Objectives
The unit I've designed uses TURF dancing in Oakland and excerpts from Ishmael Reed's 1972 novel Mumbo Jumbo to explore the intersections of culture, diaspora, and resilience. Mumbo Jumbo tells the story of Jes Grew, a dancing "virus," which originates in New Orleans and spreads across the United States. Reed describes Jes Grew as an "anti-plague" which enlivens the host. I extend this metaphor to TURF dancing, which is practiced by young people in Oakland (and has now gone "viral" thanks to YouTube) as a means of self-expression in the face of adversity. In particular, we will explore the question, "how does culture support the resilience of people and community?" Ultimately, students will explore this question in relationship to their own life.
By the end of the unit students will have a deeper understanding of the attitudes and beliefs that inform their culture, and other cultures as well as the significance of African Diasporic influences on American culture, and the ways in which culture informs resilience. The unit focuses on a core set of essential questions to guide student learning and for me as a teacher to assess student learning. There will be opportunities for students to answer these questions in relationship to classroom activities, reflective essays, and ultimately through a visual or performance piece.
Essential Questions
- What influences help shape cultural attitudes and beliefs?
- How has the African Diaspora influenced America?
- What does it mean to be resilient?
- How does culture (and TURF dancing in particular) support the resilience of people and community?
These essential questions are progressive. We will begin with a study of each concept on it's own using images, video, and short texts, this part of the unit will be more of an introduction rather than an in-depth study. Next, we will revisit each question in relationship to Mumbo Jumbo and more specifically, the character of Jes Grew. In particular, we will focus on how these questions and concepts are intertwined. After studying Mumbo Jumbo we will move on to TURF dancing and continue our exploration of the essential questions.
I visualize this unit as a spiral, revisiting each essential question as we move deeper into our studies. This is similar to what Joe Roach refers to from his study of African influences on American performance as "repetition with the possibility of revision." 2 Each time as we repeat our study of the essential questions, we will revise our answers and move towards an increasingly more complex and rich understanding of the concepts.
I designed the unit to not only teach culture, diaspora, and resilience but to also incorporate these concepts into the design of my unit. This is particularly true in regards to resilience. Linda Winfield argues that it is important to think of resilience not as something we do but as something we foster. In this sense, although resilience is a key concept I will "teach" my students through "Jes Grew" and TURFing, it is important that is also something I will foster through the design of my curriculum. Researchers on resilience education shift the notion of a "deficit model," what students are lacking, to a developmental approach in which we meet students where they are with the skills they currently have. "Taking a resilience approach means meeting a young person's need for belonging, respect, autonomy, and mastery of relevant and meaningful knowledge." 3 This works best when students are able to draw upon their own unique experiences and talents. Thus I've designed this curriculum unit to teach students explicitly what resilience is but I've also incorporated the theory behind resilience education into the design of my unit.
After studying Mumbo Jumbo and TURF dancing I will ask students what they want to do as a final project. I want to give them as much freedom as possible while answering the final essential question through a visual or performance piece. By answering the final question, they will have to touch on culture, diaspora, and resiliency and thus exhibit their newfound knowledge in a personally meaningful manner.
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