One of the goals of this blog is to make a record of my impressions and thoughts, no matter how naive they may be. Of course, I greatly welcome your impressions of how naive I am in saying what I am saying. I welcome you telling me that what I am writing is right out to lunch. One of the fascinating things to me about Connectivist Education is how deeply it invites us all to fail and unlearn.
For example, a couple of days ago I got to sit in the shade under a large maple tree in my yard for about a half an hour. I don't come from a culture that particularly prizes time spent meditating (napping?) under trees. But there is something about the shade and trunk and life-line of a tree that gives you crazy ideas, if you just listen.
One of my greatest fears, as I have already written about, is that I will inadvertently be a part of introducing some infrastructure to Kibombomene that is not sustainable in the long-run; or that I will introduce something that will irreparably alter their culture and make it more like mine. I don't want that. The maple reminded me of the maples that stood in impossibly sprawling groves near Kitigan Zibi of the Algonquins. And I was thinking about how the Awazibi syrup folks use modern techniques to harvest the maple syrup, but they're still harvesting syrup, as they've done since, roughly, the last ice age. And though I never talked to any of the company's workers, I think they're likely just as happy that they have rubber hoses and electric pumps. And it validated for me a little bit the notion of using technology and modern techniques to bring a world of information to this village that wants accessible education so badly.
The second meditation that I had was about greetings. Kim told me that the greeting customs in Kibo are something to get used to — that every greeting is a long one, and nuanced, and heart-felt, and that one needs to clear an hour to walk for five minutes in case there are people about. For the past week, Goderich has been like that; it has been wonderful. For us, it took the devastation of an f3 tornado (I love my FU f3 T-shirt, you can order some if you want, by the way) to shake people into this sort of momentary awareness of each other. I hope it sticks in some small way. And I think it was good training, from what Kim says, for what I am going to see in Kibo.
For example, a couple of days ago I got to sit in the shade under a large maple tree in my yard for about a half an hour. I don't come from a culture that particularly prizes time spent meditating (napping?) under trees. But there is something about the shade and trunk and life-line of a tree that gives you crazy ideas, if you just listen.
One of my greatest fears, as I have already written about, is that I will inadvertently be a part of introducing some infrastructure to Kibombomene that is not sustainable in the long-run; or that I will introduce something that will irreparably alter their culture and make it more like mine. I don't want that. The maple reminded me of the maples that stood in impossibly sprawling groves near Kitigan Zibi of the Algonquins. And I was thinking about how the Awazibi syrup folks use modern techniques to harvest the maple syrup, but they're still harvesting syrup, as they've done since, roughly, the last ice age. And though I never talked to any of the company's workers, I think they're likely just as happy that they have rubber hoses and electric pumps. And it validated for me a little bit the notion of using technology and modern techniques to bring a world of information to this village that wants accessible education so badly.
The second meditation that I had was about greetings. Kim told me that the greeting customs in Kibo are something to get used to — that every greeting is a long one, and nuanced, and heart-felt, and that one needs to clear an hour to walk for five minutes in case there are people about. For the past week, Goderich has been like that; it has been wonderful. For us, it took the devastation of an f3 tornado (I love my FU f3 T-shirt, you can order some if you want, by the way) to shake people into this sort of momentary awareness of each other. I hope it sticks in some small way. And I think it was good training, from what Kim says, for what I am going to see in Kibo.
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