Thinking, Searching, Figuring it Out

Mountain village in the Peloponnese, festive from the Apokries celebration.

Ioannina lake view after we emerged from Perama Cave

Our Greek adventure took us west to Patras last week. My host institution is the University of Patras and my advisor, Dr. Arvanitis, set up several school visits in the area. We took advantage of the opportunity to explore Western Greece and more of the Peloponnese. The first day of our adventure took us to Ioannina and Perama in the mountains and then to the coast. We marveled at the majesty of the Pindus Mountains to the north. Our second road trip day revealed a wealth of Greek geography from the beautiful seaside town of Parga to the island Lefkada. Then we drove up and over mountains of the northern Peloponnese. The road was twisty and winding and seemed to be never ending, but we made it to our destination - a tiny mountain village - despite goats, falling rocks, and snow.

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There were frustrating moments and points at which I felt like giving up. But I persevered and I'm quite proud of myself for navigating, literally, the many ups and downs. The change of scenery gave me a new perspective and I'm ready to reflect and write.

I've been approaching my research from the perspective of an observer looking for patterns and evidence but I've shifted to a new phase - creation. I've been inspired by the book Make to Know by Lorne Buchman. He writes that context is an essential part of making to know. “The process is not only a matter of making work; the environment of that making has to be right. It needs to be challenging and fresh. ‘When you’re exploring something new you are forced to problem solve and navigate. Everything is new and there are many different paths, different contexts. You might take the wrong path-or the right one. It’s a risk but involves thinking, searching, and figuring it out. [says illustrator Esther Pearl Watson.]'"
I've collected evidence from between 20-30 schools. My evidence includes interview and observational notes and hundreds of photographs. I've tried to share a curated collection of photos from each school on Instagram as a way of capturing my initial experience. I've also tried to reflect using Twitter. Both social media formats force me to be concise. Now I'll build those reflections into school profiles. 
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