[wisehat] Wise Hat News #17
- From: Wise Hat News <news@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: wisehat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 09 Apr 2007 23:42:23 +0900
Wise Hat News #17
==============
8 April 2007
The online version is available at:
http://www.wisehat.com/newsletter/wisehatnews.php
1. A Pig And A Poke
2. Hamming it Up
3. Scratching At Democracy
4. What's New?
5. In A Pig's Eye
6. Administrivia
1. A PIG AND A POKE
## It's so much easier to pray for a bore than to go and see one. ##
A pig is a large animal with four legs. Among other things a poke is an
old word for a bag. According to the Chinese Zodiac this is the year of
the pig. As for the bag, my usual one is to go on about democracy. It's
been the best part of ten months since the last newsletter and I
seriously began to wonder whether there would ever be another. A
combination of having little new to say and no new way to say it. But
like a bad penny some thoughts keep turning up and I guess it behooves
me to write them down. Yes, that was a bad pun. Just hope they don't get
worse.
Chris
2. HAMMING IT UP
## What we call Man's power over Nature turns out to be a power
exercised by some men over other men with Nature as its instrument. ##
In the last newsletter I wrote that I was going to focus more on my
actual experiences and less on philosophising and pontification. But
that was before I read about dolphin sweaters and dying bees. It seems
that the US Navy is planning to deploy bottlenose dolphins that come
from warm and temperate seas in the freezing waters of the Puget Sound.
A group called Knitters For Dolphins is doing just that - making them
sweaters [1]. Meanwhile, something called colony collapse disorder has
obliterated over 60% of the bees in the United States and German
beekeepers are worried about a similar fate. There is a fear that
genetically modified crops are the cause [2].
I think there is an underlying problem that connects both stories. It is
lack of genuine democracy. We are hearing a lot in the news today about
the dangers of Climate Change. Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth won an
Oscar. What Gore fails to mention is who got us into the mess in the
first place. As labour organiser and songwriter, Utah Philips, put it:
“The earth is not dying. It is being killed, and the people killing it
have names and addresses.”
(please read the excellent review of Gore's fantamentary by Catherine
Austin Fitts from which the quote was lifted). [3]
Modern society is much more an oligarchy than a democracy. The war in
Iraq offers a simple example. How many countries would have supported
the United States if ordinary people had a genuine say in what their
countries did? Certainly Britain would not have propped up the invasion.
Likewise if politician's were required to send members of their own
families to the front lines there would be very few of them, if any.
The big problem with human affairs as they are organised at the moment
is that too many decisions are made by the few over the many. There is a
disproportionate power relationship. Genuine democracy would allow
people to exercise power for themselves and over themselves. And that
goes for students as well.
3. SCRATCHING AT DEMOCRACY
## The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to
irrigate deserts. ##
I think I've mentioned it before, but one of the reasons I ended up
working in the private sector and setting up a school is so that I could
choose who I worked with. Or more specifically, so that the people I
work with could choose to work with me.
An undemocratic school is little more than an internment camp. How can
teaching children who are forced to be in the classroom be ethically
acceptable? It's nonsensical to claim that children don't or can't know
any better - if that were the case then no democratic schools would be
able to operate. In fact, even children as young as four or five are
capable of chairing meetings and making decisions for themselves.
The article Democratic School Governance by Jerry Mintz describes a way
of running a school democratically [4]. Increasingly, I'm interested in
making actual lessons democratic. I have various reasons for this.
A school to which students come once a week is very different from a
school which children attend every day. The lesson is much more of a
focal point and if it isn't democratic what really can be? Also, if I
can make the idea of democratic lessons work then perhaps children may
begin to wonder why all their lessons aren't democratic. If we truly
want a democratic society then that means practising meaningful
choice-making whenever possible. Democracy should be more than a
smattering of votes spread thinly through our working lives. As food
nourishes the body so democracy should nourish the community and
society. It should be a daily activity like eating or exercise.
I also wonder if lessons are more democratic whether children will
actually become more focused, more engaged and actually learn more. This
is my hope but it remains to be seen.
Tomorrow sees the first lessons of the new school year. Not being one
for controlled experiments I'm going into the process with gay abandon.
My idea is to construct each class by offering Activity Cards. These are
essentially pictures of the proposed activities. Children can look at
the pictures and select the ones they want. Thus the lesson will be an
exercise in democratic collaboration - at least that's the theory. We'll
see how it goes in practise.
Why the cards? Why not simply ask the children what they would like to
do? I've tried this idea in the past and it never really worked. Too
much choice can be mind-numbing and usually results in no choice being
made at all. By using the cards I can mix up old activities with new
activities and I can do so without needing to explain anything. Choosing
the cards is an activity in itself. The whole lesson can hopefully
become a kind of democratic game. Watch this space?
## Reason is the natural order of truth; but imagination is the organ of
meaning. ##
4. WHAT'S NEW (AND OLD)
## Nothing is yet in its true form. ##
The site is long due for a complete overhaul. In the meantime here are
the pages that have been added since last time:
Beyond Competition - Brief Workshop Notes from JALT national 2006
http://www.wisehat.com/resources/articles/beyondcompetition.php
Brainwave - A technique used to interrupt one activity with another
http://www.wisehat.com/resources/techniques/brainwave.php
Catch! - A simple ball game focusing on "don't"
http://www.wisehat.com/resources/games/catch.php
Don't Move! - A variation of Grandmother's Footsteps
http://www.wisehat.com/resources/games/dontmove.php
Emancipation Now - More Workshop Notes from JALT national 2006
http://www.wisehat.com/resources/articles/emancipationnow.php
Fast Food Tag! - A team tag game about food
http://www.wisehat.com/resources/games/fastfoodtag.php
Mosquito - An active game focusing on parts of the body
http://www.wisehat.com/resources/games/mosquito.php
Nose Nose Nose - A simple chant and game for young children
http://www.wisehat.com/resources/games/nosenosenose.php
Not Scary! - A kamishibai story about a monster
http://www.wisehat.com/resources/stories/notscary.php
Parrot Flag - An important anchor for repetition
http://www.wisehat.com/resources/techniques/parrotflag.php
5. IN A PIG'S EYE
## You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. ##
Little and Often is my new idea for this newsletter. Well little and
more often, anyway. Time will tell if this is more than a pile of pork pies.
6. ADMINISTRIVIA
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contact Chris:
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## We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means
doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case,
the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive. ##
(Quotes this issue by C. S. Lewis)
------------------------
[1] Ludicrous Dolphin Plan Shows We Are Scared Silly
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/022107EB.shtml
[2] Are GM Crops Killing Bees?
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/032307EA.shtml
[3] The Source of Hopelessness: A Review of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/072406_source_hopelessness.shtml
[4] Democratic School Governance
http://www.educationrevolution.org/demschoolgov.html
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