Objects of Substance - Rangakarra Learning Trees

2020 Planting

Why focus on learning? Learning today is probably more complex than ever before. There are many factors at play. Three are worthy of elaboration. Firstly, educators today have a much better understanding of teaching and learning. Secondly, access to information is instantaneous, especially access to adult information. Textbooks are still written but have secondary importance compared with yesteryear. Thirdly, the constancy of disruptive distraction is profound and is guaranteed to confound. We also know that slow learning is just as important as the immediacy and the incessant demands of the digital world. Planting trees to represent this concept of slow learning and the gift of reasoned conclusion seemed especially appropriate on so many levels. The Rangakarra Recreational and Environmental Education Centre was officially opened 23 May, 2015. It was a very special day. Brisbane was at its beautiful best. The sky was a crystal clear blue and the fields an immaculate expanse of green. There is something very special about this space. It's as if the blue and green combine, with the sounds of silence, to create their own ethereal embrace. It is very difficult not to think of our First Nations people and their concept of sacred space when experiencing such sensory richness.