Barefoot keynote

This week at the ICELF event at Unitec in Auckland I was given one of the highest honours I have ever received. My opening keynote at the conference was preceded by a Maori Powhiri (welcoming ceremony) in the Marae (Maori sacred meeting house) followed by the ceremonial welcome which included the pressing of noses and foreheads (Hongi) with several of the university staff and dignitaries. This was quite an amazing experience, because in effect, it made me a member of the extended family of the institution (Whanau). I have to admit it was quite a humbling and emotional experience, but what followed - an invitation to address the entire gathering of over 200 delegates inside the Marae, was just as great an honour because, I was informed, very few guests are ever allowed to do this. I imagine that now I am a member of the family, this was the reason. Everyone was required to enter the Marae barefoot, and I have to say this was the first time I delivered a keynote with no shoes on. Somehow though, it was very appropriate, in such a place rich with tradition.

The Marae on the Unitec campus in Auckland is an intricately carved structure which is used for social and sacred purposes - it's walls and pillars tell the story of the Maori people and their journey through history. The Mount Albert campus of Unitec is situated on a site that was once a part of the settlement area belonging to the Ngati Awa people. Later I had the pleasure to meet the designer and creator of the entire structure and discuss with him some of his wonderful creations. Unlike many of the more traditionally crafted Marae, the this meeting hall is a unique fusion of ancient craft and new technology. The centre post for example has been forged in metal with laser images engraved down its length. The fine carvings on each of the joists, central spine and walls of this very spacious building told a different story of the lives of the Maori people and included their first encounter with western seafarers who sailed into their harbour. Auckland is also known as the City of Sails, and this was clearly represented on the rear wall of the Marae. The front wall, in front of which I spoke, depicted a large white cloud (The Maori name for New Zealand - Aotearoa - means land of the Long White Cloud), and decending below the cloud are vast legions of people, emerging as created beings. The relevance of the cloud and the social throng was not lost on us as we discussed new forms of technology mediated learning and social media. The entire interior of the Marae is lit cleverly in a manner that enhances the spectacle, but the irony of the event was not lost on me. Here I was talking about the future, surrounded by a traditionally constructed space (not a single metal nail was used), and even with the evidence of technological influence, the stark contrasts between the past and the future somehow amplified the experience and made it even more poignant. A useful summary of my speech can be read here on this blog.

I am extremely grateful to the organisers of ICELF for inviting me to participate in such an excellent and inspirational event. Delegates travelled from more than 20 countries to attend, and they represented all sectors of education. Over the two days we heard a number of excellent presentations and attended some very engaging workshops on e-learning and technology supported learning. Outstanding sessions by Derek Wenmoth (Core Education, NZ), Thomas Cochrane (AUT, NZ), Agnes Kukulska-Hulme (OU, UK) and Judy Kay (University of Sydney, Australia) gave excellent value to the discourse. ICELF was the first event of its kind in New Zealand, but I strongly suspect that it will not be the last. As the organisers will no doubt agree, the impetus is now there for a strong movement for change in New Zealand education. The ICELF team deserves to be at the vanguard of that change.

Image source and ICELF


Barefoot keynote by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.