Carving a Traditional Piroque

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At the close of the movie night at Ouakam Peche, as people were departing, I was engaged by a boat builder who invited me to film the carving of a traditional piroque. He would begin the next day, Sunday, and continue for several days.

Randi and I spent much of Sunday on the plage observing the work, as a wood blank (from the fromage tree, found in the Casamance) was shaped into what would become the base of a piroque.

For the video, see clip1, clip2, clip3, clip4, clip5, & clip6.

Building Cultural Relationship: Movie Night at Ouakam Plage

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As a gesture of friendship, and mutual regard for the sea, I offered to show video clips shot in the sea off the Mamelles to an audience of Ouakam divers at Ouakam Peche. It was the first time such a thing had taken place, this mixture of cultures on the plage, and I had no idea if anyone would be interested enough to attend. With the generous help of Colin Pryce, we carried down an ROV, demonstrated how it worked, and showed video of it in operation. About twenty-five people attended, a nice audience given the novelty of the event.

The Week in Review: Sand Lab & the Winter Concert

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Clips of the ISD Winter Concert: Grade6 Grade7/8 HSChoir Closing

Elements of a Curriculum on the Psychology of Living 4: The Horse, Carriage, Driver & Reins

Introduction to the series

How is it that children spend a thousand hours a school year in classrooms, but over the course of a dozen years come away with having learned so little about themselves -- practical knowledge about the psychology of being human.

The following series of blog entries explores the elements of a curriculum on the psychology of living, with the aim of providing children a toolkit for understanding themselves and their relations at a deep level.

There is nothing novel in these ideas; none belong to me. They are, I believe, generally accepted concepts from cognitive, social and clinical/counseling psychology, and deserve to be as much a part of the pedagogy of schooling as math facts and decoding skills.

I've shared these ideas with students and parents in recent years, typically in the context of a parent-student conference, or in response to unnecessary dramas associated with managing a classroom of two dozen or so diverse children.

The entries are not referenced, but the concepts can be found in an entry-level psychology text. The bibliography may be developed at a later date.

Imagine that we are studying life on Earth through a very large telescope from a distant world. What patterns might we observe in the lives of humans? What might we conclude about the nature and organization of their minds, their so-called psychology?

* * *

We can be compared to a driver, sitting on a carriage, being carried along by a horse, connected to the driver through the reins.

For a 6th grade teacher, it's a very helpful image, being that I live with a classroom full of horses, the drivers of which often fall asleep, dropping their reins. An important aspect of teaching at this grade level, situated at the cusp between childhood and adolescence, is training the driver to carry his/her reins, and manage the horse. (This takes place through modeling. An interesting aspect of being a classroom teacher is being playful while keeping a hand on one's own reins.)

The parable of the horse, the carriage, and the driver provides a rich image of our lives as highly complex, interactive, psychological beings, with three brains, which are fully capable of operating independently, in response to conditioning and habit.

The nature of the driver and the reins, and the presence of a self (as in self-observation, self-management, self-regulation, self-responsibility), offers rich ideas to ponder, particularly in the laboratory of the classroom.

Is it important that children know about these ideas? How important are they? As important as cross multiplying? Who is charged with this mission?

Elements of a Curriculum on the Psychology of Living 3: Three Brains & Three Forms of Attention

Introduction to the series

How is it that children spend a thousand hours a school year in classrooms, but over the course of a dozen years come away with having learned so little about themselves -- practical knowledge about the psychology of being human.

The following series of blog entries explores the elements of a curriculum on the psychology of living, with the aim of providing children a toolkit for understanding themselves and their relations at a deep level.

There is nothing novel in these ideas; none belong to me. They are, I believe, generally accepted concepts from cognitive, social and clinical/counseling psychology, and deserve to be as much a part of the pedagogy of schooling as math facts and decoding skills.

I've shared these ideas with students and parents in recent years, typically in the context of a parent-student conference, or in response to unnecessary dramas associated with managing a classroom of two dozen or so diverse children.

The entries are not referenced, but the concepts can be found in an entry-level psychology text. The bibliography may be developed at a later date.

Imagine that we are studying life on Earth through a very large telescope from a distant world. What patterns might we observe in the lives of humans? What might we conclude about the nature and organization of their minds, their so-called psychology?

* * *

We have three brains: one that thinks -- is analytical, one that feels, and one that moves.

There is a fourth brain, which we might refer to as the intelligence of the body -- managing and regulating its systems, keeping us inhaling, digesting, beating, and pooping. I don't make the blood flow, it flows. It's better than I stay out of it.

The three brains are qualitatively distinct. Compare the experience of doing a crossword puzzle, or troubleshooting a computer problem, with the experience of elation while lifting into the air on a plane headed for holiday in Hawaii, or the sorrow associated with disappointment, with the experience of doing the dishes, or reaching out to shake someone's hand. The three brains are qualitatively distinct, and we can get to know the differences by taste through reflection and observation.

There are also three forms of attention. Attention can be active and focused, as when we're learning a new skill, be it surfing or converting fractions to decimals; attention can be passive and diffused, as when I walk from the living room to the kitchen to replenish my coffee -- actually, it's more accurately said that it's walking, requiring little active attention, save micro-adjustments in balance and space; and attention can be attracted or repulsed, in motion, as when I'm drawn to a favorite song, or repulsed by the thought of eating beets.

These two sets of ideas can be combined -- three brains and three forms of attention -- to experience first-hand, by taste, the variety of ways in which we function. The intellectual-thinking brain may be focused, as when we're actively engaged in a problem, doing a calculation, or weighing the pros and cons of a career change; it may be passive and diffused, as when it chatters away mechanically, repeating stories or scenarios, whether within ourselves or in conversation with friends; or it may be attracted to good or interesting ideas, or repulsed by ideas we perceive as bad or disagreeable.

Are these ideas that children deserve to know and explore? How important are they? Who is responsible for teaching them, in whose classrooms will they be discussed?

Elements of a Curriculum on the Psychology of Living 2: Habit

Introduction to the series

How is it that children spend a thousand hours a school year in classrooms, but over the course of a dozen years come away with having learned so little about themselves -- practical knowledge about the psychology of being human.

The following series of blog entries explores the elements of a curriculum on the psychology of living, with the aim of providing children a toolkit for understanding themselves and their relations at a deep level.

There is nothing novel in these ideas; none belong to me. They are, I believe, generally accepted concepts from cognitive, social and clinical/counseling psychology, and deserve to be as much a part of the pedagogy of schooling as math facts and decoding skills.

I've shared these ideas with students and parents in recent years, typically in the context of a parent-student conference, or in response to unnecessary dramas associated with managing a classroom of two dozen or so diverse children.

The entries are not referenced, but the concepts can be found in an entry-level psychology text. The bibliography may be developed at a later date.

Imagine that we are studying life on Earth through a very large telescope from a distant world. What patterns might we observe in the lives of humans? What might we conclude about the nature and organization of their minds, their so-called psychology?

* * *

In an introductory psychology class, students learn about conditioning, and the forms of conditioning, usually with respect to how learning takes place, and usually with respect to the behavior of rats, pigeons, and dogs. Rats are taught to run a maze, and behaviors are reinforced or extinguished through systematic reward, or the lack thereof. Pigeons peck for food in the presence of a stimulus. And, of course, dogs salivate.

Our study of human life on Earth would reveal precisely the same, that we are subject to conditioning. We are creatures of habit, more deeply than we realize. If the hardware is our physical body, then the software is the programming, the so-called schemata, repeating sub-routines, that spin off when I walk to the kitchen to refill my coffee cup, or shower, or take a nap. These fixed, mechanical programs repeat in the only way they can repeat, as they did yesterday, and the day before yesterday. It's true of all aspects of human life. Patterns of habit repeat, more easily observed in our physical movements and gestures -- right ankle over left, leaning to the left, sitting in the same place in a classroom, raising or not raising a hand, in all things, at all times. With a little sincere self-study, however, we'd observe that the same is true of our intellectual and emotional lives. Patterns recur.

The good news is that we have the ability to modify a habit, though it's easier said than done. A change of a behavior requires intention, whether from myself, or an instructor, and an active investment of attention. When attention lapses, the machine takes over, and plays a program its vast library of sub-routines, evoked always by association.

Are these ideas important for children to know about and explore? How important are they? Who is it that will share these big ideas with students if not in school? What better laboratory than the classroom?

Elements of a Curriculum on the Psychology of Living 1: The Food Factory

Introduction to the series

How is it that children spend a thousand hours a school year in classrooms, but over the course of a dozen years come away with having learned so little about themselves -- practical knowledge about the psychology of being human.

The following series of blog entries explores the elements of a curriculum on the psychology of living, with the aim of providing children a toolkit for understanding themselves and their relations at a deep level.

There is nothing novel in these ideas; none belong to me. They are, I believe, generally accepted concepts from cognitive, social and clinical/counseling psychology, and deserve to be as much a part of the pedagogy of schooling as math facts and decoding skills.

I've shared these ideas with students and parents in recent years, typically in the context of a parent-student conference, or in response to unnecessary dramas associated with managing a classroom of two dozen or so diverse children.

The entries are not referenced, but the concepts can be found in an entry-level psychology text. The bibliography may be developed at a later date.

Imagine that we are studying life on Earth through a very large telescope from a distant world. What patterns might we observe in the lives of humans? What might we conclude about the nature and organization of their minds, their so-called psychology?

* * *

From a systems' perspective, we inhabit highly complex and interactive food processing machines. Food is taken in, metabolized, and waste expelled (perhaps to become food for something else). Food is metabolized and becomes the fuel for what we know as thinking, feeling, moving, and the general operation of the human machine.

Food is of three types: gross food (i.e, hamburgers), air, and impressions.

The most familiar form of food is the hamburger. We must eat hamburgers or the machine will die in about two weeks. Without water and we will die in about 5 days. The quality of the functioning of our machinery requires a well-balanced diet of hamburgers.

Air is food. Prove it to yourself: hold your breath. Deprived of oxygen, the human machine will die in 5-8 minutes.

The third type of food are the impressions which stream in through our five senses. Impressions are food. Reduce or alter the sensory impressions we receive and the consequences are immediate. Cut them off altogether and we drop like a rag doll.

So here's the first big idea:

We inhabit a fantastically complex and interactive food factory, which takes in food of three types -- hamburgers, oxygen, and sensory impressions -- fueling the work of several functions: thinking, feeling, moving, and the general maintenance and operation of the physical machine.

Any change in the amount or quality of these foods results in an immediate change in the functioning and health of the machine.

Are these ideas important for children to know about and explore? How important are they? Who is it that will share these big ideas with students if not in school? What better laboratory than the classroom?

Two Senegals: The Casamance & Bassari Country

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Although California is a single American state, it is hardly homogeneous, both with respect to culture and topography. Senegal is no different. There are a great many Senegals. and we have plans to visit two of the more lush and exotic areas over our winter break, coming up in two weeks.

We have invited Almamy to join us for a two-week driving trip, heading first to SW Senegal, to a region known as the Casamance, the coastal strip located between Gambia and Guinea Bissau, then to the Bissari Country in SE Senegal. The two destinations are distinct both in culture and geography. Casamance is lush and green, with the country’s most beautiful beaches; Bissari Country is mountainous and remote. One of West Africa’s largest national parks, Niokolo Koba, is located in SE Senegal. Many of the game animals found in East Africa can be found here, such as leopards, lions, crocs, hippotami, hyenas, baboons, chimpanzees, and elephants.

In the moment, we are arranging lodging in campements (located in and generally operated by villages/villagers), guides, and transport. This trip will be our big excursion through Senegal. Before leaving Africa, there will be other must-excursions, as to Dogon Country in Mali, the Cape Verde Islands, and the new national parks of Gabon.

The Week in Review: Rocks! & Trust

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Return to Koumbal

Six of us drove down to visit the traditional marabout Yorro and his family yesterday in his village of Koumbal, located some four hours south of Dakar.

Note previous blog entries regarding Yorro and Koumbal:

It was a very pleasant visit. I delivered color photographs of the local kids taken late last spring, and, of course, Almamy distributed cookies.

We visited with Yorro for a couple of hours, during which time he consulted with each of the six of us, and fielded questions regarding his practice, and his views of health, illness, and the human body.

I came away with several noteworthy impressions.

There is a struggle to communicate, and to accurately understand one another. It is, for me, an interesting and rich aspect of being with Yorro, that of appreciating the degree to which our questions and interpretation of his responses are filtered through our particular world view.

Yorro uses the word blood, and the color of blood as being red. J and I speculated that his conception of blood, however, is different that our western view. We wondered if blood is taken as more than the liquid in veins and arteries, broadened to include life force, as a Chinese view of chi. We are not sure. Phrasing questions free of cultural bias or assumption is difficult.

Yorro explained that his medicine is a blood medicine, implying that it works systematically, affecting a seemingly unrelated constellation of symptoms. For Yorro, symptoms such as back pain and insomnia are traced to a single cause, emanating from the heart, viewed as the core of the body.

He spoke further about the inheritance of malady from ones parents, and the deep connection between parent and child. Again, he mentioned that my disposition toward upper respiratory illness was inherited from my father.

I wondered how Yorro’s life in the simplicity of a rural village, surrounded by his extended family, in the context of the Peul culture, informs his perception of health and illness. It’s not a question of if our culture shapes of perceptions, but how.

It was a privilege to observe Yorro work with several local women, most with infants, who came to consult with the doctor during our visit. Yorro did not ask us to leave; patient privacy and anonymity seemed to be of no consequence. We posed questions, always through Almamy, and Yorro responded, even during his consultations. Whether with us, or consulting with a young mother and baby, he is gentle, present, and pragmatic. He’s been treating patients for many years, and is clearly confident of his ability.

I expect to visit with Yorro several more times in the new year, with J in January, when Steve visits in February, and with Tim and the girls in March.

I am interested in bringing sketch paper down next time, to try and capture his view of the human body graphically, then share both a Western and traditional Chinese view of the same.

Yorro’s son, Ousmane, who has been apprenticing with his father, has agreed to take me out collecting the barks and leaves used in the medicine bundles Yorro dispenses. This would be a wonderful opportunity, either this year or next.