Launching HedgeSchool - a virtual home school for these times.

 
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“Back in the 1700s Irish education was outlawed under Penal Laws and the process of learning took to the land. Hedge schools gathered wherever people could find shelter. Situated along hedgerows, in fields, by rivers and under the stars, the non-conformists of the day gathered to gain knowledge. At these edges, the culture was kept alive, the language was preserved and stories, traditions and customs passed from generation to generation. We feel called to evolve the Hedge school tradition to help us find shelter and navigate our shared future in these extraordinary times.”

The Trailblazery

Dear Friends

We have been wondering how to show up and best serve all of our communities as this lockdown continues.

We created The Trailblazery at a time of crisis as a response to a need for deeper human connection and belonging in our society. We set out to creatively animate the spirit of the times we live in through live events, immersive learning experiences, creative mentorship programmes, online training programmes and cross-disciplinary research projects that tackle wicked problem solving. Right now our mission seems more important than ever so while we are apart we are inspired to find ways that bring us together.

Many of us want to ‘go back to normal’ but what part of normal do we really want to go back to? We have entered a liminal space where anything is possible. This is a crucible moment - an opportunity to pause, listen and to imagine our world anew. Author Arundhati Roy reminds us that this pandemic is a portal between where we are coming from and where we are going.

“We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fight for it.”.

Which will we choose?

We believe it is time to reinstate the hedgerow educational concept so that we can gather together to find shelter and make sense of this crucible moment. We know that synergy happens when people come together to share their inner worlds, insights and aha moments. That’s why we are launching Hedge School - a virtual home school for people to share and generate ideas, resources, creative practices, meaning making and build community.

HedgeSchool

HedgeSchool is a place where we can ask big questions that inspire us to nudge our human capacity forward. This is an opportunity to develop our innate potentiality and tap into different ways of knowing. This collective learning experience weaves human connection with conversation, reflection, storytelling and music to help us makes sense of this moment in time.

We are gathering a host of inspirational trailblazers from all walks of life to be our guides. They will steward us through a wide range of territories that speak to this collective moment. We will explore the intersection of community, creativity, crisis, culture, ecology, environment, education, social healing, spirituality and systems thinking.

We will gather for 6 fireside sessions across a 2 week period on zoom starting on Monday April 20th. Our curricula will explore new ways of being and doing, living and working as individuals, as families, as nations and as world citizens living right now.

Our HedgeSchool faculty will share their gifts and guide us through a series of online fireside chats that will feature moments of inspiration, creative imagination, encouragement and resilience to shape our shared future. We have invited a host of torchbearers with bright minds and courageous hearts to share their experience and insights with us.

Meet Your Guides

⤕ Mark Gonzalez | Futurist. Connector. Father & Author of ‘In Times of Terror, Wage Beauty’

⤕ Maria Scordialos | Greek Activist. Systems Theorist. Pattern Recogniser

⤕ Andri Snær Magnason | Icelander ,Activist. Film Maker & Author of ‘ A Self-help manual for a frightened Nation’

⤕ Senator Lynn Ruane | Educational Activist. Independent Politician, Mother & Author of ‘People like Me’

⤕ Joe Caslin | Street Artist. Illustrator. Teacher. Activist

⤕ Diarmuid Lyng | Teacher, Hurler, ReWilder.

⤕ Patrick O'Laoghaire| Artist. Musician . I Have a Tribe.

Investment

We believe that HedgeSchool should be available for people from all walks of life especially in the current climate so we have created a range of sliding scale payment options and scholarships for anyone who needs support. Advance booking is recommended, as spaces will be limited. We appreciate your support in these times so please pay what ever feels appropriate to your circumstances. Thank you for walking this path with us.

We have been looking back over our archive of creative projects like the ireland: iceland project, Rites of Passage, We Need to Talk about Ireland and Solstice and decided to share some of these collections with you to continue to resource you in these uncertain times.

 
 

This a snapshot of Rites of Passage, a large-scale gathering curated and produced by The Trailblazery as part of Dublin Fringe Festival 2013. The entire cycle took place across three weekends in September and involved over 50 participants and performers from Ireland, Iceland, Greece, Canada, The US, Britain, Bosnia and Herzegovina. We also designed and produced a series of Hedge Schools and an educational music project involving a bespoke choir with 101 children from St. Brigid's School in Killester featuring Nina Hynes and our very own contemporary music ensemble. Our intention for Rites of Passage was to excavate the collective moments that have shaped our social, political, cultural and spiritual evolution in Ireland and beyond. The vision of the project was to evoke a new cultural storyline about our social, political, cultural and spiritual evolution on this island and beyond, and aims to re-imagine the kind of Ireland we want to fully participate in.

It feels appropriate to share this as we navigate this collective Rite of Passage together

Blessings to you all.

We look forward to blazing bright trails with you in the near future.

Stay safe

until soon

Kathy xo

 
 
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