Saturday 5 October 2013

Why blog? Well, life is all about learning.


 
This is my first blog.  It feels a strange experience.  I’ve been saying I’d have a go at blogging for a while.  My wife, Janice, blogs regularly and has clocked up over 100 blogs, has had over 30,000 viewings and has over 50 regular followers many of whom also blog.  Janice has been seriously ill this last year and her blogging community has been such a fantastic support network.  (I’m pleased to say she is now doing well and I’m sure that is in part due to the support she has found around her, not least her fellow bloggers).

So why have I found it so hard to get down to it?  I think it is partly because I’m not sure who I am blogging for/to (friends, relations, former colleagues, educationalists , a more generalised audience, the blogasphere?) , quite what to blog about (lots of ideas which started with reflections on my career in education and some of the lessons I’ve learnt but then why not wider experiences and topics) and what style to adopt (academic , polemical, serious reportage, ‘amusing’ reflections, honest autobiography…)  .  Nor was I really clear why I would be doing this – and one of the lessons from work and wider life has been that’s its best to know why you are doing something and what you are trying to achieve before you start, even if the purpose later changes (a possible blog in itself!). 

In the end a good friend, Diane, gave me some advice – blog for yourself, write what seems interesting/amusing/important to you at the time and just have a go and see what comes out.  Pretty straightforward really (as usual, thanks Diane).   If I enjoy doing it then I’ll want to do more.  If other people enjoy reading it that’s a bonus but writing for myself is a perfectly valid activity.  Actually I think it’s more than that, I think it’s an important part of the learning experience. 

When I worked in Blackburn with Darwen I had the privilege of leading a fantastic team to set up a brand new education authority.  We had a couple of what I have always thought were rather good mission statements (to put a grand title on it) or (more prosaically) mottos/slogans – a phrase that summed up what we were about.  (Sometimes these phrases seem trite and meaningless but I can only say I am confident it worked for us as a simple way of letting people know what we stood for and often bringing them on board with the venture).  One was ‘aiming high, including all’ which encapsulated the need to have the highest expectations of all our learners, our schools and ourselves and to strive to make sure no one was left out, particularly those with the greatest disadvantages and challenges.  The other one, developed by David and his team in our lifelong learning area, was simply ‘life is all about learning’ and encouraged all those we worked with and for us to see learning as a continuous, rewarding and enjoyable experience.   So if that’s true then maybe one of the tools for continuing to do that is through blogging.  We all – and I do mean all – have a fantastic accumulation of learning experiences from our lives – things that worked well, things that didn’t , serendipitous episodes , light-bulb moments…   Surely we should try to capture these and then share them as best we can.  Whenever possible of course this should be face to face but I do think we can also do this by blogging (and other forms of social media). And maybe the art of blogging brings a different dimension – reflecting and capturing on our own, then sharing, commenting and developing our thinking across a virtual community. 

So this is the beginning of my attempt to do this – to capture for myself some of the key learning experiences from my life to date, focusing mainly on my work as an educationalist but if the fancy takes me branching out into other areas.  And this is primarily for me, a chance to reflect and to capture some of this learning. However, it may be that these blogs are of interest to others – friends, those I have worked with and complete strangers.  And if that creates a dialogue around any of these experiences or links in with others’ reflections, then so much the better as it will build on that learning and perhaps create a new learning community, or link with an existing one. Creating a learning community sounds rather grand and writing for myself sounds rather self-indulgent, but somewhere between the two I think there is enough of a purpose, at least for now for me.   

I asked Janice why she blogged and what she got out of it.  She said it is the closest she’ll ever get to writing a book and what she loves is the network of people that she has become part of who are simply interested in and care about each other.   Now that will do for me as well.  It would be interesting to hear about other reasons that people blog.   

So, this is my first go and I’ll need another one soon because I can’t simply blog about blogging – or can I?

24 comments:

  1. I love it. I think this is great idea, and I'm looking forward to reading this very regularly. J.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Mark - welcome to the blogosphere.
    We are all green when we first tip our toes into the blog water, but I have found that most people seem to develop a blog that becomes uniquely theirs.
    I began writing in order to record things that have happened in our family, but from there it has expanded into posts about the things that interest me, and I hope might interest others.
    When my grandparents died, and even my own parents I regretted that I had not found out more about how they lived and their thoughts on different topics and issues. As a way of rectifying this for our own grandchildren I decided that I would put down my own memories of incidents that have happened in our life - holidays and activities we did with our sons. May be one day the grandchildren might find it interesting to know more about our lives and learn of things we did with our sons, their fathers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Rosemary. Thank you for taking the time to respond - actually you were my first, after Janice. I'm still feeling my way but I'm glad I made I've taken the first step. I like the idea of capturing memories. As a bit of historian (its what I started teaching), I've always thought we've never encouraged or valued this enough.

      Delete
  3. Hi Mark,
    Welcome and bienvenue!
    I'm hooked and will be interested to read about education from your perspective. At your level I suspect you've had to work with political interference in education from all persuasions and steer a course through it. We've read snippets about you from Janice's blog and this past year will have been threaded with high and low points for you both.

    Everyone blogs for different reasons. I never believe that I have anything very interesting to say but started as a means of meeting new friends in the region of France we've settled in. My nest had emptied and I'd decided to reduce my responsibilities at school and go back to what I love best - teaching science. I need to inspire young people with what is a singularly uninspiring new curriculum - but that's another story which will have to wait for retirement!

    Keep up the good work...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bonjour Gaynor. Thanks for reading and commenting on my first effort. It still feels strange but I'm glad I've made a start. It will be interesting to know how you, as a practising teacher, feel about what I write. And yes, there will be references to the politicians at times!

      Delete
  4. Welcome to Blogland, Mark. I started blogging in 2010 with no clear idea of what direction my blog would take. It really has turned out to be a type of journal but I find I avoid contentious issues but obviously my mores come through my writing. I love the feedback that you can get from readers and it's often surprising to me that people find various themes (my personal history, my travelogues, life in retirement etc) particularly interesting. This suggests that I write for myself. I am a retired classroom teacher and have enjoyed being out in the wider community since I've finished working. I look forward to reading your blog posts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Maria. I suspect as I get into this new world it may well take me to places I never expected!

      Delete
  5. Glad you took the plunge, Mark, and a good start to it all. I think Diane's advice was spot on. I think anyone who has ever kept a diary would love to blog. I used to - and would re-read them regularly with pleasure. I do that too with my blog - the writing sounds best when it's done for me.
    Will be following with interest to hear what you say and how you decide to say it. Axxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Annie. Good to hear from you and to be part of your blogging world. It was even better to see you and your lovely house and family. I thought Alcala was a fascinating place, a real (as well as Real) Spanish town with an amazing history. I loved visiting and looking at La Motta. I can see why you fell for the place and you already seem very much part of the community. Please don't feel you need to read all my blogs - they won't be half as interesting as Janice's (very few pictures for a start)! However, if you do occasionally find something of interest your comments will be most welcome. Take care.

      Delete
  6. Hi Mark and well done on your first blog! I enjoyed reading it and your words will really help those in a 'shall I and what should I write' quandary.

    Its good to reflect on life's experiences and we can only make sense of things looking back and reflecting. Trying to make sense of what lies ahead is virtually impossible.

    Reading this has reminded me its about time I had another go. As Annie suggests it could become part of our weekly life just as writing a diary was for me as a young adult.

    You have so much to say for others to learn from. So.....blog for yourself and I for one will be watching out for future posts!

    PS Great to hear Janice is doing well.

    Diane x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Diane
      Lovely to hear from you and thanks for responding. I'm already finding the dialogue with those who have responded (many of whom are Janice's blogging friends) interesting in its own right. Good luck with your next one, I look forward to reading it. We are back in UK on 22nd October and I'll make contact soon after. Hope all is going well.
      Mark x

      Delete
  7. The best part of blogging is the interaction with people kind enough to comment...thanks to them I've learned a great deal about things that had not previously come within my ken - blogging certainly opens the horizons.
    Just blog for yourself...be unselfconscious.
    And as so often in these Googe blogs I can't log in as myself...Helen Devries, known to Google only as the fly in the web.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Helen. Many thanks and I'm already finding, as you say, that the responses I've had have led me into interesting new areas.
      Mark

      Delete
  8. Enjoy your blogging. Beware it can become a bit addictive. Taking a year out to travel through Europe I blogged as a means to keep in touch with family and friends - surprisingly some of them never looked at it but complete strangers 'found' my blog via others and left interesting comments. We are back in the UK now and I'm having withdrawal symptoms...... from the blogging and the traveling!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kath. Thanks for responding. My sister did something similar when she went travelling and found it was a lovely thing to look back on as a real time record of the trip. I'm not sure if I'm addicted as yet, more worried about finding the time to blog and respond. But I'm sure that's part of getting into the rhythm.

      Delete
  9. Hi Mark. As a non-blogger, I'm looking forward to keeping in touch by reading your blog. I did a Master's by Action Learning many years ago and the one thing above all others that has stayed with me is the importance of reflection for learning. I have kept a journal for most of my adult life, which has been important to me for two reasons. Firstly, it has allowed me to reflect in the short term on how I really feel about what is happening in my life. Secondly, it has given me the opportunity to look back over a longer term to view what has happened and how I have dealt with it, with the benefit of hindsight.
    Go for it Mark and see what you learn.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jill. Actually there are 2 Jill's I know who could have written this but I'm going to guess this is Jill Baker! (Sorry Jill Staley if it was you). Good to hear from you and I'm looking forward to the kind of reflective learning I get from blogging. Impressive to hear you've kept it up, in another form, over the long term. Mine will be much more a looking back and it will be (already is) interesting what strikes me as worth recalling and writing about. We are back in UK on 22nd October so I'll make contact again then. Mark x

      Delete
  10. Well done, Mark. Welcome to the wide world of blogging and all that it will bring back to you.
    Interestingly enough, my husband is also taking a dip into the blogging pool. It's a bit unsettling to take that first step, but, once on it, I hope you find it to be quite an experience.
    A blogging friend of Janice's, Penny

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Penny. It's been lovely to get some immediate response from experienced bloggers. I wish your husband well with his venture. Mark

      Delete
  11. Welcome to blogland, Mark, and well done on putting your first toe in the water. :-) I'm fascinated to read that you helped to create the current Blackburn with Darwen LEA, as my sisters and I all attended Darwen Grammar School over a period from the early 1950s to the early 1970s, when Darwen was still an independent borough. As the wife of a retired LEA educational psychologist I shall enjoy reading your reflections on educational theory and practice.

    As for blogging itself, it is simply the most enjoyable and life-enriching retirement activity I could ever imagine. I started over two and a half years ago (particularly inspired by Helen's blogs) and have found more friends all over the world than I could have imagined possible.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hello Perpetua. I have heard a lot about you from Janice and you and other bloggers have been a wonderful support to her. I think Darwen Grammar was Darwen Vale in my day. I had a wonderful 4 years in BwD and I will certainly reflect on that in various ways in future blogs. Good to make contact.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, the DGS became Darwen Vale sometime in the 1970s and has just been almost completely rebuilt with a very 21st century look. Only the 1930s facade remains of the old building I knew. Sob.....

      Delete
  13. Hi Mark and welcome to blogging. I think blogging for yourself is the best way to go. I used to write a daily journal when I first moved to Turkey. It was contained in several exercise books, which I lost during one of our many moves. So blogging replaces them for me. But the biggest surprise and most enjoyable one, is the response from other bloggers and the network we have formed and the mutual support it provides during difficult times.

    ReplyDelete