One of the skills of an experiential educator appears to be the ability to 'pan in' on a situation, object, moment; not only to tick off that particular box of learning, but to observe the situation long enough to see what else might be hidden within.
Let me draw you something:
this mud is sticky, its raining out, and steam rises from everything living on this farm, including us. we emerge from the path facing an open cob hut, under which run a number of dirty. appropriately-dressed for the weather children waving sticks with lumps of white dough dangling precariously off the sharp ends. I am quickly informed that they are making bannock, evidenced by Calita's lump, a ball of half cooked, half charred dough that she occasionally takes off the stick to reform, check the inside, a ritual repeated approximately every 3-5 minutes as we rotate around the fire. The smoke from this 'fire' (which is really just a pile of burning sticks) is thick, surprisingly none of the children's eyes burn, as mine water and another adult cries. we are continuously rotate around the fire, moving to avoid the smoke, which Jenine thinks "follows the oxygen".
The Fire
Again, mostly a pile of burning sticks, an exercise in the queer art of failure, I wonder if we are legally allowed to have fires on this land--we likely are as I find out this is zoned as agricultural land, the last such farm within the city limits. I'm also concerned about whether we are going to set the roof on fire---a uniquely urban worry as everything is damp as all hell, [i can't remember the surface we were standing on] and the hut has no walls. Why am I so worried about legality and less about the fire itself--Calita knows how to make the flame larger by blowing on it, but she doesn't think to rearrange the sticks to allow more fuel yet [remember a fire wants 1.fuel 2.oxygen 3.???]. Jason comes by and rearranges the fire for us, just taking care of something that he sees needs doing. She does however grab sticks occasionally and move them out of her way as she moves around the fire. It is clear that the fire is the centrepiece of this activity--the adults around clean the remnants of the bannock making on the counters of the cobb kitchen. They burn scraps of paper used to clean in the fire.
The Circle
I enter with Martha and sit down, and its accepted that I'm meant to be here, not overtly welcomed, but not questioned either. I wonder how important recognition is here--do all of the children recognize each other? Do people know when someone is away/has wandered off? Calita and Jenine talk a little bit to each other, but for the most part they are focused on the fire. There are other adults around, they are standing. I feel that they are engaged and still apart from. I noticed this in other places in the school too--that circles were broken up, less ideologically pure, and more functional that I expected.
The Cobb House
No idea what's going on here, but it makes me think of what Jason said about materials on the farm [Reggio Emilio approach using natural materials only?], something made of natural materials has many more purposes than other things [materialism connection--what about systems functions], the cobb house is being used towards a systems function now, for undercover bannock making rather than anything else it may have been used for. I wonder who built this house, and how long it takes to build such a structure with integrity. Passive environments are a concern.
The Sticks
Pieces of the Farm? Where did they come from? What are we burning? How did they stay dry enough to light on fire? What parts of the Farm still rely on outside resources in order to maintain this lovely idyllic magic.
The Farm
The Bannock
Let me draw you something:
this mud is sticky, its raining out, and steam rises from everything living on this farm, including us. we emerge from the path facing an open cob hut, under which run a number of dirty. appropriately-dressed for the weather children waving sticks with lumps of white dough dangling precariously off the sharp ends. I am quickly informed that they are making bannock, evidenced by Calita's lump, a ball of half cooked, half charred dough that she occasionally takes off the stick to reform, check the inside, a ritual repeated approximately every 3-5 minutes as we rotate around the fire. The smoke from this 'fire' (which is really just a pile of burning sticks) is thick, surprisingly none of the children's eyes burn, as mine water and another adult cries. we are continuously rotate around the fire, moving to avoid the smoke, which Jenine thinks "follows the oxygen".
The Fire
Again, mostly a pile of burning sticks, an exercise in the queer art of failure, I wonder if we are legally allowed to have fires on this land--we likely are as I find out this is zoned as agricultural land, the last such farm within the city limits. I'm also concerned about whether we are going to set the roof on fire---a uniquely urban worry as everything is damp as all hell, [i can't remember the surface we were standing on] and the hut has no walls. Why am I so worried about legality and less about the fire itself--Calita knows how to make the flame larger by blowing on it, but she doesn't think to rearrange the sticks to allow more fuel yet [remember a fire wants 1.fuel 2.oxygen 3.???]. Jason comes by and rearranges the fire for us, just taking care of something that he sees needs doing. She does however grab sticks occasionally and move them out of her way as she moves around the fire. It is clear that the fire is the centrepiece of this activity--the adults around clean the remnants of the bannock making on the counters of the cobb kitchen. They burn scraps of paper used to clean in the fire.
The Circle
I enter with Martha and sit down, and its accepted that I'm meant to be here, not overtly welcomed, but not questioned either. I wonder how important recognition is here--do all of the children recognize each other? Do people know when someone is away/has wandered off? Calita and Jenine talk a little bit to each other, but for the most part they are focused on the fire. There are other adults around, they are standing. I feel that they are engaged and still apart from. I noticed this in other places in the school too--that circles were broken up, less ideologically pure, and more functional that I expected.
The Cobb House
No idea what's going on here, but it makes me think of what Jason said about materials on the farm [Reggio Emilio approach using natural materials only?], something made of natural materials has many more purposes than other things [materialism connection--what about systems functions], the cobb house is being used towards a systems function now, for undercover bannock making rather than anything else it may have been used for. I wonder who built this house, and how long it takes to build such a structure with integrity. Passive environments are a concern.
The Sticks
Pieces of the Farm? Where did they come from? What are we burning? How did they stay dry enough to light on fire? What parts of the Farm still rely on outside resources in order to maintain this lovely idyllic magic.
The Farm
The Bannock
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