being with the fear

This was an interesting and timely reading. The development of the literature review made sense to introduce the subject and make the case for relevance. It did appear that many of the references were rather dated, even for a 1994 publication. Most of the references seemed to be 70’s and 80’s, but that may be when the previous, pertinent research was done. I would have liked to see the questions for the survey.
As soon as I started the reading, I recognized the significance of the subject for us. I have examples from farmcraft, WBY and Stanley Clark that support the presence of wildland-related fears. What I don’t know, upon reflection, is how much the stated fears impacted the student’s ability to learn from or experience the programs. This is something I will be looking for in the future. This will be another area where I will have to be very sensitive to the age-appropriateness of the response. I had a harvestman on me at Farmcraft’s canning shed on Friday. Two firstgraders pointed it out, and others jumped back. I let one of the two take it off me and bring it to the tree. In retrospect, a few general words about being afraid of things we don’t know might be worthwhile. Or a rousing rendition of “There was an old lady who swallowed a fly” on our way to the next station… I’m inclined to think acknowledging fears, not really trying to fix them in the group, is the way to go. The article suggests getting lots of preschoolers into outdoor wild activities would prevent some fears, but this doesn’t help my first graders today.
Age and experience can teach us that fear is sometimes useful, sometimes false, sometimes exciting, sometimes debilitating, and unlikely to ever completely leave us. I am writing this on my way to Grand Rapids on Sunday morning. I have nagging in my stomach and feet that my teaching at GRCC on Monday may not be judged valuable enough by my customers or team members. That fear has had me head check 3 times to make sure my clothes really are hanging in the back seat. As I write this I am mentally rehearsing my introduction and sections of content which I have taught for 8 years. I will arrive at 7:30 for my 10AM class, to check materials and room layout and technology, all responses to “fear” that something may go wrong.
In my first year of engineering, Art Schmidt recommended the (already) old book, “How To Stop Worrying and Start Living”. It made a real difference for me and my life. It helped me relate to my fears in a different way, more as communication than roadblock. I might have even traded in a few for other, more age-appropriate ones.