There I was on the 08.05.25 standing in front of all the participants at the BIN-Norden conference in Stockholm reading this poem celebrating us as educators, researchers and practitioners in the field of children´s culture. It is in English as the conference language were in English. The drawing is mine and has to do with being global as well as Nordic. You get the poem both as a reading and in writing. Enjoy!
Our Playground
We know a lot in this vibrating everlasting space
About being in deep processes with children
Playing together in a modest everyday present
We are the experts in looking at and joining in
At the very same time inside this phenomenon play
Working and walking through a playful pedagogy
Here we are suggesting ways to become humans
Using tools and materials to understand and live life
Doing experiments to be a gentle part of a wounded world
Maybe we are the ones, who know the most on culture
On art unfolded in processes, on digital technologies
As a vivid part of the analogue and the global
At least we dare to be in the unknown and still untold
Breaking boundaries and creating new expressions
Making ourselves and children capable of agency
This is a community of researchers and practitioners
Basing our results on action and ongoing reflection
We hold our ground in the playground and talk about it
Be aware, we have just started a long journey
It might be us, who can change the future of this planet
Being sensitive to ourselves, to all and our connections
A toast for the Nordic approach, a toast for children
A toast for Bin Norden, a conference to discuss and act
A toast for our capacity to play and play again
If you want to know more about BIN Norden, you have got several options: BIN-Norden and BIN Norden – børnekultur i Norden