Change with an E
I grew up reading. A lot. School holidays would come and I would practically read a whole book in a morning. One of my most read series was Anne of Green Gables. I was that girl with a big imagination. That girl who loved to write. Who had big dreams and big ambitions.
I still am.
However, in recent years, that whimsical, big-worded, long-winded side of her became more annoying than endearing, more grating than inspiring, and so the distance grew.
Until last year.
I came across the new Anne With An E series on #Netflix and somewhat reluctantly decided to give it a go. Thinking I would probably turn it off sooner than later, to my surprise I just kept watching and watching and watching. And I saw a side of Anne I had never considered before. She suddenly became human. Sure, she still was over-the-top in her flowery words, but that all became toned down to the right level when we could actually feel the pain and trauma she had been through and what made her her.
In a time when television is trying to raise those darker issues in life and bring them into current conversation, #AnnewithanE has achieved this where others have gone too far. We can feel the pain, the trauma, the flashbacks, the anxiety, but we can also see the other side, the moments of joy, of hope, of light, of happiness, of life coming together when we never imagined it would.
A work of art made beautiful but not just by showing its beauty.
This week I've been watching Season 2 and just finished episode 9 with the arrival of the not-so-classic but totally-forward-thinking teacher Miss Stacey (I love her already!). It is an episode we can look on and easily see how the people of Avonlea, as much as they might think they wanted it, deep down, were very fearful of change. They were afraid of what a teacher like Miss Stacey would do to the education of their children. And from our seats, as we scoop yet some more popcorn into our mouths, we are saying 'Open your minds. Don't be afraid. She is doing good.'
And we are right.
So was Miss Stacey.
But at the end of the day, people are people, and what they were afraid of then, we are afraid of now.
CHANGE.
We might make change through education, but it is also time we make education through change. And it is time we better our learning. Not clinging to learning passed on through the generations as demonstrated by the defunct Mr Phillips, but like Miss Stacey, learning that embraces the heart of learning, that captures the desire to learn, that harnesses each individuals power to learn, and takes it to levels we didn't think possible. It is not pointing the finger and saying this learning is good that learning is bad or this person is doing a good job and that person isn't. Not at all! It is simply saying we can do better. And by better understanding how learning happens, not only can we do better, but we will do better.
How do you think learning can be made better?
Join the conversation now!
@annewithane @moirawalleybeckett @amybethmcnulty #anneofgreengables #change #sunflowers #neverstopworking #neverstoplearning #neverstopdreaming #makelearninghappen #discoveryoucan #RuthZannis