Nature and Education

This week, I watched an interesting video clip sent to me from my daughter’s school council. It was a six minute push to make sure that teachers utilized more electronic media in their classrooms to enhance the learning for students who, in fact, are doing all of their outside-of-the-classroom interactions with that same media.

What was disturbing to me was the observation that during that whole video, there was not one natural element shown. Not one single leaf, one glimpse of sky, one bird or animal. In fact, there was no single view of interaction between two people at the same time (and, certainly, not two people of different languages or cultures).

Nature continues to offer us glimpses of the unknown, the uncontrollable, the mysterious. Have we become so afraid of what we cannot understand within a sound bite minute that we are unable to dream of it being part of our learning or education process? We like to think that electronic media has widened our horizons but, in fact, that may not be the case. Certainly a half hour spent watching CNN will prove that.

As I walk around the two pieces of property that I am working on, I am struck by the incredible wealth of opportunity for study and discovery that await. As I become quiet both without and within, I begin to hear, first the loud noises of cicada like insect buzzes, harsh bird calls and echoes of human activity from surrounding hills. As I let that layer of sound become background the quieter sounds of leaves, tiny birds in thickets, and, if I am lucky, a bee foraging start to register. I wonder if there aren’t many more layers of sounds to be heard and, in a way felt. Do plants sprout and stretch silently? Are there harmonies of life that is growing which resonate with something in our bodies, our hearts and our spirits that can only mould our own melodies when we take the time to turn of the electronic and to get outside of the walls which imprison us in a false security?

How sad to see schools, churches, homes and long term care facilities built without windows, without even a modicum of opportunity to live, however briefly, outside our box but inside the embrace of a world.

Surely in a place where the Creator spends totally absurd efforts to form each snowflake, each leaf, each raindrop in unique fashion, there is room to look, learn and be in awe.

One of our board brought some organic material to fill up a composting bin that I have next to the worm bin (the idea being to compost things a bit and then give them to the worms. The “some” turned out to be over 1000 kg of rotting fruit and vegetables. We will see how that goes. Glad to have it. The bin is certainly well filled now.

A number of students are closing in on finishing their grade and that is exciting. We hope to have a small graduation ceremony in three weeks so the more the merrier. It will look good to visitors and to the government people who are checking things out.

The most exciting thing this week was having to challenge a fenceline that had been built allowing us access to one piece of property. We took the appropriate officials with us and, in twenty minutes, had an access that was the required four metres wide (as opposed to the one metre we had been given). Some quick work and we had a new line (drawn in the sand?) dug and some trees planted to help keep future attempts at bay. We were very happy that a number of neighbours stopped by to give a hand and, more importantly, give support. There are, unfortunately, often people in communities who are interested in lining their own pockets and destroying other people’s efforts. Slowly, we are working our way around these folks and getting on with things.

The neighbour’s dog is giving me some unpeaceful moments right now. Any suggestions? I am thinking a small bowl of water will help. He is, unfortunately, left without much opportunity to run around and gets rather bored. His way of addressing that is the old, “any attention is better than no attention at all” solution. Sigh. Fortunately, while I was having a nice Sunday nap in my hammock, he was silent so I have nothing to complain about.

Oh yes, almost forgot. Fanny, the thirteen year old girl who is living on our property, had her baby this week. A lovely little baby girl. She was, of course, only in the hospital for delivery and then sent home. She is at her mother’s house and was able to sit outside but was in great discomfort. I was so relieved that both baby and mother are even in reasonable shape. I do hope it stays that way. Her mother, thirty-one years old, is now a Grandmother but is still nursing her youngest. I may have to check out the cost of birth control shots.

TTYL
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