Course Module Colleagues' Blogs

3 Colleagues' Blogs


             Science Explorations

Alicia took away a great message from this module as evidenced by a quote from her blog, "It is impossible to be in a place like this without recognizing and honoring the different perspectives."  No matter where you teach, I think this is a powerful perspective from which to approach life and learning in the classroom.  Also, I love the photo at the top of your blog.  It's like an invitation to learn about Alaska and your scientific explorations therein.

chenalakesfarm

Tracy brings up an interesting point, "When spirituality connects with science, violence usually ensues."  I was thinking the same thing when considering how compartmentalized a Western viewpoint can be.  Might this clash also be due to a tendency in Western science to rely on experts who control knowledge rather than a less hierarchical approach in which knowledge is shared?  Your connection with the Salem Witch Trials is a good one. 

Explore Alaska

Thanks for the many thought-provoking reflections and questions you posed on your blog.

One that I really connected with was what E.H. said about a "dissimilarity in worldviews" that "leaves the individual in a place apart from the web".  One theme that kept occurring to me when watching the videos "People of the Arctic" and "The Spirit of Subsistence Living" was that of purpose.  It seems that when your learning is so connected to all aspects of your life and embedded in your survival that the question of your purpose would be more easily resolved.  So often in the classroom we have to stop and ask ourselves, or explain to our students, why we are teaching something.   Because what we are doing seems so disconnected with the rest of our students lives, this question of purpose comes up again and again.  Wouldn't it be wonderful to get to a place where what you are doing is so intertwined that the connection is inherent?