Mantle of the Expert - when you hear that engine drone “Children are young, but they’re not naive. And they’re honest. They’re not going to keep awake if the story is boring. When they get excited you can see it in their eyes.” Chinua Achebe It’s exciting because anything can happen.”Ella (7)

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.” Albert Einstein Within our Mantle work I saw my children sharing their different perceptions and understandings with ever increasing freedom and skill whilst also formulating new perceptions and understandings as the work evolved and developed. They were so empowered by the way their own ideas and imagination could shape the work from day to day. The more responsibility they felt, the more involved and motivated they became.

“It’s like real life – there’s big trouble! We can learn about solving problems.” Joshua (7) It’s all about real issues– children need to feel that school is part of a wider community and that they are equipping themselves with relevant skills, attitudes and values to live and work in that community. They relished all the ‘big problems’ we had to solve on the way because they were genuinely important. Within Mantle of the Expert it is a joy to see the children acting with such engagement and motivation because it provides such a purposeful environment for learning.

‘It’s fascinating. You get to learn about things much more. You’re learning things while you’re having big adventures.’ Mo (7) I was so proud to see my class beginning to work together as a team, making shared decisions, respecting each others’ positions and solving problems with true collaboration. I watched a child who has difficulties fitting into ‘conventional’ learning, come alive with thinking, talking and imagining – he seemed to have found a big, joyous space where he could be himself. He came up to me at the end of one Mantle session and said, with a great grin on his face, “all our little ideas have turned into one big, fantastic idea!” He was so right!

“It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.” Roy Disney I was so impressed at the depth of the children’s thinking when confronted with moral and ethical dilemmas and also at the courage and conviction with which they tackled some weighty issues. They were applying their knowledge and understanding to real issues and challenges and treated these with the utmost seriousness, coming up with the most amazing and astute ideas and solutions. I felt that they were gaining real skills to cope with the real world and all its real problems. Many of their ideas would hold up well in an adult world that was listening properly!!

“Creativity is a great motivator because it make people interested in what they are doing. Creativity gives hope that there can be a worthwhile idea. Creativity gives the possibility of some sort of achievement to everyone. Creativity makes life more fun and more interesting.” Edward de Bono Talking with my class became like a real conversation between friends, chatting naturally, not at all like the conventional teacher/child situation. Within the Mantle work the children’s ideas are allowed to flourish because we are really listening to them and considering them and not bending them to fit in with our own pre- conceptions of what the children should be learning. They know their ideas will be valued and used and treated with the utmost seriousness so they become more and more brave. During our Mantle work I have learned so much about the children in my class – for every one of my ideas they have100 better ones!

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” WB Yeats There was this great moment when I realised that my class was right there with me and I was with them and we were together on an amazing journey – I was suddenly awakened to huge possibilities of this work and knew it was the right way to go. There’s no turning back!!

Mantle of the Expert When you hear that engine drone.