Clemsy Gets his Dream Class

Introducing people of all ages to mythology... in pre-college educational curricula, youth orgs, the media, etc. Share your knowledge, stories, unit and lesson plans, techniques, and more.

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dgregory62
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Post by dgregory62 »

I entirely agree Susan. My upbringing was exactly as you described, which I think explains what draws me to the mythology of Campbell. Whenever I see a movie or read a book about strong father figures and the relationships they have with their sons, it reminds me of my broken background and the hole I feel inside. I have no doubt it's because of the absence of strong men in my life as a child and adolescent. Big Brothers certainly helps address this. Not only do fathers often teach their sons things like fishing, playing baseball etc - important hallmarks in the healthy development of young boys - they also teach them something much more important - emotional intelligence. I see a lack of this important trait in so many young men. (P.S. fishing and baseball aren't necessary to personal growth - they just seem to figure prominently in my own imagination).

JamesN.
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Post by JamesN. »

Hello dgregory62 and welcome; glad you are here.

I'm sure our moderator Clemsy will be by soon to help with your query. But in the meantime this is I think a very important topical issue you have raised.
creekmary wrote:I think young boys are getting lost because there are so many growing up without fathers or even uncles to pass on what it is to be a man. They only grow up with mothers. I tried as hard as I could to pass on whatever masculine qualities I had and my son spent a lot of time with his grandfather and some with uncles. I think boys suffer and quite a few around here become spoiled and no good with no grown men to "buck up" against like young males do, and to be living examples of what a man should be.

dad = "there's a difference between being born male and being a man"


Susan
Indeed Susan you raised an important dimension of this topic that I feel needs a " deeper " scrutiny.

I have a particular issue with this area for IMHO it is directly linked to a misinterpreted societal concept or definition of manhood. Masculinity, fatherhood, and the male role model of the hero; ( has become confused with the concretized image of " Bravado " ). And making the distinctions of understanding between what " character and courage " of the hero are that is contained within what is promoted as the " image " of manhood and the " macho tough-guy " has become very blurred and difficult without the guidance of some sort of an older male or father-figure. ( For instance seeing the contrast of a male hero figure between Bilbo Baggins of J.R.R. Tolkien's: " The Hobbit " instead of a mighty " Superhero " of some sort. Atticus Finch of " To Kill A Mocking Bird " is another proper role model that comes to mind. ) Sports, TV and movie media stories, and much of advertised consumer products all contribute to this bombardment of the young male's exposure to the formation of what he sees as the ( male figure role model ) he is to aspire towards. ( Joseph Campbell mentions this in the " Power of Myth " when he points towards this guidance absence in reading the newspaper concerning crime with young men. The sociological function of myth is no longer serving it's purpose of integrating young men into the culture. )

I think there are many reasons for this condition and I am obviously stating this in a very generalized sense for there are certainly folks who care a great deal about this subject; but without the major societal support for the role being served as both dgregory and Susan have pointed out; young men have pretty much been abandoned to their own devices; ( gangs for instance ). These young boys have no way to work out their frustrations or figure out who they are; much less understand the larger world which they are coming to inherit or to find their place in it.


( This would be a great topic for a separate thread to carry further if there is interest! :idea: )


Cheers


Addendum: Sorry I missed the second post dgregory. Robert Roak's: " The Old Man and the Boy " ; and " The Old Man's Boy Grows Older " I very highly recommend. ( These are two of the best books about " mentoring " I have ever read. I think you would like them. :wink: )

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-old ... 0805026696
Last edited by JamesN. on Sun Jun 30, 2013 3:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Clemsy
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Re: First Post - Looking for a place to start

Post by Clemsy »

dgregory62 wrote:Hi Clemsy. I'm afraid I don't have much to contribute to your thread right now. To be honest, I'm looking for some assistance in guiding some of my own thoughts on a topic, and this conversation looked like a good place to start.

I'm interested in a topic very similar, if not identical, to the one you are embarking on. I recall Campbell saying that one of the reasons we have so much violence in our communities is because our myths are out of date or out of synch with what we need today. Our young men don't have a personal mythology they can relate to. I'm particularly interested in the personal growth of young boys (grades 7, 8, 9) that will help them to grow into mature, caring young men.

I know there's a conversation topic on rites of passage and transitions. Maybe I could find some good info there as well.

The thing is, in my opinion, if we are to teach our young men to find their personal mythology, it can't be from a book. They have to live it, experience it. A program like the Boy Scouts has probably done a lot to help young boys mature, but I believe it's only accessed by a certain niche of the population.

So basically, I'm wondering if anyone has adapted Campbell's teaching into a practical, applied program to help young people learn to identify, codify and live by their own mythology.

Thanks so much.
Hi Greg, and welcome to the JCF Forums!

I think the answer to your question is... no. That being said, teachers across the country, and probably the world, have incorporated Campbell's work into their classrooms.

What I try to do is show my seniors that the hero journey isn't just a formula for an exciting story, and that myths are more than they appear to be. Campbell said that the remaining mythic terrain is the individual human heart and that's what has to be activated.

What does the hero do?

The hero never gives up.
The hero is a willing sacrifice.
The purpose of the hero's journey is to bring the boon back for the benefit of the community.

That boon is your bliss. You are here to do something that will fulfill you and vitalize those around you. Recognize it. Go get it.

My students learn about Jung's archetypes. I show them the oroboros and relate it to the womb, to their comfort zone, to the high school years they are about to leave. They learn that the dragon they have to face is their own fear. The fear of failure, the fear of graduating, the fear of the unknown. They learn they have to break out of the oroboros, just like the symbol at the top of this page, and dive into their adventure.

They learn that every human being who has ever lived has had to go through the same thing. That's what the myths tell us.

Gregory, I have my students write constantly about themselves. They explore their inner landscape. They analyze myths, with special attention to the part where the father archetype dies and the hero becomes the father.

Atonement with the father. Taking control of the forces that direct your life.

We end the school year with a deep reading of T.H. White's The Sword in the Stone, where the primary theme is that power without compassion is empty.

By the time I'm done with them they see the connections. They tell me in their final journal entries that they look at life in a completely different way. One young lady told me my class will last her the rest of her life.

I don't get all of them. But I'm more then pleased with the results. But make no mistake, if my students didn't feel my passion and know that I cared, sincerely, for each of them individually, I wouldn't reach any of them. None of it works with that authenticity.

I don't know that I've codified Campbell's work. I've taken his work, made it my own, joined it with some other stuff and created a curriculum that is really distinctly mine. It's primarily a writing course, because in the privacy of your own mind you have to slow down and think clearly in order to write coherently.

I don't know if I've answered your question. But teaching is an art and I was very, very blessed with the opportunity to create something of my own, which is my bliss, and share it with the community.

Cheers,
Clemsy
Last edited by Clemsy on Sun Jun 09, 2013 3:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Give me stories before I go mad! ~Andreas

JamesN.
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Post by JamesN. »

Clemsy that whole post was outstanding! One of the best I've seen on taking Joseph Campbell's work and making it one's own. Isn't that the point? I can't speak for anyone else but it really helped to clear up the ambiguity I sometimes experience. Thanks. 8)
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creekmary
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Post by creekmary »

Soooo...you work from the passion of your bliss to try to light the way for others. (After showing them there IS a maze...). You give them a thread to follow,. You lead them through a sort of "mystery initiation" so that there is a realization through an experience because it is hard to relay abstractly. Showing them the road less traveled, offering a compass of sorts and a good push.

I've misplaced my checklist for Heros, but I think you might have enough points to qualify.

Susan
Last edited by creekmary on Sun Jun 09, 2013 4:08 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Clemsy
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Post by Clemsy »

JamesN. wrote:Clemsy that whole post was outstanding! One of the best I've seen on taking Joseph Campbell's work and making it one's own. Isn't that the point? I can't speak for anyone else but it really helped to clear up the ambiguity I sometimes experience. Thanks. 8)
Thank you James! Yes, that is most certainly the point. Knowledge can't become wisdom unless it is assimilated and becomes part of you. With Campbell it was easy. When I first saw Power of Myth, Campbell's words rung me like a bell. I thought, "Those are my thoughts! Improved and taken further than I could ever go!" lol!
Give me stories before I go mad! ~Andreas

Clemsy
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Post by Clemsy »

creekmary wrote:Soooo...you work from your bliss to try to light the way for others. (After showing them there IS a maze...). You give them a thread to follow,. You lead them through a sort of "mystery initiation" so that there is a realization through an experience because it is hard to relay abstractly.

I've misplaced my checklist for Heros, but I think youight have enough points to qualify.

Susan
Haha! Thank you, Creekmary. I have been very fortunate in having achieved what had always been my dream. I'd been teaching for 24 years before the opportunity to design this curriculum was presented to me. I've never worked so hard in my life! I counted up the distinct writing tasks I assigned my classes this year and the total, including journal entries, essays and literature responses, was 89. I read, edited and responded to every single one.

I have 65 seniors, and therefore not much of a social life during the school year. lol!
Give me stories before I go mad! ~Andreas

Clemsy
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Post by Clemsy »

I have to say that the feedback from this thread and other ideas from these forums have assisted me tremendously. Indeed, I can't thank Cindy enough for sharing the Myth and Psyche link, which became very central to the class this year.

This article is very well written and offers a solid connection between the hero journey and personal development. I especially love the connection between the womb, the oroboros and paradise. It provides a wonderful model. One is in one's comfort zone (the womb/paradise/oroboros), the circle breaks open and the light of consciousness pours in (the call to adventure), the hero crosses the threshold to confront one's dragon (regressive forces calling one to go back to safety) and either defeats it or gets devoured to be reborn.

My students are able to relate each stage to where they are right now in this profoundly transformative point of their lives: on the threshold of adulthood. All year their journals were filled with the desire to return to childhood.

Who hasn't felt that?
Give me stories before I go mad! ~Andreas

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Post by CarmelaBear »

It is such a good vibe to hear about developments in the dream class. I wonder if we ever get over the beginning of our lives.

~

Clemsy
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Post by Clemsy »

I spent some time inside the heads of some of my students this evening. Every Tuesday I collect reflection journals from half of my seniors and (with the help of a 5 hour energy shot lol) stay in my classroom until I'm done reading and responding. And because I put in the time and dialogue with them in writing...

They tell me everything.

They love their grandparents. (Omg how they love their grandparents.) They miss their grandparents. They cry because it was their "last night under the lights." They complain because the athletes get all the attention. They worry they'll lose their friends. They worry they'll keep some of them. They love some of their teachers. They wonder how others are still in the classroom.

All my seniors are scared. Just yesterday, they were freshmen. They miss their childhoods. They miss their dogs. They are wrestling with depression. They are exhausted. They are strong. They are angry. They're afraid of failing. They're afraid of succeeding. They wonder why their fathers are asses. They're hurt and angry because their mothers have drug problems. They tell me their parents are the most important people in their lives and thank them and thank them and thank them.They tell me about their first taste of death and the birth of their nephews and nieces. The freedom of driving. Their heartbreaks and the love they apologize for because they're "young" and don't know what love is when they really do. Or really don't.

Alone, with their voices in my head, the shy, quiet ones are not shy and quiet. The rowdy ones are soft and reserved.

Every Tuesday I am awed and humbled and I stay in my room until I'm done because that's what they expect from me now and that's the only way they will write and write and write to me as if I were a priest.

And every page I read reminds me why we do what we do. No one who hasn't can ever understand.
Give me stories before I go mad! ~Andreas

JamesN.
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Post by JamesN. »

Clemsy that is one of the most moving posts I have heard on these forums. Thank you so much for sharing something so very very special. Sometimes after having days of one's head full of media garbage it is examples like this that pulls a person back and reminds them that there is kindness and caring and understanding in the world. The kind that helps to point the way for these kids.

Well done my friend; and may you have good fortune wherever your bliss may take you. 8)
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Post by Andreas »

Thanks for this post, Clemsy. :)

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Post by JamesN. »

One of the reasons I think Clemsy's personal involvement with his students is so very vital comes from the knowledge of the power that the media influence is going to exert on these children; ( not to mention the huge amount peer pressure that is a normal component of this stage of their development ). More than ever now I think the proper adult guidance in helping these young adolescents develop a healthy self-identity is going to lie in critical thinking skills. His core writing approach is an excellent tool; ( coupled of course with the proper assigned reading and discussion materials which I'm sure he addresses, and his feedback ); all of which he has described in great detail previously. If anything a teacher is a mentor if nothing else in this regard; at least in this particular application.

The link I'm posting has several dimensions to it that I think have particular bearing here. One of course as a role model that " Malala " has become. But also how she as an image can become an implement for media manipulation. What impresses me is this: Not only do I think that she is a genuinely qualified " Hero "; but more importantly she ( understands ) the nuances of her position and is not seduced but instead utilizes these conditions for a higher purpose. ( Also given that she is still so very young it is also evident that she has had excellent " mentoring " via her father; a teacher; and others; hence part of the purpose of the post. )
I am not suggesting here that a teacher or any mentor should mold a model of any sort; but more important as Clemsy has pointed out; to help them develop their own navigational skills at this critical time in their life so that they may become the rich and full potential adults they were meant to be in their own right, for their own destiny, for their own time. :idea:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/wor ... e14762416/
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Clemsy
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Post by Clemsy »

Thank you Andreas and James. You know, after reading those journals yesterday I was inspired to write that and post it on the Badass Teachers Association Facebook page. (If you don;'t know, the badass teachers is a group of almost 30,000 educators fighting the current "reforms" in education.) I was amazed at the rapidity in which the "Likes" started adding up: around 300 within an hour. The post resonated so strongly it was turned into an image, with my permission, and shared widely. As of now there are 740 likes and 170 comments.

It's almost embarrassing!

The point I try to make is that these are individual human beings and we have to gight the dehumanizing forces that are trying to mold them into cogs in the global economy.

And you are correct, James. It is my goal for these young people to see themselves as the heroes in their own stories, and that they are fast approaching the most powerful threshold of their young lives: high school graduation.

Many of them haven't been told that their goal is to find what fulfills them, and that everything will fall into place along the way, life willing.

Some of them are visibly relieved to hear this message.
Give me stories before I go mad! ~Andreas

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Post by JamesN. »

Clemsy wrote:Thank you Andreas and James. You know, after reading those journals yesterday I was inspired to write that and post it on the Badass Teachers Association Facebook page. (If you don;'t know, the badass teachers is a group of almost 30,000 educators fighting the current "reforms" in education.) I was amazed at the rapidity in which the "Likes" started adding up: around 300 within an hour. The post resonated so strongly it was turned into an image, with my permission, and shared widely. As of now there are 740 likes and 170 comments.

It's almost embarrassing!

The point I try to make is that these are individual human beings and we have to gight the dehumanizing forces that are trying to mold them into cogs in the global economy.

And you are correct, James. It is my goal for these young people to see themselves as the heroes in their own stories, and that they are fast approaching the most powerful threshold of their young lives: high school graduation.

Many of them haven't been told that their goal is to find what fulfills them, and that everything will fall into place along the way, life willing.

Some of them are visibly relieved to hear this message.

Clemsy the Badass Teachers page is so nice to hear about. ( " Rockin "; if you don't mind me saying so ); a grand affirmation that apparently has resonated with others as well.

And as to the second part it speaks so strongly, clearly, and directly to the issue of what needs to be addressed one might also dare to hope that this direction catches fire and rekindles some of the lost enthusiasm that is so desperately needed right now. What a nice response to what you are doing if nothing else.
8)
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

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