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Daily Practice – 3

This is a concept I made based on the researched I did on the topic pedagogy. Pedagogy is a very big topic, and the concept of pedagogy developed and changed overtime. At the beginning, teacher was considered a key role in pedagogy, students learn from a teacher, a teacher facilitates students’ learning. With the development of society, people started to see more problems in traditional pedagogy. As stressed in critical pedagogy, there are many limitations like inequality, power abuse, etc. To achieve better education, the function and power of teachers had to change.

As pedagogy kept developing, student-centered learning appeared, in which, teachers hold lesser control, while students become the learner as well as the facilitator. This makes me wonder how pedagogy would be like in the future. Would it be possible that the role of teacher is totally removed from the class. Currently, there are already products and programs that utilize artificial intelligence and virtual reality to facilitate teaching. I wonder if AI could actually replace teacher, creating a new pedagogy without real human teacher.

Topic for the 2nd Assignment

Initial Thoughts:

For my next research project, I’m thinking of doing something related to the swastika symbol.
Needless to say, it’s almost a common “fun fact” that Nazis borrowed it from ancient religions, which was originally a symbol of blessing. While there’s no doubt about the unforgettable horrible things the Nazis had done, and how there are still people out there who still admire the Nazis, and hence embrace the symbol of it, as an Asian growing up in a Buddhist home, I was never really sure what to do with an odd feeling associate with it. Of course, the two are slightly different, but it’s easy to trigger people when using the Buddhist symbol, 卍。

Before Covid hit, while Japan was busy preparing for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, one of the major news was the government’s decision of removing the 卍 sign at Buddhist temples, due to the fact that “many western foreigners protested about it.”

I’m curious if I can do deeper research not only on the history of the use of this symbol worldwide (I think Native Americans used it too, and probably others as well), but also on the debate on whether it’s disrespectful to use the 卍 symbol, even though it’s not the Nazis symbol, and has been there for over a thousand years old. Also, can this whole issue of canceling the swastika in general be seen as a completely different set of issues from the Nazi issue? Can the former be used as a critique of post-colonialism and cultural hegemony?

On a related note, while I’m not sure if it’s too much of a stretch, I’m also thinking of recent years, saying the mandarin word “that” and the Korean word “I am”, which both sound like the US tabooed N-word, had become a controversial issue, so serious that there are couple cases of US professors getting fired for saying those words. I wonder where we can draw the line of showing respect, not just to one side, but both sides, and what is considered too far and what’s not through research.

 

Narrowed down focus after a week:

Topic:  A discourse on the power dynamics of the dominant culture(s) through the lens of the swastika symbol in contemporary societies.

 

Day 6 – Russia

Day 6

The air is cold,

My breath looks back at me.

Death on the side of our journey.

We continue.

My mother is gone.

Beneath the white water is sleeping.

When will we arrive?

I wonder.

Many stayed and some continue.

Some people changed,

Eyes, skin, and hair.

We are different yet one tribe.

We continue.

New places and different foods.

I continue to on.

I am not HOME.

Day 5 – North China

Day 5

I have come of age.

And our tribe has doubled.

My stomach begins to speak.

I wonder if I’m home.

Still, I walk waiting for my new life.

My mother is ill.

Still, we walk.

Bones frail, and stomachs empty.

Our feet have created a clear path.

Our past is clear and our future unknown.

Yet, we continue.

We are not yet HOME.

 

 

 

Day 4 – India

Day 4

Suns and Moons come and go,

I grow along with my people.

I am growing older as we move.

This place is new.

New foods to eat and clean water to drink.

We are in a new land,

But not our home.

I wonder if I will survive.

The air is thick,

Bugs in my hair and on my skin.

Many leave and some stay.

We continue to walk home.

 

Day 3 – Saudi Arabia to Iran

Day 3

It is dark,

The moon shines brightly,

The fire dances with the music.

Dancing and singing all through the night.

Many have died along the way.

Some strayed and some stayed.

We have blended with others.

Our cultures intertwined like the braids in our hair.

Tight and beautiful.

The sun rises again,

We move.

 

Day 2 – Egypt or North Africa.

Day 2

Dirty feet and unknown smell in the air,

Yet we still continue.

Some people stayed.

Curious minds and eyes wander.

My throat is dry and my

Stomach continues to make music.

Many have strayed,

Some into a sandy desolate place.

We continue to walk.

When will we reach our unknown?

 

 

 

Day 1- South Africa

For my topic, I decided to do research about “The Great Human Migration.” The migration of people from Africa to the rest of the world. The specific group I chose was the Native Americans. Their journey from Africa across Asia and through part of Russia into North America.

My daily practice would be a poem. The poem would be written from the first-person point of view as if it were a person during the times of The Great Migration. Doing this would help to get a feel of what it might have been like during those times.

A map of early human migration patterns and the distribution of Pediculus humanus clades.:

Day 1

Today is the day,

My tribe is moving out to the unknown.

I am worried and afraid.

I move quickly into the bright sun.

The trees sway with every motion.

My father grabs my hand.

Our steps in sync

It is time to see the outside world.

Daily Practice – Day 6 Harp

Daily Practice:

Try to play 水调歌头（Prelude to Water Melody)  with ~6 different instruments.

Prelude to Water Melody is an ancient Chinese poem. It has been set to music, and the song is popular in different generations of China

The wiki link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuidiao_Getou

Day 6:  Harp

I don’t have a harp, so I controlled my character in-game to play the harp for today’s practice instead.

The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting and in orchestras or concerts. Its most common form is triangular in shape and made of wood. Some have multiple rows of strings and pedal attachments.

The Record:

Audio Player