Tony Fomison No! 1971. Oil on canvas.
Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu, purchased 1973.
Saying No inside
Saying No outside
There is a difference...
When I first saw Fomison's art work, I instantly thought of Robert Evan's article titled
I often wonder about who we are as teachers and who we are becoming. Both collectively and as individuals. That our 'Teaching as inquiry' although is about furthering success for students, it is also about who we are and who we are becoming as teachers.
Robert Evan's discusses the role of collegial and congenial relationships in our schools.
Collegial relationships: "... requires a focus on development and performance. It means sharing — deprivatizing — the work of teaching, and it means talking candidly, and being able to disagree constructively, about professional practice."
"The forging and sustaining of a truly collegial, collaborative ethos in a faculty means confronting deeply embedded structural and personal challenges." Evans
Congenial relationships are: about getting along well, being friendly, warm, and supportive. "By itself, it fosters a culture of niceness and privacy, not a culture of growth." Evans
I'm wonder if it really is time we interrupted the culture of being nice in the staffroom and started setting the conditions for some thing a little bit more gritty.
Like the Christchurch Outer spaces project. Fomison's No! was only said out loud, outside within the commons when an earthquake totally shook and disrupted everything. When Fomison's No! could no longer be seen indoors, it was taken outside.
What is it going to take for this to happen in schools?
