In Spain last week for the presentation of awards to Spain’s top ocw courses in Valencia at the Junta General de Accionistas Universia (more about that in a later post), I had the pleasure of viewing an exhibition of the finalists in the Education Category of this year’s Fototalentos Contest. Fototalentos ’08 is the first of what we hope will grow into an annual event, attracting photographic talent from all over the world. This year fosuses on three themes:
- sustainability (finalists were on display at the Universidad de Zaragoza April 18-30)
- education (finalists on display at the Universidad de Valencia May 5-17)
- co-existence (finalists will be on display at the Universidad de Cádiz May 23 through June 6)
Like Universia, this contest is sponsored by the Fundacion Banco Santander, and Universia’s staff have provided valuable logistical support in processing and displaying the 15,937 entries which came in. You can view each of those entries at the Fototalentos site, and you can vote among the finalists through the end of this month. The winners will be notified June 9-13.
Primeras Clases. Fototalentos ’08 entry. |
I was particularly struck by this photo, entitled “Primeras clases,” not because it is necessarily the best in the education category (I’m not trying to influence voting here), but because of what it says about the risks involved in teaching.As a mother, my first reaction is alarm as I envision all the different ways this scenario could end bady, all the different injuries that might be sustained, all the different inconveniences that might be incurred as those injuries are accomodated. Mom’s are like that, even educator moms who are into openness.
But then even I am able to witness the trust with which the little girl leans into her father’s body, trust strong enough that she can lift one foot off the book rack. She has one foot off the rack, and he has two feet off the ground, his body distorted as he curves to balance her weight with his own and with that of the machine that supports them both on uneven ground. |
And isn’t this what we do in education, especially open education? We take risks; we bend ourselves and our content to meet the needs of the learning environment. We steer the flimsy and often faulty vehicles of our various disciplines across terrain which may or may not be suited to our purposes. And we do so in hope of sharing that thrill of the balancing act, that moment of connection that overcomes all the costs and risks and reasons why it shouldn’t be so.
That thrill isn’t all that open education is about, and it may not even be what this photo is about, but it made me glad of the chance to view this quite amazing collection of photos in Valencia. I’ll be visiting the website to see the other two collections, and I invite you to do so as well.