Exploring children's services and education workshop

There are few more important jobs than looking after our babies and children. Long daycare and early education have been in the media a lot lately. We think it's time to stop and listen.

Can systems awareness and thinking be applied to understanding care and education sector models (from Early Years to Tertiary) in the current times of uncertainty?

We invite you to join us in a workshop over 2 days in Canberra. Through deep listening we hope to stop focusing on spot fires. We will draw on a plurality of approaches including Ears of the Heart, Warm Data, Theory U and Cybernetic Leadership.

Hosted by practitioners from Ears of the Heart and the ANU School of Cybernetics

On Wednesday evening (15 October) we intend to arrange an evening of food, music, stories and conversation with Kankawa Nagarra (see below). More details to come.

Thursday 16 October

Session 1: 9:30am-12:30pm

Warm Data lab: We'll connect to stories in the sector to explore what we are noticing and tending.

--lunch--

Session 2: 2:30-5:00pm

Ears of the Heart: We'll listen deeply with our ears on our heads and then on our hearts to be sure we've really heard what the system needs and what children need.

Friday 17 October

Session 3: 9:30am-1:00pm

Leading change: We'll gather our collectively enriched knowledge to design what comes next.

...

More information to help decide if this is for you...

We, perhaps like you, have been asking lots of painful questions about what is going on. We want to bring those questions, but also ask others that open our hearts and minds, like "what are we noticing?", "what is essential?", "what is being asked of us in this moment?"

This workshop is the opportunity to think about everything all at once and hold the tensions. To listen deeply, to approach with care and love, and to untangle some knots. The discussion will be open and fluid. There will be the invitation to say goodbye at the end, or to carry on to whatever might come next. The decision will be yours.

Who we are...

Kankawa Nagarra is a Goonyandi, Walmatjarri and Bunuba Elder and an award-winning musical artist and Indigenous Systems Awareness Practitioner. She founded the Ears of the Heart framework in 2021 after meeting Heather, in the context of Whole Systems Change in Education, Health and Community Wellness in the Kimberley.

Heather Lawrence is a co-founder of the Ears of the Heart Ecosystems Awareness Approach, with Kankawa. She started her career in early childhood education, went on to join the education faculty at the University of Melbourne, and has since trained in strategic foresight, Warm Data, and a range of other systems awareness approaches.

Karina KaLLio is an Ears of the Heart Practitioner and Warm Data Host, Regenerative Practitioner, in Sustainable Futures at UTS.

Maia Gould works in cybernetic leadership and has a background in human bioethics and complex message communication. Her kids went to long daycare from 12 months to school age.