Three Hand Clapping Games (Unknown, Oh Mama, Meter Competition)
Performed by the Orphans in the Refugee Orphan Home at Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana.
Liberia, Africa
Voice and Hand Claps
This weeks readings reminded me that it is our job as educators to stay in touch with what our students are listening to and doing outside of our classrooms. When Lew and Campbell talk about social play they mentioned that, "This (Cause and Effect) means that children use play as a vehicle for cultural learning, and their play can serve as an important indicator and reflection of their development." (Lew and Campbell, 2005, p. 58) Play is used to learn about our cultural, our people and our history. This video is a great example of social music games. This video was recorded in an orphanage in Ghana, Africa in June of 2009. It shows and example of three Liberian hand games. These songs are an authentic representation of how social play is important. The children are working together and are learning what it is like to be in a community, even though they are in a refugee orphanage. In this world we have become to focused on our little group of family and friends. In today's society they have been referred to as our own little "tribes". In church this morning my preacher talked about all the commercials he has been seeing on television constantly reminding everyone to take care of "you and yours." This is where our society has gone in the past decade. We have gotten so bogged down in our own little areas of the city that we have forgotten what it is like to work as a whole people.
When doing research about the clapping games above, I found a great article about Miss Mary Mack. The woman who wrote the article mentions that when games like Miss Mary Mack ceased to be taught in schools in America that we started loosing our community. "Community was not emphasized; if you were in a group, okay, but learning happened in a separate mind, being, soul. Gone was the sense of communal identity where we shared knowledge and being. Instead, we were encouraged to compete against all those different little selves, our classmates." (Lewis, 2001) I didn't realize until getting to the end of the article that it was written by a pastor as well. Both clerics make a strong point. We have become so obsessed with hiding in our own little areas and taking care of our immediate "tribe" we have lost the urge to do things together. Our children are not allowed to go down the street to their friends house anymore and heaven forbid you allow them to stay out after dark. We have become so scared, we are the ones who are now responsible for that loss of socialization. In today's western world if children want to talk or hang out with friends they text or talk over their game systems. It seems to take a tragedy, such as a terrorist attack, or a natural disaster to remind us that we need to remember more than just ourselves. Why do we come together in times of tragedy and not in times of celebration? This needs to change.
We need to put aside our fears and help our students and children and maybe even the adults in our area to see that without socialization, the history and cultural knowledge passed down from generation to generation will fade away and die. It is our job to start reminding our students that through social play, play that involves more than just our small group of friends, we can regrow our whole world. "If play is a "cause and effect" of the culture within which children are raised, then teachers, parents, and administrators need to be aware of this important process of transmission." Campbell and Lew, 2005, p.62)
Campbell, P.S., Lew, J.C. (2005) Children's natural and necessary musical play: Global contexts, local applications. Music Educators Journal. 91, 5; International Index to Music Periodicals
Lewis, T. (2001). Miss Mary Mack and African American Cultural Survival. Retrieved November 26, 2017, from http://timbooktu.com/rvtamara/marymack.htm
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