Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community
We are the music-makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams.
World-losers and world-forsakers,
Upon whom the pale moon gleams;
Yet we are the movers and shakers,
Of the world forever, it seems.

Yes, I am officially back from my hiatus; thanks to those of you who have posted welcomes. Rob Wall kindly says "Given the hysteria around web based e-mail accounts, MySpace and other threats to the educational orthodoxy, the timing couldn't be better." And I do want to make a difference regarding these and other issues.

What brings me back is a desire to make things better, to contribute my own unique voice to what I see as a rennaissance. Like this: "What edubloggers must do is to continue to engage in critical dialogue, reflect, and communicate with those around us. We must be the ones who stand up and take responsibility for the struggle (If not us, then Who?). We must reflect and act together in a way that offers a new story, a new vision of education can be. Start by looking in the mirror: Meet the new boss; you're not the same as the old boss..."

Perhaps - but we do not need vision and will, we do not need great leaders. There will be no revolution, no rennaissance, until we change ourselves, until we ourselves become the embodiment of the caring and compassionate society we want to create. How hard that is! I return from my time away more aware than ever of how fallible, how ordinary, how human I am. Oh my yes, I have my apologies to give and my amends to make. Still, no matter how hard it is, we need to believe in ourselves, to believe we can make a difference, to believe we matter, to believe we can live freely. This, above all, must be our legacy.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

Copyright 2024
Last Updated: Mar 28, 2024 7:12 p.m.

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