Knowing More About Herself- Aviva Fudem’s P3

Aviva Fudem is the co-founder and chief theory builder at Thinkin Educational Services. She is an Ontario Certified Teacher with a masters degree in Child Study and Education from the Institute of Child Study at U of T and an honours degree in Political Science and Economics from Western University. Aviva uses her deep understanding of human behaviour – and extensive experience with mental health support and advocacy – to develop joyful learning opportunities that blend multidisciplinary theories with educational practice. She is an innovative problem solver, consciously working to create time and space to witness, learn and build healthy relationships in families, schools and communities.

Aviva’s company, Thinkin Educational Services, evolved from walks she took with her business partner, Simone Spiegel. Their conversations about life and school and the possibilities for learning laid the groundwork for ThinkinEd. They were frustrated by what they saw happening in different learning environments, especially in terms of mental health. “When you get to be in nature, it just changes everything. It opens up conversation that makes things feel safe and comfortable.” They work to create spaces for learning like those they strolled in - ones that are welcoming and offer places to explore. As they wrote in a recent post on VoicEd, “...nature informs human nature. Aviva and Simone challenge the status quo and offer a different approach to building community, parenting and teaching skills. They facilitate professional development experiences in schools and the wider community. “We work on interactive exhibits that bring children, families and educators together to talk about what’s happening now, what can we change, how can it look differently, what are the impacts on children and the future and mental health. You name it, we put it all in there, and think about it and question it.” Everything they do is ultimately about building healthy communities.

As they work through this process, they have come to realize the importance of developing common language. “The language we choose and the language we use with people has a huge impact. I could say the word play and it means one thing to an early childhood educator, and it means something completely different to a parent.” It was a challenge trying to have meaningful conversation, so as they looked at the etymology, denotation and connotation of words, they saw an opportunity to share their thinking. Stephen Hurley, the founder and chief catalyst of voicEd Radio created the place for just that, so now Aviva and Simone share their voice and their work across Canada and the world through their podcast, Beyond Words. Their show is about, “...challenging the words we use and poking at new options for education, and thinking deeply about their impact.” Their podcast is a metaphor for their work as they take nothing for granted and look critically and reflectively from multiple angles as part of their process.

In preparing for her appearance on The Personal Playlist Podcast, Aviva said that she did a lot of soul searching. Her P3, like all of her work, entailed a lot of thinking and reflecting. While determining her songs, Aviva wondered, “…what representation of me was the most important to share?” She has often felt that people don’t have a full sense of who she is, so she knew that she was on a personal journey on which she had to embark independently.

Growing up at overnight camp for 12 years, she participated in and enjoyed many plays including the one based on the album where her nostalgic song is found. “It represents my memory as a child, but I also realized that it came to represent a piece of my identity that was really important to me when I was that young.” At its inception, in the spring of 1972, Marlo Thomas set out to create an album about gender that addressed those things that people wished someone had told them when they were young. According to an article in Slate, her then boyfriend, Herb Gardner said, “I wish that somebody had told me that it was all right to cry without being called a sissy.” Carol Hall, the lyricist, wrote this song after interviewing her son’s classmates on their feelings about crying. You can listen to the entire album here When she was young, Aviva was quiet and super emotional. Not much has changed. She feels this song represents her and, the more research that comes out about highly sensitive people, the more evidence there is that being emotional is a sign of strength, not weakness. Sung by Rosey Grier, here is It’s Alright to Cry from Free to Be You and Me:

While there were many aspects of that song that spoke to Aviva’s qualities, her identity song is one that reflects her familial love story. This song speaks to her about the love and care that she feels for her children, her husband and her parents. In determining which among several choices would be her identity song, Aviva listened with her eyes closed, deciding to let her emotions guide her. “This one made me start crying...One of the things that has become part of my identity is that I have dealt with many of the people in my family through the mental issues that they have had...it did feel like sometimes I was waiting a thousand years.” but also affirming that she was willing to wait for them to accept change and be brave and know that they are loved, waiting patiently for them to arrive at that place on their own time. Her love and connection is deeply ingrained, and she perceives the longevity of her love in a way that feels immortal. This connects to the romance of Bella and Edward in the novel Twilight, which was part of the soundtrack for the Twilight Saga’s Breaking Dawn Part 1 and 2. Here is Christina Perri’s A Thousand Years:

Similar to the criteria for selecting her identity song, Aviva used her emotions to lead the way. Her pick-me-up song stood out because it evokes a positive response. “It was the one that made me want to sing out loud… It put a smile on my face and made me want to think forward.” This song is indicative of where she hopes she’s going next in her work , family and self understanding. Some of the lyrics say:

We will carve our place into time and space

We will find our way, or we'll make a way (say hey, hey, hey)

Find you're great, don't you hide your face

Let it shine, shine, shine, shine, shine, shine

As Aviva carves her place in space and time, she is finding her great and always looking at new horizons. From her debut album, here’s Canadian singer Alessia Cara’ Wild Things:

Through the entire P3 experience, Aviva was able to look a bit closer at herself. If you want to look closer at the work that Aviva and Simone are doing, check out their website or their Twitter account. Aviva is also on Twitter. Check out their Beyond Words podcast on voicEd Radio and their blog. They are, “... trying to push the boundaries of what education and community building looks like.” so they love welcoming visitors to their studio in Vaughan, Ontario. You can also join them at their interactive pop-up exhibit at The MacDonald Art House in Thornhill this Labour day weekend. The exhibit has a flexible lab-school environment with an intimate museum feel. It’s a community event for all ages where people can go on their own learning journey.

Aviva’s love for evolving music shows that she is a fluid person who is willing to change, which is also reflected in her music choices. She believes in the power of change, and she is always looking to change for the better. One of her favourite quotes is: If you change nothing, nothing will change. There is nothing stagnant about this change agent who is always open and willing to reconfigure.