-Gustavo Dudamel
I am stepping amongst tiny yellow flowers and large fragments of shale, along a mountain ridge. The ocean stretches far to my right, the berries are ripe enough to fall from their branches, and a distant snow patch transforms into a dozen grazing mountain goats. I believe in mountains; in that things are so much greater than me, and there is more than the eye could ever see. I want to live for that something…. that is higher, bigger and better than myself. Up here, above the clouds, I can tell that the earth is round; it is the feeling that we are all connected. Just as Dudamel says in the book I am reading called, Changing Lives: Gustavo Dudamel, El Sistema, and the Transformative Power of Music, “It’s about the connection.” I wish to carry this feeling with me as I reflect on the my experiences at 2015 Juneau Basic Arts Institute (JBAI) and, as I look onward to this coming year.
At the JBAI I spent two weeks with educators from across Alaska to focus on a common goal: the integration of arts, particularly the cultural arts of Southeast Alaska. I was especially touched by the institute's emphasis on an inclusive model of integrated arts; a no-size-fits-all movement which states that the arts are for everyone.
What’s exciting here? Arts integration is not some quick fix, like celebrating aboriginal “day” or having a visual art teacher fill in a space once in a while on Friday afternoons. This is about integrating real local knowledge and culture that is significant here and now to our students. Essentially, it is about teaching the standards in a more meaningful and relevant way. Promising stuff!
Arts education is about helping our students learn and develop the skills they need to lead meaningful lives, it's about building positive student-teacher-community relationships, and it is backed up by data driven research. Thus, it is important that all of us educators were able to participate in the JBAI. What did I get out of this institute? My books are full of notes and ideas, my iTunes is filled with Tlingit folk music, my head is filled with stories, and most importantly, I have this hands-on experience with expert and compassionate local leaders: something I could never get from reading any text.
In visual art class we learned about the shapes of Tlingit formline design. We also made paper sculptures, watercolour paintings, paper maché and more. We learned to look at things with the right side of our brains; to look for shapes, and textures so that making art becomes more of a process of looking rather than drawing. Kind of like how making music is all about listening. Up in the mountains, I think of the lines and textures that make up this surreal landscape.
With Ed Littlefield we sang Tlingit folk songs like the Hook Song, which is about a halibut hook, and Haagú S’é, the story of young boys spearing dog salmon. Throughout the institute Ed brilliantly balanced a high quality music education, with movement activities and Tlingit culture. A highlight of my week was when we sang and danced on the beach to Ed's drumming. It was a very powerful experience. Later, Ruth, Sophia and I played some Tangos in the shelter in front of a nice cozy fire.
In the story of Hawk's beak I was able to make connections between many concepts that we learned about throughout the institute. I could relate the story's themes to the character strengths that we studied with Lorrie Heagy, and to our discussion on the importance of Latseen (a Tlingit value meaning strength and leadership). As soon as Frank mentioned Latseen, I thought of the story that I read at The Walter Soboleff Center about the young man who is lazy and sleeps by the fire all day. But then eventually, he is trained to be strong and discipline. The image of this man ripping a sea lion in half, gives Latseen a much deeper meaning than to just say that the word mean strength. The images that I have in my head from reading all the stories at The Walter Soboleff Center serve as an important reminder to the way in which our brains can make greater connections through stories.
I am thankful for the JBAI's emphasis on cultural appreciation, not appropriation. As a brand-new habitant of the Juneau community, it is my responsibility to recognize all people and living things from the community as the experts in their own culture; not just in folk culture, but also in deeply-rooted Indigenous ways of knowing. My responsibility is as a listener and lifelong learner. Specifically as an educator, I am committed to providing a culturally-aligned education that supports cultural strength and makes use of local knowledge. Please see the Southeast Traditional Tribal Values and the Alaska Standards for Culturally Responsive Schools for more information.
As a final project for the JBAI I created a unit as part of a three lesson series by myself, Ruth and Sophia. The unit is based on the Tlingit folk song the Hook Song, as part of an initiative to create a strong foundation of culturally significant music in JAMM classrooms. Students will listen to a recording of the Hook Song, a boy’s lullaby (Dléigu) from Clara Paraterovich, in the Tlingit language. They will learn music, movement and words based on traditional knowledge and 1st grade science standards. Later, they will learn to sing the Hook song and to play it on their violins. A future goal is to include the Hook Song in a locally collaborative school/community activity, event or performance.
Thanks to our Arts and Cognition class with Lorrie, at the core of all my experiences at the JBAI was the concept of the growth mindset from the psychologist Carol Dweck. From way up above the clouds along a jagged mountain ridge, I can see the connection between mountains and arts integrated education. It has everything to do with the growth mindset, because each step I take makes my legs stronger, and whether or not I reach a peak, the most important part about mountains is the new perspective I have gained. I do believe that climbing mountains and playing music are about becoming better people.