CHALK DUST, RED DUST AND STAR DUST.

Learning in Rural and Remote Australia

As a small child I decided I wanted to become a teacher for a very important reason. I wanted to draw on the blackboard and have my own box of perfect, white sticks of chalk.
They held the promise of new ideas, new creations, inspiration, unlimited potential.
After 25 years I still love chalk, but now it encompasses a kind of nostalgia for me. The metaphor still rings true, even though my blackboard has been replaced by an interactive whiteboard.
Whether schools be tiny two and three teacher schools; larger, regional schools or isolated schools in remote areas; the Young Australians in those classrooms all have things in common with their urban counterparts. They all desire a life that brings them joy and fulfilment.
Even though they grow up playing in the red dust, they are filled with star dust!
The great challenge for teachers in country and remote schools is to remain connected, inspired and equipped to provide learning opportunities for their students that will help them shine.

FUTURE LEARNING SPACE

Walk with me, to my Future.
Pop Up University.

Teachers, whether they be in city or country areas, all have a key quality in common - a passion for educating children. We are incredibly privileged in our country, even when we are working in remote locations, because help is always very close by. Resources are available and our focus is usually not interruped by war or incredible persecution. Our government is able to provide immediate support during times of natural disaster and our struggles after fires, floods and storms are comparitively short lived.

The challenges we face in rural and remote Australia often serve to increase our compassion and empathy for teachers and students who are striving to survive in crisis zones around the world.

Perhaps we can be part of the solution...

Read on... or click the FLS button below to go to the "Pop Up University." website.

FLS

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Education in a Crisis Zone.

A JOURNEY INTO THE LIMINAL SPACE.

It is almost impossible to imagine what it might be like to suddenly lose everything that defined your life.

Family, possessions, home, wealth, safety, community, education, purpose, career, future.

War, natural disaster, persecution, famine- all of these crises can be the catalyst, the cause, the reason for enforced displacement of human beings around our world.

Throughout history we have seen many people groups seek refuge away from trouble. It's happening today. As we sit in safety, children, single mothers, families, the elderly, teenagers are running away from danger and towards a life they know nothing about.

Education could be a portal through the liminal space, through that uncertainty, towards hope; out the other side, to a new future.

What if a learning space could be created, where children and young people in crisis zones could enter in and walk, with purpose, support and hope towards their chosen destination?

Let's explore that possibility...

What do we have in the present?

A FUTURE LEARNING SPACE NEEDS TO BUILD ON EXISTING SERVICES.

Lets explore what services and areas of aid and relief that are currently being provided to refugees around the globe.

Teachers Without Borders. (TWB)

AN ORGANISATION COMITTED TO PROVIDING SUPPORT IN EDUCATION FOR TEACHERS AND CHILDREN.

TWB exists to empower teachers within crisis zones to begin and continue the education of the children in their communities. Sometimes these communities are in refugee camps. Sometimes in make-shift spaces carved out of what remains after a natural disaster.
TWB provides connections for local teachers to professional development and to other teachers to build their ability to facilitate change in their own countries.