I’m ambivalent about working from home. It’s precarious not having a regular salary and unpredictable, especially with no long-term contracts. We are not a trust fund couple. The choices we have made have been possible because of textbook royalties. Unlike many fathers, I’ve also had the privilege of watching my children grow up and being a greater part of their life journey—a privilege that many fathers don’t share. But you do get to work in a garage or a freezing outside shed.
After Jean and I returned from teaching in Slough and Eton CE School in 2002, we knew that a family was the next step. Weblearning was still getting started in Pietermaritzburg, but we decided that we wanted to focus on children. In June 2005, along came Anna (two weeks late). I got to spend 5 precious years (June 2005 to June 2010) co-parenting with Jean, watching this little girl grow up. They were precious times and Flickr is probably the best place to see a few of these lovely moments. Below are birthday photos from ages 2-5
Economic realities also took their toll. The 2008 financial crisis, higher education “transformation”, MOOCs and Twitter offered both challenges and opportunities. When Anna turned 5, I took the plunge and landed up at Wits, in the elearning support and innovationo (eLSI) unit trying to make a go of ed technology in higher education.
June 2010 to Nov 2015 were salaried. The decision to return back to consulting wasn’t much of a choice. If you want to see what’s really important to me. It’s not the ed tech profession (although it does consume much of my time). It’s these three immediate people and my trusted family and friends. Here’s Anna and her 11th Birthday.
Yesterday Anna turned 20, and economics is again taking its toll. It’s probably time to re-enter the marketplace. If you do know of anyone looking for a mentor / capacity builder. Whether on Wikipedia / e/learning or scholarly communication. Please shout. I’d love to chat further.