Learning is Dialogical

Dr. Geoff Madoc-Jones, PhD

We all have teachers in life… Teaching only happens when there is learning.  Without learning, there is no teaching.  One of the most influential teachers in my life is Geoff Madoc-Jones.  He he taught me as a Master of Education student on the Sunshine Coast in 1999-2001 and Doctor of Education student and candidate in Surrey in 2008-2012.  He passed suddenly in December of 2012.  The least I can do is honour his work in education by saying THANK YOU to him as a teacher who made a difference in my life.  One of the most memorable and meaningful lessons I learned from Geoff is reading “Malaise of Modernity” by Charles Taylor.  One of the greatest lessons from this book and from Geoff is that learning is dialogical.  I believe this.  As school trustee, it is my job and duty to figure things out and how to make things better for kids.  In doing so, I am talking to people.  I met some wonderful people at the BCPSEA AGM and learned so much.  Sometimes lessons need to be learned outside of the context of the place I work.  I am building relations and learning different perspectives I need to grapple with as school trustee.  What I learned tonight, that has been mentioned to me many times before, is that “I wear my highest hat.”  My highest hat is school trustee.  Even though I am a mom, math teacher, and education graduate student… I am a school trustee first.  I got it.  Thank you fellow trustees for helping me to understand.