Our students are well on their way to earning the full academic skill set necessary to succeed at top level universities. But success in post-secondary education and in life hinges on more than high test-taking aptitude and quantitative skill; there is the emotional and interpersonal aspect to becoming a successful, well-balanced human being with a rewarding social life and rich connection to all components of personal fulfillment.
Though are students are generally very happy, hardworking, and kind individuals, most of them have a long way to go on the path toward emotional maturity. This lack of emotional depth, clarity, and understanding is apparent in many ways – from their inability to access the psychological undercurrents of plots and characters in stories and movies, to their complete breakdowns in moments of slight distress or confusion (two tests scheduled on the same day, something perceived as being unfair, or the minor pain of falling down or getting tired), to the peer-to-peer fights that erupt. (Physical between boys, tiffs of jealousy and spurn and queen-bee syndrome between the girls.)
Some of this is pure adolescence. There are other contributing factors, unique to the Somali place in the world.
But whatever the reason, many AT secondary students will sometimes struggle to accurately interpret social cues, stumble to give voice to the emotions motivating their actions, and are challenged by questions like, “Why did the captain of the Titanic stay inside the ship, rather than trying to get into a lifeboat?”, or “Why did Maverick (in Top Gun) have trouble going back to flying after Goose died?” The students seem unable to connect the morals and themes of stories they read or movies they watch to their daily lives.
To help them grow into a more solid EQ, we've started a little class that I like to call “Empathy 101.” In this half-hour session once per week we replay for students a few scenes from the movie we've showed them on their weekend-night, and ask basic questions to delve into the thematic meaning or emotional motivation or psychological state at work.
In a future session I'll lead the Empathy 101 discussion on “Citizenship.” First I'll introduced the definition of the term, then we'll break into gender-separated groups and discuss the meaning of the term and its application to their lives as citizens of this place – the land, the people, the school, the world. Then we'll discuss a quote from a member of a discussion panel hosted through AT's Executive MBA program: “It is the duty of every Somalilander to promote the development of this place...” I'd like to ask the students how they interpret this. Finally, since the quote stemmed from a panel on “Tourism in Somaliland,” I'm planning to pose a few questions on Tourism in Somaliland to the students – how might tourism benefit Somaliland? Are there any drawbacks to inviting visitors to the country? What might Somaliland need to do to invite tourists and make them feel welcome here?
Some of the students attended the panel discussion on tourism, and were very curious about what was discussed there. It made me realize that our students want to take a grown-up role in matters of their homeland, and are already realizing that the future of the country is theirs. So insh'allah, this discussion will be fruitful, and will help at least a few of these kids see that their education involves more than strategy and memorization, but is a matter of personal enrichment as well.
3 comments:
Are there no indigenous "stories" or culture of morals. It seems like Sesame Street may not apply to tribal culture. Perhaps exploring the loyalty to a group/clan verses self would be more appropriate. I suppose in reality is like high school and its Cliques so humans are no different the world across. I am just afraid that what westerners think is a greater good is not any better than any one elses wisdom. Especially considering stratification of western peoples...
Mark..We do have indigenous stories or culture of morals. As a matter of fact, every Somali person, who grew up in Somalia/somaliland can relay to you the stories that been told to them in their childhood..However, I should inform that our stories were done in like camping type of environment. Even though it wasnt in a camping place, it would be in our households, sometimes neighborhood kids would be there as an elder/older person would narrate a story. It was always a story that carried such a great morals and at other times wise stories or trickory stories where the child had to define the stupidity of the character in the story..We would have stories that had a villain and hero..A lot of our stories were based on Animals..I will share one of the stories with you here...Once upon a time there was a Camel and a fox(in our society fox is considered witty/smart). The fox approached the camel one day and said to him "hello Camel" and Camel replied "Hey Fox", she went on to say "my dear friend, we have gone sick and tired of searching for greener pasture on this side of the river but do you know that if we cross the river to the other side that we will find the greener pasture over there?" Mr. Camel replied "Well, I always knew you were such an intelligent creature. I concur with you on that, we certainly need to cross it". So once they go to the river, the fox lady said "but camel the water is high and im a very short individual, it would be nice if you if I you can carry me on your back". The Camel did not hesitate and stated to her that "I sure can do that". So they safely made it to the other side of the river. The Camel went about his business and ate all the grass he can eat while the fox set her eyes upon unattended sheeps near by. So the fox ate one of the sheep. Afterwards, as is customary of the fox, she start laughing now since she was no longer hungary and full. The owner of the sheep heard her laughter and came running to the scene, in which he saw the camel and the bones of his sheep. The owner was very upset and took his anger upon the innoccent camel. The camel was beaten and had to run for his life. Later on he met up with the fox who was clueless to the danger she caused to the Camel. She asked him what had happened and he relayed the story to her, in which she replied that it was her nature to laugh whenever shes full and she just couldnt help but laugh. The camel was astonished by her answer. By now it was time to cross the river once again. And once again the fox climbed on top of the camel. This time when the Camel was in the center of the river, he had fit of shaking(like dogs do in water). The fox fell off of him and had to survive to swim to safety. Once they met up the Fox inquired about this crazy behavior by the camel. And the camel replied that this was in his nature too whenever he comes in contact with water...End of the story..
My Hajj's comment fascinates me as it makes Mark's point in a roundabout way. In European parables, the fox is the always the clever one: "the sly old fox." In this Somali parable, the fox is outwitted by a camel. A camel!? Not a clever animal by any Anglo story teller; evidently a clever (and very important) animal in Northwest Africa. Cultural confusion to young listeners? Certainly is.
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