welcome: we hope to start this exciting new MUMOLOGY project fairly soon, although we have already graduated 34 mums in one way or another, focussed on parenting. Hopefully we can complete the work to formalise this radical approach to HE soon; universities can be so very risk averse and unimaginative! Most of the mums we graduated previously were as part of the Ultraversity degree back in Ultralab days a decade ago.
In its genesis, Mumology has four roots and three components:
roots: as part of some horizon scanning for the UK government, we examined cognitive enhancement - can you make children smarter with pills and genes and so on. Although the answer, guardedly was "yes, you can" all that psychopharmacology paled into insignificance alongside good parenting, so we thought about how a community of parents could, facilitated and mediated, improve themselves...
as a founding board member of teachers.tv I had been able to see, and help develop, micro-broadcasting in the public service - very effective bite sized clips of good quality programming - mostly 15 long, proved to be highly effective across the web for young practitioners...
having created the remarkable ultraversity degree some years back, with its model of personalised, bespoke degree pathways, it was clear that parents following the route developed very effective reflective practice; it is possible to graduate as a mum...
working on new learning throughout the world it is clear that - whether in rural war zones or urban commuting conduits - we need to value and support parenting, and the science of what is currently best practice, culturally interpreted, is rapidly evolving.
the fundamental offer would be: a support plan to take a young Mum - as a largely full time mother - through to the potential of graduation by the time her child reaches primary education age. This is regardless of her own educational starting point...
this is supported through an online community of reflective parenting practice, using the methods we have tried and tested to great effect already... but leaving the mums with an effective habit of remote and distance learning which should allow them the use their graduate status without leaving the area - whatever the area is...
it is currently planned to back it by a micro TV channel, originally planned to be developed with colleagues at CEMP with even shorter than 15 minute programming: by mums, for mums, mediated by science and health professionals...
in this way children become the catalyst that jump starts the upskilling of communities, are supported by the best of practice, rewards mums for their significant inputs and provides an effective alternative to full time work in the critical early years...
oh and, of course, it is intended to be a global project enhanced by the resultant cultural richness and diversity...
this page last updated: Tuesday, March 27, 2018 6:13 PM by Prof Stephen Heppell