As a child, I attended a small parent run community school in Victoria, Australia. Mornington Peninsula Community School was a place of difference; born of families and educators who wanted to challenge norms and create an educational environment that was individualised and holistic. In this unique environment, I was encouraged to believe that I could take on the world.
Inspired by these early experiences, I became an educator. Working in primary and early childhood education in Australia and around the world, I aimed to give children the kind of schooling I had experienced. I worked with Montessori education, inquiry learning and the Reggio Emilia approach, to name a few. In each setting, I engaged my curiosity - learned about people and cultures, different approaches to learning and the importance of questioning beliefs and assumptions.
In recent years, my curiosity has led to new learnings through formal research, and I now work as a lecturer and researcher. Both my teaching and research focus on the exploration and development of sustainable pedagogical practices that support diversity and social justice, and enable happy, engaged and thriving individuals and communities.
loves
people, learning, sunshine, conversation, smiles, adventure, hugs, trees, surfing, red wine and cheese, beer and nachos, random moments of kindness and joy
interests
risk-taking, play, creativity, democratic education, pedagogy, being and learning outdoors, unschooling, public speaking
kudos
BTeach (Primary), Certificate of Montessori Education (6-9), GradDip Early Childhood Teaching, GradDip Orff Music, MEd (Teaching), PhD (Early Childhood Education)
Mandy Cooke
learner. educator. researcher. wonderer. creator.
occasional disruptor.
Over the years, I have mused about what my version of a school might look like. I have drawn inspiration from my own schooling and teaching experiences, and from research about alternative and democratic schools, nature pedagogy and bush kinder.
Friends, colleagues and parents of children I have taught have often asked, 'So when is the mandy school happening?’. the mandy school has become such a given, that I mentioned it in a job interview once (needless to say, I did not get the job!). An actual school for children has never come to fruition, but through the encouragement of friends and colleagues, the mandy school now comes to life in this virtual form.
the mandy school is a place for anyone interested in education. It is a place for me to share stories, ideas, musings and research related to formal education and the education that is life. Through sharing, I hope to provoke thinking, initiate and engage in conversation, inspire creation and transformation, and encourage us all to be more thoughtful and purposeful than we were yesterday. Drawing on the words of Stephen Kemmis (2014) and colleagues, I hope that the mandy school might help us all to "live well in a world worth living in."
