“A number of blind men came to an elephant. Somebody told them that it was an elephant. The blind men asked, ‘What is the elephant like?’ and they began to touch its body. One of them said: ‘It is like a pillar.’ This blind man had only touched its leg. Another man said, ‘The elephant is like a husking basket.’ This person had only touched its ears. Similarly, he who touched its trunk or its belly talked of it differently. In the same way, he who has seen the Lord in a particular way limits the Lord to that alone and thinks that He is nothing else.”
This story is told in many cultures all over the world – see other versions HERE
INTRODUCTION:
It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of story/narrative, both in life generally and in my SunWALK model in particular. We are a set of stories. We live in sets of community-stories. We mature according to the stories to which we subscribe. Planning is just a projected narrative. The past we choose to have is a story adjusted.
In the SunWALK (human-centred studies) model stories are
the glue that makes of the parts a whole
the means for structuring experience in communities
bridges for the flow of culture
the primary act of mind
sources of healing and mystical at-one-ment and connective flow
sources of imagination and creativity
the means by which we come to understand who we are and what we represent
where the three forms of truth-telling can come together – the poetic, the objective and the moral
the means for constructing education cetred on being human, in the world with others
the means for creative the curriculum framework
STORY and NARRATIVE:
Stories Lives Tell; Narrative and Dialogue in Education is a study of the centrality of narrative in the work that teachers and other educators do. The three themes of the book are central to the SunWALK model. They are: that story and narrative are primary tools in the educator’s work; that education requires one to take seriously the quest for life’s meaning and the care for persons; and that narrative and dialogue can serve as teaching and learning models that transcend the boundaries of disciplines, professions, and cultures.
Witherell, Carol and Noddings, Nel, (Eds.) (1991) Stories Lives Tell; Narrative and Dialogue in Education, NY: Teachers College Press
MYTHS:
“…man is in his actions and practice, as well as in his fictions, essentially a story-telling animal” MacIntyre takes the view that we/humanity are in the midst of a story & that is through the story/ies that we understand each other and ourselves. MacIntyre p 201
Storytelling according to Chinua Achebe, the Ibo novelist is “the basis of our existence – who we are, what we think we are, what people say we are, what other people think we are.” John Windsor The Inde 20.8.94
Myth is where the Muse lives – it is from here we get our creativity. We need to experience life as a poem.
Through mythology we are not seeking truth we are seeking an experience of being alive in a great wholeness. Aunt Jane.
All stories consist of – Exposition:Conflict:Resolution
Narrative has been described as a primary act of mind; children construct their world through story…. This process should be an active experience, involving questioning, problem solving, hypothesising and imagining.’ Cox Report English 5-11, Nov. 1988
FIRST SITUATION Man in the World and with The World, Nature and Culture – Freire
“Through the discussion of this situation – man as a being of relationships – the participants arrive at the distinction between two worlds: that of nature and that of culture. They perceive the normal situation of man as a being in the world and with the world, as a creative and re-creative being who, through work, constantly alters reality.” – Paulo Friere, p.63, Education: The Practice of Freedom
FROM ‘HARD TIMES’ a novel by Charles Dickens
This tells everything about holism, and the three voices of being human – the Creative ‘I’ voice, the Critical ‘I’ voice and the Caring-moral ‘WE’ voice;
“Its father as calls me Sissy , sir,” returned the young girl in a trembling voice, and with another curtsey.
“Then he has no business to do it,” said Mr Gradgrind. “Tell him he mustn’t. Cecilia Jupe. Let me see. What is your father?”
“He belongs to the horse-riding, if you please sir.” Mr Gradgrind frowned, and waved off the objectionable calling with his hand.
“We don’t want to know about that , here. You mustn’t tell us about that, here. Very well, then. Describe your father as a horsebreaker. He doctors sick horses, I dare say?”
“Oh yes, sir.”
“Very well then. He is a veterinary surgeon, a farrier and horse-breaker. Give me your definition of a horse.”
(Sissy Jupe thrown into the greatest alarm by this demand.)
“Girl number twenty unable to define a horse!” said Mr Gradgrind, for the general behoof of all the little pitchers. Girl number twenty possessed of no facts, in reference to one of the commonest of animals! Some boy’s definition of a horse. Bitzer yours.”…………………..
Bitzer,” said Thomas Gradgrind. “Your definition of a horse.”
“Quadruped. Graminivorous. Forty teeth, namely twenty-five grinders, four eye-teeth, and twelve incisive. Sheds coat in the spring; in marshy countries, sheds hoofs, too. Hoofs hard, but requiring to be shod with iron. Age known by marks in mouth.” thus (and much more) Bitzer.
“Now girl number twenty, said Mr Gradgrind. “You know what a horse is.”
SOME ADDITIONAL SOURCES
http://www.stevedenning.com/What_story.html
Ver: 8th July 2009
Recently, a cancer victim friend of mine wrote to me of her thoughts and feelings expressed in a short piece of prose. Her piece was called ‘Fighting the Dragons’ and I reproduce here for you…
The simplest energy efficiency and renewables actions – taken seriously – can carry us right across ‘the energy gap’ – in one single bound! There is so much bad news around climate chaos that it is easy to lose heart. We are so ‘hooked’ on the belief that we ‘need’ vast amounts of energy to live decent lives that we all shun tackling the root of the problem.
Remould – Fair Trade Clothing is run by Cathy Tiffany from her shop in New Mills, Derbyshire. Cathy wanted to sell alternative fashion to local people who had an interest in ethical and Fair Trade clothing. Cathy has recently expanded her range to children’s wear and is working hard to develop her online business to reach a wider spectrum of ethically minded people.
The other evening I was at home relaxing watching television and an old episode of ‘Airport’ came on. I always enjoyed the series. It always reminds me of my times of travel and excitement and of seeing people bustling on the concourse and feeling my hopes rising and feeling as though my dreams are appearing through the mist of uncertainty and becoming more solid. Watching the screen you see such a diversity of travellers and then all the staff of Heathrow [it could be any airport really]. The end credits to ‘Love Actually’ always come to mind as well when watching this program.
Public participation is a key ingredient to sustainability in tourism. Raising public awareness requires strong political leadership.
Do you ever have the feeling that you’re being lied to about just don’t know what? That there’s something wrong with the way society defines your success, but you just can’t put your finger on it? Do you question that there has to be more to life than getting a job, making some money, working until you’re sixty, then retiring to the country
You may well have read last October on this web site an article I wrote entitled “A Bridge in Life”. If not, you can still see it or you can even email me for a copy. In the article I wrote about my being a retired Police Officer and the dangers I faced on a daily basis ~ the journey of my life through and from that phase ~ and my soulful expression these days through my work, interactions with people and my written poetry and prose.
I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to meet some of the most inspiring possible people. These people are not famous (yet), they are not especially rich or successful (yet), but they do have one thing in common.
Increased land fill taxes. Rising energy prices. Emissions taxes. Unpredictable weather. For most of our lives the environment has been a more or less free resource to be used and abused at will. That situation has changed and that means changes in the way we run our businesses.
New Consumers change the world via the High Street as Fairtrade becomes a habit of a lifestyle so Fairtrade producers get a fair deal. It’s Fairtrade Fortnight 6-19 March, and New Consumer, the UK’s leading Fairtrade and ethical lifestyle magazine, is celebrating the achievement of new consumers as you continue to fuel a Fairtrade Revolution. You are changing the world, by taking ten small, easy steps to support Fairtrade a proven, practical way to alleviate poverty.
http://www.teachers.tv/video/22401
Soul Needs - One Garden 