Week 8 - Natalie Lortz
In the section, "Frances reflects on harmonics", Frances ends by saying " I must listen to the song created by modern living and remember that modern living is still inhabited by nature and needs to be nurtured" (Fredericks, 6). I feel this statement is important, because it seems academia is dominated by the logos narrative. There is a distinction between mythos, the "cultural, imaginal, and emotional", and logos, which is known as reason, logic, and scientific (Fredericks, 7). Education mainly pursues logic, not leaving room for the mythos to be explored. The indigenous world view leans more towards mythos than logos on this spectrum, categorizing it as unworthy of being explored in an academic context. This is just one explanation. It is very possible that this is just one of many other factors including but not limited to white supremacy, systematic racism, ethnic silencing, and intentional erasure.
Frances continues, acknowledging her use of Indigenous ways of knowing and being in order to write her curriculum. It is a way to help her instill harmony in her work and honor her indigenous roots and elders. Having students "sense the world" and "listen to the song and story the world is telling them" is hardly an assignment that can be graded on a point system. Personally, I resonate more with this method of teaching than I have with any other class. If my teacher were to suggest this in class, I'd find it to be personally fulfilling as well as a learning experience that broadens my idea of learning itself. I have often heard, from myself and other students, that people love learning, but they hate education. Education, scientific reasoning, and logic are worthy schools of thought that are definitely relevant to the physical world. However, human experience involves more than mind exercises and reasoning. They have to tend to emotions and intuition. It is difficult to hone those other skills when education systems require increasing amounts of attention and energy. It is the responsibility of academia to truly serve humans and facilitate a truly "well-rounded" growth.
Frances continues, acknowledging her use of Indigenous ways of knowing and being in order to write her curriculum. It is a way to help her instill harmony in her work and honor her indigenous roots and elders. Having students "sense the world" and "listen to the song and story the world is telling them" is hardly an assignment that can be graded on a point system. Personally, I resonate more with this method of teaching than I have with any other class. If my teacher were to suggest this in class, I'd find it to be personally fulfilling as well as a learning experience that broadens my idea of learning itself. I have often heard, from myself and other students, that people love learning, but they hate education. Education, scientific reasoning, and logic are worthy schools of thought that are definitely relevant to the physical world. However, human experience involves more than mind exercises and reasoning. They have to tend to emotions and intuition. It is difficult to hone those other skills when education systems require increasing amounts of attention and energy. It is the responsibility of academia to truly serve humans and facilitate a truly "well-rounded" growth.
Cited Sources: Wyld, Frances & Fredericks, Bronwyn L. (2015) Earth song as storywork: Reclaiming Indigenous knowledges. Journal of Australian Indigenous Issues, 18(2), pp. 2-12.
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