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Review :: Education |
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Walking on Water: Reading, Writing, and Revolution, by Derrick Jensen |
Current rating: 0 |
by jhill
(No verified email address) |
05 Aug 2004
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A Review by Adam Fletcher, Director of The Freechild Project |
One of the most important components of both education and activism is contextualization. As Paulo Freire argued, learning must be rooted in the context in which education takes place. For a sixth-grader in the US, that would be their local community; for a elderly person, that might be their family. For Derrick Jensen, that place was in classrooms at a university and a maximum security prison, where he was taught creative writing to Washington state college students and prisoners convicted of robbery, rape, and murder. In this book Jensen shares stories from those places as a guise and guide for the larger lessons, both hinted at and carefully detailed throughout this book.
The lessons here are truly revolutionary. "As is true for most people I know, I've always loved learning. As is also true for most people I know, I always hated school. Why is that?" With this opening line, Jensen begins a more-than-casual assault on traditional schooling, railing on everything from classroom seating arrangements to grading; from teaching methods to attendance. The lessons here a resonant of the teachings of both John Holt and John Taylor Gatto, the latter of whom Jensen credits greatly, and they give anecdotal meaning to some of the wisdom of by Grace Llewellyn and William Upski Wimsatt.
Through his lessons, Jensen gives substance and validity to many peoples' feelings of alienation and disconnectedness in school, and offers a brilliant guide to creative writing along the way. Jensen writes, "Throughout our adult lives, most of us are expected to get to work on time, to do our boss's bidding...and not to leave till the final bell has rung. It is expected that we will watch the clock, counting seconds till five o'clock, till Friday, till payday, till retirement, when at last our time will again be our own, as it was before we began kindergarten, or preschool, or daycare. Where do we learn to do all of this waiting?" The answer, of course, is school. School is the "day-prison" where we learn to be "a nation of slaves."
He then follows this daring declaration with another story from his prison experience, where he created "an atmosphere in which students wish to learn...", which included asking both prisoners and college students to be uncomfortable in their search for meaning through writing. Throughout this book Jensen includes several useful writing tips that offer a unique twist to this book: while a significant diatribe against historical approaches to education, it provides useful methods for self-education and learning through life.
Ultimately Jensen achieves Freire's challenge of sharing with students the goal of "reading the word through the world," and in that is Jensen's greatest success. This book is vitally important to any person seeking inspiration for learning outside the lines, both for its practical advice, and for the fact that it is coming from a seasoned educator. I believe that it can also be important to young people particularly, because through his intelligent, accessible thinking, Jensen acknowledges what many youth believe: school isn't relevant to young people today because teachers can't be relevant to learning today. They just don't know how. However, more importantly, Jensen himself disproves that, and may actually inspire young readers to look into places of higher education for the vital allyship and mentorship that adult educators can potentially offer.
As Jensen ponders the weight of the world throughout the book, including wrestling with conservatism, hopelessness and apathy, war, and many other feelings, he leaves readers with a challenging thought that easily summarizes the motivation of this book, and lends this book its essentialness in the activist library: "There is much work to be done. What are you waiting for? It's time to begin."
It is time to begin. Thank you, Derrick Jensen, for giving us a roadway to get started.
http://www.freechild.org/ReadingList/reviews/walking.htm
http://www.derrickjensen.org |
This work is in the public domain |
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The Day Philosophy Dies |
by catB
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
05 Aug 2004
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The Day Philosophy Dies, by Casey Maddox.
Review from http://www.coalitionagainstcivilization.org/speciestraitor/newfront.html
This book is amazing. If I could make certain books required reading, I think this would be on the top ten list. The novel is all about recovering from Western Civilization and destroying it. Completely. And it’s written amazingly. Need I say more?
Casey Maddox, a student of Derrick Jensen and state-held hostage, writes this book explicitly from an anti-ideological, limitless perspective. Civilization needs to go: no when, where, or isms about it. It is written with urgency and realism. It is upfront and harsh, but not overlooking the emotional turmoil civilization gives us in its life and death.
When a movie star is kidnapped and put in a 12 step recovery program from Western Civilization, the fugitives are out to make it clear about how civilization is destroying the earth and our lives and why we’re blind to it. It brings the destructiveness of civilized life to the forefront and gives us other ways of approaching it. To always ask why instead of remaining complacent. To think for ourselves and not look for answers.
The style of the book makes it even better. Its written minimalist style which has been popularized by Chuck Palahniuk: meaning simply, quick, dark and witty. Most of all, it’s really catchy. This is one of those books that you read a couple chapters (or pages in my case) and just get sucked in until it’s over. The characters are well developed and involving. The plot constantly twists and deepens.
In a time when books on the destruction of civilization are hard to come by, this book is even more welcomed. Its not just amazing writing or a fun thought exercise; it’s a call to action. That is the crux of the book: civilization is killing us, what are you going to do about it.
It’s honest and straightforward. It’s passionate and powerful. What more could
you ask for?
I can’t recommend this enough.
To read the first six pages visit http://www.flashpointpress.com/ |
