Masisakheni isikolo

So this blog is about to get seriously regular. It's been sporadic until now, but that's going to change.

I'm ecstatic, thrilled... no, completely ping-pong-rubber-ball-excited! Today I got offered the job I couldn't have imagined a month ago. It started with a cold call to a school that I admire and thought I might try my luck at, since my Masters is drawing to an end and gainful employment might be a good idea (it seems the bills don't stop coming once the money has!)

The school in question (no names mentioned) unfortunately had no vacancies, but one of their own was about to launch a new school and he gave me a call when he saw my CV. One thing leads to another and after an interview yesterday, I got the call this morning. We're starting a brand new high school!!!

Not just any high school. A proper public high school--you know, the type that are accountable to voters. Serving an under-developed area where the student numbers far exceed the public school system capacity in the area, but on a location tucked in between the mountains with a view of the ocean, surrounded by pine trees and wild flowers.

We'll be starting in temporary structures, with grades 8 and 9. The opportunities are endless: how to bring kids who are behind up to speed; how to create spaces for exploring beyond the curriculum; choosing resources and materials that we want to use; arranging activities and learning opportunities that turn these kids into competent and confident young adults, equipped with what they need; creating a culture, a way of working, that is respectful and productive, critical and conscientized; where what you do is what matters, not who you are. But best of all, we're going to find ways of giving these students the skills that will enable them to not merely survive in the world, but to see the world for what it is, and have the imagination and boldness to deconstruct and reconstruct it far better than anything my generation or our predecessors have made up until now.

So this blog is going regular: I'll try and document experiences and reflections here regularly as the school starts and develops. We're only just in the beginning phases... who knows what will happen over the next 6, 12, 18, 24 months? It's going to be epic! It's going to break ground.

Masisakheni isikolo! Let's build a school!