The African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child” is not only for parenting or school settings. In fact to accomplish anything takes a village; a group of people with the same mission towards a specific goal or goals. Growing up in Nigeria, Africa where village life was part of the fabric of the society, brings to mind some key principles about village life. As an educator closing out 2015, my reflection revolves around the following three village life principles:
Relationship: Village life is characterized by strong relationships from one home to another. Parents in one home typically have a vibrant relationship with other parents in the village. Growing up in Nigeria; I had not one set of parents but multiple parents in each home on our street. There was a sense of camaraderie children had because parents looked out for every child in their sphere. When there was any celebration in a home, all other homes got in on the celebration. For example, when families cooked Christmas meal, they served a bowl of the meal for each family on the street. So, we ended up having multiple plates of food in addition to what we cooked in our home. I have to say this idea has influenced my cooking, which most of the time looks like that of a community celebration :).
Resilience: Village life compounds resilience. The ability to adapt and thrive in adversity is the essence of resilience. From a scholarly viewpoint, Lamond et al. (2009) states that resilience connotes the ability to adapt positively to adversity. Previous scholars have established that resilience is generally positively correlated with cognitive function and physical health. Village life ensures that no one in the community suffers alone. If a person in one home was sick, everyone living on the same street takes up the care for that sick person and his/her family. I remember as a young girl when my grandfather was critically ill, my grandmother was able to keep functioning spiritually, physically and emotionally due to the compounded village life resilience that was imparted to her.
Response: Village life allowed for multitude of counselors. Both algorithm and heuristics solution strategies were considered. When there was a problem, the elders of the village met together to discuss, strategize and problem-solve. When a response was finally given towards the problem, it was evident that every viewpoint in the village had been considered, dissected and processed. Such is the benefit of living in the village.
As educators, we are fortunate to live in a village with strong relationships, compounded resilience and thorough responses for our students. For my non-educator friends; to get a feel for this village life we have in education visit your neighborhood school campus and experience the school spirit and belief. There is no better time to see this village life in action as during Christmas time. Educators, never underestimate your impact in the village life of your students. For those children that don’t have the opportunity to be in a classroom or school due to illness, the village here at Take Back Ministries wants to put a little spark in their lives during this Christmas time. We are giving the gift of reading as we distribute 130 new story books to our local county children's hospital. It is privilege to live in a village.
This is to a wonderful Christmas break and a blessed New Year! Love & Blessings!
Reference:
J. Lamond, C. A. Depp, M. Allison et al., “Measurement and predictors of resilience among community-dwelling older women,” Journal of Psychiatric Research, vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 148–154, 2009.
Relationship: Village life is characterized by strong relationships from one home to another. Parents in one home typically have a vibrant relationship with other parents in the village. Growing up in Nigeria; I had not one set of parents but multiple parents in each home on our street. There was a sense of camaraderie children had because parents looked out for every child in their sphere. When there was any celebration in a home, all other homes got in on the celebration. For example, when families cooked Christmas meal, they served a bowl of the meal for each family on the street. So, we ended up having multiple plates of food in addition to what we cooked in our home. I have to say this idea has influenced my cooking, which most of the time looks like that of a community celebration :).
Resilience: Village life compounds resilience. The ability to adapt and thrive in adversity is the essence of resilience. From a scholarly viewpoint, Lamond et al. (2009) states that resilience connotes the ability to adapt positively to adversity. Previous scholars have established that resilience is generally positively correlated with cognitive function and physical health. Village life ensures that no one in the community suffers alone. If a person in one home was sick, everyone living on the same street takes up the care for that sick person and his/her family. I remember as a young girl when my grandfather was critically ill, my grandmother was able to keep functioning spiritually, physically and emotionally due to the compounded village life resilience that was imparted to her.
Response: Village life allowed for multitude of counselors. Both algorithm and heuristics solution strategies were considered. When there was a problem, the elders of the village met together to discuss, strategize and problem-solve. When a response was finally given towards the problem, it was evident that every viewpoint in the village had been considered, dissected and processed. Such is the benefit of living in the village.
As educators, we are fortunate to live in a village with strong relationships, compounded resilience and thorough responses for our students. For my non-educator friends; to get a feel for this village life we have in education visit your neighborhood school campus and experience the school spirit and belief. There is no better time to see this village life in action as during Christmas time. Educators, never underestimate your impact in the village life of your students. For those children that don’t have the opportunity to be in a classroom or school due to illness, the village here at Take Back Ministries wants to put a little spark in their lives during this Christmas time. We are giving the gift of reading as we distribute 130 new story books to our local county children's hospital. It is privilege to live in a village.
This is to a wonderful Christmas break and a blessed New Year! Love & Blessings!
Reference:
J. Lamond, C. A. Depp, M. Allison et al., “Measurement and predictors of resilience among community-dwelling older women,” Journal of Psychiatric Research, vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 148–154, 2009.
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