But this post is for my subject Digital Pedagogy, we were tasked with reading THIS article and write a blog post on it. SO here goes (and expect more to come, as we are receiving one once a week!)

In Digital Pedagogy Unplugged, Fyfe argues for a ‘digital pedagogy’ on a whole new level and it really makes you think.

From here.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I completely agree with Fyfe that we will be (severely) limited if we keep “digital pedagogy synonymous with tools to utilize”, there is no going around the facts that there will not and cannot always be the technological tools available to every school and every child, at least in the foreseeable future, agreed? But, on the other hand, there is also this:

From here.

Yes, we can definitely not just ignore technology/social media/the existence of digital devices, either! SO what do we do? What are our roles as the next generation of teachers (Oh, yeah!). Not only is there a definite inequality in digital/technological resources in schools but our dearest Eskom ensures that we can NEVER ([fading gradually]…Never…never…) truly trust that our technology will actually be able to come through for us. So as teachers, we SHOULD be prepared and we SHOULD be equipped to practice digital pedagogy, unplugged. I love this concept.

In class last Thursday Mr. Knoetze demonstrated this concept (without us even fully grasping the concept yet), when he had us compose short messages on posted notes, AKA tweets, and stuck them up all over the walls or wherever, in a public space where anyone could read them. It got us active and buzzing and out of our seats and engaged in the learning process. Fyfe also touches on some examples, like the text mining and the ‘No-Reading Fridays’. What else can we do to practice a digital pedagogy without technology, and what does it mean? 

From here.

I understand it to some extent as the concept of using the same strategies or processes as you would with some technological devices, just, without those devices, to engage learners with a subject matter in a manner where they can touch base with it and perhaps in some way find it relatable and perhaps also more understandable. Especially if it is the start of a difficult or complex new concept it could be a good way to introduce it in an easier manner or kick-start a curiosity about it within the kids. I think this forms part of the idea of what Fyfe calls ‘edu-hacking’? I have only ever mostly heard of the word ‘hacking’ in a negative context. The idea of ‘hacking education’ is just brilliant.

I think we will be better teachers and better human beings, for that matter, if we work on acquiring the skills (current skills, future skills, always working on acquiring new skills) of ALWAYS preparing/being prepared for the expected unexpected. I also think that sometimes this might seem impossible, or unattainable. I also think we should keep trying. We might fail sometimes. (Life happens!) But we definitely need to keep thinking of new ways we can achieve this (sometimes seemingly unachievable) aspiration. Would it not be our duty as teachers? 

I really like the idea we were given in Curriculum Studies: Life Orientation (Psychology) of always having a little booky with you and jotting down whenever you get some inspiration for an awesome activity that will help your learners grasp the concepts you are trying to teach them in class. Now just like that maybe we could try keep a book of interesting, innovative and new ways we can be unplugged ‘digital humanists’. Always keep it on-hand so when inspiration hits, when you see, hear or think of something you can quickly make a note of it and explore your ideas. Maybe work out lesson plan ideas for using technology and digital devices and media (with digital pedagogy!) and alongside it an unplugged version (or two or three) (am I being too optimistic?)

From here.

Oh, oh, and and, let’s not forget you can have a COMPLETELY boring and unengaging class with technology and what Fyfe says about it being “irresponsible to teach with technology without a digital pedagogy” just makes it so clear you can have technology without actually having a pedagogy, so you aren’t even teaching really. (JUST reading from a PowerPoint, anybody?) And how true is it that if we pull the plug we can go back to basics of engaging learners in the act of learning? And blessed are we in an age of technology and strategies teachers to generations before us could only ever have dreamed of. The buzz about creativity is growing stronger and stronger and I think teachers of ALL subject fields will have to tap (nurture and grow) their own creative banks for ways to engage learners with a pedagogy that speaks to them in this age we live in today. Whilst always keeping in mind, tomorrow will, inevitably, be different.

From here.

What do you think?

Love and sparkles,

San-Marí

xOXo

Experiencing a Quarter Life Crisis as an Artist

Anybody else going through their quarter life crisis at the moment? 

25 going on 26... 

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I found this article, and went "hey that's me!" - okay I don't relate to ALL of it, per say, but most of them hit me close to home, like on my couch eating my cereal close to home. Then, I found this article of cures for the quarter life crisis, and I must admit I did find most of it legit, I definitely feel inspired to try some out. Oh and can I just say, yes, it is TOTALLY like my life is buffering right now. And I am NOT one for patience with slow wifi connections, you know what I'm saying? 

From here

BUT, an artist, though, I feel there should be a whole other list that is directed at us. Creatives in quarter life crisis. Cause basically it goes something like this:

YAY!!! I got my art degree, I SURVIVED!! WOOHOO! Oh shit, I need a job. But I want to just paint, painting is all I want to do. This world is so unfair, why can't I just paint, why do I need money, why! I need money. Not just for food and basic survival, but for canvasses and paint and supplies so I can keep my painting dream alive. Hmmm. I want to help people through my art, SO BADLY, I want to make enough to not only survive and fuel my painting but to give away. Okay, make that long term goal. Ok you are just starting out at your job so it barely pays anything, I don't even qualify to pay taxes. Which is kinda a win. But not, cause it means I barely have enough to buy new canvasses - have you seen the prices of paint these days?! Maybe if I lived on only two-minute-noodles for a few months... mmmm. Oh, LOOK at this cool new recipe! I must try it! Dammit. Slowly put away money every month, eventually it will be a lot. I am working so hard and I don't make time to paint or write. This is not good. You should. Go do that. Why are you holding yourself back. Winter sucks. It was cold. Artists don't make excuses. Yes, they don't. Why are you holding yourself back. I feel like a wind up toy, that's going to explode. I wish I could go to the beach, I want to go say hi to the big blue ocean. I want to go hike up a mountain. Oh crap I have a deadline. How is there so much dust on my paint tubs? Wait it's the end of August - wait, WHAT? I wish I could have a studio space, where my stuff can stay where they belong, without being packed away by a cleaning lady every week. Looks for studio spaces online, Fuck. I don't have that kind of money. Okay, well one day when I can afford a house I'll make my studio in one of the rooms. Long term goal. Ok, so what now?? Stop holding yourself back. I want to paint, but it's gonna take an hour to set up my space like I want it and then something's gonna distract me cause that happens. Set up, oh the cleaning lady is coming, pack everything neatly so she doesn't hide it away where you will never find it again, I swear she has a key to Narnia. Maybe I should draw? 

You get the gist. SO I've thought of a few things to do to break free from this predicament, or at least break free from feeling so powerless and confused in the midst of the predicament. Also, so we can truly LIVE in this time of our lives where we feel, like, stuck in a midway between who we were whilst studying and who we are becoming. It's a weird time, I think it necessary for us to embrace it. So here goes: 

1) Find a cause - if your favourite isn't nearby, find another one close by. I recently discovered the Santa Shoebox Project - and I am PSYCHED. I love giving gifts. Preparing gifts. Choosing gifts. Thinking of ways to make gifts super special. And it is for kids. To help them and bring them some kindness and love and smiles to their faces. Click here if you would like to find out more and become a supporter - pledging starts 1 September! They even have a dope Pinterest page to help you with creative, affordable ideas! I think one day it will be a perfect way to teach my kids the true meaning of Christmas, not receiving but giving, bringing joy to another person's life. Helping out those less fortunate than you are. I will probably have to be restrained in order NOT to spend all my money dollars on this! 

More awesome (South African based) good causes you can go support: - CANSA - The Sunflower Fund - CHOC - See Saw Do - LIV Village - The Haven Night Shelter - Kids Haven

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2) Visual Journal - I have a pile of books that are like visual representations of who I was each year of studying fine arts. It is insane. They hold hundreds of images that caught my attention and interest at that point in my life. Looking at them now, I see that they helped me make sense of my feelings, helped me organise my thoughts and creative ideas and they helped me grow. Why did I ever stop? Print out everything that inspires you. Stick it in a book. Write down why these images and things make you feel something. Keep adding to this book. This book is your way to finding yourself wherever you may be at this point in your life. 

3) Go take a walk. Not even a jog. Just a walk. Even if it is just in and around the garden, but preferably somewhere out of your usual comfort zone. Botanical gardens are great.  

Victoria Street, Stellenbosch, Circa June 2015
Photograph by San-Marí van Wyk

University of Stellenbosch Botanical Gardens
My favourite place to linger, Circa June 2015
Photograph by San-Marí van Wyk

4) Don't hold yourself back. If you don't understand this, I have no idea how to explain it. Is it fear of success, or fear of failure. I have no clue. But there is times where I feel a physical block in my chest. It keeps me from greatness. And it must die. I think the only way this can happen is if you push through the pain, start when you can't, find time when there really is no time, pick yourself up every new day and make. it. happen. There is no magical quick fix to get over this. There is only your deep burning passion, that fire inside of you that is screaming to get unleashed. Feed it. Feed that fire. Let it burn down all the obstacles you create for yourself.

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5) Write down your dreams and goals, don't forget about them in the midst of the fact that you can't achieve them right this minute, per say. Keep track of them. See them grow and evolve. I mean, I've changed my mind about a gazillion times since I got my degree, regarding what I want to do with my life, right now and in future. The main goals remain the same, but the how seems to be quite flexible at times. But it is OK to change your mind at this age, I believe. You are 25. Sure there are people at this age who seem to have it all figured out. But that's there story. And you need to meditate on where you want to make a difference in this world, and how you are going to go about achieving that. The means may change, there are more than one road leading to any given destination. And it is not wrong to want to change lanes, every now and then. You actually need to do this till you find where you are comfortable. And if the lane you are in is making you car sick and you feel you are going to crash - you are ultimately unhappy with everything about it - take the next turn off. Do whatever it takes, how ever long it takes to reach the place where you feel you are making a difference and where you feel "THIS is friggen AWESOME". Even if it is a long term plan, and is taking long. Be patient. Don't give up. Point is, write down, keep track. Don't be closed minded. You are talented in more than one way. Opportunity may come in unexpected ways. Nurture your different talents, discover new ones and grow into a multidimensional human you can be proud of. 

6) Get your hands DIRTY - Oh, nothing can beat this one. Getting your hands dirty (think messy painting, sticking stuff down using your hands, building something with your hands, the whole nine) is a surefire way to get your creative juices flowing. Put life on hold and just emerge yourself, physically, in the act of creative expression. Get involved with every part of your being. Have FUN. Cross the lines. Make new rules. Be it just in your visual journal, or with your work of art. Go all in, and it will reward you. Mind, body and soul.

The aftermath of good times in my studio, 2013

The aftermath of good times in my studio, 2013

The aftermath of good times in my studio, 2013

7) Relax, life is happening all around you, you don't have to have it all figured out yet. You are an ever changing, ever growing, magical being. Take a breathe, and experience life even if it isn't what you expected it to be at the age you are right now. Take time to figure out what you don't like, what you do like, what you want out of life, what you want out of now, who and what do you see staring back at you in the mirror. Love that person for who they are, even if they aren't who you want to be yet. And, I repeat, it is OK to change your mind. What good is a mind if you can't change it? Breathe in, Breathe out.

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Do you have another favourite cause? Or some good advise for kicking quarter life crisis to the curb, as an artist (or other human being, of course)? Let me know in the comments! 

xOXo

A note to myself... and to all the creatives (and everyone else, actually):

Time is not a friend. It slips by when we aren't paying attention. There's that old piece of lyric going "Life is what happens when you're making other plans" (or something), but I think it's more like "Life is what happens when you aren't paying attention" or "when you get distracted". Life just keeps happening. Are you living it? If you were to disappear now, what is your legacy? If I disappeared, I hope what would be left is a pile of sparkles. Everyone who knows me would understand that sentiment. I would want there to be enough to go around for everyone I love and care for to have a little bit. To help them. How many paintings would you have left unfinished? How many dreams unfulfilled? Did you finish that vision that has been stuck in your head for months? Why do we take life for granted? Do we not get that there is just.one. Length unknown.

Added, we won't be able to do everything we can do right.now throughout the whole of our lives. Maybe we will be able to do more, maybe we will lose certain aspects of ourselves. Change is the only constant. Until your time's up. We never know when that is. So have you done what you wanted to do? Tomorrow never comes. You only ever have different Today's. I think we ignore this like many other facts in life.

Is it that we think it makes life easier to ignore the hard things? Cause, does it really? Or are we just screwing ourselves over in the long run... 

Along with your daily obligations, don't forget to follow your most wildest dreams and be truly happy and LIVE your life, before you wake up and you realise there's no more time.

Don't forget to live the life TODAY that you will remember tomorrow

Time goes by SO fast. Days trickle by like rain drops, one by one, till you have an ocean of memories from the past... which is gone now. Hold on to the wonderful people, who make you smile, who put a smile on your face and excitement in your chest. I miss my friends, I miss allnighters in our tiniest filled-with-the-smell-of-my-5L-glue-tubs-and-her-stopmotionanimation-sets-and-EVERYTHING art studio with the craziest loveliest fuzz ball beautiful girl with the longest hair and the most beautiful brown eyes. I miss those times we climbed the trees at Tuks and at my Dad's house on my birthday.... Remember that time we almost DIED trying to be good and go to a gallery... when I still had the pink bakkie, HA. Remember the cold nights at AfricaBurn and that time before we really knew each other when I helped you to the doctor because no one else thought it necessary yet you were HALF DEAD! I'm glad you made it. You made my life more complete. I miss you SO MUCH.

We moved to Somerset West 29 December 2014. My bubblewrapped paintings are gathering dust at my Dad's house back in the Vaal. So I bought a new canvas recently. After settling in, finding my feet. Started a new job! It is really awesome. But everyone back home keeps asking, "Are you still painting?" and saying "Promise you won't stop painting!".... I never intended to, but time goes by SO fast. And it's been months already. Good thing I started again. I drew, I need to add some paint now. I never even got to finish my last painting. Hopefully my Mom can bring it when they bring down most of our stuff with the big move coming up end February. I love the photo of my new piece in the setting sun. Was probably around 8ish, since that is when it is dusk down here in Summer. Don't let this one gather dust San-Marí.

My uncle sent me the most thoughtful picture I'd like to share with you - I think every artist would appreciate seeing this message at one point or another in their lives as artists:


Don't stop. Even for a second. Okay, even for a day. Paint or draw or be creative, every.day. Or you might wake up to find weeks and months have past. Time is a trickster. It takes ages to get by when we are little children - before we wipe our eyes we are adults (25 anyone?), we moved to a new city, without our Mom and Dad and Grandparents and friends.... we start new jobs and live our lives - don't neglect that vital part of you, your creative spirit, don't let it gather dust, don't get too busy to do what you've dreamt of since you were a little kid, because when you wink you will be old and epic and mostly you will be living on the memories of the people who aren't close by anymore and the things you used to love to do and you will wonder why it's been so long since you've done them. "Nothing lasts forever". Don't forget to live the life TODAY that you will remember tomorrow. Don't forget to paint. And call your Grandma to say I love you.

To every single artist out there who is struggling to get recognition, this is for you xOXo

So after MONTHS of low productivity and feeling icky about myself and my future as an artist I put on my new running shoes and went to the gym, I immediately started to feel better about myself and as I was running on the treadmill it hit me: I am an artist, a living breathing artist - I can do whatever the hell I want!!

I realized that subconsciously I have been stressing about what others think of my work: Why am I not getting into competitions, I worked so hard? What do they want from me? What is the art world looking for? Why isn't my work good enough for the big bad art world? Why am I not getting recognized? All of those thoughts were poisoning my mind and my desire and even energy to be creative and express myself and paint - and even write! Because why would I want to express myself just to be burnt down by a lack of recognition. Yes, I walked into this life after my four years of BA Fine Arts with starry eyed resolve and reality hit me like a plank in the face.

But then, out of the blue, I sold another one of my paintings, through The State of the Art online art gallery, and during that time I was working on an exam project about the Spanish artist Joan Miró and that was a turning point for me because, in one of the readings I had to do, I read:

"Persistence is absolutely fundamental, since creative people typically experience repeated rejection because of their tendency to push the limits and to perceive things in a new way"(Nancy C. Andreasen, 1996)

That was just, wow, I  mean nothing could hit closer to home for me at this point. It still took a little while but two days ago, on that treadmill, I thought to myself I really just want to take a sharpie and play around on a canvas, and then play with paint and who knows what else, I just want to draw and paint and play, and I don't care what "THEY" say, or think or whatever ("they" being the leaders, critics, judges, rulers in general, of the art world). I want to be ME again. Without limitation. So I started working on something completely different from my "known" style, because I wanted to. I'm not famous yet, I can do whatever I want! And I'm having a blast! So to all aspiring young artists who are also struggling to get recognition and "make it", remember Persistence is key, we cannot give up, it might just take a while for people to catch up to our way of seeing the world and expressing it on canvas, or paper, or what have you. It does NOT mean you are not good enough. You are. They just don't get it yet. But don't make that stop you from creating.

xOXo

What are you excited about? Here are a few things that are making me smile at the moment:

Hello all you beautiful people out there! Oh my word, so much has happened since I last wrote on here. I should, I want to, write more, and from now on I am going to make a point of it to dash down my thoughts and feelings about my creative journey and the art world more often. 

I am expanding my horizons, getting my feelers out into this scary, daunting, exciting, constantly changing art world, and soon will have much more to write about it! I would also really love to hear back from my readers so if you get a chance drop me a comment so I can know your thoughts as well :) You can also ask me anything, or what you would like to read about and I'll make a plan!


This post is all about things that are exciting me and one of those things is that me and my awesomeness boyfriend recently celebrated our 2years&8months montheversary and it makes me so happy that we have come so far and climbed over so many mountains and grew so much together. We obviously celebrated by playing pokemon cards for two days straight and it was amazing! Because we tend to always work or watch series in our breaks and we haven't played a game together in forever. So that's the first thing that excites me. Now lets turn to art related stuffs shall we?

As I mentioned before, the Sasol New Signature art competition is coming up pretty soon and I am psyched, I have chosen the paintings that I want to enter, with a little help from my Instagram and Facebook page friends! Haha, if you would like to go put in a vote for which two paintings you like the most and think I should enter just go to my Instagram or my Facebook page :)

Also, although I didn't get a chance to enter the actual competition, the Absa L'Atelier Gala Event is coming up soon and I am going and am excited to be a part of it in just that way. I'll get to meet and talk to some artists and curators and it fits in perfectly with my top secret mission that I am on, that I can't give away yet ;) But it is awesome. And I get to show my artist face and have a presence in the actual real life art world. Exciting - I think YES!

I have a thesis (for my art intervention class) and a lot of other assignments (for my top secret mission) to write at the moment so I am struggling to make time for painting. But time-management skills - I will concur you!