Prometheus Among Us
Posted on Nov 18th, 2007
by 
kcidybom
kcidybom
prometheus
Yesterday afternoon I found myself watching a DVD of the old Bill Moyers Skywalker interview with Joseph Campbell. I'd just met some new friends and it turned out that we are all Campbell fans, so, crammed on a couch, we watched the interview start to finish. One thing I always take away from Campbell is the idea that myths are a necessary part of what it means to be human, and that specific myths are central to every culture - that if they don't exist at some given point in time in that culture's history, they will eventually because they must.
So true. There are two boys in my wilderness school who brought this home last week. Thirteen year old John, a severely ADHD tactile kind of person, and Ivan, fourteen, a boy of precocious genius and a profound thinker. John is an extraordinary fire-starter and can get a roaring fire going within minutes using nothing but a bow-drill and some tinder, a skill admired openly by his peers. Ivan constantly amazes me with his insight and depth of thought.
Wednesday morning Ivan came to me and said:
"Mr Krupp, I had an amazing dream last night."
"Tell me," I said.
"Okay. We were all in the cabin and we were wet and freezing cold and it was snowing. We tried and tried to start a fire but the wood was all wet and everybody was freaking out and thought they were going to freeze to death. Then John said 'don't worry' and reached up and took a piece of the sun and got the fire going and we were warm and okay."
"Wow," I said, "Prometheus."
"What?"
"You never heard of Prometheus?"
"No."
"Oh, double wow then."
Access: Public
culture
July 2008 
Mythic adventure and teaching in the schools has been lacking. A dear friend has been incorporating it into The Academy of Technology, Arts and Sciences at the Provincetown, Mass high school with some success. The kids are finding that they truly relate to these mythic stories as they speak to many of the struggles they themselves are going through. Keep it up.
Wow! very cool story. thanks for sharing that.
Definitely Geo. The school has replaced an old B. F. Skinner based behavioral conditioning model with a metaphorical model based on various mythologies and called “The Hero's Journey.” I really like it and see it doing wonders.
BTW - I did fill Ivan in on Prometheus. He's so proud that he dreamed of such a wonderful thing.
Hey Stacy. I'm really happy with what I'm doing for work these days. Not quite something I'm used to. I post on it from time to time and am always glad to hear when other Zaadsters like the pieces. Thank you.
Glad to hear you are finding happiness in your work, Primo, good to hear.
Skinner seemed to be so much stick and very little carrot, that the results where not unexpected. Are you familiar with the NY Public School's almost universal teaching of Romeo and Juliet? I believe it received some Moyer's attention some years back. Very moving.
Like a tiny rudder on a huge ship, over time, you can and will have profound effect.
Exactly, Geo. I read some psychologist recently - what you grow up with (during brain formation/pruning episodes) is what you'll have lifelong. I'm gonna MOLD these kids! Hehehe.
yeah, Albert you've got the right idea. They'll learn all the wrong lessons in life unless you take control of every aspect of their decision making. You may be tempted to let them make some choices on their own, but be strong, don't give in.
Great post, as usual. Love it when things in life make Campbell's teachings tangible.
p.s. prometheus was kind of sneaky bastard, wasn't he?
yeah, Albert you've got the right idea. They'll learn all the wrong lessons in life unless you take control of every aspect of their decision making. You may be tempted to let them make some choices on their own, but be strong, don't give in.
Great post, as usual. Love it when things in life make Campbell's teachings tangible.
p.s. prometheus was kind of sneaky bastard, wasn't he?
I hear ya Donny. I hear ya Donny. ;-) ;-)
I've begun to think that what Campbell taught has no choice but to become tangible through life. He was on to something……
And yup, Prom-man was definitely one sneaky SOB. God in the image of man and all that…..
wow. Ivan totally tapped in to the collective unconcious.
My Jordan is going to be 16 in 3 months. I am at my wits end somedays. kcidy can you recommend some reading for a mom? I read everything there was to read about little kids, but what's offered for parents of teens these days seems so —- apocolyptic. I want to read about the magic in them, not the danger in them.
I feel right now, that part of my sons' point is not to let me see his point. I think he must deliberately create mystery and distance– so he can grow up. I'm trying to sit with that idea and watch the story unfold. I think the time for molding is a little past, but I hope not entirely past. Jordan has hardly ever been moldable. :-) He sees right through almost all forms of parental manipulation.
Dawn - I'm short on time - going to work in a few minutes - but I'll put together a list and send it to you sometime later this week. Hang in there in the meantime. Hugs - Albert
Funny how life can scoop you up so gently,yet so profoundly,with just a few words.
Albert thank-you
That it does, life scooping me up, gently, with soft words. Love the image B.B. - thanks.
Timeless ideas live in the conversations and interactions we have with others. It is in sharing our experiences in which we become immortal.
Yes John, exactly…;-)
what an amazing dream and beautiful story! thanks for sharing this Albert/Prometheus.
More dreams - this time mine, here, here, and here. I love dreams, mine and everyone else's.
SfL - I've been thinking a bit on your request for books to read about boys. I'd start with two by Michael Gurian - The Wonder of Boys, and The Minds of Boys. Real Boys by William Pollack is also good.
I'll post on this sometime - many more titles…..
Albert, this post comes together with what I've been working on lately—paying attention to the need kids have to write their own stories, construct their own knowledge. I wrote a lesson once, using the Campbellian hero's journey model, where students create their own myths. it was a lot of fun to see happen.
Thanks Laura, and I agree, kids will write their own stories if the adults in their lives will only let them.
It's interesting that my wilderness school has just started using The Hero's Journey as its model for behavior change driven from within - summarily, and rightly, replacing the old Skinnarian operant conditioning model.
I'm interested in learning more about your lesson.
I'll post it soon. yeah, getting away from that Skinnerian model feels right to me. do you know Alfie Kohn's work at all? I heard him speak back in September. he has an interesting perspective on the concepts of praise and rewards. I'm curious to learn more about how your school's implementation of the campbellian model works out. are there examples of potential myths and such you already have in mind as jumping off places, for instance?
Laura - I have a .pdf 'beta' of the school's stage book I can send to you. I should be able to do that sometime next week. Alfie Kohn? Nope, new to me, but I looked up his homepage and already ordered two of his books. Thanks for the pointer.
Cool. thanks in advance. Hey, today I realized that there's a big article in the most recent English Journal about using the model of the hero's journey to implement the I-search paper. I just finished doing the I-search paper with my lower level classes and they did a great job with it—I love this idea of using the hero's journey with it. I'll post something about the I-search paper and the american mythos lesson soon. The lesson is written in cumbersome educationspeak and I need to play with the verbiage of it, make it palatable for zaadzters. I'll see if I can find the English Journal link.
here's the link to the abstract for the article.
http://www.ncte.org/pubs/journals/ej/articles/128553.htm
Thank you Laura - I'm getting the entire article through an english teacher friend and will read it.