“…They tweet and they titter, They chat and they chitter, But the Bear snores on.”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hiyang/ / CC BY 2.0
Those of you who have read Karma Wilson‘s classic picture book Bear Snores On to their kids will know these lines off by heart. When I returned home on the train from Handheld Learning 09, these words just kept popping into my head… but why?
Firstly, I had a great time at HHL ’09. Highlights included the amazing journey that Malcolm McLaren took us on, Zenna Atkins proving that not all quango members are mealy-mouthed bureaucrats afraid of risk and the wonderfully inspiring James Paul Gee.
But it was in the area of practice, not policy, that the real fun happened. Dawn Hallybone winning a special award from her peers, Tim Ryland‘s proving that Myst is not the only way to inspire kids and teachers to make the curriculum creative and, of course, the LTS gang, with special mentions for Derek Robertson and Ollie Bray (that led to the hashtags #jealousoflts and #jealousofollie).
But the real highlight for me was the conference that took place in parallel to the all the speakers and sessions, on Twitter – marked by the #HHL09 hashtag. There was clearly a huge buzz around the event about the discussions, rants, and jokes that went on only on Twitter.
It was great to be part of this, but I made an effort to spend time in the breaks and breakouts to seperate myself a little from all the shiny sparkles of being in such direct contact with such inspirational and connected teachers. There were plenty of people attending, or who were representing the vast majority of the profession. And it was them that made me think of that wonderful picture book!
And so, to explain my use of Bear Snores On as an Allegory.
So with HUGE apologies for any offence given… Ollie, Tim, and Dawn (et al) are the first animals in the Bear’s cave – ie the mouse and hare in the story! (you decide who is what!)
The majority of the rest of us at the conference were the other animals drawn by the light and the warmth of the fire made by the “small hot sparks“. We ” tweet and titter” and “chat and chitter” – partying in a warm happy place for a short time, while there is a cold dark winter outside.
Which brings me to the real point of the allegory. The rest of the education world is the Bear – fast asleep, despite all the noise and warmth – hoping to sleep through change and stay out of the elements! In the story, nothing all the other animals do (eating, drinking, dancing, or tweeting!) seem to have any effect on the bear at all! It takes a “small pepper fleck” to wake the Bear, as “…mouse seasons stew.”
I believe that this is the challenge for all of us who attended this event. What is the spicy and (let’s face it) irritating ingredient in what we do that will get up the noses of our colleagues to get them to wake up and notice the great party we have been having! What will we do differently?
We all need to be more confident to spice up our work and let a few flecks of pepper fly! Yes, they will be annoyed that they have not been part of it. They will ‘growl and grumble’ initially, but after seeing the sheer number of projects, and evidence of spreading practice across the country directlty resulting from attendence of Handheld Learning 08, they will ‘sigh with delight’ as they see the transformation in learning that we all want to see in education.
So – here ends storytime.
I want to thank Esther and Zoe for making me read Bear Snores On so many times, and to all the great people I talked and tweeted with at HHL09.
