Thursday, January 17, 2013

Let's Not Forget Love: Mentorship is Teaching and More

Orchard (M.A. Reilly, 2013)


Making images allows me to think in ways that words sometimes fails me.  Art opens possibilities, offering languages that allow me to explore ideas differently from when I speak or write. I am reminded of this when the email arrives from Connected Learning about an upcoming webinar (1/22, 10 a.m. PST) focusing on adult-youth mentorships with Jean Rhodes.  A link included in the webinar announcement was to the film, Mentorship.

Connected Learning commissioned Nic Askew to make a series of brief films to illustrate core principles of connected learning.  One of those films, Mentorship, features an interview with Brother Mike, YouMedia Coordinator and Lead Mentor for the Digital Youth Network whose work with poetry and youth reminds me again that art opens us. Two related ideas struck me as I viewed the film: the importance of love between and among people and the ways in which art, in this case--performance poetry, allows for rich languages to be used and invented so that we can express feelings and ideas for self and other.

Adult-youth mentorships, especially those located within the arts, offer alternatives to traditional understandings of teaching and learning. As we seek ways to reinvigorate teaching and learning, the practice of mentorship is one to explore.

Connected Learning: 'MENTOR' from DML Research Hub on Vimeo.

3 comments:

  1. love. no doubt.

    in her CLRN interview Jean shared some of their research:
    via meta-analysis, mentoring programs, if you match a kid and mentor on basis of shared interests, affects are doubled..

    more about connection/love than charity or kindness even

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    Replies
    1. I look forward to viewing the webinar. Exiciting to consider.

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  2. "one millisecond" of caring. Beautiful!

    ReplyDelete

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