A first post!

Welcome to the Sydney Hedge School. This blog has been set up as a platform on which to document the discussions that take place at our meetings. We hope that by publicising these discussions we will attract people who wish to engage with us, either by attending a meeting or through the blog itself.

We will be having our first meeting on Wednesday 12^th March at 6pm upstairs in The Friend in Hand on Cowper Street in Glebe.

Who are we and what is the purpose of the group?

Well, we work and/or study in the area of mental health. The founders of the group are current clinical psychology trainees. However, we hope that the group will include people that work or study in the areas of clinical psychology or psychiatry more broadly. We are interested in adopting a critical approach to psychology, psychiatry and the mental health industry as a whole. We see a value in questioning the dominant practices within the industry. We often feel that these same practices are pressured upon us so that we must conform to fit in, or at best, resist conforming but remain quiet for fear of being excluded.

This group is to serve as a forum for those who are interested in discussing these practices.

What's in a name?

The hedge school name comes from a tradition in Ireland that started in the 18th century similar to that of the ragged schools that followed in Britain during the 19th century. These movements were set up to deliver education to those in society who were otherwise excluded, due to religion and/or social class. They were of minimal or no cost to the students and the teachers delivered their lessons orally in an informal setting and they were not bound by a curriculum or a need to matriculate. Teachers taught because they enjoyed it and the students wanted to learn for the sake of learning.

Education from the margins at it's best!

It's this sort of philosophy that we hope to adopt for our group.

Want to attend? 

If you would like to attend a meeting or have your name added to the email list then please send an email to aidanjakelly[at]gmail.com.

The first meeting will be an introduction to critical psychology and how it might be applied to the provision of mental health services.