Playing with wolves and other wild metaphors
4 session, online course
“A metaphor is an imaginative way of describing something by referring to something else which is the same in a particular way.”
Collins Dictionary
Wednesday 8 March, 15 March, 22 March, 29 March 2023 @ 7-9pm
By zoom
Facilitators: Max Hope, Luke Freedman and guests
Cost: £50
At Rewilding Education and in many other places, metaphors from the natural world are frequently used to explore what is happening in human contexts. Mycelium networks as ways of communicating. Bees and the hive mind. Storms, tidal waves, rainbows. Harvest times and hibernation. But are these metaphors useful? Can they help us to understand ourselves and to connect with and be part of the wild world? More specifically, how might they be used to explore education and how we might want to make changes to education systems?
This four-session course takes a playful approach by using metaphor and stories from the natural world to explore serious questions and conundrums in education.
Session 1: The metaphor of rewilding: rebalancing, restoring, changing educational ecosystems
What would it mean to rewild people, schools, education? Can we use central concepts from the rewilding lexicon – trophic cascades, keystone species, ecological succession, lost species, healthy ecosystems – as a lens through which to view education? Our starting question is: what are the ‘lost species’ within education and how can we reintroduce them?
Session 2: Animals in the wild and in captivity: growing, learning, retaining the wild within children
Animals that are born into the wild have a vastly different experience from those in captivity, including lifespans, survival rates, feeding routines, mating rituals, levels of stress and behaviour. Is it useful to consider captivity as being like mainstream education? Our starting question is: can a child raised in captivity ever be returned to the wild?
Session 3: Trees, forests, and mycelium networks: communication, teamwork, and community-building in education settings
A woodland, it is argued, is a social network with strong resonances to human family structures, with the fungi literally holding it all together. Individual trees communicate with and support each other, almost entirely unseen by the naked eye. What can educators learn from this? Our starting question is: can a school community consisting of teachers, students and parents ever operate like a forest?
Session 4: Alphas, betas, and social organising in the wild: power, leadership, and group dynamics in schools
It is commonly assumed that species in the natural world are dominated and led by the alpha male. Not true. It is far more complex than that, with a myriad of leadership styles and methods for social organising. Where does this leave us, then, as humans, especially when we are trying to lead education group or organisations? Our starting question is: should school leaders be like wolves, geese, termites, or horses?
These sessions are led by Max Hope, Director of Rewilding Education, supported by guests with expertise in rewilding, in trees, in the natural world and in education.
Sessions will be highly interactive and encourage debate and discussion on key questions and conundrums. Come and play.
Each session will be for two-hours and will take place on zoom.