School influence
- Thread starter Goldie
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Rhonda Tharp
Active Member
In retrospect, I did not get an mythology in my schooling. Sure we read short stories, but it was all for the state test, for skill, not content. I was a huge movie and music fanatic (and I guess I still am), so my husband found a Joseph Campbell book for me, and that's when I got interested in mythology. That's also when I realized all the movies i enjoyed were similar retellings of ancient myths or had myth motifs
I became a History teacher, and developed a mythology course as an elective for 8th graders. (We covered Greek, Celt, Norse, Egypt, Hindu, Japan and China) I was allowed to teach it for seven years, then school board dropped it this year, their reason was we need room for more classes that get high school credit...
Anyway, I got a lot of positive feedback from parents and students, and hope to one day publish my myth curriculum.
What did you experience in school? Did they have mythology units or segment of study in literature class?
I became a History teacher, and developed a mythology course as an elective for 8th graders. (We covered Greek, Celt, Norse, Egypt, Hindu, Japan and China) I was allowed to teach it for seven years, then school board dropped it this year, their reason was we need room for more classes that get high school credit...
Anyway, I got a lot of positive feedback from parents and students, and hope to one day publish my myth curriculum.
What did you experience in school? Did they have mythology units or segment of study in literature class?
LegendofJoe
Active Member
I was first introduced to myhology in 6th grade and loved it. More came my way in the 9th grade and in college.
It was not until I ordered the series The Enchanted World from Time-Life books that I was exposed to the fact that myths went far beyond the Greek world.
I was fascinated to learn about the myths of the Norsemen, Celts, Native Americans and Slavs.
I started reading so much of it that I asked if I could teach a course in comparative mythology at the Irish Arts Center here in NY back in 95.
It was fun and I did it for three years. My interests in mythology branched out into ancient religions and magic. Nowadays I've been reading about the history of magic. It is interesting to note that mythology plays a role in this stuff as well. For example, when Freya joined the Aesir (during the hostage exchange after the war between the Aesir and Vanir), she taught the gods magic. It is believed she taught them Seith magic; a type that is considered "feminine."
The other type of magic is called galdr, and there are magic books referred to as galdraboks.
I'm glad you have an opportunity to teach mythology to kids; it must be very rewarding.
We had various units of study throughout my education. Of course, in elementary school it was more basic, but we read and I especially remember a mural we all drew and painted together on the wall one year.
High school was more advanced. We had some detailed study and my favorite was when we had to create our own mythology. That was a lot of fun. As I recall, I tied mine into baseball somehow.
Then there was college which was much more serious, all about the facts and such. Oddly, I remember less about my college experience with mythology than I do my younger years. However, all of helped to get my juices going.
High school was more advanced. We had some detailed study and my favorite was when we had to create our own mythology. That was a lot of fun. As I recall, I tied mine into baseball somehow.
Then there was college which was much more serious, all about the facts and such. Oddly, I remember less about my college experience with mythology than I do my younger years. However, all of helped to get my juices going.
RLynn
Active Member
I was exposed to mythology (mainly Greek) now and then throughout elementary and high school. (This was pre-1956.) I don't recall taking it in college, but a lot of my friends did because it was considered to be an easy 'A'. Much literature draws heavily on mythology, and I was keenly interested in literature, so I took mythology seriously.