Open Learning Ireland are a group dedicated to creating an open education centre in Dublin city, where anyone can come to pursue a course of self directed study, for free.
We’re running a week long learning festival next week in Dublin city centre, called ‘Learn Something; Share Something; Do Something’. The festival includes workshops in drama, script writing short films with CeltX, making radio programmes in Ireland and writing for (radio and television) sitcoms.
We believe, as Isaac Asimov once said, ‘Anyone can learn anything that takes their fancy’.
By encouraging people to teach things they love, to an audience of interested participants, we want to break down the walls between learning and teaching. We want to remove the stigma attached to lifelong learning (all too often ghettoised into ‘remedial’ education), and hence all our activities are open to anyone, regardless of age or means.
This doesn’t mean that all activities are aimed at beginners. Our philosophy is that everyone has a variety of levels of competency (depending on the subject their learning, and the medium they’re learning through) – including adults, teens and children. Sorting people into groups based on global assessments of ability conceals this variation, and becomes a self fulfilling prophecy where we perform to the level of what’s expected, rather than our potential.
Next week’s festival is a trial run for what an open access, volunteer run educational institution could look like. We’re serving up a huge variety of free workshops and classes, all facilitated by enthusiasts.The aim is to offer enough variety and opportunity, that everyone will find something they’re keen to take part in.
There’s a notion in times of recession, in countries riven by emigration and youth unemployment, that the solution is to struggle harder, to tighten belts, to compete ever more fiercely. But what if the answer is not more competition in education, more social stratification by ‘meritocratic’ ability, but rather more opportunity for everyone. The chance to grow and to become more social, to turn away from the distractions of the screen, and towards one another. To learn something; to share something; to do something.
Our workshops offer a huge range of subject areas – we have hands-on hardware hacking, circuit bending, aerobics, kenpo karate, fine art and dozens of other activities. For writers Dr Deveril from UCD’s school of Education will be teaching a hands on introduction to script writing with CeltX (on Wednesday 27th, 4.30PM), covering action, dialogue, sluglines, character intros, scenes and more. I’ll be teaching a workshop in scriptwriting for sitcoms (Wednesday 27th, 2.30PM), tapping into my experiences with standup comedy and radio production, and focusing on the tools, rules, conventions and types of sitcom. I’ll also be running a workshop on Making Radio in Ireland (Friday 1st at 4.00PM), which will cover everything from equipment and script formats to the Sound and Vision funding scheme. Finally, Romina Cruanas from Exchange Dublin will be running a drama workshop (1.30PM, Friday 1st March), all levels of experience welcome.
The festival runs Monday 25th Feb – Friday 2nd March, in Seomra Spraoi, near Mountjoy Square, Dublin. A map to the venue and full details here –
or follow Open Learning on twitter @oli_dublin
(c) Gareth Stack
Gareth Stack is a writer, radio producer, and trainee psychotherapist. You can find his work here – http://garethstack.com
