Shoestring Initiative: Ragged University – The Means to Organise Education Beyond Money

This presentation was given to the Shoestring Initiative on ‘Ragged University – The Means to Organise Education Beyond Money’ by Alex Dunedin. The Shoestring Initiative is a grassroots initiative to build community and support among first-generation students, staff, and faculty who identify as coming from poverty and/or living in poverty or working class backgrounds.  As members of the University of Victoria community from poverty or working class origins ourselves, we recognize that our backgrounds come with shared strengths and experiences, as well as unique challenges that continue to influence our work and life at the University of Victoria in Canada.
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Theorising Autopedagogy; Relating Education to Human Rights

This is a collection of notes on the idea of autopedagogy – the self directed innate behaviour of garnering means with which to learn in structured ways.  This speaks to ideas of a living curriculum and the creation of curricula through self orienteered gleaning, foraging, collating, creation and curation of activities. All the writings and the website of Ragged University act as an open copy book of the evolving and emerging ideas of education and models of learning available to everyone. Read more…

On the Autism and Vaccine Debate Piece by Maurice Frank

This was a collision between 2 meanings of autism. The word’s meaning has broadened and shifted balance since able autism, asperger’s, has become recognised, and as another level of a condition whose severe versions had been recognised sooner. While more severe autism is a clearly visible condition, social deficits autism in folks of average ability had more struggle to be recognised, against interpreting as just part of character or of mental health. Read more…

Ragged University As An Agnostic, Open, Space For Discussion

Ragged University is not about an organisation presiding over who gets to share or discuss ideas but much more a social enquiry into our means of learning; it is socially and intellectually agnostic. The notion that as an organised practice ‘Ragged University events’ are setting up people as authorities on subjects is a misapprehension of what is happening – events are situations where people have come together to share what they have invested their time in. Read more…