What lies ahead

I decided to take the scenic route to the shoot today, it was pretty. Like that kind of pretty where you almost drive off the road staring it's so pretty. Maybe it was just different, somewhere I hadn't been before. My brain was excited, it searched for memories and associations to try connect the dots but failed to do so and away I drifted into the walls and trees I passed by. I left early to take the scenic route, just in case I got lost or stuck. Which I didn't. Thanks Google maps, although we need to talk about what happened on the way home. That was not ayoba. But, it was. 

We had finished the shoot around 4pm, the lone dark cloud of the earlier skies had grown and brought friends. I knew there was about to be rain as that cold wind rushed through. I was about 2kms away from the shop when it started to pour, I tried to continue but couldn't, it was raining too hard, so after doing a very illegal U-turn on my little Big Boy and riding up the down road I quickly popped myself on to a curb and drove to the nearest tree, past some very confused and surprised bystanders. 

After a minute enters an old man, clean but rugged beard and clearly not "well off", economically and mentally. The two bystanders move aside from him which gives me the idea this guy is not well, but I entertain it and greet him. He is well spoken with that typical Krugersdorp English. We get talking about the obvious weather and mentions he hopes he makes it back to the shelter in time to which I ask about it. He is explains and tells me a bit about the shelter, I ask if he would like the hotdog and chips I got off set, he is ecstatic and jumps into it. Then he says "I wrote a book called How to Lie 101", at this point I am beyond curious and begin to really ask questions. The stories were pretty cool, it was all very politically based and clear biases but I was intrigued and carried on listening. It reminded me of the writing of that old South African prophet all the afrikaaners swore was Nostrodamus. He said he wrote three books, but never published them. 'How to Lie 101', 'Who's Lie is it Anyway?' and 'After the Breaking News'. The stories bordered on those of the many Cassandras that have passed through time, the narratives all obliviously reflecting our current situation. Did he know what was currently happening in the world? Was he just trolling me? It didn't matter, I allowed the story to be told. There is power in that.

As he explained my mind put all the correlations together and went along with his narrative, I think he enjoyed being able to speak and be listened to. Not like he was some crazy old homeless guy, for a moment I allowed him to time travel and be in the world where he was believed, even though in hindsite he may have just been conning me, but there was no intention of malevolence, just two guys hustling stuck in the rain under a big bush. I allowed his story to exist no matter what it was. And for a moment I felt that importance, of having your story heard and believed. The Resumption of Belief. 

I feel this is something that we face as a challenge in education. We have preconceived notions of people. We allow our minds to fill in the gaps instead of allowing the other to do so. This is reflected in learning, students enter the space and are already prepared for a specific outcome, with a set of specific beliefs. So instead of having a fresh plate, there is a full plate, of old stale and mouldy bread, and the educator has to clear to through this first before being able to instill new knowledge. But I think that a lot of the time we bypass this initial process and try jump straight into content, which is like trying to run through a brick wall. 

We are constantly fed narratives by the media, by influencers, propaganda, fake news, real news, everything. There is just so much being delivered to us at once, it becomes overwhelming and the conscious mind gives in to go with the flow as resistance is tiring. But what if it wasnt resisting all this information, but rather find ways of interpreting information. A big gap in education is the space between delovery and application. Delivery of content and then application of content. It seems pretty basic, but it's a huge problem. Students aren't understanding the content, half because they don't want to and half because they don't know how. Theor brains are being raided by intrusive media influences and social events. So how do we bridge this gap? How do we get them to understanding? Well I propose two conditions that need to be considered when designing and applying education in the modern world: consideration of second language, and the use of storytelling as an academic tool. This is what I hope to explore, it will probably change. But I hope to return to this post and add from it. 

Thank you Russel, man in the bush, who works at Midas as Carguard, I hope you listen to my advice and go start writing those stories out. Maybe I'll see you again one day. 

*Stories are what make the world go around so keep making them*