To make most of the 'unfrozen moment' we are living through, we will need to attend to the conditions that make real change possible, says Holly Donagh.
As I prepare to leave A New Direction, I find it hard to believe I will have been in the organisation for nearly ten years. In all of that time there have been political crises, moments of deep concern (if not despair) regarding the place of the arts in schools, as well as beautiful examples of innovation and change. But nothing has come close to the seismic impact of COVID-19, so I thought I would write my last blog for A New Direction with a few reflections on the topic of the day (century?)
I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of the ‘unfrozen moment’. This notion, often used in political theory, means a context when the normal rules are suspended (usually a political crises) and therefore those rules can be re-written once normal business resumes. Never waste a crisis. And, well, crises don’t get much bigger than the one we are living through right now, particularly at the intersection A New Direction inhabits of young people, careers, education, the civic realm, creativity, and arts and culture.
In his current RSA podcast series, Bridges to the Future, Matthew Taylor talks about the difference between the aspiration for big change in moments of great crisis and the reality of this change occurring. This is a useful caution about optimism bias. I for one feel overloaded by predictions for the future which read suspiciously like wishful thinking... Keep reading on A New Direction
As I prepare to leave A New Direction, I find it hard to believe I will have been in the organisation for nearly ten years. In all of that time there have been political crises, moments of deep concern (if not despair) regarding the place of the arts in schools, as well as beautiful examples of innovation and change. But nothing has come close to the seismic impact of COVID-19, so I thought I would write my last blog for A New Direction with a few reflections on the topic of the day (century?)
I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of the ‘unfrozen moment’. This notion, often used in political theory, means a context when the normal rules are suspended (usually a political crises) and therefore those rules can be re-written once normal business resumes. Never waste a crisis. And, well, crises don’t get much bigger than the one we are living through right now, particularly at the intersection A New Direction inhabits of young people, careers, education, the civic realm, creativity, and arts and culture.
In his current RSA podcast series, Bridges to the Future, Matthew Taylor talks about the difference between the aspiration for big change in moments of great crisis and the reality of this change occurring. This is a useful caution about optimism bias. I for one feel overloaded by predictions for the future which read suspiciously like wishful thinking... Keep reading on A New Direction