That tectonic depression that is Hamilton

Landscapes of the mind, and all that Artichokean imagining, means that there is nothing like the timelessness of geology to make me feel alive in a moment in  time.

The Waiheke Island active@eden principal and lead teacher retreat allowed me to imagine  myself submerged under a salty sea, thrust backwards in time 25 million years.  My  vision blurred, obscured by the soft lightly coloured sediments of the Waitemata depositing on the  hard dark greywacke basement rocks from an ancient and, everted New Zealand geosyncline. 

And then when I launched forward to the present, and emerged dripping from the salty sea, I focussed on the crisp coastline of Waiheke Island, and gazed in wonder at the cliffs of  the Waitemata group sedimentary sandstones and mudstones resting upon the 100million year  old greywacke ribs of the land.  I practised breathing in slowly, imagining myself in a moment in time. 

Working in Hamilton on Thursday, proved more challenging to the fertile landscapes of the  Artichokean mind.  The Maori name for the area, Kirikiriroa, roughly translates as “a long  stretch of gravel”.  The Hamilton Basin is a large tectonic depression, filled with  Pleistocene pumiceous and rhyolitic sand, silt, peat and, gravels, enclosed by  greywacke hills. 

I have always wondered whether the geological depression explains the fact  that the case numbers and rates of chlamydia in the Waikato/ Bay of Plenty regions by age  group 15–25 years and by gender exceeds those of that city of sexual excess- Auckland - the city of 50 boutique  volcanoes. Is hard to travel backwards in time to that tectonic depression that is Hamilton and feel  suddenly alive in a moment in time. Even when the after pd "curry and naan bread session" at Little India was so enjoyable, I had difficulty breathing, let alone slowly. 

The Waikato River sliced through this Pleistocene alluvial fill 15,000 years ago, allowing  us to talk today about Hamilton West and Hamilton East.  Which is just as well, because on the drive in I realised that I had  taken insufficient interest in the detail and, could only remember that we were working at a  school in Hamilton East, on the road that also locates the University of Waikato.  With  enormous confidence I could creatively direct the “Magnet for Misadventure” to turn left as  we approached Hamilton City from Ngaruawhahia.   

Despite the creativity and confidence in my directions, we got lost. We had to stop twice, accosting unsuspecting Hamiltonians, from the East Bank,  for directions.  And then we had  to phone the school to be talked in. An experience that, although enormously irritating to  the "Magnet for Misadventure", who ironically prefers certainty in her life, reveals the  deceit in the Ministries draft (e) Learning Framework for the Schools Sector Vision  Statement, p9.

“All learners will use ICT confidently and creatively to help develop the skills and  knowledge they need to achieve personal goals and be full participants in the global  community. “  

Seems like "confidence and  creativity" are not enough for a (e) learning framework nor are they enough for a “Thelma and Louise” road trip.  Artichoke Post 

Still, the process of losing and finding the Hamilton East school we were working in, helped me better  unpack my disquiet over the glib eduspeak rhetoric about “lifelong learning” or as Rosemary  Hipkins would have it – “taking an education and “making a life out of it””

Comments

[Rachel]

Hey Artichoke u analyse Hamilton much more deeply than i ever would (in fact u do that about a lot of things ;-) Did u know those facts or r u just making them up? In our role we are expected to be the filters for those on the frontline who don't have the time or sometimes the inclination to think about the bigger picture & look at their classroom/school practises in light of that. When i first took this role i found it quite scary how trusting everybody was about what i had to say. (Especially since i was - and still am - working it out for myself) So i trust u that the "Waikato River sliced through this Pleistocene alluvial fill 15,000 years ago" - 1. i am too busy too look it up & 2. who cares anyway.
Hamilton has been a 'Magnet for Misadventure' for us too as we have been summonsed to that area for the obligatory regional meeting (another one coming up soon) Awesome live music in some of the bars & a good night out on St Patricks!! A good use of my time? Maybe not but if i am being dragged all over the countryside i want to have a good time while i'm there :-)

[Artichoke]

Hi Rachel,

Nietzsche would have it ..

"And we should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh."

I probably analyse Hamilton too deeply because I have never danced in an Irish bar there. And the tectonic depression stuff must be true because it makes me laugh every time I drive through.

I still remember my first ICT Cluster Regional Meeting - I turned up with "high apple pie in the sky hopes" for professional learning and then played Peggy Lee's version of "Is that all there is" on repeat all the way back home. Have not had to change the track in three years.

I find them something to endure rather than something to embrace - and I am, as you know, able to find embrace most anything - including tectonic depressions.

Think it is pretty hard for ICT facilitators who sit outside the MOE Team Solutions to keep up with professional learning - especially when we are "expected to be filters".

Rose G is tracking me for "hand wringing" - and she is quite right to do so - During ict regional cluster meetings I have chosen to "retreat to a happy place in my mind",and then sing along to Peggy Lee on the way home.

I have been proactive in searching edu_blogs and places like Nesta Futurelab, and subscribing to www.tools for education and elearnmag to learn new stuff for myself, but have made little effort to connect with other ict facilitators and change anything.

After Rotorua, the Magnet for Misadventure, Nixit and Artichoke decided to stop whinging and sort things for ourselves. We are setting up our own learning community for independant ict facilitators - we are calling it "The Schmoozers" you will recognise the inspiration for the name.

We have such diverse talents and interests we reckon we will learn heaps together and have a good time whilst we are doing it.

Wonder if Bard Wired would like to increase the membership by one?