education and our classroom

When we think about it, for most of human history Nature has been our "classroom" where we learned and developed as a species. Our ancient clocks were to be found in sun, seasons, solstices and equinoxes, and thus we lived our lives at a more "natural" pace. Until the Industrial Revolution and consequent urbanization, education involved significant time spent outdoors in a variety of activities depending on social class. Farming, hunting, working with animals, martial arts and exploration would engage all of our senses and require a complex array of embodied intelligences.

As changes in technology caused massive demographic shifts, rural workers displaced by new agricultural technologies, moved from open fields to factories in cities rigidly controlled by the ubiquitous but nearly subconscious clock.





"hurry up please,
it's time!"




Naturally, with such massive socioeconomic changes it would be reasonable and necessary to deploy some kind of organizational plan to encourage smooth social interaction, but the priorities of industry came to dominate the worker and the landscape as factory life and home life became increasingly Taylorized and our lives became gradually infused with measurement in the name of an unquestioned "efficiency."


In one of the film-texts we discuss over the semester, the 1936 semi-silent classic film Modern Times in which Charlie Chaplin creates a hilarious (sometimes horrific) exploration of the impact of technology on the body of the worker. Though the film could have had full sound, Chaplin significantly chose to give voice only to certain "characters," a touch pregnant with relevance for today. The link above contains the whole movie and the first 15 minutes is worth a peek, but the whole movie should be seen on full-size DVD for best results. Though EARTH Lodge emphasizes the necessity of outdoor education, when in class we also engage with a variety of Web 2.0 technologies both as critical viewers and thoughtful creators rather than merely passive consumers of web content. This blog is an example of the variety of our explorations and one example of the media we use.



Today, though many progressive teachers are breaking old patterns and deploying new ones, the impact of the Industrial Revolution still echoes in our emphasis on tightly scheduled clock time, obsessive productivity and rigidly arranged classrooms with rows of desks all facing forward, facing the sole source of authoritative information. This is not an arrangement that encourages engagement or honors the knowledge brought by the student. Often this arrangement can stifle creativity and promote passivity.


This is the limited model EARTH Lodge seeks to transcend.


There may or may not be such a thing as Nature Deficit Disorder, but it's not hard to see how disconnected we are becoming from Nature since most of us cannot build a fire, construct a shelter or grow our own food as our ancestors have done for most of human history. It may be worthwhile reconsidering whether our current relationship to technology enhances or detracts from our evolutionary potential. If adaptation is the crucial behavior for survival and evolution, are we becoming more able to adapt?

These are some of the questions, ideas and issues we explore in our American Literature course "Natural Reflections in Fiction and Nonfiction" where we examine a variety of texts in terms of their literary qualities as well as their contribution to our reflections about humanity and our relationship to nature and technology. These readings and discussions are enhanced by outdoor activities and other events specifically planned and executed by Lodge members.

We have had City Naturalist Ralph White come to speak to us about the significance of the geology of the falls of the James River and the importance of grassroots involvement in the parks. In the second semester of the EARTH Lodge year we work on projects througout Richmond's 500+ acre James River Park System. Sometimes we meet for class down by the river, or take a dip on a hot day after classes. The nearby Pony Pasture Park section is 130 acres of riparian woodland that is home to deer, fox, raccoon, beaver, turtles, squirrels, possum and dozens of species of birds. To the close observer, the area is full of intriguing signs and information relevant to our readings...and our other courses!

swimming, fishing, boating, birdwatching...

reflecting on seed
deployment technology

remnants of a meal??

can you spot the
paw-paw fruit in
the leaves below?

Mallards cruising up river

EARTH Lodge begins the semester on the Friday before classes start with a pre-semester retreat to learn new skills, get to know each other and discuss our readings for the course. The 2008 crew rented a CCC cabin at Doyles River in Shenandoah National Park and discovered just how comfortable life can be in the absence of modern technologies....well, except for the outhouse - now that was heinous!





Note: EARTH Lodge is not for everyone and it may not be for you if you:
*only want to be in Lakeview but don't care about the Lodge
*are over-scheduled so you cannot make most of the trips
*are not interested in forming community
*are resistant to regular outdoor experiences
*prefer to take direction than initiative
*dislike being challenged intellectually, socially and physically


If you're interested in learning more, come join me for a Fire Circle at "Owl's Nest" on Friday 2/13 6-7PM. We're at 7313 Longview Drive just above Pony Pasture. Cross Huguenot, take 1st right after bridge and turn Right on to Riverside Dr.
Continue past Pony Pasture parking lot (on left) and bear Right at Yeild sign to take the next Left on to Longview Drive. We're at the crest of the hill on the right, past Longview Ct.
Look for the Spider flag.

Hope to see you there!
(hot drinks will be provided)

creativity, survival & evolution

Though we don't often think about it, creativity is essential for our survival and evolution, both as individuals and as a species. One of the functions of the EARTH Lodge program is to provide an environment for creative expression and the inspiration to pursue it. For example, in the original Lodge (then called "Outdoor House") local artist Cristian Koshock came by to teach us about hand-building clay pottery, and this past equinox local teacher and community activist Ram Bhagat educated us about rhythm and drumming in the gazebo on Westhampton Lake.

And, in EARTH Lodge, "Creative expression" is a broad term that includes conversation, writing or dance as well as digital creations such as this group video composed by '08 Lodge members:"The Creativity Project." Lodge members also pursue more material creations such as linoleum block printing. This print, created by '08 Lodge member Jimmy Rague, is a good example of such a print. As we race into the digital age, elder technologies often slip away unnoticed and we are the poorer for it. Is there a good reason why we cannot retain the best of the old as we more thougtfully select and embrace the new? Why shouldn't we know how to build a fire as well as a website?

One of the unique aspects of EARTH Lodge is that the goal of more thoughtful engagement with technology and nature for the purpose of collecting a full quiver of skills, both old and new, that have joyful as well as practical purposes. In a time of crisis when the "experts" and promoters of orthodox economic,social and intellectual practices have been proven so wrong, it can be empowering to develop and exercise creative thinking for truly new solutions while learning practical new skills, both primitive and high tech - a mixture that enhances our ability to adapt and survive in a wider variety of circumstances.

Real learning involves far more than just reading and writing, although these are obviously essential. In his 1837 address to the Phi Beta Kappa Society at a Cambridge graduation, Emerson noted that the three main influences upon the mind are that of nature, books and action. He says that "the first in time and the first in importance of the influences upon the mind is that of nature," and that although books are important neither they nor the ideas they contain should master us since "Man Thinking must not be subdued by his instruments." It is the actively engaged life, the one that takes risks, intellectual, emotional and physical, that is rich with learning from direct experience rather than hearsay.

Emerson explains why action is so important for the scholar and he describes how it functions to substantially enhance our more academic learning: "There goes in the world a notion, that the scholar should be a recluse, a valetudinarian,--as unfit for any handiwork or public labor, as a penknife for an axe. .... Action is with the scholar subordinate, but it is essential. Without it, he is not yet man. Without it, thought can never ripen into truth....
The preamble of thought, the transition through which it passes from the unconscious to the conscious, is action. Only so much do I know, as I have lived. Instantly we know whose words are loaded with life, and whose not.

The world,--this shadow of the soul, or other me, lies wide around. Its attractions are the keys which unlock my thoughts and make me acquainted with myself. I run eagerly into this resounding tumult. I grasp the hands of those next me, and take my place in the ring to suffer and to work, taught by an instinct, that so shall the dumb abyss be vocal with speech. I pierce its order; I dissipate its fear; I dispose of it within the circuit of my expanding life. So much only of life as I know by experience, so much of the wilderness have I vanquished and planted, or so far have I extended my being, my dominion. I do not see how any man can afford, for the sake of his nerves and his nap, to spare any action in which he can partake. It is pearls and rubies to his discourse. Drudgery, calamity, exasperation, want, are instructors in eloquence and wisdom. The true scholar grudges every opportunity of action past by, as a loss of power."


It was hard to remember this while squatting beneath a 1000 lb. horse, but I have no doubt of the wisdom of Emerson's insight!