by Lisa Frederiksen
I’ve been talking about an idea of mine – On Their Way – a lot, lately. It’s the idea of teaching literacy to women and girls in developing nations using Septima Poinsettia Clark’s teaching model, which became the basis for Citizenship Schools during the 1950s. These were “schools” formed and led by community leaders with classes held in the back of the beautician’s shop, for example, in an effort to secretly teach African America adults literacy so that they might pass the literacy tests that impeded their ability to register and vote in the South. Septima had used this same method when teaching African American elementary school students who lived on Johns Island, one of the islands off the coast of South Carolina (because African American teachers could not teach in the public schools in SC and schools were segregated at the time). Her method was simple and worked around the fact that she had no school supplies, such as text books or chalkboards. Instead, she used her students’ (childrens’ and adults’) stories for books and discarded paper for chalkboard.
Image source: http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Da-En/Developing-Countries-Issues-in.html#b
Applying Septima’s method to the “On Their Way” concept… instead of building classrooms and trying to take women and girls out of their daily routines – routines dictated by cultural practices and often survival, such as walking miles to collect water – one takes the “classroom” to them. Not only that, one uses their daily routines and stories to teach basic literacy and math. Think of it… walking for miles and talking about how many steps it takes to walk “x” miles or how many miles walked in “x” hours can help with counting, math facts, and even algebra. Taking one of their sentences – something that describes their daily chore – writing it on a white board (and yes, carrying the white board on the walk — Septima used the discarded paper that was used to wrap cleaned clothes as a sort of chalkboard, given her “classroom” had none) and then writing the “translation” below the words can help students appreciate what those strange characters are meant to convey. In other words, if the students pronounce “the” in their spoken language as “da,” you show both “the” and below it “da.”
This is a very simplistic explanation of Septima’s teaching method and my concept (and I’m sure a concept that is being done in many parts of the world, already), but I share it here because I think substance misuse education, prevention, treatment, and intervention can be done in much the same way. Addiction is a brain disease. Repeated substance abuse causes chemical and structural changes in the brain. The chronic stress of coping with undiagnosed or untreated substance abuse or addiction causes changes in the brains of the non-drinkers in their sphere (spouses, children, parents as examples).
If we take the simple messages about the condition of substance abuse, the disease of addiction, and the condition of secondhand drinking / drugging (aka codependency) within the context of these brain changes to people where they are at — both physically and culturally — we might just change how the message is heard and therefore received. We just might have a significant impact in changing how we explain, treat, prevent, and intervene with a person’s addiction, substance abuse, and/or codependency in developed and developing nations, alike.
Rev. 12.20.11, 3:30 p.m. PST
by Lisa Frederiksen
I’ve been talking about an idea of mine – On Their Way – a lot, lately. It’s the idea of teaching literacy to women and girls in developing nations using Septima Poinsettia Clark’s teaching model, which became the basis for Citizenship Schools during the 1950s. These were “schools” formed and led by community leaders with classes held in the back of the beautician’s shop, for example, in an effort to secretly teach African America adults literacy so that they might pass the literacy tests that impeded their ability to register and vote in the South. Septima had used this same method when teaching African American elementary school students who lived on Johns Island, one of the islands off the coast of South Carolina (because African American teachers could not teach in the public schools in SC and schools were segregated at the time). Her method was simple and worked around the fact that she had no school supplies, such as text books or chalkboards. Instead, she used her students’ (childrens’ and adults’) stories for books and discarded paper for chalkboard.
Image source: http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Da-En/Developing-Countries-Issues-in.html#b
Applying Septima’s method to the “On Their Way” concept… instead of building classrooms and trying to take women and girls out of their daily routines – routines dictated by cultural practices and often survival, such as walking miles to collect water – one takes the “classroom” to them. Not only that, one uses their daily routines and stories to teach basic literacy and math. Think of it… walking for miles and talking about how many steps it takes to walk “x” miles or how many miles walked in “x” hours can help with counting, math facts, and even algebra. Taking one of their sentences – something that describes their daily chore – writing it on a white board (and yes, carrying the white board on the walk — Septima used the discarded paper that was used to wrap cleaned clothes as a sort of chalkboard, given her “classroom” had none) and then writing the “translation” below the words can help students appreciate what those strange characters are meant to convey. In other words, if the students pronounce “the” in their spoken language as “da,” you show both “the” and below it “da.”
This is a very simplistic explanation of Septima’s teaching method and my concept (and I’m sure a concept that is being done in many parts of the world, already), but I share it here because I think substance misuse education, prevention, treatment, and intervention can be done in much the same way. Addiction is a brain disease. Repeated substance abuse causes chemical and structural changes in the brain. The chronic stress of coping with undiagnosed or untreated substance abuse or addiction causes changes in the brains of the non-drinkers in their sphere (spouses, children, parents as examples).
If we take the simple messages about the condition of substance abuse, the disease of addiction, and the condition of secondhand drinking / drugging (aka codependency) within the context of these brain changes to people where they are at — both physically and culturally — we might just change how the message is heard and therefore received. We just might have a significant impact in changing how we explain, treat, prevent, and intervene with a person’s addiction, substance abuse, and/or codependency in developed and developing nations, alike.
Rev. 12.20.11, 3:30 p.m. PST