Cronon, Mathews, and Svenning (2014) Memory, History, Place is a fascinating panel discussion for those interested in education and society as well as history, historiography, landscape, storytelling and imagination.

Memory, History, Place: Panel Discussion with William Cronon, Andrew Mathews, and Jens-Christian Svenning, 5/9/14 from AURA on Vimeo.

The conception of narrative in landscapes and specifically how those narratives shape the landscape of education and society is on my mind constantly. Cronon’s juxtaposition of speculative imagination and the dangers of being “trapped in a narrative” Roughly Min 39-43 are important. It is time for both the long history of education to be disseminated more widely in the US and the emergent field of design fiction in education to proliferate.  We must at once “see” our field over a wider arc and imagine our field anew to break through our narrative trap in education.

With ideation, research, writing, design, prototyping and deliberation in our communities we would be wise to listen to Cronon’s remarks in the panel. He is speaking of the Middle Grounds, and the importance of “gestures” towards broader communities. How we suspend disbelief through our new designs for education and associate with the broad history and future of educational landscapes will be the arbiter of the change we need.