Education past, present and future

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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JamesN.
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Post by JamesN. »

CarmelaBear wrote:Recently, I had the opportunity to meet a scholar-administrator from the University of New Mexico, who is the director of a writing center at the university. His background is in linguistics and he has written about the subject of tutoring and the administration of a writing center.

The concept he seems to have introduced to the tutoring program at UNM's writing center is the notion that the tutor and student should be co-learners, collaborating on the shared activity of writing as a process within a social, interactive context. (Traditionally, the tutor was the expert who fixes the student's flawed work, and the written product is the point of a short one-on-one session.) He started programs that implement new ideas about co-learning.

IMHO, his approach to tutoring is a sign of innovation in the learning process at the university.

~
Carmela this is an interesting point you bring up and it reminds me of a conversion in Clemsy's " Dream Class " thread concerning how he utilizies some of Joseph Campbell's ideas through creative writing and the relationship bond between student and teacher.

Clemsy said:
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 I recall Campbell saying that one of the reasons we have so much violence in our communities is because our myths are out of date or out of synch with what we need today.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.


Clemsy continued:
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.
( And ):


Clemsy also said:
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.
( And then later I mentioned. ):

I said:
For those who are not aware of this notification from the foundation's " Mythblast " email flyer; here is an upcoming initiative that I think is a " CrackerJack " idea Clemsy is involved with.



Quote:
MythBlast
October 15, 2013


The Mythic Classroom

The Joseph Campbell Foundation is preparing to launch its new education initiative: The Mythic Classroom.

Part of the Joseph Campbell Foundation’s (JCF) mission is to promote the study of mythology and comparative religion, to implement and/or support diverse mythological education programs, and to utilize the Foundation's website (www.jcf.org) as a forum for relevant cross-cultural dialogue. To these ends, the JCF is inviting educators, at all levels and disciplines, who have incorporated myth into their curricula to share their work in a searchable database designed to be used as a resource for teachers and researchers.

Although the use of Joseph Campbell’s work is not a pre-requisite for inclusion in this project, we are looking for those whose work with myth:
•provides young students with a rich narrative experience
•incorporates the study of metaphor and symbolism
•encourages students to construct personal meaning
•views myth as a product of the human psychological landscape which connects us across cultures

Right now we are collecting a limited number of "exemplars" on an Excel spreadsheet. If you are interested, please email the project's curator, Michael Lambert, at michael.lambert@jcf.org. Include subject area, level(s) and topics.

JCF appreciates the many teachers toiling tirelessly in the field (forgive the alliteration!) who use myth to teach and re-teach key concepts.



One of the reasons for the mention of this notice on this particular thread has to do with a question I have I feel may have some relevance to the subject matter being covered here concerning ( teaching and the connection with the individual's personal experience and discovery of their own myth ) whether student ( or teacher ). And how does the ( teacher themselves ) understand " their own experience " and what is indeed happening as this portal is opened and it's knowledge transferred. I think the teacher's unique insight to what is happening to themselves also while involved with this mythical connection may be very valuable to explore as in Clemsy's earlier insight's he so kindly shared.
( To which Clemsy replied. ):

Clemsy said:
This fits her quite nicely, James. Indeed, the quote from the mythblast is a blend of the JCF's mission statement and my own definition of the Mythic Classroom project. (Stephen added the last sentence. lol!)

I'm quite honored that Bob Walter and Stephen have considered me to spearhead this initiative and I'm really looking forward to getting it off the ground. (I've had a pretty decent response so far, so I'm already busy.)

There is quite a strong connection between this project, of course, and what I do in the classroom. However, as it says, we're gathering whatever educators are doing myth wise as long as it fits the given guidelines.

Your question, if I understand it, is a good one: How does the teacher relate to the concepts being taught? As we delve into the hero journey in my senior classes, I make sure my students see graduation as the threshold they must cross, their fears the dragon guarding the threshold, their bliss or passion as the goal of the hero.

But here I am also approaching of my teaching career. I make a point of telling them I'm very much in the same situation they are, just at the other end of time, as it were.

That's important for them to know, surely.

Obviously these extracted quotes could not include the entire conversation and it would also be interesting to know what the current status of the " JCF's Mythic Classroom " is; but for those curious more from this part of the thread content starts here:



http://www.jcf.org/new/forum/viewtopic. ... &start=390
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

CarmelaBear
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Post by CarmelaBear »

Thank you for that, James.

I read every word of your post, with the contributions, exchanges and the whole enchilada.

Clemsy is a remarkable educator. I am especially in awe of his recognition of how each person has to go through the whole quest for the entire duration. Life doesn't let anybody off the hook until there is no hook left.

I think you and I would enjoy being in his dream class.

:!:
Once in a while a door opens, and let's in the future. --- Graham Greene

JamesN.
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Joined: Sat Mar 04, 2006 2:46 am
Location: Nashville, Tn.

Post by JamesN. »

CarmelaBear wrote:Thank you for that, James.

I read every word of your post, with the contributions, exchanges and the whole enchilada.

Clemsy is a remarkable educator. I am especially in awe of his recognition of how each person has to go through the whole quest for the entire duration. Life doesn't let anybody off the hook until there is no hook left.

I think you and I would enjoy being in his dream class.

:!:
For anyone interested here are his Blog and Facebook pages:


http://mrlsclass.blogspot.com/2013/09/t ... inued.html


https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mr-Ls-En ... 5903672070


8)
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

CarmelaBear
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Post by CarmelaBear »

Totally 8)
Once in a while a door opens, and let's in the future. --- Graham Greene

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