Emancipatory Education?

“The real guardians of progress are the not the politicians at Westminster, or even at Holyrood, but the energised activism of tens of thousands of people who I predict will refuse meekly to go back into the political shadow.” Alex Salmond, Friday 19th September, 2014, Sunday Herald

Whether you voted yes or no, arguably we have moved into a new era in Scotland, where people have demonstrated their willingness and ability to become educated on the matters that they feel passionate about. Whether this is by traditional media, social media, lectures, books, papers vast numbers of people took ownership of their learning and made a choice about what was important to them. 

But did they all?  Were there some who lacked the skills to find appropriate information, the skills to decipher and critically assess that information?   What was the role of the educators?

Are we moving into a reshaping of the education system where there is an emphasis on self-directed learning , with educators taking on a more facilitative role?  Is there an emphasis on skills for work, without skills for active participation for life? 

Will learners go back meekly into the classroom and become receivers of education or take an energised active role shaping their education, and what does this mean for educators from across the board?

Where does learning really occur and how can we make more creative use of the public and virtual spaces we  inhabit?

What is your dangerous idea for education? Get in touch if you would like to create an event for the Emporium.

Join us for the Emporium of Dangerous Ideas, where we will be discussing these questions and more (June 9^th-19^th).  

Launch: Govanhill Baths , Glasgow (TBC), 9^th June

Speakers for the Emporium so far include: David Price, author of Open: how we will work, live and learn in the future http://engagedlearning.co.uk/ and Colin Jones, University of Tasmania and advocate of emancipatory education.