Gattegno reading group
Laurence Howells
Dear All
See the message below from David Lawrence who is starting a reading group. If you are interested, please contact him direct. Sorry, I didn't post this earlier ... I'm a bit busy at the moment.
His email is:
Laurence
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Dear all,
Thank you for expressing interest in being part of a Gattegno reading group. I would firstly like to thank Piers Messum for giving his blessing for me to proceed with this - I greatly enjoyed attending his in-person group and I hope that similar rewards will be provided by this new group.
I am aware that initial invites were delivered during summer holiday time and that there may be others who are interested in being on this list but have not yet had the chance to get in touch. If you know of anyone else who may be interested but did not receive an initial invite, please do feel free to pass on my e-mail details and initial message. There are, however, enough people receiving this message for us to begin making initial arrangements and decisions.
Nothing below is currently set in stone (...except the ‘How’...) so if you have anything you would like to change please just let me know and I am happy to open a discussion. Equally if I have forgotten anything, please let me know!
How
With apologies if you are evangelical for a different conferencing service, but we will be using Microsoft Teams. More details will be sent once we have organised a date(s) for an initial meeting.
When
My initial proposal is that this group will convene on a Saturday, and that meetings last for circa 2 hours. I feel a shorter time will not be substantial enough given how often we are likely to meet, but if there is a desire for these meetings to be longer I personally am open to that. I also propose that there are six meetings a year, based around England’s school half terms, but we can discuss how realistic that is as well as everyone’s wishes at the end of our first meeting.
Based upon numbers and also people’s locations, there may be a need for there to be two separate groups; if that is the case, I can host both. To accommodate different time zones and circumstances, I am going to propose two potential start times: 10am UK/9am UTC and 3pm UK/2pm UTC. Feedback and numbers will guide this.
What
I initially decided to pursue launching this group out of a desire to discuss a re-read of What We Owe Children with others, and so that is my preference for the book to be read; however, I am open to alternatives and there will be the opportunity to feedback if anyone has a strong preference for a different book. A decision can be reached before the first meeting.
I very much prefer reading physical copies of books, but if we read What We Owe Children and you feel similarly but do not already have a copy, I believe it will need to be purchased second hand as it does not appear Educational Solutions is currently selling a copy. However, this text can be read for free online and I can also provide a pdf. Links and file will follow. If another book is selected I am reasonably certain I can do similar.
If two groups are formed, the groups can focus on the same book or different ones.
Decisions
I am firstly going to give everyone the chance to respond to this e-mail should they so wish, as it may result in some questions or points for discussion that need to be addressed. After this, my current plan is to e-mail again on Sunday with a link to a google form giving the opportunity to provide input on:
-which start time you could attend,
-if there are two groups whether you would prefer to be part of just one or possibly both,
-which potential dates you could attend for the first meeting, and
-the book to be read.
Hopefully this has covered everything needed at this stage, but if not please let me know.
I look forward to (hopefully!) discussing Gattegno’s writings with you all.
Best wishes,
David”
If this is still of interest, please let me know and I’ll add you to the mailing list.
Best wishes,
David