Members' Salon Evening Conference Style!

Last Thursday (21st October) was the first time we tried out 'the conference' format at a salon evening. After a brief consideration of the links between a pedagogy based on conversation ( which is what wwp is developing together) and the format of the conference through history, we got underway. The theme of the conference was girl's and women's education and our call for papers resulted in 4 presentations - each lasting 10 minutes and then followed by 10 minutes of questions. Our line-up was as follows....

1. Sue Meyer: 10 years on, what has happened to same-sex education at James Lyng High School?
   
2. Bernice Lamb Senechal: The importance of girl's education in the developing world
   
3. Linnet Fawcett: Theoretical struggles in shaping wwp's women-driven pedagogy
4. Rona Brodie: What have we learned from women who have been part of the wwp experience?

The papers were inspiring, informative and thought-provoking. Questions to emerge from the conference included:

• What does a same-sex curriculum look like within a co-educational school, and who does it benefit?
• Are the UN Millennium Development Goals that target girl's and women's education being met? And how are exciting initiatives like Women For Women International impacting both the lives of girls and women and the larger community?
  
• Do women, as Carol Gilligan has suggested, really speak in "a different voice"? And, as Gloria Steinem has asserted, does this voice grow more radical with age?
• What does a school for women look like that embodies an ethic of shared passions, generosity, and receptive inspiration?

The general opinion of those attending this evening was that the conference format was a great way to exchange ideas and learn something new. What is emerging from these salon evenings is a philosophy club where members are stepping forward to help the rest of us learn, and where we are building a shared vocabulary and experience to draw upon when 'talking philosophy'. Who knew that doing philosophy could be such fun! Exuberant thanks go out to Sue and Bernice for their highly educational and eloquent presentations and to everyone else, thank you for posing such great questions and giving your experiences so generously. It truly was an evening that exemplified koinonia - that is, a spirit of sharing that helps build strong and supportive communities.

The next salon evening is our Holiday Party on Thursday the 16th of December. The wwp choir and band will be performing and there will be a small vernissage of paintings from the painting autumn colours weekend (members and guests who attended this weekend please bring your paintings along with you!).

The theme of the evening is participation...to that end everyone is asked to bring along a 6 inch square of fabric. The square can be a piece of material with some significance to you or you can design your own square. The point of the exercise is to participate in making a table runner for the Nurtury. As at last year's holiday party there will be carol singing led by Kathy McKnight and, if you've been particularly radical this year, perhaps even a return visit to Ms Santa's Grotto!