Time to Relax a Little: Making time for the interplay of minds in education

8/10/2019 Time to Relax a Little: Making time for the interplay of minds in education

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Time to relax a littleRod Parker-ReesPublished online: 30 Jul 2007.

To ci te this article: Rod Parker-Rees (2000) Time to relax a l ittle, Education 3-13: International Journal of Primary,Elementary and Early Years Education, 28:1, 29-35, DOI: 10.1080/03004270085200061

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T I M E T O R E L X LITTLE

ak ing t ime fo r the in te rp lay o fminds in education

R o d P a r k e r R e e s

E f f o r ts t o i m p o s e i m p r o v e m e n t s o n e d u c a t i o n b y p r e s c ri b i n g w h a t m u s t

b e d o n e m a k e i t i n c r e a s i n g l y d i f f ic u l t f o r t e a c h e r s t o e n j o y t h e i r w o r k .

T h i s p a p e r m a k e s a c as e f o r t h e n e e d t o r el a x th e p r e s s u r e u n d e r w h i c h

t e a c h e r s w o r k a n d s u g g e s ts t h a t t h is m a y b e a c h i e v e d b y i n c r e a s in g

o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r c o n v e r s a t i o n a t a ll l e v el s o f e d u c a t i o n . C o n v e r s a t i o n

c o n t r i b u t e s to a s e n s e o f c o m m u n i t y w h i c h c a n m a k e t e a c h i n g m o r e

e n j o y a b l e . I t c a n a l s o h e l p t o d e v e l o p a c o n f i d e n t v o i c e w i t h w h i c h

t e a c h e r s c a n e n g a g e t h e ir m a n a g e r s i n co n v e r s a ti o n s u g g e s t in g w a y s i nw h i c h p o l i c y m i g h t b e d e v e l o p e d a n d i m p r o v e d .

Sugges t ing tha t educa t ion migh t benef i t f rom loosen-ing up a l it tle w i l l expose m e to accusa t ions on the onehand tha t I am m ere ly s ta t ing the obv ious (wh o doe sn ta l ready know tha t teachers c rea t iv i ty is inh ib i ted byexcessive external pressures and constraints) , and onthe o ther hand tha t I am jus t an o ther whinge ing teache rw h o d o e s n t k n o w th e me a n in g o f h a rd w o rk , p e r so n a lsacr if ice and c om pet i t ion in the marke t -p lace . I wo uld

like, nevertheless , to sug gest that re laxation is no t justfor wim ps an d that i t ne ed not result in fal l ing standardsor a lapse into anarchy. Relaxation does not have to beseen as a threat to the t ies that bind soc iet ies; indeed i tmay be our bes t hope fo r keep ing these cons t ra in tsf lexible enough to adapt to the rapidly changing cir-cumstances o f l i fe in the th i rd mi l lenn ium. I have bee nmeet ing wi th two groups o f teachers over the las t yearto ta lk , in a relaxed and playful way, about possibleways o f inc reas ing oppor tun i t ies fo r ch i ld ren to ta lkwi th each o ther in re laxed and p layfu l ways an d thesein formal conversa t ions have made me increas ing lyconsc ious o f the impor tanc e o f rec ip roca l comm unica-t ion in edu cation.

We h a v e b e c o m e to o a c c u s to m e d to t h e a s s u mp t io n th ateduca t iona l p rac t ice mus t be t igh t ly con t ro l led byp o l i c y a n d th a t ma n a g e me n t mu s t d e t e rmin e , f r o mabove , wha t teachers shou ld de l iver and how theyshould de l iver it. The C hie f Inspec tor o f Scho ols knowswhat mus t be done and he has es tab l i shed sys tems ofrewards and pun ishments to ensure tha t head teacherswi l l manag e the i r s ta ff and teachers w i l l mana ge the i r

ch i ld ren in ways tha t w i l l ensure increas ing leve ls o feducational productivi ty. Two recent publications, A//our Futures Creativity Culture and Education(N A C C C E , 1 9 99 ) a n d th e n e wEarly Learning Goals(QCA , 1999b) may, however, o ffe r some hope o f a sh i f to f mo o d a w a y f ro m th is n e w ma n a g e r i a l is m (B a ll ,1997; Ran dle and Brady, 1997; Welch, 1998) wh ich hasm arked N ew Labour s ea r ly in it ia t ives in educa t ion . A / /our Futures seems to acknowledge the susp ic ion tha tthe pursu i t o f e ffec t ive educa t ion may have adverseconseq uence s on a ffec t ive educa t ion ; in a t ime o f rap idchange , when employers want peop le wh o can adap t ,see connec t ions , innova te, comm unica te and wo rk wi tho thers (NAC CCE , 1999, p .13) , how ch i ld ren come tofeel about lea rn ing ma y be a t leas t as impor tan t aswhat

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EDUCATION FOR THE MILLENNIUM

they l ea rn . The ea r ly l ea rn ing goa l s a l so acknowledget h e i mp o r t a n c e o f ' s u p p o r t i n g , f o s t e r i n g , p r o mo t i n gand developing chi ldren 's . . . pos i t ive a t t i tudes and dis-pos i t ions towards the i r l ea rn ing ' (QCA, 1999b , p .9 ) .The c lea r focus on p lay and c rea t iv i ty in bo th pub l ica -t ions fo rces us to r ecogn i se a fundamen ta l t ens ion

b e t we e n t h e t o p - d o w n p r e s cr i p ti o n s o f n e w ma n a g e r -i a l i sm and the need to p ro tec t space fo r f l ex ib i l i ty,con t ing ency and exp lo ra t ion : 'A w e l l p lann ed and we l lo rgan i sed env i ronmen t . . , p rov ides the s t ruc tu re fo rt each ing w i th in wh ich ch i ld ren [and t eache r s? ] exp lo re ,expe r im en t , p lan and ma ke dec i s ions fo r themse lves ,t h u s e n a b l i n g t h e m t o l e a r n , d e v e l o p a n d ma k e g o o dprogress (QCA, 199b, p .5) .

Bu t ' t eache r s ca nno t deve lop the c rea t ive ab i l it ie s o ftheir pupi ls i f the i r own creat ive abi l i t ies are sup-

p ressed ' (NACC CE, 1999 , p .90 ) and i t i s un reasonab leto expec t t eache r s , who fee l inc reas ing ly cons t ra ineds imply to do a s they a re to ld , to enco urage ch i ld ren totake r isks , innovate , enjoy chal lenges , explore a l ter-na t ive poss ib i li t ie s and engag e ac t ive ly in educa t iona lconversa t ions .

S t u d i e s o f b r a i n f u n c t i o n i n g h a v e s h o wn u s t h a t werespond to s t r e s s by p lay ing sa fe and channe l l ing thef low o f though t a long the qu ickes t rou te s o r the deepes tr u ts , mu c h a s we w i ll t ra v e l o n mo t o r wa y s wh e n w e a r ein a hurry (Claxton, 1997) . While th is does a l low us toma in ta in a b r i sk pace , i t ma y ac tua l ly in te r fe re wi th ou rab i l ity to be c rea tive . I t is on ly whe n we have the l e i su reto wand er o ff the bea ten t r ack and exp lo re wh a t l ie sbe tween the moto rways tha t we a re l ike ly to th inkla te ra lly (de Bon o , 1992) and d i scove r new con nec -t ions .

As p ressu re bu i lds up th ro ugho u t a l l l eve ls o f theeduca t ion sy s tem i t beco me s inc reas ing ly d i ff i cu l t fo ranyone to be the f i r s t to r e lax . Pe te r Woods (1995) hasshow n tha t i t i s s ti ll poss ib le fo r t eache r s an d schoo l s todeve lop c rea t ive and insp i r ing approaches to t each ingbu t he ackno wledg es tha t these ind iv idua ls o f t en pay ah i g h p r i c e f o r h o l d i n g o u t a g a i n s t th e d o wn w a r d f o r c eo f m anager ia l i sm. I t r equ i re s h igh l eve l s o f se l f - conf i -d e n c e a n d a g r e a t d e a l o f p e r so n a l c o m mi t m e n t a n dene rgy fo r ind iv idua l s to sus ta in pe r sona l va lues and ape r sona l vo ice in the f ace o f OF STE D inspec t ions ,l eague t ab le s and o the r o ff i c i a l in s t rumen ts o f con-f o r mi t y : ' Ma n y s c h o o l s a r e d o i n g e x c i t i n g a n dd e m a n d i n g wo r k b u t o f t e n t h e y s e e t h e ms e l v e s d o in g

th i s in sp i t e , no t because , o f the ex i s t ing c l ima te '(NA CC CE , 1999, p .8) . I t may, however, be ea s ier toma k e a p e r s o n a l c o n t r i b u ti o n to t h e d e v e l o p me n t o fp o l i c y i f o n e h a s t h e s u p p o r t o f c o mm u n i c a t i o n w i t h an e t wo r k o f c o l l e a g u e s . As t h e a g e o f t h e a t o m g i v e s

w a y t o t h e a g e o f c o m m u n i c a t io n , c o m m u n i t y an din te rdependence seem to be d i sp lac ing the ind iv i -d u a l i s m a n d i n d e p e n d e n c e wh i c h we r e t h e h a l l ma r k o fthe l a s t decade s o f the twen t i e th cen tu ry.

I t ma y b e n e c e s s a r y t o r e s to r e t h e o r i g in a l me a n i n g o fc o mm u n i c a t i o n wh i c h wa s c l o se r t o ma k i n g c o m mo n 't h an s i m p l y 'm a k i n g k n o w n ' - o n e c o m m u n i c a t e s w i th ,r a the r than to , o the r peop le ; nego t i a t ing mean ingsr a t h e r th a n s i mp l y d e li v e r in g t h e m. M a c I v e r a n d Pa g e(1950) have po in ted ou t an impor tan t d i s t inc t ion be t -ween hav ing ' l i ke ' , o r s imi la r, in te re s t s and hav ingco m m on in te re s t s : thel ike i s wha t we have d i s t r i -but ively, pr ivate ly, each to h imself . Theo mmo n iswh a t we have co l lec t ive ly, wh a t we sha re w i thou t d iv id -ing up ' (M acIve r and Page , 1950 , p .32 , in Cla rk , 1996 ,p .35) .

I t i s in te re s t ing tha t the sec t ion on p lay in the ea r lyl e a r n in g g o a l s r e c o mm e n d s t h a t c h i ld r e n s h o u l d ' c o m -mu n i c a t e with o the r s a s they inves t iga te o r so lveprob lem s ' (QCA , 1999b , p. 12 , m y em phas i s ) bu t in thelanguage an d l i te racy sec t ion , where p lay beg ins to g iveway to wo rk ing towards l a t e r a s sessmen ts , p rac t it ione r sa re enco urage d to ' p l an fo r oppor tun i t i e s fo r ch i ld ren toc o m mu n i c a t e t h o u g h t s , f e e li n g s a n d i d e a sto an adu l tand to ea ch o the r ' ( ibid, p .24 , m y em phas i s ) .

Conversa t ion , ta lk ing face - to - face wi th o the r peo p le , i s

t h e d e f i n it iv e f o r m o f c o mm u n i c a t i o n b e c a u s e t h eu n p l a n n e d c o n t i n g e n c y o f c o n v e r s a t io n c a n r e s u lt i n t h ee me rg e n c e o f g e n u i n e l y c o mm o n u n d e r s t a n d i n g s. I t isth i s open ness to wha t Co hen and Stewar t (1994) havec a l le d c o mp l i c it y (a p r o c e s s b y w h i c h s i mp l e f o r m s c a ne me rg e o u t o f i n t e r a c ti o n s b e twe e n e x t r e me l y c o mp l e xs y s te ms ) wh i c h ma k e s c o n v e r s a ti o n v e r y d i f f e r e n t f r o mwr i t t e n o r b r o a d c a s t c o mmu n i c a t i o n . Po s t mo d e r n i s tc r i ti c s ma y a rgue tha t mean in gs a re nego t i a t ed be tweenreade r s and t ex t s bu t i t i s more d i f f i cu l t to c l a im tha tr e a d i n g a l lo ws u s t o c o mm u n i c a t e w i t h a u t h o r s.

We use conversa t ion a s a soc ia l too l , to nego t i a t e theex t rao rd ina ri ly compl ica ted w ebs o f r e l a t ionsh ips tha tcons t i tu te ou r com mu ni t i e s . The loose s t ruc tu re o fconversa t ion a l lows us to make in fe rences f rom theways in w h ich peop le ch oose to say th ings (o r no t to sayth ings ), bu t we can a l so t a lk abou t o the r peop le : 'T ha tconversa t ions a l low us to exchange in fo rma t ion abou tpeop le who a re no t p re sen t i s v i t a l ly impor tan t . I ta l lows us to t each o the r s how to r e la te to ind iv idua l sthey have neve r seen be fo re ' (Dunbar, 1992 , p .31 ) .

Dun bar a l so a rgues tha t t a lk i s o f t en le s s abou t convey-ing in fo rm a t ion than abou t in te rac t ion fo r i t s own sake ,a f o r m o f s o c ia l g r o o m i n g l ik e c h i m p a n z e e s ' n i tp i c k -ing, and Csik szen tmih alyi (1992, p . 129) has a lso sug-

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ges ted tha t the m ain func t ion o f conversa tion is no t tog e t t h in g s d o n e b u t t o im p ro v e th e q u a l i t y o fexper ience . Conve rsa t ion i s m uch m ore compl ica ted ,r ich and sub t le than wr i t ing because , a l though languageis i ts p r inc ipa l me diu m i t is by no me ans the on ly one :With smal l ta lk and ch i tcha t the me aning c onvey ed by

our verbal language is usually subordinate to our so-called bod y langua ge - and is often subordinate to thevery fac t tha t we a re making an e ffo r t to voca l i se(Locke, 1995, p.33).

Because , in conversa t ion , we en gage w i th peop le , andnot s imply wi th the i r words , th is fo rm of com mu nica-t ion allows us to get to know e ach o ther in ways wh ichwe would f ind diff icult to ta lk about, and this taci tknowledge lends a spec ia l aura to the fee l ings o f com -mu n i ty th a t e m e rg e b e tw e e n p e o p le w h o ma k e t ime tochat with e ach other.

I was do ing coo king wi th m y ch i ld ren today, jus t agroup a t a t ime and , I don t ever do tha t because m yESA [Educa t ion Suppor t Ass is tan t ] does i t and Ijus t thought i t was love ly because you had , wel l Ihad one g roup of seven and th ree g roups o f six toget through with the bits and i t was just so. . .chumm y, yes tha t we were ta lk ing about wha t wewere doing, but we were also ta lking about other. . .we go t on to ta lk ing about nam es and , oh , becausew e w e re m a k in g th is c a k e fo r my E S A b e c a u s e i t sher day o ff and i t s he r b i r thday tomorrow and M rsS mi th w a s c a l le d J a n e , M y mu m s c a l le d J a n e a n dthree o f them in th is g roup had m um s ca l led Janeand w e we re t ry ing to f ind ou t wha t o ther peop le sm um s w ere . . . I t s jus t tha t n ice l i tt le soc ia lconversa t ion which , because you re do ing th ings ,you re no t , i t s no t qu i te the same sor t o f a tmos-phere as s i t ting , you re m ore equa l to the m ra therthan in any other s i tuations that you are in a c lass-room. You re ver y m uch the teache r bu t, ... you

k n o w ? (R e c e p t io n /Ye a r I t e a c h e r i n t e a c h e r sconve rsation group, 19/5/99)

This sense o f comm uni ty, o f hav ing th ings in com mo n,also makes i t much easier for conversants to trust eacho th e r i n w a y s th a t ma k e fo rma l s y s t e ms o f m a n a g e m e n tunnecessary ; we do no t nee d wr i t ten p lans o r po l ic iesto police our relat ionships with fr iends or family be-cause the i terat ive process of regular conversationsallows our relat ionships to adapt, evolve and repairthemse lves as our c i rcumstances , and we ourse lves ,

change. We should, perhaps, be paying more at tentionto the deve lopment o f conversa t iona l re la t ionsh ips ,ca r ing comm uni t ies and the de ve lopm ent o f pos it ivelearning dispositions in our scho ols:

S c h o o l s s h o u ld b e c o m e p l a c e s i n w h ic h t e a c h e rsand students l ive together, ta lk to ea ch other, reaso ntoge ther, take de l igh t in each o thers company. L ikegood paren ts , teachers shou ld be concerned f i r s tand fo remo st w i th the k ind o f peop le the i r chargesare becoming . M y guess i s tha t whe n schools focus

on w hat rea l ly mat te rs in l i fe , the cogni t ive ends w eare now s t r iv ing toward in such pa in fu l and a r t i -f ic ia l ways wi l l be met as na tu ra l cu lmina t ions o fthe means we have wise ly chosen . (Noddings ,1991, p.161)

In h is fasc ina t ing s tudy o f the e ffec ts o f p r in t ing onw e s t e rn t h in k in g a n d s o c i a l s t r u c tu r e s , M a r s h a lM c L u h a n n o te d th a t n e i t h e r S o c ra t e s n o r J e s u s u s e dwri t ing to com m unica te the i r teach ings , beca use thek ind of in te rp lay o f minds tha t i s in teach ing i s no t

poss ib le by mean s o f wr i t ing (M cLuha n , 1962 , p .23) .Conversa t ion has the po ten t ia l to be a powerfu l too l fo rteach ing bu t i t is be ing squ eezed ou t o f bo th c lass roomsand s ta ff rooms. We in the UK are pecu l ia r ly obsessedwi th im pos ing l i te racy on ever you nger ch i ld ren , va lu -ing read ing and wr i t ing over ta lk ing and l i s ten ing andhurry ing ch i ld ren ou t o f the in te rp lay o f minds and in toformal lea rn ing . L i te racy i s the founda t ion s tone o ffo rma l lea rn ing , lea rn ing tha t focuses on the symbo l icforms in which meanings a re expressed , d isembeddingthem f rom the compl ica t ions o f par t icu la r con tex ts .Formal lea rn ing d i rec ts a t ten t ion to what words meanra ther than to what peop le m ean . There i s a dang er tha ti f ch ild ren a re move d too qu ick ly in to fo rm al lea rn ingthey ma y f ind i t d i ff icu l t to mak e connec t ions be twee nabs t rac t concep ts a nd the i r s t il l ve ry l imi ted persona lexpe rience. I t is this inabil i ty to colo ur in form als t ruc tu res w i th the wa rmth and in tens i ty o f one s ow nlived experie nce that can result in disaffection. I t is notso mu ch tha t ch i ld ren be com e d isa ffec ted , as tha t, fo rth e m, fo rma l k n o w le d g e r e ma in s u n a f f e c t e d - c o ld , d ry

a n d d e v o id o f t h e r i c h n e ss o f p e rs o n a l me a n in g .

Ear ly oppor tun i t ies to p lay wi th ob jec ts can a rmchi ld ren wi th a s to re o f persona l co lours w i th wh ichto make sense o f fo rmal concep ts , bu t i t i s p lay wi thother people, adults and children, that provides theessen tia l b r idge be tween pr iva te and pub l ic w or lds. Thein te rp lay o f minds does no t depen d on language a lone .Babies can engag e in conversa t ions wi th the ir pa ren tsf rom b i r th (Trevar then , 1995) and young in fan tsc o n v e r s e w i th e a c h o th e r t h ro u g h p a t te rn e d s e q u e n c e s

of imitat ion ( ibid) . For 3 and 4 year olds actions speaklouder than words an d m uch of the i r in te rac t ion i s inthe fo rm of shared p lay wi th ob jec ts and props . The i rconf ide nce wi th these fo rm s of conversa t ion feeds the i r

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c o n f id e n c e w i th l a n g u a g e a n d ma n y 4 a n d 5 y e a r o ldswi l l spend as much t ime ta lk ing th rough the i r p lay asac tua l ly p lay ing . But even b efore they have reache d th ismas te ry o f the conversa t iona l po ten t ia l o f language ,and fo r reasons which baff le ea r ly years educa tors ino ther count r ies , we hur ry our 4 and 5 year o lds in to

lea rn ing to read and wr i te . As w e t ra in them to ma in-tain at tention, con centra te and si t s t i ll (QC A, 1999a,p .8 ) we in t roduce them to the top-down, manager ia lmo del o f lea rn ing to subm it . .. to be ing taught ,ins t ruc ted o r t ra ined (Harr i -Aug s te in and Thom as ,1991, p .4 ) before they have had a c hanc e to lea rn howto learn.

Conversa t ion , the in te rp lay o f min ds w hich we en joy insocial interaction, gossip and casu al chat can be se en asa fo rm of p layfu lness and, wh en in te rna l ised , i t can

a l low us to th ink p layfu l ly. En joy ing the unpred ic tab lef low of ideas in conversa t ion can he lp us to en joy un-certainty in other s i tuations, to see diversi ty and com-plex i ty as va luab le sources o f var ia t ion ra ther than towo rry about them or seek to b r ing them u nder con t ro l.L ike p lay, conversa t ion seems to requ i re a degree o fp ro t e c t i o n f ro m th e p o t e n t i a l l y t h r e a t e n in g c o n -sequences o f rea l ac t iv i ty ; it is eas ie r bo th to p lay andto ta lk f ree ly wi th kno wn a nd t rus ted f r iends than w i thstrangers . But, once internalised, both play and con-versa t ion can become powerfu l and res i l ien t d ispos i -

t ions that enable us to make our own, internal space inwhich to ta lk to ourse lves and p lay wi th ideas. A d is -a ffec ted ch i ld m ay wi thdraw f rom formal lea rn ing in toa m ore sa t i s fy ing in te rna l wor ld o f daydream s, bu tin te rna l i sed conversa t ion can a lso enab le ch i ld ren toengag e mo re ac t ive ly and m ore e ffec t ive ly wi th thepecu l ia r exper iences they wi l l encou nte r in school .

Research in to mas te ry o r ien ta t ion (Messer, 1993;M acTurk and Morgan , 1995; Hau ser-Cram , 1998) sug-ges ts tha t ch i ld ren who a re encouraged to make the i r

own ch o ices and dec is ions in the i r ea r ly years a re mo relikely to develop this disposit ion to r ise to challenges,to t ry d i ffe ren t approaches when d i ff icu l t ies a re en-counte red and to seek ou t oppor tun i t ies to p rac t i se andextend their skil ls and knowledge; in short , to enjoylearn ing . C hi ld ren who do no t deve lop m as te ry o r ien ta -t ion exh ib i t lea rned he lp lessness (Dw eck and Legge t t ,1988); they avoid cha llenging si tuations, give up easi lyin the face o f d i ff icu l ties and a re q u ick to tu rn to anadul t fo r he lp . P lay ing and engag ing in conversa t ionwi th f r iends see m to p rov ide exce l len t oppor tun it ies fo ryoung children to develop the cognit ive skil ls that wil lenab le them to im agine poss ib le courses o f ac tion andto choose be tween them. Both p lay and conversa t ionhe lp ch i ld ren to a r t icu la te concep ts f rom the un-

d i f f e r e n t i a t e d f l o w o f e x p e r i e n c e , l o o s e n in g a n dd i s e mb e d d in g th e m s o th a t th e y b e c o m e a v a i la b le fo rc r e a t iv e r e a r r a n g e me n t o r r e -me mb e r in g . P l a y w i thob jec ts p rov ides repea ted and var ied expe r iences whichenab le the ch i ld to no t ice what chan ges and w hat s taysthe same. Conversa t ion wi th o ther peop le (whether o r

no t language i s invo lved) a lso a l lows a ch i ld to comein to con tac t w i th o ther perspec t ives , o ther ways o fdo ing th ings and o ther in te res ts and concerns whichcan he lp to loosen ear ly assumpt ions abo ut how peoplebehave . Ne i ther p lay no r conversa t ion i s passive ; i t i sthe ac t ive in te rac t ion be tween ch i ld and ob jec ts o r o therp e o p le t h a t ma k e s t h e m s u c h p o w e r fu l t o o l s f o rlea rn ing and tha t equ ips ch i ld ren to en joy cop ing w i ththe constraints that make social l i fe possible . Childrenwho h ave lea rned to be p layfu l and c rea t ive , to eng agethemse lves and o thers in conversa t ion and to en joy

learn ing a re wel l equ ipped to cope wi th the fo rmaleduca t ion they w i ll enc ounte r in school , bu t i f they a resub jec ted too soon to fo rm al educa t ion they m ay lea rnonly helplessness.

So what can we do to beg in to ease the p ressures tha tth rea ten to s t i f le c rea t iv i ty in teach ing? I t may betempt ing to t ry to keep our heads down, hope fo r thebest and wait for things to get better, but this responsema y a l l o w th in g s t o b e c o me e v e n w o r s e . A n a n g ryadul t a t tempt ing to reason w i th a f r igh tened ch i ld may

ge t inc reas ing ly f rus tra ted as the ch i ld cowe rs in whatis seen as obstinate s i lence, but a child who is con fide nte n o u g h to s p e a k o u t m a y f in d th a t th e a d u l t b e c o me sless f r igh ten ing and less angry once l ines o f com -munication can be established. Similarly, a l though afew teachers o r managers (a t any leve l ) may ob jec t toge t t ing feedback f rom the i r pup il s o r workforce , man yare g lad o f an ac t ive response . Teach ing a respons ive ,in te res ted g roup i s more en joyab le than ta lk ing to animpass ive wal l o f b lank faces even though a l ive lygroup is less l ikely to al low i ts teacher to s t ick preciselyto a p re -p lanned schedule .

I f teachers can m ake them se lves re lax a l it tle , makem ore t ime to ta lk to and wi th each o ther, deve lop smal lc o mm u n i t ie s a n d d e v e lo p c o n f id e n c e i n th e c o m mo nvoice tha t communi t ies can fos te r, then we may f indtha t we can engage our managers in conversa t ion , no tconfron t ing them and re fus ing to do the i r b idd ing , bu tle t t ing them know how we fee l abou t the i r p lans ands u g g e s t in g w a y s i n w h ic h th e y mig h t b e ma d e mo reappropr iate to our par t icu la r c i rcumstances : To t rea t anorder, o r any k ind o f ru le o r ins t ruc tion , as m ere lysuggestive - to turn i t in to som ethin g a l it t le mo re toone s tas te - i s rad ica l ly to rev ise the n a tu re o fauthority (Phillips, 1998, p.87).

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Teachers cannot s imply take the c ur r icu lum in to the i rown hand , bu t they can he lp to cha nge a s implemanager ia l mo de l o f top-down co n t ro l in to a mor e con-versa t iona l one i f they recognise tha t they have aresponsibil i ty to their pupils and colleagues as well asto the ir manage rs . M aking t ime fo r conversa t ions , be t -

ween ch ild ren , be tween teachers and ch i ld ren , be tweenteachers and be tween teachers and adv ise rs , cou ldmake a rad ica l d i ffe rence to the cu l tu re o f educa t ion ,s t reng then ing the vo ice o f the roo ts and deve lop ingtheir abil i ty to engage the branches in conversation. Ihave argued elsewhere (Parker-Rees, 1999) that thispa t te rn o f conversa tion be tween the bo t tom-up vo ice o floca l exper ience and the top-down vo ice o f soc ial con-ventions or rules informs the learning of individuals ,comm uni t ies and cu l tu res bu t, a t e ach o f these leve ls,the conversa t ion i s domina ted by p ressure to con ta in

and con tro l the aw fu l chaos o f the ne ther reg ions :

'Ta lk can be anarch ic , i f you 'v e go t 15 pa i rs o fch i ld ren ta lk ing and y ou can ' t g e t a hand le on i t andwhat have yo u go t to show for i t a t the end . We a removing away f rom tha t now, wi th someth ing l ikethis , [ the teachers ' conversation group] but fors o m e o n e d o i n g s o m e t h i n g l i k e d r a m a , w h e nthey ' re no t very c onf iden t w i th i t, i t can be rea l lyscary, that you ' re taking the l id off this thing andit' s a l l a live and bubbling and 'wh ere w il l i t end ' .

So you 've go t to take a deep brea th and . . , hop e no-body com es in (Recep t ion teacher in teachers 'conversation group, 16/6/99)

David Clark (1996), writ ing about schools as learningcommuni t ies , has observed tha t communi t ies o ffe rtheir members securi ty, s ignif icance and solidari ty, a l lo f which can he lp peop le to cope wi th the tens ionsbe tween the des i re to be d i ffe ren t ia ted and the des i re tobe integrated, to be able to be o ne sel f but a lso to haveone 's f iner quali t ies appreciated by others . What pre-

ven ts lea rn ing communi t ies f rom c los ing in on them-selves and be com ing c osy cl iques or cults is their readi-ness to look outwards as well as inwards, to engage inconversa t ions beyon d the i r boundar ies as wel l as w i th inthem. In education, i t can be part icularly valuable forteachers to have opportunit ies to ta lk about theirp rac tice w i th the suppor t o f ou ts ide adv ise rs wh osewider exper ience enab les them to sugges t connec t ionsand al ternative possibil it ies . The Effec tive Early L earn -ing (EE L) project (Pascal and Bertra m, 1997), a profes-s iona l deve lopmen t p ro jec t led by An ge la Anning andAnne Edw ards (Arm ing, 1998, Edw ards, 1998, 1999),and accounts o f the ro le o f thepedagogistain sup-por t ing the p rofess iona l deve lopment o f ea r ly yearsteachers in I ta ly 's Reg gio Em ilia (Edw ards et a l , 1993)

h a v e a l l d e mo n s t r a t e d t h a t c o n v e r s a t i o n b e tw e e nte a c h e r s an d ' e x p e r t s ' c a n h a v e b e n e f it s b e y o n d m e re lyd issemina t ing know ledge about good prac t ice .

John Abbot t (1999) , d rawing on work by Bere i te r andScardamal ia , has recen t ly d rawn a t ten t ion to an im-por tan t d is t inc t ion be tween ' spec ia l i s t s ' and ' exper ts ' .Spec ia l i s t s ' comprehens ive knowledge o f the i r f ie ldg ive s t h e m a c o n f id e n c e w h ic h c a n ma k e th e m a p p e a ra r rogan t , pa r t icu la r ly because they a re unwi l l ing toven ture beyo nd the i r f ie ld to cons ide r how i t migh t f i tw i th in a b igger p ic tu re . Exper ts , on the o ther hand ,though the y share the spec ia li s t s' dep th o f knowled ge ,have an addit ional 'v i ta l a t tr ibute . . . they are inten-t iona lly ' p layfu l" :

Exper ts w i th such h igh leve l ' open th ink ing ' a revas t ly impor tan t peop le in a cu l tu re which i s

changing so rap id ly tha t i t i s ha rd to see w here w eare headed . Unl ike the spec ia l i s t ' s supreme conf i -dence wi th in a spec ia l i sm (no t m uch use w hen thewalls o f that special ism are fal l ing apart ) , theexper t i s essen tia l ly humble and ques t ion ing , mo reaware o f wha t he do esn ' t ye t know ra ther than whati s a l ready known . Exper ts o f course know the ru lesbu t they a lso know how to re formula te them, evenwh en to b reak them so as to f i t new c i rcumstances .The y a re pers is ten t, indus tr ious and a lways cur ious ,and the y a re a lways search ing fo r per fec t ion . 'Le t ' sback up on th is p rob lem. Think th is one th roughaga in . See i t f rom ano ther perspec tive ; imagine i t inano ther way. G ive ourse lves a b rea ther, and asksomebody e lse what they th ink . ' These a re thewords o f the t rue c ra f t sman . These a re the rea lexperts . ' (Abbo tt , 1999, pp.7 7-8 )

I t is easy to see w hy conversa t ions wi th an exper t a rel ike ly to be more usefu l than conversa t ions wi th aspecial is t , but we can also see clear paral le ls betweenth is v iew of exper t i se and what we know about m as te ryor ien ta t ion . E xper ts m ake be t te r conversa t ion par tnersbecause the i r th ink ing i s more conversa t iona l , morecont ingen t , f lex ib le , p layfu l and re laxed . When theyengage o ther peop le in conversa t ion they can en-courage them to loosen up the i r th ink ing , he lp ing top r e v e n t c o m m u n i t i e s f r o m b e c o m i n g c l o s e d a n diso la ted . Teachers m ay be unwi l l ing to see them se lvesas exper ts bu t the y cou ld c e r ta in ly recognise the va lueof ac t ing m ore l ike exper ts than spec ial i st s in the i rconversa t ions wi th ch i ld ren ; be ing p repared to l i s ten

and look ing fo r way s to in te rpre t the cu r r icu lum to thech i ld ren 's ow n c i rcumstance s and in teres ts ra ther thana lways t ry ing to f i t the ch i ld ren to the dem ands o f thecurr icu lum:

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' I do som etim es, i f .. . So me tim es I le t that , or I givean op por tun i ty fo r tha t to happen [ch i ld ren exp lor-ing ideas in conversa t ion , w i thou t necessar i lyhav ing to a r r ive a t a conc lus ion o r answer] w hen Irea l i se they ' re ta lk ing , you know? We 've had as to ry o r we 'v e done som eth ing and I ' ve go t a very

talkative class and the y really s tar t ta lking a lot anda l though I pe rhaps w ant to go on to the nex t th ing ,bu t I t ry to s top m yse l f say ing , 'Eve rybo dy bequiet ' and instead say, 'Right Let ' s just have ac o u p le o f min u te s a n d t a lk t o s o me b o d y n e a r y o uabout wha t you want to ta lk about ' , wha tever i thapp ened to be , a s to ry o r the i r pe t o r, you know,someone ' s been on ho l iday and i t ' s usua l ly aboutthings l ike, about their l ives, that they really wantto ta lk to each oth er about. So, and I t ry and l is tenout fo r whe n they ' re rea l ly ta lk ing a lo t and ma ke i t

an oppor tun i ty ra ther than ge t t ing , t ry ing to ge teveryon e imm edia te ly qu ie t. ' (Year 3 teacher inteachers ' conversa t ion g roup , 8 /6 /99)

A conversa t iona l approach to p lann ing the cur r icu lum(and to p lann ing educ a t iona l po l icy) may a t f i r s t seemworry ing ly uncont ro l lab le . We tend to be l ieve tha t ap lan shou ld se t ou t the means by which p re -spec i f iedoutcomes wi l l be ach ieved . Th is k ind o f ' ba l l i s t ic 'p lann ing requ i res a ve ry p rec ise a im because the t ra jec -to ry cannot be ad jus ted a f te r launch - i t can be l ikened

to the lesson p lann ing of nov ice s tuden t teachers w hoseconc ern to keep on t rack does no t a l low them to adap tto children 's responses unti l they evaluate the lesson,after i t 's a l l over. Ball is tic plann ing leads to a se ries oflessons o r po l icy in i tia tives w i th the p rec ise a im of eachbe ing ad jus ted accord ing to the accuracy wi th whichthe last met i ts target . Conversational planning, on theothe r hand, is a continu ous and i terat ive process. Ex pertteachers con t inue to p lan and eva lua te whi le they a reteach ing and they a re p repared to exp lore a l te rna t iverou tes i f they f ind themse lves d iver ted by an un-

expec ted response f rom the ch i ld ren , bu t they do no ts imply abandon the i r in ten t ions and fo l low where thech i ld ren lead . Ins tead o f assum ing tha t ch i ld ren a re no tye t read y to take an ac t ive par t in the i r leaming , theseteachers recognise tha t they can he lp ch i ld ren todeve lop a c onf iden t vo ice , to bec om e ac t ive ra ther thanpassive learners .

Unfor tuna te ly, the c lea r sh i f t over recen t years f romteacher educa t ion to teacher t ra in ing may make i tinc reas ing ly d iff icu l t fo r s tuden t teachers to see beyon d

becoming spec ia l i s t s . The cu l tu re o f competences ,ta rge ts and goa ls p romotes a v iew of lea rn ing as theacquis i t ion o f th ings ra ther than as a con t inuous p ro-cess tha t can never be com ple ted - beco min g a lea rnedspecial is t ra ther than a learn ing expert .

T h e s ta r t o f a n e w m i l l e n n iu m m a y b e a g o o d t ime tomake a s tand aga ins t the cu l tu re o f ins t ruc t ion and toinsis t on the impo r tance o f p layfu lness and en joym entin teach ing and lea rn ing . Educa t ion mus t no t becomeover-m anaged to the po in t where i t is ' jus t a job ' ,ne i ther requ i r ing nor a l lowing any a ffec t ive engage-

ment f rom teachers o r lea rners . Ne i ther ch i ld ren northe i r teachers shou ld be expec ted s imply to submit tobe ing ins t ruc ted . Making t ime fo r conversa t ions wi thch i ld ren and wi th co l leagues is a ma nageab le and e ffec -t ive way to s t reng then the lea rn ing com mu ni t ies w i th inand be tween schools and to deve lop the conf iden tvo ices tha t w i l l be needed fo r conversa t ions wi thman agers . The new e ar ly lea rn ing goa ls appear to ack-n o w l e d g e t h a t c r e a t i v e d e v e l o p m e n t d e p e n d s o n'oppor tun i ties fo r a l l ch i ld ren to exp lore and share the i rthoughts , ideas and fee l ings ' (QCA , 1999b , p .10) andth e ' C o m m o n F e a tur e s o f G o o d P ra c ti c e " i n c lud e' e n c o u ra g e me n t fo r c h i ld r e n to c o mmu n ic a t e o r t a lkabout lea rn ing and to deve lop independence and se l f -ma n a g e m e n t . T h e y a r e g iv e n t ime to p ro g re s s t h ro u g hsus ta ined invo lvement in concen t ra ted ac t iv i ty ' ( ib id ,p . l l ) .

But o f course i t i s no t on ly ch i ld ren who wi l l benef i tf rom b e ing g iven t ime to ta lk about lea rn ing , to sharethe i r and fee l ings and to ' become engrossed , work indepth and complete act ivi t ies ' ( ibid, p .5) . Constant

pressure to respond to top-down in i t ia t ives and pre -sc r ip t ions m ay e ffec t ive ly keep teachers and ch i ld rentoo busy to s top and th ink . The resu l t ing app earance o fcoheren ce may g l i t te r w i th ' the r ig id o rder o f a c rys ta l '(E igen and Winkle r, 1982 , p .3 ) bu t l ife requ i res a morecompl ica ted and more f lex ib le k ind o f o rder. I t i s ourskill in 'p layin g with ideas and trying ou t possibil i t ies '(NACCCE, 1999 , p .30) tha t makes humans un ique lycrea t ive and a l lows us to ad ap t f lex ib ly to chan gingenvi ronments : 'C rea t ive ac t iv i ty invo lves a complexc o mb in a t io n o f c o n t ro l l e d a n d n o n -c o n t ro l l e d e l e -ments , unconsc ious as wel l as consc ious menta l p ro-c e s s e s, n o n -d i r e c t e d a s w e l l a s d i r e c t e d t h o u g h t ,intuit ive as w ell as rat ional c alcula t ion ' ( ibid, p .32).

M y o w n e x p e r i e n c e o f e n g a g in g t e a c h e r s i n i n fo rma lconversa t ion , ou ts ide the ' eve ryd ay ' cons t ra in ts o fdec is ion-ma king and respond ing to ex te rna l p ressures ,h a s c o n v in c e d me o f th e im p o r t a n c e o f t h e i n te rp la y o fminds fo r teachers as wel l as fo r ch i ld ren . In te rp layimpl ies more than in te rac t ion ; fo rmal re la t ionsh ips ,s t a f f -me e t in g s a n d ma n a g e me n t h i e r a r c h i e s ma y n o ta l low enoug h space , o r p lay, fo r com m uni ty to f lour ish .

l l ou r F u tu r es descr ibes the c rea t ive conversa t ion be t -w e e n to p -d o w n a n d b o t to m-u p p ro c e s s e s i n t e rms o f' mu tu a l d e p e n d e n c e b e tw e e n f r e e d o m a n d c o n t ro l '

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(NACCC E, 1999 , p .38) and ba lance be twee n c losureand openness, between tradit ion and innovation ( ibid,p.51). In rece nt yea rs education has e ndu red a s igni-f ican t imbalance in favour o f con t ro l , c losure andt rad i t ion and the resu l t ing in tens i f ica t ion , commodi-f ica t ion and manager ia l i sm have been squeez ing the

life out of schools , leaving less and less space forteachers and ch ildren to be free, open and innovative. Inan ideal wor ld we m igh t hope tha t a G enera l Teach ingCounc i l cou ld he lp to p ro tec t the space requ i red fo rc rea tiv ity and innova t ion bu t w e m ay have to c rea te ouro w n s p a c e ; c o p in g w i th t o p -d o w n p re s s u re s b ydeve lop ing lea rn ing communi t ies tha t can fos te r thee me rg e n c e o f c o n f id e n t, b o t to m-u p r e s p o n s es . We ma yeven f ind tha t some who have been coerced in tomanager ia l ro les w i ll we lco me the op pom m ity to re laxtheir control a l i tt le , to interp ret or refo rm ulate the rules

imposed by th ir managers and to t rus t teachers andlearners with a l it t le m ore space to eng age in conv ersa-t ions about learning.

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