War toys
Sandra Dodd
Marty is moving out, and gave me a box of very dusty "army men" which I cleaned up, thinking I might take them to the Albuquerque Always Learning Live event this December, for the toy room. I thought some people might object. I thought some kids might be playing with toy soldiers for the first time. They have a tank and a couple of other vehicles. I cleaned it all up and set them aside.
Joyce and I are leaving for England at the end of this week, and one thing that was recommended to us was The Museum of Childhood. I wasn't enthusiastic, because I've seen one museum of toys in London (took lots of photos, have used some in Just Add Light), and one in Scotland (wasn't allowed to take photos, I learned, after taking several) and I thought.... eh...
BUT NOW, Schuyler has found something new and sent me an article. A display has recently opened on war toys. From the article in the Guardian:
-=-More than 100 objects will go on display in a show meant for adults and children. It is meant to provoke debate. "We've been careful not to come down on one side of 'are war toys good or bad?'" says co-curator Sarah Wood. "We are showing that these, mostly mass-produced, toys exist and we are putting them in context – how they have been used and how they've been perceived. We want to generate discussion and let the public have the argument."-=-
. . . .
-=-The show alludes to changing attitudes in schools, where a zero tolerance for any kind of weapon play has relaxed into allowing things as long as they are part of an imaginative, creative process and are not mimicry.-=-
So I was really interested in the displays, until I saw that last phrase. Schools pull all KINDS of policies out of their butts, but this one is a doozy.
It's okay to play with weapons in school... (or maybe fingers, or bread bitten into gun-shape, or folded paper?) IF (and only if) the child is imagining and creating, but NOT if he is mimicking something that has actually been seen or done or heard about?
But that's how children learn—acting out what they're thinking. And that's how children learn, by thinking about what they've seen, and done, and heard about, read about.
Every living-history museum involves mimicry. Every battle re-enactment involves mimicry. If a class has a field trip to the Yorvik Viking Center in the UK, or to Colonial Williamsburg in the U.S. or Archeon in the Netherlands (where Rippy is going to take me and Joyce), and he goes back to school and acts out what he saw adults re-enacting/mimicking, then, in the UK, he is breaking a rule?
That's not about learning. That's not about children. It's about control, and wishful thinking, and rules for the sake of rules.
The article is here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2013/may/19/guns-grenades-soldiers-museum-children
And for anyone new to the group or new to thinking about guns, here's an unschooling collection: http://sandradodd.com/peace/guns
Sandra
Joyce and I are leaving for England at the end of this week, and one thing that was recommended to us was The Museum of Childhood. I wasn't enthusiastic, because I've seen one museum of toys in London (took lots of photos, have used some in Just Add Light), and one in Scotland (wasn't allowed to take photos, I learned, after taking several) and I thought.... eh...
BUT NOW, Schuyler has found something new and sent me an article. A display has recently opened on war toys. From the article in the Guardian:
-=-More than 100 objects will go on display in a show meant for adults and children. It is meant to provoke debate. "We've been careful not to come down on one side of 'are war toys good or bad?'" says co-curator Sarah Wood. "We are showing that these, mostly mass-produced, toys exist and we are putting them in context – how they have been used and how they've been perceived. We want to generate discussion and let the public have the argument."-=-
. . . .
-=-The show alludes to changing attitudes in schools, where a zero tolerance for any kind of weapon play has relaxed into allowing things as long as they are part of an imaginative, creative process and are not mimicry.-=-
So I was really interested in the displays, until I saw that last phrase. Schools pull all KINDS of policies out of their butts, but this one is a doozy.
It's okay to play with weapons in school... (or maybe fingers, or bread bitten into gun-shape, or folded paper?) IF (and only if) the child is imagining and creating, but NOT if he is mimicking something that has actually been seen or done or heard about?
But that's how children learn—acting out what they're thinking. And that's how children learn, by thinking about what they've seen, and done, and heard about, read about.
Every living-history museum involves mimicry. Every battle re-enactment involves mimicry. If a class has a field trip to the Yorvik Viking Center in the UK, or to Colonial Williamsburg in the U.S. or Archeon in the Netherlands (where Rippy is going to take me and Joyce), and he goes back to school and acts out what he saw adults re-enacting/mimicking, then, in the UK, he is breaking a rule?
That's not about learning. That's not about children. It's about control, and wishful thinking, and rules for the sake of rules.
The article is here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2013/may/19/guns-grenades-soldiers-museum-children
And for anyone new to the group or new to thinking about guns, here's an unschooling collection: http://sandradodd.com/peace/guns
Sandra
iksnolbay67
In 2003 our whole family vacationed in VA & PA. At Colonial Williamsburg we paid extra for the immersive program - which meant the kids (8 and 6 at the time) were given costumes to wear for the day and assigned various tasks that would take them to different areas of the site. One of Shaun's tasks was to report for musket drills at the armory. He went and learned, with a wooden musket, how to load and fire on command. A few days later we were at Gettysburg, and the kids were doing the activities to earn a Junior Ranger badge. One of the questions was why was it important that a soldier have most of his teeth. Shaun immediately responded that it was so that they could tear open their powder cartridges while loading their guns. Since he had repeatedly imitated all of the steps during his drill back in Williamsburg he was able to use that experience and deduce the answer.
~ Christine
~ Christine
--- In [email protected], Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
> Every living-history museum involves mimicry. Every battle re-enactment involves mimicry. If a class has a field trip to the Yorvik Viking Center in the UK, or to Colonial Williamsburg in the U.S. or Archeon in the Netherlands (where Rippy is going to take me and Joyce), and he goes back to school and acts out what he saw adults re-enacting/mimicking, then, in the UK, he is breaking a rule?
>
> That's not about learning. That's not about children. It's about control, and wishful thinking, and rules for the sake of rules.
>
> The article is here:
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2013/may/19/guns-grenades-soldiers-museum-children
>
> And for anyone new to the group or new to thinking about guns, here's an unschooling collection: http://sandradodd.com/peace/guns
>
> Sandra
>