I am back at work as an elementary school teacher. My intent is to write once a week - although I obviously did not achieve that goal last week.
I teach at a very nice large suburban school. My kids attend school and daycare at a very nice large suburban school. Both have similar numbers of children: 710 at my school, 660 at my kids' school. They are both quite new.
They both are good schools, and children are happy to attend them, for the most part. Kids are - on the whole - eager to learn and do reasonably well.
When I pick up the kids, or observe behaviour at my own school, I am amazed at the levels of waste. To be honest, my school is somewhat better, as we are part of the Ecoschools program, of which I am the chair or co-chair (depending on the school year).
My goal is to play a role in changing this behaviour... beginning with the waste. The massive amounts of garbage, the idling minivans, the excessive photocopying. It drives me nuts.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
The Diggers
I attended a really interesting sermon yesterday about the Diggers (in honour of Labour Day). The Diggers were (and I quote from Wikipedia) "an English group of Protestant Christian agrarian communists". Cool.
The leader was fellow called Gerrard Winstanley, and the movement was part of a response to the end of the First English Civil war in 1649, which resulted in the beheading of King Charles I. Not surprisingly, after an event such as this there were a number of groups attempting to forge a new path, and the True Levellers (as opposed to just the Levellers), who also became known as the Diggers, were one of them.
The became known as the Diggers because, simply, they began to dig and cultivate common land near Surrey. Food was expensive, and the Diggers planned to take down all enclosures and have the local people come and work with them. The plan was, unfortunately, unsuccessful, and the Diggers were both attacked physically and taken through the court system.
Perhaps the Diggers were ahead of their time (as the speaker suggested). They didn't last long, and the movement had ended by 1651. (I reference Wikipedia for much of this information, so I hope it is correct!)
However, I was inspired by the concept that we can apply these principles to present day. We do see urban gardening, and significant food production, in cities; however, in the suburbs (at least my neighbourhood), not nearly so much. I am trying to figure out why this is, and will reflect on this in future posts.
Currently, though, I have promised my kids a trip to the park, and they are eager to go.
Regarding the Diggers, Steve Sinnicks of Hamilton, a great labour singer/songwriter, has written a great song about them.
You can take a look at his website at www.sinnicks.com/index.html.
Happy Labour Day!
The leader was fellow called Gerrard Winstanley, and the movement was part of a response to the end of the First English Civil war in 1649, which resulted in the beheading of King Charles I. Not surprisingly, after an event such as this there were a number of groups attempting to forge a new path, and the True Levellers (as opposed to just the Levellers), who also became known as the Diggers, were one of them.
The became known as the Diggers because, simply, they began to dig and cultivate common land near Surrey. Food was expensive, and the Diggers planned to take down all enclosures and have the local people come and work with them. The plan was, unfortunately, unsuccessful, and the Diggers were both attacked physically and taken through the court system.
Perhaps the Diggers were ahead of their time (as the speaker suggested). They didn't last long, and the movement had ended by 1651. (I reference Wikipedia for much of this information, so I hope it is correct!)
However, I was inspired by the concept that we can apply these principles to present day. We do see urban gardening, and significant food production, in cities; however, in the suburbs (at least my neighbourhood), not nearly so much. I am trying to figure out why this is, and will reflect on this in future posts.
Currently, though, I have promised my kids a trip to the park, and they are eager to go.
Regarding the Diggers, Steve Sinnicks of Hamilton, a great labour singer/songwriter, has written a great song about them.
You can take a look at his website at www.sinnicks.com/index.html.
Happy Labour Day!
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