(Click play before reading)
My home is like…
This is video of our fish. The lovely sound in the background can only be heard when you are sitting right next to it and it is completely quiet around you. Then you can hear the fish snapping for air and making small jets of water when they reach the surface.
Sometimes I wish I was a fish that could swim elegantly and undisturbed in the water, in the aquarium, in my home. It would feel so lovely and peaceful.
But a home for me is not always lovely and peaceful. These are good and bad days. There are peaceful moments around the dinner table and loud quarrels when we are tired and hungry. These are lovely mornings when we can be ourselves in our own thoughts and other times where our emotions take over and we say stupid things.
To me, a home is a physical and mental place. It is a place we can be ourselves, with those who can withstand us, and where it is a “us”. Alone – just myself, I will probably define the term differently.
(An empty frame full of everything)
What is a home?
The word home is for me a complex concept. I wish it was just positively charged and means good memories for everyone. However, that is not the case. We know that many students will come to school and feel that here they can be safe, they will work with subjects and that there are fixed settings that they can relate to.
Can we create and communicate art without using our own experiences? Can we create assignments in arts and crafts where students can work with identity and community without being too private and revealing to them? As an adult, I can consider and choose what I want to tell from my life. Can students also do this when we give them personal assignments and that they in the subject should “explore opinions, ideas and feelings” as the curriculum wants?
We can create a framework for students where it is safe for interpretation and imagination. It does not always have to be rooted, because it can be too revealing to talk about, and then it can also be the subject of discussion or, in the worst case, bullying. The assignment can be called “A home” instead of “My home”, where students can use their knowledge of what they have read and heard, and if they want – have experienced to solve the assignment. So that it is not limited to a particular home – their home if they do not want to.
Wow Phuong ! Really nice ideas !
Dear Phuong
I can see plain orange Platy, blackfin platy and a catfish. Probably an ancistrus catfish. It’s great that you have many different plants. The fish look healthy. I have had an aquarium for many years when I was younger.
It is a nice idea to dream of swimming elegantly and undisturbed in a small aquarium. I sometimes dream of being able to fly like a bird. I have a favourite superhero. It’s Storm in Project X. (Marvel) She can both fly AND control the weather. For me who freezes all winter, Storm has the perfect combination of superhero powers. As a bird, I would not have a home. I would be a migratory bird. I would be a few weeks here and a few months there. I had flown for food and warmth when I felt like it. Freedom! But it would be lonely. By living somewhere, with family or friends, a home is created.
You have a good pedagogical suggestion when students can create “A home” instead of “My home”. This is a great starting point for creativity, conversation og reflection.