We think that it would be worthwhile to bring the collective work together in a way that it can continue to do work—for ourselves, and others. The standard format for this would be a book on Wild Pedagogy. Though, it may take its own wild turn and emerge as a special issue in a journal, or…? One question for all participants to keep in mind is: how can we make sure this final product will be interesting, on topic, has some coherence, and doable in a timely manner?
It seems like we could have two categories of papers. The standard essays (theory) could possibly alternate with shorter papers with practical examples of wild pedagogy (practice).
Theory. Perhaps the theoretical papers could be limited to about 5000 words.
Practice. The practical papers could be limited to 1500 or 2000 words.
We are aware of some irony in proposing to challenge ideas about control and yet wanting to bring a little order to the writing process. However, the kind of learning and teaching proposed does require intentional activities and willing participants. While some irony and inconsistency is likely inevitable, I do hope that colloquium participants and future readers will still be touched by the wild intent of this writing.
The Evolution of the Floating Colloquium
This colloquium is inspired by two sources. First, Nils Vikander and Aage Jensen —both working at Nord Trondelag
University College— were the main organizers of a walking conference hosted at a
series of mountain huts along the Swedish-Norwegian boarder in September, 2009.
Walking and
talking was a wonderful alternative to traditional conferencing. During this
conference, the context of the journey was always integrated into presentations,
discussions, and workshop activities.
This floating colloquium is a natural
extension of these inspirations and the kinds of practices that are familiar to
most who conduct field-based courses.
This colloquium also follows, and is closely linked to, a recent Loon Lake Gathering organized by Sean Blenkinsop from SFU, and a team of his colleagues.