Wonders at work

Working in a kindergarten, everyday we are outdoors with the children a bit.
And as there is a sandpit, they like to play in it of course!

But why does it happen that I find sand in my hair everyday after work?
It is something that keeps puzzling me....and I thought of several possibilities on the why and how:

1. It just comes from the cover on top of the sandpit, that protects against sunlight. When helping to clean up, it drizzles down on the head.
2. Children throw sand on me without me even noticing.
3. I secretly enjoy the sand and put it on my hair, once again without me noticing.
4. There are little fairies that fly around and drizzle sand on everyone!

Especially number 4 might be true.... as I often find myself covered in glitter, too!

Third culture kids

What is a third culture kid?
Well, basically it means the parents are from one (or even two) countries, but living in another. Therefore, the child grows up in a culture  that is different from their parents.
With this, there come unique challenges and opportunities, for parents as well as children!

Here are two articles describing it a bit further:

What is a third culture kid

The 10 biggest struggles

27 states of emotion

Researchers of the Berkeley University have created an interactive map that shows 27 distinct types of emotion, in contrast to assumed 6 common ones: happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, fear and disgust.  

In this article by Yasmin Anwar you can find the interactive map, as well as further information on the proceedings of the research.

Just the interactive map you can find here.

Is anything really truly "ours"?

While this question obviously is not being asked in everyday life, still it can give a good starting point to think about the value of possessions and we define as "mine" and "yours" or "theirs" and "ours". So let me just give this little trail of thoughts, and let you decide where it leads to:

That favorite book/DVD/game that lies there in your shelf...is it really truly yours? Sure you bought it with money, but you didn't really make it by yourself, right? Neither did you produce the money nor the DVD. You worked so you could get the money that has been produced (mainly by machines), to buy something that has been produced (mainly by machines). And if you have the knowledge to make the book? Well, then you still have to get the paper that someone else made. If you can make the paper by yourself too, you still have to cut down the tree, not to mentioned the materials for the needed tools. And before the tree can grow to the size where it can be used to make paper, first has to be planted. And so on. In the end, close to everything that we one we have thanks to the common effort of several people involved.

So when children are starting to learn the conceptions of 'mine' and 'yours', what should they actually be taught? Of course it is accepted that toys they bring from home are theirs, and they can decided who can play with it. On the same time, it is simply assumed and requested that the toys at kindergarten are those of everyone, with no specific child as an owner! Especially at the beginning time, when coming newly into such a group, a child can be confused about it. Everything was their own, so why is it not the way now? Oh it's not mine, then just let me break it, if it's not mine, no one can have it! (Unfortunately, there are even adult who still have this way of thought)

Maybe instead of teaching about ownership and rules concerning it, it would be more important and appropriate to start off with showing and teaching that every living being and object has to be treated with care and respect! If we knew and trusted that the other side also uses our items with care, we might be inclined to share it much easier.

Eventually, such kind of understanding also might help with the discussions about digital ownership, rights to ideas, concepts and inventions, etc. 

A fresh start for a new academic year

Whether the new academic year has started for you already, will soon or is already half way through, I wish all students, teachers and educators a successful  'new year'!

Everyday we can learn new things and make new experiences. And as teachers, most importantly, we can also learn from our students, as well as the good and the bad days! Explore something new each day! 

And on and on...

You get to know new students, become a good group, with all its ups and downs in between. Then, before you realize it, the time with those students comes to an end.
Next, you get new students, and the 'fight' starts all over again, as a teacher or educator, you grow to love your students, and eventually you have to say 'goodbye'. And on and on.
And yet, it is not only the students that learn something during the time! You yourself do as well, and it's always a joy to see the little kids growing and ready for their next steps of life.
In the end, all those goodbyes don't matter so much, cause you know you have helped built their lives, in one way or other...and eventually you might learn what became of them. And instead of just one or two kids, you can be proud of so many more, more and more!

(Just a little motivational thought for the summer holidays)

Daily rituals - development and meaning

A translation of one of the essays that i wrote for my oral exam of my Masters degree:

In science, at first rituals have only been connected with the religious area. But by now there is a number of theories and definitions on what a "ritual" is supposed to be, how they are developed and what usage they might have. David J. Krieger collected some of them in his handbook "Ritualtheorien (ritual theories), written in 1998. The amount of essays ranges from theories of the construction of rituals to visualizing the rituals by means of cultural and social events, for example, soccer play. Still, even today rituals are mainly asssosiated with big events, and less with our daily lives. But even here rituals can surely be found.

To further discuss this, there first has to be shown how rituals can be developed and how theoretical constructions of them are understood. Durkheims theory, that has been shown in the handbook, tells that rituals are ways, to socially appropriate and condition individual perception and behaviour. Rituals are supposed to construct common ideals and therefore to confirm and validate society. Thus,  they are used as a mediation device between individuals, to connect them as a group and society. In this, there is a differentiation between three levels: Micro, meso and makrolevel, which all have different functions.

While the macrolevel indeed is connected with "big ceremonies", the mesolevel is directed to the behaviour and conduction and the microlevel is relatead to speech. In daily life, the last two are of meaning, behaviour as well as speech. To conclude, daily rituals can be put into the micro- as well as mesolevel.

But still, through this levels alone, rituals still cannot be defined completely. Before it has been noted that rituals can help to confirm society. But for this confirmation to happen, rituals need to have a symbolic meaning. If rituals are overstepped, be it on purpose or unknowingly, the society and its order is questioned. But whether there is also a practical usage behind rituals, is another matter. This is more likely in daily life than in big events. 

Most rituals develop through habit, as well as the opposite, rituals can develop habits. Routiniued daily activities are not neccessarly rituals. But they will be transformed to ritual acts, if they are followed with a certain ritual attitude. Surely in daily life these boundaries are interchangeable, and for a surveillours point of view it will always be hard to determine whether someone is making a ritual or simply a routinized task. It cannot be seen purely on the practical benefit.

If rituals in daily life are developed through socialisation and habitualisation, it is not possible to withdraw from them, be it with interhuman communications or when using objects. Even making coffee in the morning, or the way of greeting when arriving at work already can be rituals. Even if the original meaning behind an action has been lost, it still is possible to continue to conduct a ritual. It is not only the action itself that makes the ritual, but the routinized and ritualised partial steps of a task.

When rituals are developed, they can determine unwritten roules in interhuman behaviours and relationships. Through the internalized knowledge of these rituals the living together between people is made easier. The conduction of rituals does not need to be done consciously, but still rituals can give security and confidence. The breaking of rituals can also disrupt old structures and give possibilities to see new points of views. Therefore rituals are purposeful, but it can be just as important to consciously divert from them.

Rituals are strongly connected with their related cultures. As example, there are different daily rituals in Japan, Germany or America. The rituals of the own culture usually are so internalized that they can be done without thinking, and this is an even stronger impression when being in a different culture. This breaking of habits and knowledge is not only negative: it gives possibility to see and reflect on ones own culture and its daily ritual habits.

Therefore, the knowledge about rituals in day to day life can indeed have a practical usage in (inter)cultural education and the mediation and exchange between cultures.

The original one is in German language, so please bear with writing or grammar mistakes.