March 22, 2022
Chapter I
This is the first installment of a longer series, a long conversation. It builds on the idea that there is no one future of education because we are all on our own journeys and this includes schools. With not even one-fourth of the way through 2022, we are in an even deeper crisis: COVID, conflict, climate. Will we pause to do the inner work to understand who we are, as individuals, organizations, collectives? How will schools respond to the systemic changes, for school is not isolated from the system? How will our relationships and connections be transformed through possibilities and necessities?
People used to live in worlds that were only as big as the physical distances they could travel. These worlds were place-dependent. Whether one rode a horse, sailed a ship, or walked on foot, the world stretched only as far as one could take one’s physical body. Trade with far-off lands allowed people to consume goods that they couldn’t produce in their worlds, but these goods were only accessible at the physical point of exchange with a third party, the merchant. Without merchants, access to those goods dried up, and the connection…