The faceless clown

A critique of all things that speed up our lives and yet make us forget what is important.


I often wonder if google is all it is cranked up to be,

It is interesting when adults make themselves playgrounds when they are supposed to be working. I love my job yet have learned that students need adults to be adults not act like children.

Endless supplies of food, yet as a personal trainer, my clients needed self control.Have we changed?
Why are people besotted with something, when there is no gain without pain?

Has technology ever done anything for me?. It has speed up my life yet what I need is to slow down to the rhythm of my children. Siri decides what I need from the net, but what would she know she is only a faceless clown. Isn't it time I stepped up and determined my own path.

Predictive text causes chaos rather then communicating what I really want to say. So I have switched it off and have learned to think before I speak. No one tells me what to do!

Google allows me to access to a huge amount of information yet I would prefer honesty and respect and that I cannot google.

Someone  wise once told me that nothing is free and I have found when something is advertised to be free - there is always a catch or an agenda.

China was painted as the evil clown by google but how can I trust anything I hear on the internet when I google that news item. We know that history is tainted by bias.


All I have left to say is that as a parent and as a teacher, I am responsible for my children and my students.

Since I can't get my money back if google is not all it is cranked up to be. I would like to know who will take responsibility if this affects the children.

A faceless clown?

Connected, Disconnected, Unplugged, Switched off...

Power to the people or the children?.  Or perhaps the sad reality is the power is still with the system. The industrial revolution a celebration of 'mankind's potency'  turned our education into a industry and as a human race we saw it as progress. There are many lessons to be learnt for this current modern age.... lest we forget.

I completed my art degree and teacher training six years ago after working for Child, Youth and Family. During that time my children were born. As I learnt about teaching I listened to their endless questions spurred on by endless curiosity, sometimes I had enough .......but that was just my immaturity as an adult.

My children now all go to a Montessori school ( from year three ) and have been able to continue this exciting journey of curiosity and questions.  As parents, a choice was made as generally the education system is unable to hear the individual.

 I know there are an incredible number of passionate teachers in primary school - in the primary school that we bypassed in order to give each of our children a chance - Aroha mai.

An incredible number of teachers who used to wake up with all the passion in the world until the system ground them down. And yet they continue to try.

Maybe e-learning can make possible what is humanly impossible ? - to meet the individual in a classroom of thirty.... it's early days and time will tell if that theory is correct.

Another trend is to have classrooms of ninety with three teachers - why? - some expert sees it as progress. Who am I to criticise an expert's finding?

I am  a parent - a qualification that gives me a platform to challenge anyone , if they are going to conduct a social experiment with our children. With respect, a scientific approach to education is no better than an industrial one, if it doesn't see the individual. And where is your evidence?

As I write, there is a severe storm outside cutting across the estuary and I am reminded of a proverb-

'No longer be infants tossed back and forth and blown here and there by every wind of teaching'


Hey I am all for progress and e-learning.

 I would not want to live in any other era. I use twitter, facebook, tumblr, instagram, blog, shop 90% online, I have a smart phone. My children play minecraft. I appreciate the real world which is not as virtual as we make out.

Yet what do we do?   I believe the answer is with the Treaty of Waitangi- that made some progress.

According to the Treaty of Waitangi - education has a responsibility to whanau, according to the Treaty of Waitangi - government has a responsibility to whanau, according to the Treaty of Waitangi, whanau has a responsibility -we all have a responsibility to each other. No shifting of  the blame.

The graffiti on a garage door makes us angry not because there is a bored young man out there but because he intruded on our space. ( Ownership of space, well thats another blog)

And there lies the problem, we have ceased to be a nation that respects individuals.

We need to cease being spectators and make sacrifices so that individuals in New Zealand can have a better education.

We are all part of a great nation. And this nation will only make progress when we listen to all the individuals.

This nation will only make progress when we unplug from the machine.


Make the switch.


The Artist.  The Teacher. The Parent. The New Zealander.

Imagination or Fantasy

Credited to my daughter - Sicily.

My daughter has at age three evidenced what my sons already proved, that children are abstract and critical thinkers. When my oldest son was three years old and started at a Montessori school, I became Mister Mullen - an art teacher. I watched him learn and wished my senior students could do the same - independently learn about their world without interference.

This year, my daughter began her education 'formally'.

Sicily loves Art and often begins her day in the childrens' house painting. That is cool in itself but there is something I have discovered that is way too cool for school.

One morning as my sons were watching cartoons ( fantasy?). I started the day hanging out with my daughter, it was 6:30am on a Saturday morning. She wanted to draw so I set her up with pen and paper. She drew some gestural pieces and I asked her what they were. She said ' the beach and these are the steps through the sand hills to the water'. My eyes were opened to understand the drawing but also I began to understand her process. What Sicily seemed to do was to create chaos and then use her imagination to translate it into order. It was incredible to watch. All I had to do was listen, really listen. And I caught a glimpse into the world as she saw it, I will never see television the same way.

So back to the cartoons upstairs.There is a hell of a lot of lateral thinking going on in 'Finn & Jake' and Spongebob Square Pants which sets my lads off giggling, so they get it. But what if the fantasy has already been played out in a pre-concieved order. Where does the imagination reside?

And the the toy-box upstairs, full of products that have already been imagined for you. What's the point if 'the colouring in' has already been done?. I get it. Its like the computer programmes I use at work which frustrate me as I try to lateral think within the perimeters of someones else's imagination. I want to imagine and cause unlimited possibilities, not be reduced to the confines of another person's design.

Do dress ups as a fantasy promote imagination or lessen it, by imposing the designer's experience, while limiting the creativity of the  'consumer'?  As an art teacher you would think that I would be an advocate for fantasy, but what if it limits the imagination? I could hardly support that.

 This is a challenge. Not to become a careful consumer, But to listen to your children, Not to give into their demands for product. but to cause opportunities for imagination to run rife, lateral and critical thinking to then kick in and the magic to happen.

The No 1 rule of parenting in my experience is .... listen, really listen to your children, stop everything that you are doing and devote your time and energy to one little person. And you will learn from a great teacher.

Imagine being to taught how to imagine, by the reality of your children.

The Loophole

So I've been thinking and I've come up with a scheme, its a bit shifty but I kinda wondering why no one else has thought of it?!

I mean this teacher gig ain't as bad as it's cracked up to be.

It goes like this... Boom Boom Chur

I don't need a Modern Learning Environment, coz the modern classroom don't need walls. We can teach anywhere.

And  Minecraft, well we are preparing for the Real World, so...

... Project based learning , my lawns do need mowing,

then there's Blended learning - a bit of this and a bit of that

And Maker education, could use my my old man's shed.

Universal design for learning like a universal tool? one that fits everything?

What If students BYOD and I flip the classroom, does that actually work?

Collaboration,  you mean they do half the work?

I've heard of Design thinking,  though hasn't the human brain already been invented?

 Multiple intelligences, yes many minds do make light work.

To Stem or Steam, I  prefer the sauna over the weed personally

Learner agency - does that mean we can hire them out to make money? GeeWhiz!

Google classroom, what comes up?

Self directed learning so I get paid to do less?

Solo Taxonomy, don't like the sound of that, a little matter of a run in with the law a few years back.

Coding -is that better than Panadol, often get headaches with this job.

Mindfulness - well yep after this their minds will be full...

And so hang on - your colleagues are slow adopters #edchatnz?

I don't get it?


But anyway brilliant,  I'm sorted.

Cheers,


The Artist.

An Appropriation of ' Englishman in New York', by Sting.

An Appropriation of  ' Englishman in New York', by Sting.

( This comes with a warning, a taiaha has only one point , it is directed only in one direction, my battle is not with an army of men.)

I don't drink coffee, I take tea my dear

I like my toast done on one side

And you can hear it in my accent when I talk

I'm an Englishman in New York  

As a Spectator, I recently listened to a Maori student who is failing NCEA, talk with mana. There is something wrong when NCEA becomes the master rather than just a tool for measuring success. And what is the measure of success? and who has the power to say?

You see me walking down Fifth Avenue
A walking cane here at my side
I take it everywhere I walk
I'm an Englishman in New York  

I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien
I'm an Englishman in New York 
I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien
I'm an Englishman in New York 

The industrial revolution style of education. The school architecture, the uniform, the cane, the high socks in roman sandals, the rows, the formality, the shirt and tie, the title of Mister, Sir and Ma'am. Hats off at the table. 

If, "Manners maketh the man" as someone said

He's that hero of the day

It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile

Be yourself no matter what they say

We are now renouncing such protocols within schools. E-learning, the new catch phrase.

 I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien

I'm an Englishman in New York 

I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien

I'm an Englishman in New York 

Many styles of education now enter Aotearoa via the cloud, like an army of men...
Project based learning, Flipped classroom, Blended learning, Universal Design for Learning, Solo Taxonomy,  Maker education, Charter schools, BYOD, Values education, Collaboration, Design Thinking, Digital citizenship, Game based learning, Multiple intelligences, Learning styles, Stem, Steam, Coding, Learner agency, Modern learning environments, Google classroom, Mindfulness, Differentiation, Self directed learning... 

and on and on they march....

We have been here before.


Modesty, propriety can lead to notoriety
You could end up as the only one
Gentleness, sobriety, rare in this society
At night a candle's brighter than the sun



Hats off to the Englishmen who have changed this country for the better

But we had an agreement.

It is time we honoured that agreement with the tangata whenua, whose wisdom in their mihi could revolutionise the way we approach digital citizenship, whose understanding of respect could take critical thinking to new heights, whose knowledge of our environment could transform project based learning, whose values exceed pakeha ways.....

Ma whero ma pango ka oti ai te mahi

With red and black the work will be complete..... if everyone does their part.

Āpiti hono tātai hono, rātou te hunga mate ki a rātou
Tātou te hunga ora ki a tātou
Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa

The Artist.

The Mihi.

My introduction is opaque with reason.

Sure it is important to make connections with people, social etiquette is essential when venturing into #grey areas on and off line, though we may have rejected the traditional forms of introduction when we were young.

My introduction is transparent with reason.

Introductions tend to begin quietly with labels, ascertaining who the newcomer is, rather than reserving judgement and having the ability to see the world from a new perspective.  The culture of taking friction as a personal attack and the inability to separate the person from 'the problem' continues into the virtual. Conversations refining each point of view never take place as each 'side' subconsciously defends their place.

Listen to what I say.  I will listen to you.

My introduction is clouded for a reason.

I have discovered that the way of the tangata whenua makes sense even in the modern context. A 'mihi' is used to informally or formally establish connections and commonality so that a relationship whether casual or more permanent can be cemented.  A person begins with the broad landscape, their waka, their mountain, their river and ends with their name -not a series of labels  but rather a journey with a destination.

It is a 'kuaha'  - a gateway in - with an 'aha' moment when a person connects with another.

This is my mihi, 

This is the entranceway.

Tena koutou katoa. 
Ko Aotearoa toku kainga. 
Ko Ka TiriTiri o te moana nga pae maunga. 
Ko Te Ihutai toku wai-kino
Ko Karoro Karoro
Ko Jon Mullen ahau.

A greeting to all. 
This is my country. 
These are my mountains. 
There is polluted water.
There is dry land.


I am a Father, I am a Husband, I am an Artist - it's how I view the world. 

The Period of Froth

I remember while working in social work, the hype about men groups, men getting together and talking about their feelings, what a revolution. But it wasn't a revolution because all men wanted to do was to get together in groups and talk about their feelings. The End.

I deem it 'The Period of Froth'.  Like the top of a latte or beer. The excited, sweet moment when everything is hunky dory. People are suddenly interested in what you say, it feels good. Warm. Ahhh twitter chats, glorious, bubbling outbursts of educational excitement. A perifilation of exclaimation points. then all the pomp and circumstance, as you enter the world of conference.

But then it ends and the routine of everyday life comes back to haunt you.

Twitter, collaboration, conferences and the like are gold, but better still is the harsh reality of critique, debate and angst as you change the world.


Good luck? I don't think so...................... Fortune to the Brave.


In response to Rebecca Sweeney's blog about collaboration.    Bravo.