Nanny of The Maroons When we think about the people who fought for freedom and justice, we often remember well-known figures like Harriet Tubman or Nelson Mandela. But there is one incredible woman from Jamaica whose courage and determination helped shape the path to freedom for many people—her name was Nanny of the Maroons also known as Queen Nanny and affectionately as Grandy Nanny. You might wonder, who was Nanny of the Maroons, and how did she contribute to the end of slavery? Let’s take a journey into history to learn about this amazing woman and how her actions impacted the lives of many. Who Was Nanny of the Maroons? Not much has been documented/uncovered about Nanny's pre-slavery origins. Nevertheless, what is known and documented is that Nanny of the Maroons was a strong and fearless leader who lived in Jamaica in the 17th and 18th centuries. According to oral history, she was born in West Africa (present day Ghana) amongst the Asante people, but was captured and sold into...
“Every country on earth at the moment is reforming public education.”
– Sir Ken Robinson
The key point coming from Ken Robinson’s TED talk is that education should always be relevant to the reality of its learners. It was intriguing to me that much of our modern education system was birthed in the Enlightenment Era and as a response to the Industrial Revolution. It was also interesting to note that even though we have been through other massive eras of social transformation, such as the World Wide Web and Globalization, that the system has not flexed much to accommodate all the changes that have occurred in learning.
As a life long learner, I am convinced that true learning is self directed and continuous. It is stimulation that entices people to thirst for and seek out knowledge. That causes people to dialogue and collaborate around issues they are passionate about and thereby acquire skills to contribute meaningfully to society and enact change. In essence it’s divergent, experiential and practical not scripted, theory dominant and impractical. When I think of the work that I get paid to do these days, I can honestly say that much of that knowledge was not learned, by rote, in the classroom. A lot of my learning occurred through working and collaborating with others around things that fascinated me; around things I could explore and experiment with in my own personal time and at my own pace.
Parting words…
Don’t just take my word for it…I highly recommend watching this video because if nothing else it may challenge the way you have been taught view education and the human capacity.
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