User:Rekrapenator

=Nate Parker=

After over 30 years of enjoyable and successful teaching in state schools, I have departed mainstream education. Weary of curriculum-narrowing national standards and petty board politics I have had an increasing desire to pursue my own interests.

After the initial grief of saying goodbye to my students it is a relief to be finally on the outside of the state system.

I am a long term advocate for environmental education, human and animal rights. Also being a school principal for several decades I had seen the effects of drugs and drug policy on the communities I have worked in. I have lived in school communities where alcohol has been a huge problem, and the criminalisation of other drugs have been the cause of poverty and family turmoil.

Strangely my personal and private political opinions around these issues; animal rights, environmental issues and drug law reform were used as a negative lever to end my employment.

So with oodles of experience, based around an envirethical curriculum, using open education ideals and with a desire to give people freedom to learn, I have evolved into an consultant, artist and activist - interested in compassionate education.

My goal is to assist others in the creation of learning systems that many educationalists are calling for, what our children deserve, and what our planet needs.

Future Plans

 * To work with people on collaborative educational projects
 * To advise families and children working in state education
 * To advise families and children wishing to move out of state education

Inspiration

 * The Message of Ubuntu - Nelson Mandela
 * Sir Ken Robinson - Changing Education Paradigms
 * Jamie Oliver - How Big Corporations Are Killing Us!
 * Why Schools Should Exclusively Use Free Software - Richard Stallman
 * Hole In The Wall Experiment - Sugata Mitra
 * The Story of Stuff
 * Ubuntu
 * Turning Plastic Into Oil
 * Studio Schools

Quotes and wiki stuff

 * The Craftsman
 * Learn to wiki
 * help create a free education curriculum by 2015

If you have got this far you had better have some free music

About Me
Educational Journey
 * Educator - activist, artist
 * Job shares, Free softwares and beach cares - Principal of Warrington School, Otago NZ
 * Inquiry based teacher, ICT and brain activated - Deputy Principal of Dunedin North Intermediate, Dunedin NZ
 * Shoulder surfing, rural underling and blind boy teacher - Principal's release teacher and acting principal Waihola, Otago NZ
 * Family freedom, fun, poor and Aspergers - Home school educator of my own 2 children and 6 others in a large shed we called Cre8, Kerikeri NZ
 * Marae neighbor, permaculture and 5 teachers - Principal of Oromahoe School, Bay of Islands NZ
 * Village life, ICT enriched and numeracy - Teacher exchange to Rookhope School, County Durham UK
 * School growth, Inquiry based and meta-cognition interests - Principal of Oromahoe School, Bay of Islands NZ
 * Instant teacher release - just add to a classroom - Part-time teacher Kaikohe West School, Kaikohe NZ
 * Tikanga immersed - whale stranding - Principal of Te Hapua School, Far North NZ
 * Sole charge, sheep and swimming pool included - Principal of Tutamoe School, Northland NZ
 * 6 weekly behavior modules - Teacher Health Camp School, Whangarei NZ
 * Classroom crawling, pancake flipping nose wiping fun - Teacher Special Class Horahora School, Whangarei NZ
 * Principal mentored, hand picked class, special needs satellite children - Teacher Morningside School, Whangarei NZ
 * Cow poo brick kiln, gas rubbish bin raku firing - Barman, artist, Mangapai NZ
 * "I wasn't told it would need experience to teach in the manner that I desired" - Teacher Tikipunga School, Whangarei NZ
 * Nexus - bottom rung is not enough, to initiate change you need to keep climbing - Teacher Misfit Trainee Auckland Teachers College, Auckland NZ
 * Thumbing Kiwi Pom, Europe escapes, life partner found - Travel Tramp, UK and Europe
 * Punk had a lot to answer for - Freedom of Anarchy - Teacher Misfit Trainee Auckland Teachers College, Auckland NZ
 * Block of land, dog mad and pogo denim - Long Bay College Student Punk, Auckland NZ
 * Bare-feet, ice-cream, swiimming-mask, skate-board freedom - Emigrated aged 9 to wonderful, Torbay Auckland NZ
 * Central city fruit shop, multi-cultural school, village based weekends with extended family - Born in, Derby UK

My Qualifications
 * Nursery school was a bleak place for a semolina disliking child.
 * Primary schools of physical knocks Henry Cooper v Cassius Clay, towny v city, Pom v Kiwi etc.
 * Intermediate school was farts, girls and friends - not always in that order.
 * Long Bay College gave me basic school leaving qualifications and with a belief that I wasn't bright enough to go to university.
 * Therefore I applied for teacher's training college.
 * I left teacher's college with a certificate and diploma in teaching.
 * Now as an adult I believe that I am possibly bright enough to gain a university qualification, but at this stage in life no longer see paying for my education necessary when education is free for the taking.
 * I also feel that a diverse life, lived to the full is education to the maximum.

My Passions
 * Wife and kids and grandchild
 * Miniature fox terriers Libby Bessy Jenny Missy
 * Surfing Warrington Beach
 * Gardening
 * Wearing a backpack and hiking isolated places
 * Digital Photography
 * Creating strange Rekrapenator art
 * Tea
 * Dancing
 * Making pickles and jams

'''Why Rekrapenator? - Anagram''' Snake or Ladder Ibogaine

Finally '''Hey, you sass that hoopy Rekrapenator? There's a frood who really knows where his towel is.'''

Nate's Play Pen
"Leaders are not what many people think – people with huge crowds following them. Leaders are people who go their own way without caring, or even looking to see whether anyone is following them.  'Leadership qualities' are not the qualities that enable people to attract followers, but those that enable them to do without them.  They include, at the very least, courage, endurance, patience, humour, flexibility, resourcefulness, determination,  a keen sense of reality, and the ability to keep a cool and clear head even when things are going badly.  This is the opposite of the 'charisma' that we hear so much about." - John Holt

Digital Horizon MLE mailing list Recent posts: http://groups.google.com/group/mle-reference-group/feed/rss_v2_0_msgs.xml|short|max=5 > your text here > your text here > your text here >  your text here > your text here  --rekrapenator 21:03, 29 October 2009 (UTC) --NathanP 19:07, 3 November 2009 (UTC)
 * 1) A timeline for digital independence is created

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