Jean’s WRath
Jean Rath responds to the first section of ‘Who Are These People?’ as part of a poetic inquiry workshop focussed on technology and teaching. Start point being the spoken word piece by jason harding titled, ‘Who Are These People?’.
Who are these people?
These teachers of ours.
They’re arrogant Dr. Frankensteins
Old knowledge Lords who created us in their image
And do not like what they have wrought.
Our monstrous minds refuse the safe paths of well-travelled routes – embracer networked ways of knowing, connect information and see the whole.
Those old minds – the ones that plodded their careful linear ways – are being dismantled by us to rebuild with less cautious, less certain and more connected knowledge.
They’re running scared.
And shout accusations of style over substance and distracted minds incapable of true study.
These teachers of ours are now the villagers with their pitchforks.
They believe they know better
Because of their archaic information stretched over the thinness of paper.
Books in libraries
And the rhythm of the periodic quarterly – which is no better for being shovelled to digital format.
They want to burn our exterior minds
And return to their slow inefficiencies.
We may not be cognitive geniuses.
We may not know how to point east without using our phones.
But we do know shit.
We know that memory is a cheap party trick. That information is not owned and its fast stream is there for everyone – anytime – anywhere.
We make connections / break and remake / reweave / recreate.
And that is how wee push our boundaries.
We have outsourced our memory.
And gained our truer selves.
Digital natives have no need to flee from online overload.
This is our water.
But our teachers are drowning.
They have no idea who the f**k we are.
These people need a hug.
And a kick up the arse.
They need to enter our water.
They need to learn how to swim.
Note
Jean Rath responds to the first section of ‘Who Are These People?’ as part of a poetic inquiry workshop focussed on technology and teaching. Start point being the spoken word piece by jason harding titled, ‘Who Are These People?’.
Author
Jean Rath
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
Date
2019
Reading Order
- ‘Who Are These People’ (jason harding)
- ‘Jean’s Rath’ (Jean Rath)
- ‘Ursula Responds’ (Ursula Edgington)
- ‘Same Water’ (jason harding)