What’s with calling this 'Incorporated Subversion'
then?
Well, first up, 'James Farmer’s Radio Weblog'
just 'aint that catchy ;o) and a fair bit more importantly I wanted
a name that reflected me and my feelings.
So I, ahem, nicked it from David Squires' 1999 article
‘Educational
Software and Learning: Subversive use and Volatile Design’
(.pdf).
Classy eh!
More seriously though I have really found Squires
thoughts to be both reflective of what I’ve always believed
and guiding in terms of helping me realize what I actually mean. He
talks about successful design [and by implication facilitating learning
as that which gives learners 'opportunities to work in environments
which allow for idiosyncratic exploration and expression' and I could
hardly agree more.
'Rather than design with constraint
in mind, design with freedom and flexibility in mind… this emphasises
the active and purposeful role of learners in configuring learning
environments to resonate with their own needs, echoing the notions
of learning with technology through 'mindful engagement''
More and more around me design is becoming a 10-step
process, learning throughout education is being driven to pale rigidity
and online, in particular, teachers and learners are suffocated by
design and environments which allow very little or no room for or
encouragement in exploration or expression.
As Hans
Siggaard Jensen says in his manifesto:
'The competent person is a person who can transform information through
judgment into knowledge.'
Incorporating subversion to me is pretty simple, allow people to subvert
the system to suit themselves. Allow people to say what they really
mean to whomsoever they want to say it. Have some faith in people
and provide them with a platform and place from where to go…
Or something like that, we’ll see where it gets
us…
