Sabbatical 20034 Year Poole

1
Sabbatical 2003-4 YearPoole

• Learning preparation
• was complex, it included the intent to travel and
  PLAR proposal write-up, immunization shots,
  rental of house, insurance, itinerary
  expectations, passport and visa documents, and
  other minor details such as over-stuffing a
  back-pack.

2
Cultural Tour

• Inquiry into the culture of Western Europe
  included networking at the Caledonia University,
  hiking through Scotlands Hebrides (the Standing
  Stones of Calendish) , Ireland (Orange Day
  Parade), and London in Central England.
• Met with gypsies, doctors, whisky aficionados,
  farmers, tourists, trades people, friends,
  family, professors, service workers, store clerks
  and many many midgies.
• Gained an appreciation of British country life
  and how drastically this culture is changing due
  to tourism, gentrification and the
  objectification of rural charm through the
  acquisition of quaint properties.

3
PLAR

• Met with the research group coordinator from
  Caledonia University on Prior Learning
  Accreditation and Recognition regarding their
  three year evaluation of APEL in Western Europe.
• Found that many European college and university
  professors actively use APEL (their term) to
  continue life long learning to acquire post
  graduate degrees from Master to Doctoral degrees
  in anything from independent learning to more
  formal yet highly specialized learning projects.

4
Travel

• After the initial UK backpacking route was tested
  then tickets for a world itinerary were possible
  to organize.
  
• An overnight ferry to France and trains, buses,
  hitch-hiking, and hundreds of kilometers of
  hiking along Spains Saint Jacques (Santiago de
  Compo Stella).
• Note An opportunity exists here for Fanshawe to
  encourage and organize a course including both
  historical and cultural aspects within a trip
  format for students. There are so many European
  youth passionately sharing language, philosophy,
  spiritual perspectives, experiences and history
  in an inspired manner. The costs of such a
  venture are totally feasible.

5
Africa

• Addis Abba, Kilimanjaro and Kampala became part
  of the African itinerary.
  
• I ended up moving around to a village in Uganda-
  Hoima. This was during the same time that Stephen
  Lewis was also encouraging Canadians to support
  Africans in their stance to prevent and work with
  AIDS.
• I tried to reach Mr. Lewis while he was in Kenya
  concerning the interviews I was concluding and
  some contacts with the UN department, but
  unfortunately we couldnt quite connect. I did
  interview the current Bishop of Uganda along with
  thirty or more other extraordinary Ugandans- and
  I was on Ugandan television.
• There are so many opportunities to work with
  NGOs, e-learning, education and especially
  business in meaningful ways here.
  
• I recommend students to volunteer at the Mustard
  Seed Orphanage.
  
• Many thanks to my friends back home Sheila
  Chick, the General Studies Division in
  cooperation with the Free Press raised over seven
  hundred dollars to contribute to this orphanage.

6
India, Himachal Pradesh

• India is dirty, polluted, crowded, disgusting and
  intimidating- a highly recommended magical
  cultural explosion touching on each sense.
  
• This is the place where travelers are made or
  broken, they connect with others, become more
  tolerant of cultural differences and barter.
  
• Experiences vary, there are so many opportunities
  for students, staff, faculty to volunteer here in
  every manner.
  
• I traveled to Spitti Valley, listened to the
  Dalai Lama, chatted to dentists who were
  volunteering with the TCV Tibetan Childrens
  Village and interacted with a few social
  activists working with Tibetan refugees.
• Inspired by these activists I volunteered time in
  Dharamsala where I taught English and shared with
  refugees and ex-prisoners from Tibet.
  
• I attempted to link two of the refugees to our
  international office here and wrote to Rotary
  Clubs to establish an education exchange- no go.

7
Thailand and Cambodia

• It is interesting to reflect on this adventure
  after the Tsunami devastation.
  
• If we are to offer courses in teaching ESL Chang
  Mai would be a wonderful site for students to
  have a centre- Bangkok is interesting- and
  heartless.
• They have nothing in Cambodia- everywhere there
  are people without limbs.
  
• We had massages done by the visually impaired- an
  incentive that gives the blind opportunities to
  make an existence.
  
• Along the beaches to the south there are many
  boat people, they are reminders from the early
  Post-Vietnam days, they are the poorest of the
  poor.
• I didnt volunteer here but there are many
  opportunities, many disabled people due to the
  prevalence of land mines, PTSD, poverty and the
  presence of eager multinationals licking at the
  one resource- Angkor Watt- Cambodia has to offer
  the world. No comment.

8
Nepal and Tibet

• Nepal is so poor- all of South East Asia is poor
  but Nepal is being exploited by powerful nations
  due to its geopolitical location. I fear that the
  Maoists (young boys with guns) will get their
  teeth in more deeply as armaments are being
  traded with the Nepalese government.
• All of Nepal is stunning, the Annapurna Range I
  will go back to hike. I had the opportunity
  during the off season to hike for three weeks up
  to Everest Base Camp- it is breathtaking.
• Could proposals be put in place for a one year
  post grad course in service work that would
  support cultural experiences for specific
  graduates to engage in exchange trips that would
  include volunteering in one of the Sherpa schools
  and then go on to hike to Base Camp?
• Tibet- I interviewed a young waitress and then
  found myself followed daily by the Chinese
  police. Lhasa is rich but so poor for the street
  youth. The rest of Tibet is so poor,
  discrimination is commonplace, yet it is
  breathtaking and there are volunteer positions
  here to work with children but it would be
  grueling work. Jan 22 2005, our PM just signed an
  agreement for Canadian tour operators to link
  with China- hmm...

9
Brunei

• So many opportunities exist in funny little
  Brunei nestled on Borneo. A few Ontario colleges
  already offer exchange programs and education in
  nursing, medical technology and the Canadian
  leaders enjoy life here.
• Like Costa Rica, it is a living tropical
  rainforest, ribbons of waterways wind through the
  jungle an environmental hot spot.
  
• It is a wealthy spot, the people seem unhappy in
  many ways, possibly due to the shock of moving
  from jungle to urban life in such short shrift.
  
• For a country operating with such severe
  sanctions, (the death penalty exists), I was
  astounded by the number of illegal exchanges that
  openly exist including alcohol, software pirating
  and other interesting illicit encounters.
• FYI I have contact numbers for personnel in
  Bruneis Canadian Embassy.
  

10
New Zealand

• I wrote the sabbatical report in New Zealand.
  They are also involved in PLAR although it is not
  as readily available and accessible as in the
  UK.
• One identifiable link/opportunity for the our
  college is to develop aboriginal programming for
  our own First Nations peoples with a long term
  vision to connect with their aboriginal Maori
  population group in a trans-cultural project.
  This is especially critical now and over the next
  fifteen years since not only the Polynesian
  immigrants but also Micronesian (Tuvalu is
  noteworthy) environmental refugees are resettling
  in Auckland since global warming has threatened
  their island nations and the tsunami is forcing
  them to rebuild or relocate.

11
Saltspring and Vancouver

• I recommend returning from a venture like this
  one slowly. I was still open at this time I
  collected all my hopes and dreams, reflected and
  rewrote an ethnography in story format.
• I recommend this sabbatical learning to those in
  the social science disciplines I am wiser
  teacher having these experiences from which to
  draw. I question how I could have taught
  insightfully prior to this journey yes theory is
  profound yet observing unanimous lives humbled
  me.
• I am so thankful for the opportunity to have
  traveled, without the colleges assistance it
  would have been perhaps unattainable to
  accomplish this in one year.
• From a students perspective, both my kids have
  also traveled around the world and have expressed
  that travel of this nature is the single most
  influence on them.

12
Fanshawe

• How to live the change? With the aid of Wendy
  Curtis, Sheila Chick, Ruth Rodgers and Whitney
  Hoth who reviewed the International Service Work
  Course proposal, it will begin this September.
• Further, I believe that this type of course could
  develop into a Post Grad Interdisciplinary
  Program.
  
• Concluding with PLAR applications, I would
  encourage other professional development leaves
  be granted that honour this type of intimate and
  empirical learning.
• I understand that the value of this cultural
  exchange cannot be contained within a post grade
  format I would recommend in the future cultural
  experiences be linked to further studies with
  more rigor and formal evaluation.
• Would mentors from our retirees foster and link
  with a faculty member to critically deconstruct
  their learning?
  
• Could Fanshawe be a leader in supporting moving
  experiential language into academic language in
  order that PLAR accreditation could occur?
  
• Thank you all for your patience and time