Life after not ‘working-for-the-man’ is quite rich. Coming from a ‘working-class’ family, subsequently well educated, and spending my working-life in research and technical issues, it is a great pleasure to now deal with compost optimization, refurbishing sheds, deconstructing bamboo and working on my English skills. The blog will always be sprinkled with photos as I have a huge library from when I was about 17. As I get my webs back on-line I can then get these libraries up for viewing.

But semi-retirement has given me the opportunity to return to my disciplines of geography and adult learning.

Geography

A name that covers much, but for me it means observing activity in a space context; human and animal behaviour in a physical environment, hence my current interest in ‘climate change’. I have ignored the debate for years but now I am confronted by squabbling partisans who appear unable to analyse the constant flow of seemingly conflicting data. The current academic discipline is trivial — I see little evidence of the questioning and debate that I experienced in my early training (see my 15 November posting). Training as a geographer teaches observance, data collection, documentation, discussion, debate and learning so with 40 years of geography behind me I strongly recommend it as a course in secondary, tertiary and post-tertiary education.

Adult Learning

A major benefit of taking degrees in adult learning was being trained to question. Discourse analysis and critical thinking were valuable structured pathways into the previously ill-disciplined cynicism I exhibited. Considering why a certain stance has been taken rather than agreeing or disagreeing can provide insight into what the agenda may be. I remember being told by someone who had no education that education was a waste of time. My response, “How would you know?”. Education is the most important factor in a person’s life because it teaches questioning.