‘Disobedient Thinking’

‘Disobedient Thinking’
Welby Ings, Auckland Town Hall
Welby Ings ‘remains an outspoken critic of dehumanised and fragmented systems of learning.’
Me too.
I had already connected with Ings as both artist and colleague when I experienced ‘Disobedient Thinking’. I felt him to be someone with whom I had a deep and intimate synergy. Both school failures, my journey from catastrophic student to teacher to principal to educational saboteur mirrors his – in a minor key. It’s affirming to find a fellow traveller, an ‘outsider’, espousing radical practice, a person with similar passions, all anchored in the unshakable belief that learning happens best in environments free from fear, power and threat.
I show the ‘Disobedient Thinking’ video to every student at first engagement, then we know where we’re headed together – ‘through the roof.’
I’m often invited to contribute to learning symposia, some university wide, to women’s groups, queer covens, at Faculty level, or in small clusters in our school. I’ve been privileged to share my educational philosophy and values at ‘Wāhine Kākano’ and ‘Ka Tu Maia’, 2018 young women’s leadership summits, where ‘Disobedient Thinking’ informed my kōrero around questioning, courage, and the personification of radical educational scholarship.
Ings name is spoken in hushed tones, yet when I look for the impact of his work in our classrooms I struggle to find tangible evidence. Being ‘a critic of dehumanised systems of learning’ implies these systems exist and pushing back against them is debilitating. It takes courage, time and opportunity to grasp these philosophies and to put them into practice while ‘kicking against the pricks’. With Ings’ influence less than visible, I can’t really claim to have made any impact at all.
I can say, though, that many colleagues I have worked closely with over the past 15 years have welcomed the opportunity to be freer and more student-centred in their practice, to allow space for students to own their work, and for self-assessment to mirror our shared philosophies and engagement. It takes time to recognise that eliminating word limits is
excellent practice, assignments without written components remain quality learning experiences, and that authentic personal involvement in assessment is empowering.