In my spare time, I dabble in woodwork. My dad was a builder, but he died before I realised how much I'd miss his knowledge and experience in later life. I've never done a woodworking course in my life (although Youtube makes a very good teacher), so perhaps I appreciated this post from 8th March all the more. The brief article (below) is about Sam Maloof, an inspirational and completely self taught woodworker. Check out some of the Youtube videos of his work. It's stunningly beautiful stuff. I'm a big believer in desire driving people to learn, and sometimes formal education can blunt that desire by replacing the things that you want to learn with somebody else's priorities and … [Read more...] about On being self taught
Students of physiotherapy and their raised awareness on stigma and marginalization through health-team work in the Homeless World Cup
Each day over the next week I'll post up an abstract for a paper being presented by a member of the Critical Physiotherapy Network at the In Sickness and In Health conference in Mallorca in June 2015. (You can find more information on the conference here.) Students of physiotherapy and their raised awareness on stigma and marginalization through health-team work in the Homeless World Cup. By Hilde Sylliaas & Anne G. Langaas Health workers can make a difference for people of marginalized groups. Every year two teachers and 8-10 students of physiotherapy from two different physiotherapy educations in Scandinavia participate as a health-team in the Homeless World Cup (football … [Read more...] about Students of physiotherapy and their raised awareness on stigma and marginalization through health-team work in the Homeless World Cup
Some meditations on education and intelligence
“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” — Aristotle “Education enables you to express assent or dissent in graduated terms.” — William Cory “Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.” — Robert Frost “To change an opinion without a mental process is the mark of the uneducated.” — Geoffrey Madan “To have doubted one’s own first principles is the mark of a civilized man.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes “There … [Read more...] about Some meditations on education and intelligence
Metaphors of rhizomatic thinking
Earlier this week Mike Stewart (@knowpainmike) ran a @physiotalk Tweet Chat on the hidden influence of metaphor in physiotherapy (see here, and Mike's excellent review of the Tweet Chat here). It inspired me to think about the role metaphors play in learning. If you follow this blog regularly, you will have heard the name Gilles Deleuze. If you haven't heard this name though, it might pay to do a bit of web trawling, because some of his ideas are pretty astonishing. There have been some startling thinkers emerge from Europe over the last 100 years - Heidegger, Foucault, Sartre, Derrida, Adorno, etc. - but, for pure inventiveness, Deleuze takes the biscuit. (One tip though...I would not … [Read more...] about Metaphors of rhizomatic thinking
Idea 29: Create learning families (2 mins)
Every day during September we will post up an idea for you to vote on. The most popular ideas will become the things that the inaugural Organizing Committee of the Critical Physiotherapy Network focuses on in 2015. So please make sure you cast your vote at the bottom of each post. This comes from Richard Horwood...one of our New Zealand members: Given the diverse geographical locations and backgrounds of the group, and therefore the 'differences' culturally, it might it be worth the organising committee looking at filtering members into 'learning families' (a few each from here and there) to help break down some of the barriers to 'productive' thought. It would be easier to share … [Read more...] about Idea 29: Create learning families (2 mins)
Idea 11: Develop study materials for our students (2 mins)
Every day during September we will post up an idea for you to vote on. The most popular ideas will become the things that the inaugural Organizing Committee of the Critical Physiotherapy Network focuses on in 2015. So please make sure you cast your vote at the bottom of each post. One of the most common messages I've read over the last 2 months from people who have emailed me about the group, has been about the need to connect with people out in the wider physio community who might be able to offer their help and expertise. Be it graduate students looking for someone with methodology or philosophy expertise, or researchers/writers looking for collaborators for future projects, it … [Read more...] about Idea 11: Develop study materials for our students (2 mins)