Our school runs a program – A Wider World View – that encourages students and staff to participate in exchanges and homestays. Currently 17 students and 3 teachers are enjoying Italy, particularly Perugia, in Umbria for a two week Roman holiday. Umbria, I am embarrassed to say, is not a region in Italy that I […]
Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living. Miriam Beard Everywhere I go I find a poet has been there before me. Sigmund Freud If travel broadens the mind of an adult it must do something even more […]
It was a wonderful autumn day, cold and bright; as we drove inland from Bergen in the morning, frozen mist was lying over the fjord. The trees on the mountainsides were displaying red and yellow leaves, the fjord below was like a millpond, the waterfalls immense and white. Karl Ove Knausgaard We are […]
It rained incessantly and the wind was fierce but our time in Iceland was rewarding. The light, the landscape, the relaxed ambience and the people were all worth a journey to what is probably the furthest point one can travel from our home in Kiama. It felt well ‘North of the Wall’. There is a […]
“This was a townscape raised in the teeth of cold winds from the east; a city of winding cobbled streets and haughty pillars; a city of dark nights and candlelight, and intellect.” Alexander McCall Smith, The Sunday Philosophy Club “Edinburgh is alive with words.” Sara Sheridan “Climate change argument is absolute crap.” Tony Abbott “Jesus […]
Our exchange to Seowon High School, our sister school in The Republic of Korea, has been an absolutely superb, exciting and positive experience for the students, staff and parents who made the journey during the school holidays. For the last five years our school’s Wider World View @DHS program has encouraged students and staff to […]
A comment – as I negotiated customs at Sydney Airport with a large party of students on their way to visit our sister school in Korea – keeps swirling round in my mind. The official scanning bags engaged me in small-talk asking where we were headed. When I explained our excursion was to Korea to […]
Walking, ideally, is a state in which the mind, the body, and the world are aligned, as though they were three characters finally in conversation together, three notes suddenly making a chord. Walking allows us to be in our bodies and in the world without being made busy by them. It leaves us free to […]
Trey Ratcliff spoke so glowingly about the Nikon 14-24mm wide-angle lens that I lusted after it for two years before managing to buy one for my Nikon D700. The lens is oddly shaped, heavy and one does feel a little nervous about transporting it while travelling. Nevertheless, it is a beautiful lens, especially for landscape photography. […]
My walk through Cumbria, in England, has been everything I hoped and the weather smiled benevolently for the whole journey. Unbelievably, my goretex remained in the pack for the whole 8 days as the temperatures soared and the country experienced a heatwave (by British standards). Mostly the walk provided reflective time alone, as well as extended exercise […]
“What must be admitted, very painfully, is that this was a disaster made in Japan…Its fundamental causes are to be found in the ingrained conventions of Japanese culture: our reflexive obedience, our reluctance to question authority, our devotion to ‘sticking to the program,’ our groupism, our insularity.” Source I studied […]
It seems to me, albeit very late at night and when a little weary, that if your profession, hobbies and passions involve reading, literature, history, walking, nature, photography and the politics of existence, travel is the perfect companion and a kind of utopian space for a family to spend time outside of themselves and their […]
Japan Please indulge my musings about our travels for a few posts during January. My family has arrived for three weeks in wintry Japan during our summer holidays. We are currently exploring Tokyo and surrounds with the assistance of a JR Pass and some very generous Japanese volunteers. Already, after less than a week in the metropolis we […]
One of the great joys of fatherhood is learning with your children, especially while travelling. We have more time to hangout, walk and talk when the usual routines are put aside for exploration of unfamiliar places. Everything is somehow new and the light different, more subtle. It is undeniably true that Time is needed for […]
Carsten’s blog post led me to write today. cc licensed ( BY NC SD ) flickr photo shared by attila acs In the last few months, on returning from Denmark, I have often tried to articulate what are the similarities and differences between our nations. The events and coverage of Australia Day 2012 encapsulate […]
“…had a long argument with Hurley who wants to be able to make ‘composite’ pictures for his exhibition” * CEW Bean Introduction I love the story of Frank Hurley (1885-1962). He left school at 12 and escaped the drudgery of a working class life at the turn of the century through a passion for photography […]
My friend and colleague, Lynette Lanham, is celebrating a significant birthday early next year by asking her friends and colleagues to support the construction of a school in Cambodia. What a wonderful idea! Lynette travelled to Cambodia last year and was entranced by the beauty of the country while becoming increasingly aware of the ongoing […]
Google Translate is the most essential tool in my daily existence at the moment, on exchange in Denmark, at Viborg Katedralskole. Most Danes speak English and it is completely possible for me to function at the school, without speaking or understanding the language, in most contexts. However, the Danish documents I want to read would […]
The Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie is the biggest science museum in Europe, with the admirable goal, according to Wikipedia, of spreading ‘scientific and technical knowledge among the public, particularly for youth, and for creating public interest in science, research, and industry’. To be honest, it was my least favourite place in Paris but […]
“Travelling is just like homeschooling but way better…” says Lucy – and I tend to agree. Not having the chance to travel overseas until was 25, I really value this opportunity and what it represents for my family on a number levels. Together time, learning, new experiences and just opening up horizons – for all of […]
Last year I wrote a unit of work, after my travels in Shanghai, that I would like to share with you. It is written for NSW syllabuses but it may be of some interest to any teacher interested in travel, Asia, teaching visual literacy, social media or organising a student trip overseas. Here’s the PDF […]
Anyone who read my blog in 2010 would know how a trip to Shanghai opened my eyes to what we have all been reading about over the last few years, the rise of China. The 2009 PISA results and commentaries seemed to quantify the obvious investment, vision and an absolute respect for the importance of education that I […]
Mrs Ding, a community leader, invited our group to visit Cao Yang neighourhood for a day last week. This suburb is about 20km NW of downtown Shanghai and was established in the early 1950s. There are about 95 000 residents and they are served by a dozen primary and high schools, as well as a technical institute, hospital and a […]
Shanghai has exceeded, my already very high expectations, over the last week – it is a great city and, as you can see from the featured photo of Nanjing Road, very paradoxical! I expected to update my blog daily but quite frankly, have been having too much fun and very little time on my laptop, […]