In mid-February it was the best place we could possibly have met: sunny Málaga, the South of Spain in full bloom. There were a lot of expectations for this meeting and within just three days they were not just met but excelled!
On Thursday morning the ReCreaDe Team met in the Faculty of Education of the University of Málaga. The aim was to share ideas on the theoretical framework, but also to plan the structure of the intensive programme. Discussions ranged from thoughts on democracy, creativity, anarchy and education to the best connection between topics and methods. After eight hours of talking a wonderful programme for the Budapest IP in April was set up. I think it is safe to say that we were all a little exhausted, though extremely satisfied – we definitely found a consensus on dissensus! It was wonderful to end the day at the restaurant where we were joined by about 30 former participants from the previous TIAC and InOut-programmes for an excellent evening-filling dinner.
The official multiplier event took place on Friday, the 15th, in presence not only of the former participants and multipliers, but also of many local students and teachers interested in the programme. The day began with a warm welcome by the International Relations Vice-Chancellor, the Faculty of Education Dean and the Representative of the Educational Authorities of Málaga followed by a very thought-provoking lecture by Manuel Arias Maldonado on “Democracy as an Educational Project: Reconciling Reason and Passion in a Polarized Age” (You can find the full text here). It is always good to broaden perspectives with views from various disciplines and the lecture opened up room for inspiration and inciting thoughts.
Upon presenting the ReCreaDe project formally and reflecting on the three previous projects, which was done by project coordinator Per Simfors, followed by Holger Jahnke’s introduction to the theoretical framework, it was truly motivating to get such diverse, positive feedback. To make things a little more practical, Carmen Sanchidrián from the project team gave an inspiring workshop on Democracy and Education, which animated guests and team alike. Josephine Moate, also from the ReCreaDe Team, then moved on to reflect on previous projects in order to consider implications for the future of ReCreaDe – for this in particular it was great to hear thoughts and ideas from previous participants reflecting on their own experience. To finish the day, we were lucky enough to have guest speakers from Cartima Secondary School in Málaga, who presented to us their incredibly inspiring, creative, and truly democratic approach to schools and schooling.
The last day in Málaga was reserved in particular for a meeting of former participants. Learning from the past projects, it became increasingly important to the team to provide a space and support for a long-term impact of thoughts and things learned. In order to do this, former participants were invited from all partner universities to form their own Network of Early Career Teachers (NECT). Obviously, this could not be done for them, so we were all in suspense to see how this would work out. The results of their meeting were amazing to hear: NECT has been formed, the aim is an annual meeting with the dates for the next one already fixed! Anyone interested in the network is welcome to visit their facebook page.
Overall, we had some incredibly productive, inspiring and heart-warming days in Málaga, each one filled to the brim with sun, laughter and – of course – amazing Spanish food which we could even enjoy outside on the beach. What a pleasure it is to create ReCreaDe with such a wonderfully diverse team!
