This year I finally completed my PhD in Curriculum Theory and Implementation. As my memory of walking across the stage to take my place within the academy fades I have begun thinking about the future. I began this blog the year I entered my doctoral studies and I posted only a few passing thoughts in the following years. The themes that emerged reflected my diverse interests and involvements as a doctoral student. I had described myself on this blog’s About page as a designer, a design educator, and a doctorate student theorizing about design while immersed in the open design of my own learning process. I was intrigued by the creative act (design), the process of growth and change (learning), the context of my own lived-experience, and the system worlds that have been brought forth by the world of design. These lines of inquiry and practice had emerged over time to form my perspective of life, the universe and everything (to borrow Douglas Adam’s poetic phrase), which I had in mind to make a long-term project of exploration, discovery, invention and application. Nevertheless, I was not at all clear about my central interests, boundary conditions, or intended research program. So, my plan was to simply use this blog as a place to test my thinking over the course of my doctoral studies and perhaps beyond.
Now, my doctoral studies have come to an end and this blog has entered the beyond I wrote about when I first began blogging. In the beginning this blog’s title “hubwise” was an intuitive leap regarding how I thought my interests might evolve over time. First, I felt “hub” epitomized the connected characteristic of our present age and I anticipated that making sense of my experience within this contemporary context would remain a central theme of my thinking regardless of the direction my interests developed. Second, the term “wise” reflects the quality of what I aspired to write about, which I had hoped might be characterized as not merely information, nor inspiration, but reflect my pursuit of wisdom. Third, when the suffix “-wise” is attached to a noun its becomes an adverb meaning ‘concerning or with respect to,’ which then suggests ideas concerning hubs. Where I’ve remained uncertain for some time is what sort of ideas with respect to hubs was I concerned?
As some say life happens. In the midst of my doctoral studies my work evolved into a professorship my research interested have begun to focus on learning, teaching, and making curriculum. Given my life changes, my intent for this blog is to now focus its theme on a concern for learning and teaching in a connected age. Our contemporary world continues to change and with it our understanding of the educational experience and the institutions we bring forth to support it go on evolving too. What is emerging and how we have arrived here are interesting questions; ones I feel are worth asking.
So, I now turn to questions concerning learning and teaching in a connected age…