As well as engaging with PgCert recommended reading I am seeking answers, knowledge and guidance from texts on issues surrounding my interests and ways to develop my pedagogy through a lens of social justice, diversity, inclusion, equality and compassion.

Friere’s ‘Pedagogy of the the Oppressed’ provides insights into the issues around the purposes of education, the (hidden) power structures that uphold educational institutions, such as UAL, theories, polices and practices, and how we might address some of the ‘isms’ (ie., eg. racism, sexism, classism) that I encounter in my practice and daily life to the facilitate progressive change that is spoken about in said theory, policy and practice. By reading Friere and Crenshaw I begin to understand the complexities of ontological thought, and why the theory of constructive alignment is not only healthy for individuals but for wider society. Crenshaw coined the idea of intersectionality that is crucial to building an understanding of ‘difference’, ‘nuance’ and specificity of student experience in an educational context. Friere outlines the ‘banking’ model of education as a hierarchical system where the teacher deposits knowledge into the students (empty?) cup. In opposition to my secondary teacher training I align myself more closely with a constructivist approach to teaching, within which the student has agency, is active and autonomous. For me the relationship between teacher and student should be centred around sharing knowledge, experience and practice. Co-creation of learning to inform curricula and collaboration, to enrich experience for teacher and learner, are ideas I would like to explore further in my practice, as Friere (1920, p53) states “education must begin with the solution of the teacher-student contradiction, by reconciling the poles of the contradiction so that both are simultaneously teachers and students.” During a recent workshop on teaching for social justice one participant spoke about ‘joy’. This relates an expectation that learning should be ‘fun’. I think there is a definite distinction between creating ‘fun’ learning and creating ‘joyous’ learning. The former suggests frivolous, surface learning, but the latter points more towards a human experience where both teacher and learner are deeply engaged and positive. In my experience of being both learner and teacher, joy happens when we interact on a human level, as people.