Today was a less structured day in which we could make a start on the work that we have to do both individually and collaboratively. The day started as usual with a presentation from group members of their journals. Rina and Jochem presented their reflections. I was struck by the detail and thoughtfulness in Jochem's presentation. One could tell that he had spent a great deal of time working on this reflection, and it was very useful. He was one of the few people who also brought in theory to the journal. Rina's was shorter but also raised different issues. I was interested in her comment that the journals the previous day had concentrated on feelings and we are supposed to use it as a learning tool rather. I would like to discuss this further as I also think that feelings are an important part of learning, and that learning cannot happen without emotional engagement.
After the reflections, we were given some idea by Anne Karin of what would be expected of us in future. I was a bit daunted when I saw the tasks, especially in relation to my workload at home and decided that the best thing to do was to get started immediately. I perused articles that I had written in relation to the pros and cons of elearning and pasted relevant sections on our googledocs document. I had been placed in a group with Elke and Andres who I had very much enjoyed working with, but the suggestion was that I should change to work with Rina and Antonia, as we were looking at similar issues. We had a fruitful session discussing our future course and decided to link our modules together so that they form one large course but could still stand separately. This is going to be more work but it is always informative to work collaboratively with people whose expertise you can tap into and share.
I felt frustrated as I didn't get as far was I would like to have got and was very conscious that I would be leaving the next morning and not be able to engage further with these tasks.
This leads me to a more general reflection of the course:
We met one week ago but it seems like we have spent more than a week together as we have got to know each other quite well through staying and working together. The first weekend was a wonderful and relaxing introduction which created a good atmosphere and space from which to launch the course. The combination of the beautiful surroundings with the well organised programme resulted in creative energy and sharing. I think it was a very good idea to get everyone to present something to each other. It was also a starting point for people's work on the course.
The week was very full with new information and application, but there was not enough time to digest this. It is always a dilemma of whether to present a smorgasbord of interesting applications or to let learners get fully acquainted with some of them. I am glad however that I was given the opportunity to have more rather than less as if I have time (and that is a constant worry) I will be able to follow up more on this.
I am rushed for time now but I also appreciated going up the mountain and liked very much the walk down where I got to chat to Grete Oline who is very inspiring and enthusiastic about everything.
A highlight was the visit to the Social Work School in Bergen, what a beautiful setting with glorious views from both sides. Imagine sitting in that library!
Grete and Anne Karin had worked very hard to make us a traditional meal, and the evening was a lovely ending to a memorable learning experience.
Thanks very much to the course participants and to the teachers! As participants I think there is a huge amount of knowledge and potential. I hope we don't lose contact.
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