One of the assignments from our “Foundations of Education” class was a group, unsettling act. We decided to join the UHNBC drummers for their Monday night drumming circle at the hospital. It was an emotional night. There were tears, healing, joy and remembrance. We celebrated the wonder of community through rhythm and song. It was so special to see the figures of people peering down from the windows of the hospital, waving to us and listening to our drumming. There were also people from inside the hospital who joined in the drumming circle, both staff and patients. If I had Monday evenings free (I volunteer usually at this time) I would love to join again.
Despite all the good things about this evening, it was still successful in unsettling me. These are some of the points that our group came up with:
- Giving up time to learn
- Being around the hospital
- Interacting with strangers (who were all LOVELY 🙂
- Standing in the cold
- Immersing yourself in someone else’s culture and language
- Actively doing something in front of others.
- Singing and trying to keep rhythm
- Experiential learning
Our students have to immerse themselves into our classroom every day. The goal is that an activity like this will help us gain empathy for our students.
