Our speaker today really hit home with me, in comparison the previous days, as her talk was non-discipline specific, but relevant to all. She talked about different learning theories (which is something I’m familiar with) and various innovative education initiatives. The overarching theme with all of them was that it was inclusive to everyone: tinkering workshops with children and adults, edible science/art instalments, materials sciences aimed at learning what your favourite musician is wearing (from their jewellery to their clothes). The message was that people need to see themselves in what it is that their learning; if the subject and the person are separate, there’s a disconnection that can hinder learning. Further to that, these things need to be accessible and available to everyone – not just a specific socio-economic demographic.

The latter portion of that message is very good, and perhaps something I can work towards, if I’m able to extend the GIS concept training programme I’m trying to build, but the first part of it is something I can apply. I need to make sure that the people who participate in my experiments, and help to form my case studies, are able to see the relevance of what they’re learning in their lives and that it is something they want to be a part of.