Inquiry Conference Winter 2012

I presented the Kennedy Center's Inquiry Conference this afternoon. It was a great experience and I really enjoyed sharing my methods and experiences with the study of dance and spirituality in Ghana. I also loved being around others with a passion for inquiry based research. I miss it. I really do. Just about everyday I think about what I can do to prepare and plan for another learning experience that is cultural and self-directed. Being in school with a schedule and deadlines and homework dictated by my teachers for my learning is so frustrating honestly! I feel I would be learning so much more if I was given the opportunity to ask my own questions and research them within the subjects listed in the curriculum of my classes. I feel that because I have such a large to-do list now that I am only skimming the surface of the content of my classes. I have no real ownership of my learning and little motivation or passion for the subjects because I'm too concerned with completely my check-list. And who wants to complete a check-list that means nothing to them.

So of course I always fill my schedule with selfish things like researching, learning, experiencing and playing within the experiences and content matter that really means something to me and that is relevant to my life. (Such as Inquiry Conference, proposing to present at the National Dance Education Organization Conference, writing Grants for SDEO members to travel to this conference, choreographing for dancEnsemble and taking contemporary dance technique class everyday-these are all things I do not HAVE to do but do because they are relevant and meaningful to me. I love them because they edify my life and teach me so much!) But with all these activities- the stagnant "have-to's" school checklist and the ambitious-experience-seeking-inability-to say-no list- my life has become absurdly imbalanced! I think the key will be to making what I have to do, what I want to do. But its really hard to get myself to that point when my idea of what I want to do is no where near my school work...its in AFRICA! haha. O man, guess my new inquiry adventure will be to discover how to find thrill and adventure in a university school schedule.

Anyway, here's a link to my slideshow and speaker notes I used for my presentation if you're interested :) Happy adventuring in your daily life to one and all!