For some time I have spoken about the value of reaching outside your echo chamber to ensure you keep growing. At Hobsonville Point Secondary School we have been living in a privileged bubble with unheard of resources of time and space as we got started. Claire Amos realised the danger of only listening to those with similar views early on and kept making a point for us to keep challenging ourselves.
I regularly try to read blogs and books that will push my thinking forward and have tried to break out of the educational echo chamber that is my online and face to face PLN. What this weekend has just proven to me, however, is that I have merely dipped out of my echo chamber every now and then.
This weekend, I completely shattered my echo chamber. Kiwi Foo is an invite only unconference of people from across many different fields and sectors. From Friday evening through to Sunday afternoon I was with over 150 of the most intelligent people I have ever met. The workshops ranged from specific topics such as Conspiracy Theories of Aotearoa (you really should follow Matthew Dentith) to wider ideas such as how to make the most of conferences or if NZ had an aim, what would it be? These workshops stretched my brain but it was the discussions in between that completely blew my brain.
CC image from Prairie Kittin that matches my brain at Kiwi Foo
Discussing:
- Design Thinking with Start Up investors, major corporates and social change innovators;
- education with Researchers that I have read for years, Principals and teachers that I have either connected with online or not ever met before, engineers, bankers, scientists and entrepreneurs;
- ethics with journalists, professors and social enterprise experts
- meaningful societal change with politicians, designers, web developers, festival organisers and entrepreneurs
meant that my brain was pushed incredibly hard and it is taking me a few days to really process what happened over the weekend. To those who I chatted with, made quasi-plans with, ate next to, swam with or played Werewolf with: Thank You!
To Nat and Jenine that make the incredible world of Kiwi Foo occur, thank you for truly shattering my echo chamber. I will not be going back to a mere dabble in outside ideas. I am now going to be actively seeking voices from within education that challenge my ideas and many, many voices from outside education to see what we can learn from each other.
p.s. written in 28 minutes for #28daysofwriting so excuse my still mind fuddled ramble
Steve Mouldey 
Great to hear you enjoyed KiwiFoo. Echo chambers are potentially dangerous and sometimes lonley. However, I don’t think we should alwyas imagine that just because we agree with others that means we aren’t being challenged. Agreeing on core values is helpful – but these may be presented in many challanging ways. I do think that we challenge has a balance of comfort too. Constant disequilibrium is just as problematic being constantly too comfy .. IMHO. 🙂
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