EOS - Interdisciplinary Program - How to be an Explorer of the \"World\"

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15/16 year olds

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FTE learners

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2 sessions/year - 4 nests/session

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3+1 courses / session

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DISCUSSION TO 6th August from emails
Hello All

the key that strikes me in these matters you have brought to the table Diane is:

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\"they tend to procrstinate without clear expectation\".

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That is another way of expressing the need for generation of clear form that I always seem to be favouring. We need enough structure, specifically of a kind that enables interest to be ignited, and which then guides the energy generated into the creation of artefacts.

(from Italian artefatto, from Latin ars, arte (“art” “by skill” ) + factum (“thing made”), from facere \"to make\") artifact (plural artifacts)

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An object made or shaped by human hand.
An object of archaeological or historical interest, especially such an object found at an archaeological excavation.(such as a tool, weapon or ornament,)
Something viewed as a product of human conception or agency rather than an inherent element. \n
- \"The very act of looking at a naked model was an artifact of male supremacy\" (Philip Weiss).
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An object made or shaped by some agent or intelligence, not necessarily of direct human origin.)

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I see that the content we are putting forward will generate interest, and with this, enthusiasm. Enthusiasm fuels the will - the will which is intrinsic to the occurrence, (or not), of what we call procrastination.

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Enthusiasm: Noun

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enthusiasm (plural enthusiasms)

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Possession by a god; divine inspiration or frenzy. [quotations ▼] \n
- 1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, ch. 1
  The intoxication that they sought was that of ‘enthusiasm’, of union with the god.
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Intensity of feeling; excited interest or eagerness. First attested from 1603, from Ancient Greek ἐνθουσιασμός, from ἔνθεος (“possessed by a god”), from ἐν (“in”) + θεός (“god”).

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One of the strengths of SDH is the capacity for generating enthusiasm.

This means we are pretty certain to fan the fires of learning - what we need is the cauldron (I refer back to the image of the crucible here) which can contain the learner\'s process, allow it to heat up let\'s say to a point of transformation, without bubbling out the pot (distractions, dispersal of energy => procrastination).

We need a form that is clear enough for all to participate in readily with ease - and flexible enough to shift as we learn from the process.
I know this is the eternal question - (!)
what could be of help to bring it into action within our immediate experience is - finding the right questions to ask.
A question could be: \"What is the most appropriate form in which to contain the learners\' process during these intensives - thereby enabling education\'s potential for transformation to fulfill itself?\"
(Or something like that<:)

It is rather like our own human existence - we need a body in which to contain all that is ourselves - so that we have some form in which to meet the ceaseless movement of experience in which we are immersed.

We are right now constructing the body of EOS with our responses and ideas. Building the bones and laying down the channels through which the life fluid of this transformative educational process can flow. In a way we could say we are building with our minds an earthly form for the Goddess of the Dawn no less(!), to occupy, a form through which the principles embodied by this cultural artefact /legend to manifest themselves.

Another question: What are these principles?
Looking closer at the archetype informing the legend we find: In Greek mythology, Eos (/ˈ iː .ɒ s/ or /ˈ iː .ɑː s/; is the dawn goddess, Eos with \"rosy fingers\" who rose from her home at the edge of Oceanus, the ocean that surrounds the world, to open the gates of heaven and herald Helios, the Sun her brother, so that he could ride his chariot across the sky every day.

Eos is sister of Helios the sun and Selene the moon, \"who shine upon all that are on earth and upon the deathless Gods who live in the wide heaven\". Hesiod told in Theogony (371-374).
Quintus Smyrnaeus pictured her exulting in her heart over the radiant horses (Lampos and Phaithon) that drew her chariot, amidst the bright-haired Horae, (the Hours), climbing the arc of heaven and scattering sparks of fire.
In Homer, her saffron-coloured robe is embroidered or woven with flowers; rosy-fingered and with golden arms, she is pictured as a supernaturally beautiful woman, crowned with a tiara or diadem, and with the large white-feathered wings of a bird.

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That brightest of stars appeared, Eosphoros, that most often heralds the light of early-rising Dawn (Eos Erigeneia).

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—Odyssey xiii.93

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Hesiod wrote:

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And after these Erigeneia [\"Early-born\"] bore the star Eosphoros (\"Dawn-bringer\"), and the gleaming stars with which heaven is crowned.
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—Theogony 378-382
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Thus Eos, preceded by the Morning Star Venus, is seen as the genetrix of all the stars and planets; her tears are considered to have created the morning dew, personified as Ersa/Herse.

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Eos is the daughter of Pallas (Titan god of war slain by Athena thus her title Pallas Athena) and Styx,

Styx supported Zeus in the Titanomachy where she was the first to rush to his aid. For this reason her name was given the honor of being a binding oath for the gods. Styx is a Naiad, associated with the river Styx, of which many know its name, without knowing its origin or what it really stood for.

Styx is a river that separates the world of the living from the world of the dead. Styx it is said winds around Hades (hell or the underworld are other names) nine times. Its name comes from the Greek word stugein which means hate, Styx, the river of hate. This river was so respected by the gods of Greek mythology that they would take life binding oaths just by mentioning its name, as referenced in the story of Bacchus-Ariadne, where Jove \"confirms it with the irrevocable oath, attesting the river Styx.\"

If a god gave his oath upon the river Styx and failed to keep his word, Zeus forced that god to drink from the river itself. The water is said to be so foul that the god would lose his/her voice for nine years. The river is not the subject of any story itself but is mentioned in several. These little pieces give insight into the river, and also into the ancient Greeks view of the underworld. From its Adamantine gates to its separate levels of Tartarus and Erebus onto the Elysian fields.

Mighty world wielding principles are these!
Eos is connected to opening the vault of night to bring in the light of the sun (consciousness?). She rides with her companions the Hours (time management!), scattering sparks of fire (assignments?) that enable the generation of something new (a dawn) to come from the impulses we experience as human beings.
Such as loyalty and honour, respect, being bound by oath to respect the cutting edge of ethics.
And also of war (conflicted feelings, confusion, aggressive responses) and hate (revulsion towards, absence of love, to dislike intensely or passionately; extreme aversion, extreme hostility; detest:

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to be unwilling)

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The \'outcomes\' of such a process is the creating of widened perspectives so as to be able to see, feel, know and do in new ways. These are new ways, as they are informed by an integration of many levels of our consciousness, to create new perspectives. The integration of new knowledge is drawn from deepening our understanding through personal encounter with both the light dark elements of our life experience, both individual experience and as a collective. The encounter with these titanic forces is made safe through their being encoded - in the nests, the topics, the content and the way this is packaged, eg. stories used, questions asked. Creating the nests is like writing the code that binds these titanic forces into symbolic form, which will then be decoded and worked with during the assignments, discussions, sharing and assessment.

Okay - I am stopping now!

Barbarah - you entioned putting this back onto the EOS discussion forum. Can you direct us - give the link here so we can do that before this email exchange gets any longer?

Best to all
Marcelle

On Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 2:29 PM, Diane Walters <dianew77@gmail.com> wrote:
Hey all,
I spoke with two families who attended the EOS evening and one family who intends to enroll but didn\'t come to the mtg. All are highly interested yet hold deep and strong concerns about academic readiness and too much independent \\self design\' time which they know doesn\'t work for them at this time as they tend to procrstinate without clear expectation. I thought this feedback may prove useful to use while preparing our \'nests\' . Math and higher science is at the core of the concerns/questions.
I look forward to working with this idea through the Second Session Agriculture/ which I would like to bring Gaiasophy (earth Science) into the picture and learning outcomes. I have ideas about working with local community Gardens and the Eco Society during this time but may need more than 3 weeks.
My questions:
Have we planned for a Spring Break (one of the queries posed at the mtg) and can I extend the Agriculture/Gaiasophy into 4 weeks?
onward,
Diane

On Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 8:18 PM, Marcelle Edwards <lapazmarcelle@gmail.com> wrote:
yes - it is growing conscious of each - that is learning.

On Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 5:16 PM, Alison Talbot Kelly <alison@selfdesignhigh.org> wrote:
i like both - they do different things, have diff roles.

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and, so worth exploring with youth themselves!

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On 4-Aug-11, at 11:46 AM, Marcelle Edwards wrote:

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pro·voke/prəˈvōk/Verb

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1. Stimulate or give rise to (a reaction or emotion, typically a strong or unwelcome one) in someone: \"the decision provoked a storm of protest\".

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2. Stimulate or incite (someone) to do or feel something, esp. by arousing anger in them: \"a teacher can provoke you into working harder\".

a archaic : to arouse to a feeling or action b : to incite to anger. 2. a : to call forth (as a feeling or action) : evoke <provoke laughter> b : to stir up ...
Provoke definition, to anger, enrage, exasperate, or vex.

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in·spire/inˈspī(ə)r/Verb

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1. Fill (someone) with the urge or ability to do or feel something, esp. to do something creative: \"his enthusiasm inspired them\".

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2. Create (a feeling, esp. a positive one) in a person: \"inspire confidence\".
Inspire definition, to fill with an animating, quickening, or exalting influence:
Definition: 1. to cause a strong feeling or reaction, usually positive; 2. to provide inspiration by being encouraging or admired.

Which is most supportive of developing and supporting the idealism of youth into feeling engaged and empowered to do?

Marcelle

On Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 3:40 PM, Alison Talbot Kelly <alison@selfdesignhigh.org> wrote:
nice additions Marcelle. great quotes to jump from

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not sure this needs to be in the intro blurb: could be what the youth digest first thing and then off they go.

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i like the intro as is - it should provoke and if it doesn\'t then this needs to be looked at!

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atk

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On 4-Aug-11, at 11:26 AM, Marcelle Edwards wrote:

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Hi Jonathan et al.

Agreed on the ideas you put forward here - so very well expressed.
Still don\'t see the need for SDH to put forward that same arrogance in wording coming from SDH -

here is a suggestion of what I would do to introduce this idea:
Quote Piranesi: \"I need to produce great ideas, I believe that were I given the planning of the universe I would be made enough to undertake it.\"
And using a quote like this, jump-off the process that makes the \'irresistible cultural meme\' you mention more transparent. This trait is not just modern, its historical. What is the evidence of this in the past? - and the present equivalencies?

Included here would be mention of Hubris \'our fatal flaw\'.
And also, that it is our flaws that lead to the greatest transformations...

Alternative translation:
\"I need to produce great ideas, and I believe that if I were commissioned to design a new universe, I would be mad enough to undertake it.\"

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Source: Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–1778) | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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On Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 11:38 AM, Jonathan Taylor <jetnelson2009@gmail.com> wrote:
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Dear Barb
I am feeling the need to respond to the comment in blue, in the Biodesign nest.
The intention of the wording is precise -- to be attractive, evocative, provocative, and yes, a little arrogant.
This is an invitation into the inquiry about the relationship between \"nature\" (self-arising and uncontrived} and \"design\" (intelligent creative intentional purpose-driven, brought about by a \'natural\' human). Thus, the canard about \'intelligent designer\' as an explanation for the universe/world as it is. There will be, in the lives of our learners, an irresistible cultural meme that asserts we have the capacity and wisdom to \'improve\' the environment through geoengineering, attempting to off-set climate change. Already, GM agriculture asserts that intelligent genetic design (by humans) is the way out of world hunger, and so it goes. We humans are anthropocentric designers, tool-makers, and extraordinarily powerful creators. The commentator\'s response is appropriate and represents hopefully the kind of observation that would come from a learner.
Cheers,
Jonathan

Jonathan Taylor, PhD
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RadiantPath Coaching
702 Observatory
Nelson BC V1L 4Z1
(250) 354-7511 [c]
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On Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 00:08, Barbarah Nicoll <barbarahnicoll@selfdesign.org> wrote:
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Hi all,
we held our first EOS information evening and 3 youth and their families attended.
Lots of great questions and request.
The strongest request was for more time- a 10 to 3 day three times a week rather than 3 afternoons a week. Plus a workshop class for math and science (one in each session).

The enrollment needed to support this is at least 12 learners- and moving to a longer day will have ramifications, although I do understand the desire to have more form.

At this point I want to encourage you to consider this flow for the first session, and to begin preparing your \"nest\".
I think that we will start in Moodle, although I am trying to clarify if the new community SD site will be ready for us to use as well. Either way we will use Moodle to build the resources and for the learners portfoloi\'s.
Please let me know if you are still interested/planning to offer this. It could be that we have 9 - five hour days to work with.
The learning outcomes are being organized by one of our alumni, and then we will need to take it further to plan for artifacts that the learners will create that show their learning related to the learning outcomes.

EOS Session One
Sept 12 to 16 Orientation week- getting to know each other
who will help with this?
Independent Study Project, guardian mentor assignment, learning plan creation, choosing the types of artifacts and overview of assessment.

Nests

1.)Thought Into Action: Amber & (Marcelle?) Alison?
Sept 19 - Oct 7
\"Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow\"
— T.S. Eliot, from The Hollow Men

What are the reasons for the gap between thought and action?
What tools /resources needed to overcome this gap?
Introduce methodologies in brief, and Participative Action Research methodology in particular.
Also - what kind of action? What kind of thought? Quality of these.
\"It is not the brains that matter most, but that which guides them — the character, the heart, generous qualities, progressive ideas.\"
— Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Marcelle

2.)Anatomy, Physiology and Mystery: Barbarah Nicoll, Elizabeth Natchwey Oct 10 to 28
In this nest we will investigate how we understand the human body through Chinese Medicine, Western Medicine, and other traditions that interest the group. We will come to understand our basic human anatomy and physiology, and then touch into the realm of mystery ... through the work of HeartMath, IONS and other interesting people and organizations that catch our attention.

3.)BioDesign: Jonathan & Anita?, Marcelle
Anita Levesque and Jonathan Taylor - Marcelle Edwards very interested in this as well. See: Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future especially section on Design.

Biodesign is an investigation into the ‘design wisdom’ of natural systems, living things. We can learn a great deal about the natural world when we seek to design our buildings, machines, art and vehicles in ways that mimic or make use of the ways that living things work. Biodesign will stimulate your thinking, sharpen your powers of observation, teach you about the science we base our lives on, and allow you to imagine the unimaginable. Drawing, model-making, research, writing and sharing will help you to strengthen your investigation and communication skills. How would you design a new artificial planet so it would work as well (or better) than Earth does? (I would watch out for this wording - we don\'t even know how Earth works yet, apart from that it is a complex interdependence of systems both fragile and tenacious...the idea of designing a new planet is good - but to put it in these words seems arrogant at worst, and not conducive to respect for what is here at least.) Do you ever wonder if you could fly like a bird – what would it take? Can we design our buildings so that they work like a plant – following the sun, growing, making their own fuel from sunlight, generating oxygen and absorbing carbon dioxide? What if the roof of our house was a source of food? This is only the very beginning of the possibilities in Biodesign!

4.) World Shapes, World Views: David Russell Lowen & Alison Talbot Kelly
What Shape is YOUR world?
- explore the components of worldviews - values, beliefs, understanding of relationships
- inquire into forces shaping worldviews - family, culture, media, education, power
- explore clashing worldviews and move toward where deeper understanding/respect might reduce the conflict
- when worldviews clash this becomes an obstacle to bringing about change (social justice, environmental etc). How to navigate this?

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