“Since as far back as Plato’s time, it has been written that education was not so much about filling a bucket (opening the brain and pouring in every possible fact and academic knowledge), but about lighting a fire – true teachers being those who sparked a fire of motivation in the hearts, minds, and souls of their students to love the process of knowing and learning”.
Awakening Wonder by Sally Clarkson
One of the many things I love about life on the road is how it has given us the gift of natural learning. It has opened up a world of wonder; a world of exploring and experiencing new places and things almost every day.
Today we visited the Clermont Museum. I guess Museum’s can be boring if you view them just as places of dry information… but when you allow people to wander, read, look, touch, listen and explore, a whole new world can open up. They can be a door through which you can catch a glimpse of life as it was; make connections to the past and open an understanding of places and people far removed from us.
That’s what the museum did for me today… and I think for our children. It was fascinating. So many stories, and anecdotes, pictures, artefacts and memorabilia to ignite the imagination. To spark ideas and open understanding.
My favourite story was about the midwives of Blair Athol… a remote town that was later relocated to facilitate a mine. Early in the town’s history the midwives were the only form of medical help available. There were many heart-rending stories of lives tragically lost due to the tyranny of distance.
The midwives provided a life line of hope and help to this isolated community. They went above and beyond the call of duty in their care for the families of Blair Athol. When they knew a mother was due to give birth, the midwife would move in with the family and take over the responsibility of running the household until two or three weeks after the baby was born! (I was a little jealous!)
So many stories of resilience and courage in the midst of trying circumstances. They are stories that moved me. Stories that will stay with me long after the school day is done. That is the power of story.
Scattered throughout the museum, amongst the displays and stories was poetry and song relevant to the particular tale that was being told. From describing the development of mining in the central coalfields to the drama of the great shearers strike of 1891 which started in nearby Capella – the poetry and song brought the stories near and made them real. Poignant and powerful, it added depth and beauty to the retelling for those who took the time to read and listen. Some sad, some hard, some to teach us what not to do. Some incredible and inspiring. Such is the nature of mankind.
The other amazing story that captured our imaginations was the great flood of 1916 and the subsequent relocation of the town of Clermont. 60 people died in the flood that decimated the small settlement which was built on a flood plain. There were many tales of heroism as men and women rode into the raging flood waters on horseback or swam in with ropes tied about their waist, to rescue the drowning townsfolk.
After the flood they somehow put the surviving buildings onto wheels and literally pulled them up to higher ground with a steam engine. Courage. Ingenuity. Honor. All there in the pages of our history waiting to be discovered. Waiting to be remembered.
First posted August 12, 2021
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