Module 6

How might you combine dialogic embodiment with one or more of the other practices we have discussed to explore your own sociocultural identity?

I think it might be interesting to facilitate a socio cultural identity exploration through a combination of creative writing and art making. This is something that I am working on for my imaginative project. Based on many of the readings we've encountered thus far (doing a second plug for the book I've read: Working the Margins of Community-Based Adult Learning by Shauna Butterwick and Carole Roy.), I've noticed an innate relationship between writing, making, and language. Perhaps the fine arts are tools for emotionally expressing meaning and writing provides a more concrete avenue for understanding the implications of this meaning-making.

Motter and Baldwin (2018) wrote that: In Illeris’ (2014) theory, identity is domain-specific and is holistically comprised of three layers: the stable center of core identity; the relatively stable, yet flexible, layer of personality; and the third layer, preference, which is characteristically unstable and changeable. The innermost core layer is the foundational center of identity from which the other layers emanate(p. 497).

With Illeris' theory in mind, I can see myself creating a two-part written and visual exercise where these layers can be explored visually and verbally.

For my imagination Project I am using language and materiality to explore memories of identity. To share with you all a sample of what I am working on, I pulled imagery from a memory I had during a family trip to the beach in Texas. During holidays, it is a Mexican tradition to make tamales as a family, but this is something, I think, taken care of on the mother's side of the family. Because my mother is caucasian, we didn't have the tamale tradition that I saw many friends participating in. So at the beach I made 'tamales' in the sand. The poem, I think skims a bit of the layers and the painting *snippet of it attached* actually came first before I began to write. The painting itself has sand, cornflour *masa*, and a glass particles. I thought it might be interested what happens when the visual aspect of this exercise isn't just about sight, but the materiality of it as well--the painting does smell like the masa for a tamale!

Masa

Que masa, que mas

jealous of the little chicana girls who make tamales with their abuelitas y tias

hermanas

their christmastime assembly line

their ring of aromas and laughter and song

my doughy fingers and toes grasping at sand on the beach

digging and kneading wet corn flour and stuffing my tamal with seashells and sticks

I do not know where I belong

and the waves, they crash into my little body and drag me beneath the surface of my deepest desires

in darkness,

and in darkness my breath sparkles to sky

and in darkness I am not asked where I am from

and in darkness, my mother and father reach out with wide open arms and

pull me back to shore

Take a moment to center yourself through meditative breath and silence. Once you feel you are ready, begin listening to one of the ambient audio tracks provided below. When you feel like you are ready to jump in, join the audio, filling in whatever you feel the music needs. You may chose to read a text while singing (such as a poem), or just add your own vocalized sounds.

Record your improvisation with a voice recorder of some sort. Go back and listen to your creation (share if you’d like!). Reflect on what you felt during and after the improvisation.

I think I thought about this too much haha. I decided to go with a couple of different sounds and improvise with that. I was in my apartment with my partner and dog, water was boiling for spaghetti for dinner, there was a cat meowing outside and our dog was playing. I decided to have a little fun with this a play with the sounds using Audacity. It's an extremely user-friendly audio software. Here's what I came up with. Something that I thought about after manipulating the audio was this sense of otherworldliness, which brought me back to the conversation about the film Spirited Away. Which is about this other fantastical world that exists, hidden in the present. During the improvisation it felt boring and mundane but once I was able to play around in Audacity, I felt like I unearthed some hidden sound in the everyday The sound is very chilling, but can also be read as absurd, given the original sounds. I like think this experience was metaphorical in some way. My favorite line in the reading was "Being “awake,” or in other words, being receptive, is a physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual condition that is closely related to the concept of mindfulness." Maybe this experience was a challenge and exercise towards being awake to the mundane. 

1.) I invite you to become "spect-actors" and take on the role of Mrs. Teacher speaking to the principal. Play out a new dialogue between them that could change the original scenario's outcome.

2.) As you read each others' dialogues, start to make connections and observations on how others have attempted to change Mrs. Teacher's situation. What can we learn from seeing all these different strategies for confronting oppressive situations? Do you see potential in TO's ability to transform communities? Do you anticipate any limitations to this format? 

Principle: I am not sure if what your class is 'learning' falls within our school values of academic rigor. 

Teacher: I know from an outsiders perspective this may seem a little more like fun and less like learning, but this exercise is a way to engage our students in an active and creative way. Not only are students learning to creatively improvise and interact with each other, but the learning is not just a mental process, but can be extended to a physical process as well. 

Principle: And how to do you think this will help when standardized testing is right around the corner? 

Teacher: Perhaps you'd be willing to let me put together a presentation on how this pedagogical method of embodied learning actually fosters the cognitive flexibility of our students? I have been talking with other faculty members about teaming up to lead an interdisciplinary workshop on American history through movement. Do you have time to meet in the next few weeks to discuss? 

Principle: Maybe--I'm not sure. 

Teacher: If we keep the curriculum exciting for students, this will also engage and impress the parents. These innovative approaches to learning may even be one of the key factors in attracting prospective students. 

Principle: You have two weeks to put together a presentation with the History Teacher for our next Faculty and Staff meeting. Don't let me down.