God is a graffiti artist

Defacing our comfort zones

with the awful truth

of his beauty.

Leaping out at us on street corners,

accosting us when

we least expect it.

Challenging our assumptions,

opening windows

in the walls of our lives.

Lurking in places

where he doesn't belong.

Waiting for a quiet moment

to surprise you

with love.

Used this poem today from Scripture Union 's Grid material with the 11-14's group at Church. I've been quite impressed with their material for this age group, and especially this. There was no author citied for the poem, and it was their suggestion to put together a powerpoint of some of Banksy's pictures to go with it, which I did. It went down really well, especially with the budding graffiti artists among the group.

Today Michael, Jess and I went ice skating at Guildford Spectrum, and had a great time. We were discussing on the way there how many times we'd been skating. I clearly win this one. It was through my youth group days that I had the chance to go ice skating. My first experience of the ice was at Silver Blades in Liverpool, a very run down rink which closed soon after we first started going on occasional Saturday outings. It was so run down that the boots you hired were falling apart and the ice was melting around the edges of the rink. I put my ability to skate fairly confidently down to the fact that I learnt at Silver Blades and you had to be good as there was no holding on to the edge with the amount of water to be found there! Later on when we were that bit older we used to go in our cars to Deeside in North Wales to skate, this too was a fairly regular occurrence. And so, for me, ice skating brings happy memories of crazy Waterloo Baptist youth group days out, and I'm extremely grateful for them.

being an educator

I'm five months in to my new job as part time tutor on a Youth Work & Ministry degree course and enjoying the challenge. It's great to be re-connecting with the acadmic side of youth ministry, getting myself up to date with reading and thinking. It's also hard slog though, getting back into the academic after a break from studies of a few years. I'm trying to stay one step ahead of the students, and hopefully doing that, but comments like the one I had yesterday from a student can knock you a bit. I was asked if I was new to lecturing and when I said yes, she replied (in a kind sort of way!) 'you can tell'. I didn't pursue this comment further at the time, but it did leave me wondering, was this because my lecture yesterday was woefully inadequate, or that I came across as nervous and timid? Or could it have been because I brought a fresh approach? Who knows, and it's probably best not to ponder on this too much!

All this teaching has led me to reflect on what being an educator is all about. I'll never forget the first meeting I had with my fieldwork tutor as a student. She introduced herself to me as 'an educator', and it's really stuck with me. I had never heard anyone call themselves an educator; a teacher maybe, but not educator - it suggested something else.

I've been reading Freire (Pedagogy of Hope, 1992), of course he was a great educator. I've been reminded that for Freire teaching is more about enabling people to 'learn', to question, to get behind what is presented and to question it. This is a style my tutor mirrored, and one I'm more comfortable with. What is more challenging for me is taking on board when Freire says that there is no neutrality in education - it is always 'directive and political'. This seems to be more about being clear where you're coming from as an educator, not afraid to state where you stand, yet in true Freire style being open to others' points of views and willing to explore them. What is challenging is that I've a lot of work to do, in all this revisiting of theories and texts, to get to grips with where I am coming from on a lot of this stuff. It means a lot more reading and thinking - hard slog, but enjoyable, as Freire says:
"The act of studying, teaching, learning, knowing, is difficult, and especially, it is demanding, but it is pleasant...It is crucial, then, that educands discover and sense the joy that steeps it, that is part of it, and that is ever ready to fill the hearts of all who surrender to it."

Well, here goes - a new venture for me, blogging.

I've just written off to Country Walking Magazine to see if we can win a competition to have them support us (me, Pete & kids) to walk St Cuthbert's Way - 62 miles of fantastic countryside from the Scottish Borders to the Northumbrian coast. The trail follows the steps Cuthbert took from the monastery in Melrose to Holy Island where he took up the position of Bishop many years ago. They're looking for families to walk a long distance trail and as I'd already bought the map and guidebook and have been musing about when and how I'll get round to doing it I thought it was worth a try...