The All-American Musical Instrument

By Jeffrey M. Bowen

If you were asked to name the quintessential American musical instrument, think banjo. Think of hillbillies enlivening a bluegrass festival or a country folk revival, or the sad background strumming of a PBS video Civil War documentary.  My personal memories include Appalachian backwoods dueling banjos in the classic movie “Deliverance,” and the musical mischief of the Spike Jones band back in the 1950s.  Ask Alexa to play banjo music and fast-tempo country sounds will be launched.  

Historical roots are found in West Africa, and to a later extent in European traditions. The earliest models arrived on 18^th century slave ships often landing in the Caribbean.  Music historians describe primitive types as gourds covered with animal skins and necks made of sticks without any frets.  Modern banjos have four or five steel strings. The older types have a fifth short string called a drone or thumb string which is used to play rhythmic upbeats to accompany the main melody.  

Recently I took a close look at a banjo inherited by my brother-in-law Jim Horky. It is built on a circular frame consisting of a resonator and neck.  The essential element is a hollow rim covered with a membrane.  The resonator amplifies the sound. Many diverse types of wood are used in construction, ranging from maple and walnut to mahogany. Different woods yield brighter or richer sounds.

What intrigues me about the one my brother-in-law inherited is that the entire rim is lined with heavy and sturdy metal. This was added to protect the life of the instrument.  Apparently it needed to be rugged. Along with a mandolin and guitar, the instruments were bequeathed to my brother-in-law by his uncle Gerhard Martis, a multi-talented musician from Nebraska.

Gerhard (1897-1956) was a worldwide musical traveler who played in big and small bands in the 1930s and 40s.  I was told that Phil Harris, a very popular band leader of the era, rewarded Gerhard with a nice plot of land near Hollywood Boulevard, but it went into arrears because he could not be bothered to pay taxes on it.

Gerhard was a handsome fellow who could play about any stringed instrument in an orchestra. A photo suggests that one of his gigs involved the SS Niagara as it cruised from Sidney, Australia to New Jersey. My brother-in-law inherited Gerhard’s banjo partly because he, too, is musically talented. It pleases both of us to think that what Gerhard Martis left behind is American musical history to our ears.  

 

Living the Legacy of Greece

 

Living the Legacy of Greece

Recently I read an amusing account of sixth grade answers on a history test. It gave me a laugh but also reminded me of how strangely we interpret the past when context or background knowledge is missing.

One student wrote, “The Greeks were a highly sculptured people and without them we wouldn’t have history. The Greeks also had myths. A myth is a female moth.” Another gave Socrates a sparce obituary when he wrote, “Socrates was a famous Greek teacher who went around giving people advice. They killed him.”    

My own superficial views became evident on recent trip my wife and I took to Greece.  We were among the million American tourists who arrive annually to explore the Parthenon and other so-called ruins.  Our bus excursions reminded me of peeling the petals off an artichoke. Each petal’s morsel took us closer to the historical heart of the country.

The Parthenon dominates the skyline of Athens. It sits on a football-field sized platform called an acropolis. Considered the center of religious life in the city-state, the columned main temple, built more than 2,500 years ago, was constructed in honor of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, arts, literature, and war. Numerous sculptured human images, some still bearing original pigments and adorned with still fashionable clothing, are stored in a nearby museum.

We journeyed to Olympia, the birthplace of today’s Olympics. The place features acres of crumbled training facilities, temples, monuments, sanctuaries, and the buried outline of a big stadium. Originally built in 776 BCE, the site was dedicated to the worship of gods and athletic competition. Separate temples were erected for Zeus, the king of all gods, and Hera, the queen of the gods and goddess of women and marriage.

Every four years for centuries, the site drew competitors from dozens of Greek city-states, just as our current Olympics globally attracts athletes. However, back then only men competed; winning an event was a huge political honor (sometimes primed with bribes); athletes competed in the nude; a false start could trigger the death penalty.

A bus trip northward took us to the mountainous Oracle at Delphi. Considered the center of the earth by ancient Greeks, the main purpose of its temples was to honor Apollo, the god of prophesy, music, poetry, and knowledge. One could not communicate with him directly, so to predict the future a bridge between the human and the divine was necessary. The solution was a middle-aged female priestess seer named Pythia. Once a month she would foretell the future by breathing in potent fumes expelled by a fissure in the earth. After falling into a trance, she would scream unintelligible predictions which were translated by attending priests. A number of city-states maintained treasuries on the site because gifts to Apollo were expected for advice, especially in times of war or political upheaval.

Ruins attract thousands of tourists everywhere in Greece. New archeological discoveries appear every week. Why have disintegrated columns, walls, and statues become such magnets?

A little research brings reasons to light. The ruins tell fascinating stories about the country’s culture and values. Greek mythology, with its many legends about gods and goddesses, heroes and monsters, warriors and fools, is a vital cultural signature of the country. In the so-called Dark Age of Greece (about 1200 to 800 BCE), there was no written language, so story tellers used myths and legends to give meaning to everyday lives. Today’s ruins retell those stories.

Another reason for the sustained appeal of Greece is not just that it is indeed ancient, but that it still tells us so much about ourselves. It is impossible to identify any aspect of western civilization, and American life in particular, that has not been influenced by the ancient doings of Greece. The implications include our arts and architecture, political and legal institutions (including democracy and trial by jury), language and education, agriculture and philosophy, medicine and health, and (of course) athletics.

The sites we saw were visually awe-inspiring and even entertaining. Tourists support an estimated quarter of Greece’s economy, and we saw crowded evidence of it.  Our bonus in the months afterward has been a deeper understanding from thinking and reading about Greece’s gifts to western civilization.  After thousands of years, often without realizing it, we are living her legacy. 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

A Tour of Iceland Changed Our Perspective

My wife and I recently returned from a week-long bus tour of Iceland.  Geologically stunning is an excellent way to describe the landscape that appeared in our bus picture windows.  Covering more than a thousand miles, we marveled at majestically rugged volcanic mountains and larva fields, countless waterfalls, steaming geysers and lush green hillsides.  Rustic overnight accommodations and indigenous foods were tasteful and interesting. 

All of this became a preface to our deeper understanding.  We were tourists, of course, but we began to realize that we were experiencing something more than a sightseeing trip with destinations.  This was a journey that offered a different perspective.  At every stop we felt as though we were building an understanding of how people interact with each other and their environment.       

Scholars call this cultural ecology. Think of it as open-minded awareness. Especially after returning home, we realized that few countries are more ecologically attuned than Iceland.  Icelanders connect with and deeply appreciate their environment.

 As we left the capital of Danish-flavored Reykjavik, where 60 percent of the country’s 370,000 residents live, we noticed clusters of the four million pine trees the country has planted since 2015. Centuries ago the Vikings stripped the land bare, so erosion is chronic.  Reforestation hints at the attention Iceland gives to their own renewable resource. Importing trees from overseas is forbidden.

Soon we visited one of the country’s six massive geothermal plants.  A resident geologist explained that more than a quarter of Iceland’s energy derives from underground sources. Combined with hydroelectric power, about 94 percent of the country’s residents have no home heating bills, nor do they need furnaces.  One of Iceland’s major exports is electricity.  Moreover, geothermal science has made Iceland a world leader in efforts to transform super-heated carbon dioxide into rock.

As we traveled on, sheep seemed to be scattered everywhere.  In the summer, after they return from highland grazing, the sheep are herded into clusters from which farmers cooperatively identify and separate their own by label.  We also saw small groups of pony-sized horses originally brought by Norse settlers.  Other breeds are forbidden from being imported, and exported native horses cannot be returned.  What makes these steeds distinctive is their unique gait which simulates riding on shock absorbers.

 We journeyed north to a coastal town surrounded by towering mountains.  Sheep farming, fishing, and music festivals are the norm in this isolated community for 200 residents.  Our host and his young daughter serenaded us, led a walking tour of puffin habitat and a fish factory, and explained how fairies and elves are an affectionate presence.  Thus social bonds, traditions, and economic necessity link community and environment.

Our tour director spent hours telling us hair-raising legends and sagas that describe the history of her country.   A full understanding of a country’s challenges can take a lifetime. Yet in a brief time we learned how life in a volatile land has enabled Icelanders to thrive. They take the country’s 32 active volcanoes in stride and track eruptions like weather reports.

We think the key to Iceland’s burgeoning success in tourism is how it integrates with, celebrates, and preserves its environment.  Even though our stay in Iceland was brief, we learned to appreciate not only the country’s natural beauty, but its sincere efforts to conserve and share that beauty while maintaining its traditional identity.  

 

 

 

What Your Hands Have To Say

By Jeffrey M. Bowen

When someone says, “Let me see your hands,” it may remind you of your mom when she wanted to make sure you had washed up before dinner. Or you think of the times you raised your hand to vote or to affirm an oath. In fact, we depend on our hands for an endless variety of reasons.

 Your hands can help you clarify what others are saying as well as your own intentions. As nonverbal clues to your emotions and dispositions, look no further than what your hands say about you.

As a high school student years ago, I competed in “original oratory”.  My coaches insisted on my using an array of gestures to get my message across. They were very right.  Rehearsed beforehand, the strategy worked beautifully if my gestures matched the inflections and cadence of my talk. Somehow the hand movements helped me maintain eye contact, and to speak out more clearly and confidently. 

Many decades later, as a school administrator, I was invited to judge original speeches delivered by student members of Future Farmers of America.  Those few who instinctively gestured as they spoke obviously knew their topic and felt confident and passionate about it. Unfortunately, when other students came to address our school board on some issue, they usually looked down, mumbled, and held onto their papers for dear life.

Besides convincing me that every student deserves the opportunity to learn public speaking, these experiences made me realize that using one’s hands will add excellent value to one’s speech and personal presence.

To make what we say more memorable, according to applied research by the Max Planck Institute, we should emphasize certain “beat” gestures while speaking.  Five distinct kinds of gestures were identified:  pointing at something or someone, mimicking an action, expressing an abstract concept, symbolic gestures (we all know what that middle finger means), and motor gestures to reinforce the stressed syllables (the beat) of what we are saying.

When words were matched with beat gestures, listeners were 20 percent more likely to hear and remember the words being spoken. When there was a deliberate mismatch, listeners were 40 percent more likely to misunderstand or misremember what was said.

As humans we are truly fortunate to have such adaptable appendages, including how expressive our fingers can be. Lately we have been tv streaming the show “Wednesday,” which features a colorfully creepy adolescent girl whose constant rescuer is a disconnected “Hand”.  There is no end to what that hand can communicate and pull off by relying on the eloquent signals sent by his fingers.

We are mesmerized by the tactile messages sent by hands. Consider the impact of touching others. When you gently touch someone as you speak to them, the message and the affection come across far more effectively than speaking from a distance.

A handshake carries many meanings (dating back to the 9^th century B.C.E.). It may be a greeting, congratulations, or it may convey peaceful intentions or agreements between countries. Customs vary by culture. My experience suggests that using the right hand is expected and the strength of the grip is a measure of personality. When greeting one another, individuals who avoid handshakes altogether risk being viewed as unwelcoming and unappealing.

Employers place a high priority on hires who bring strong oral communication skills to the job.  Surveys have shown that experience in public speaking often outweighs problem solving and critical thinking. When I interviewed candidates, I used to watch how they presented their hands.

None of all this is mysterious. Hearing and seeing go together. Hand gestures are a  valuable cognitive and emotional asset. They represent fluency without a word being said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Contradictions Invite Curiosity

Contradictions Invite Curiosity

By Jeffrey M. Bowen

Contradictions can be invaluable learning tools when we explore rather than exploit them. When a situation presents features that oppose one another or seem so inconsistent that we are convinced one must be wrong, then we usually have at least three choices. One is to ignore the whole thing and remain blissful. Second, convince ourselves that our view is right, regardless of facts, and manipulate our own truth. Or third, ask questions; seek more information that might resolve the contradiction. We can deliberately choose ignorance, remain stubbornly biased, or become curious.

My choice is always curiosity, but circumstances can dictate otherwise. My approach may be governed by the availability of time, resources, or my emotional reactions.

Two very different historical events illustrate my points. Last year we visited the city of York, England where I was puzzled to see a big bronze statue of the Roman emperor Constantine relaxing comfortably on a podium near the front door of the largest Gothic cathedral in northern Europe.

To me this was contradictory. I thought Romans were pagans and known for murderous pogroms of Christians. After getting home, I read that Constantine became the first Christian emperor in 306 C.E. Now he is celebrated for having propagated Roman Catholicism throughout western Europe.

I confess some contradictions linger. I also learned that this statuesque emperor murdered his wife by allegedly boiling her in oil. A similar fate befell his sons. Yet Constantine built major cathedrals in Rome and was notably lenient with priests.

More personally impactful for me is the contradiction that surrounds the political fate of President Lyndon Johnson. Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, in her chronicle of leadership in turbulent times, tells us that Lyndon Johnson fell victim to a shocking contradiction in the latter part of his tenure.

In 1964 Johnson enjoyed a landslide election, a growing civil rights coalition, a booming economy, and a peaceful world. His so-called “Great Society” initiatives triumphed because of his amazingly strong ambition and legislative expertise. He seemed to understand that giving stakeholders a chance to shape measures made all the difference.

The contradiction shows up in the contrast between Johnson’s monumental domestic successes and his awful temporizing and misjudgment about the intensifying war in Vietnam. Attempting to protect funding for his domestic achievements, the president deliberately downplayed the ballooning budget of the escalating war.

 In later years he reflected, “I had no choice but to keep foreign policy in the wings. I knew that the day it exploded into a major debate on the war, that day would be the beginning of the end of the Great Society.” Johnson continued to hide the extent of the Vietnam war until the American people grew intensely dissatisfied. Then his recourse was to announce he would not run for reelection.

In 1968 I failed to understand, nor to this day do I accept, Johnson’s reasoning. His contradiction eventually resulted in my spending a year overseas involved in a futile initiative to escape the war by turning it over the South Vietnamese.

 As we have learned over the years, interpretations and documentation of historical events will shift and produce new truths as well as bitterly contested lies.

History is just one aspect of our encounters with everyday contradictions. The key is not to ignore or rationalize them, but to ask questions and investigate as best we can. It takes a good dose of curiosity and persistence. But it is the only way to learn the truth.

 

Mentoring Produces Results at Home and School

 

Mentoring Produces Results at Home and School

By Jeffrey M. Bowen

What makes mentoring a different kind of relationship in your life?

No single synonym completely captures its essence, but words like counseling and problem solving, developmental partnering, and trustful caring come into play. At least two people should be engaged, a mentor and a mentee, and the connection works when it involves open two-way communication. The popular assurance, “I’ve got your back,” applies.

Contrasts describe what mentoring is not. A mentor does not insistently advise, critically evaluate performance, or warn mentees, “Follow my way or the highway.”

When opportunities and commitments are encouraged by listening instead of judging, the experience becomes universally positive and memorable. Effective mentoring is confidential and uniquely personal, that is, person to person. While it may create rewarding teamwork, coaching a team toward victory does not really fit mentoring. Yet when individualized, it can indeed.

Chances are that parents and teachers come to mind first. The presence of an adult in a young person’s life can be a powerful influence especially when it involves listening and sharing knowledge. Adults fulfill a mentoring role when they facilitate learning, model positive behaviors, and stand in their children’s emotional corner.

 My parents acted as mentors especially when they listened without criticizing, asked leading questions, and when they showed me how to exercise skills and talents that otherwise I might never have discovered. I gained confidence because they believed in me and cheered me on.

 When my wife and I became parents, we tried to guide our children in this same way. For instance, my wife loves to cook. Sharing her talents with our grown daughter has nurtured common ground for wonderful cuisine as well as mutually gratifying communication. My spouse serves as a sounding board for our daughter’s challenges as a parent, and so the mentoring cycle continues.

A New York City court clerk named Ernest Coulter is recognized as the founder of American mentoring programs. In 1904 he observed that too many young boys coming to the courtroom were risking a stint in “reformatory” because they lacked contact with a caring adult. Coulter’s effort to recruit members of local churches to guide fatherless boys one-on-one led to the 1909 founding of the Big Brothers movement.

A parallel effort in Ohio produced a counterpart through Catholic Big Sisters.  A century later, with endorsements and advocacy from multiple presidents and Congress through the years, Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) is now a thriving international association involving 360 affiliates.

Proof of dramatic success comes from a well-designed 1995 national study of BBBS. A thousand demographically diverse adolescents from BBBS agencies were screened and selected to participate in the research. Half were carefully matched with a volunteer mentor who met with them three times a month for an average of one year. The other half were placed on a waiting list, and they served as a control group; that is, they were not matched with a mentor and did not receive BBBS services at least during the time of the study.

The youngsters who met regularly with a mentor proved 46 percent less likely than the control group to abuse illegal drugs, 27 percent less likely to begin using alcohol, 52 percent less likely to skip school, and 33 percent less likely to hit someone. Related evidence confirmed increased academic confidence and stronger parental relationships. The longer children participated, the less they focused on specific problems or activities, and the more they seemed to appreciate just having someone to confide in and look up to.

Nowhere are mentorships more prevalent than in our schools. The influence of teachers on students is well known, but teacher-to-teacher mentoring may be less familiar to many.

 As a district office administrator I was privileged to work for more than a decade with dozens of mentor teachers who were matched with newer teacher mentees by subject or grade level.  Results were gratifying for the participants because experiences and advice could be shared confidentially. Rules of the bureaucratic road could be communicated comfortably. Instructional resources could be identified. Mentees were asked to continue an additional year, with time set aside for book studies and group discussion.

Because schools are learning organizations, the positive effects of mentoring reinforce consistency and a positive climate among all staff and students. I certainly witnessed this as a charter school evaluator and mentor. For seven years I relied on a performance review system whose research verifies an eight percent gain in student achievement due to factors of social climate. It should be no surprise that students who feel safe and valued may thrive academically.

A crucial aspect of creating a productive school climate proved to be the extent to which the school principal mentored a cadre of seasoned, trustworthy mentors, with whom she consulted frequently. The principal modeled mentoring, encouraging an open-door policy, as did I in my role as both her evaluator and mentor.

In a small elementary school with just two paired teachers by grade level, mentoring “on the fly” occurred constantly. Partnered teachers shared promising instructional practices and consulted on individual student behavioral issues. Within these grade groupings, teachers not only supported and counseled one another, but nurtured teacher assistants and newer employees among all grades, doing so informally and with encouragement from an open-minded administrative staff.

Much to its credit, New York state has promoted consistent standards for mentoring programs and internships. The state teachers’ union (NYSUT) has been deeply involved in this effort since 1986. The State Education Department has been awarding two-million-dollar grants for mentoring programs since 2018.

 Finally, using a research-based model, the state Council on Children and Families supports and sponsors school-based one-on-one mentoring programs for volunteers who must be at least 18 years of age. They are screened, trained, and matched to children in their communities. Descriptive brochures are available for this ground-breaking strategy.

We have enhanced and institutionalized mentoring programs because they have yielded positive results at so many levels in schools, businesses, and society. We must recognize that mentoring may well begin at home with parents and other willing adult models throughout our communities. Whatever the approach, it will usually succeed when there is a conscientious reciprocal commitment between mentor and mentee. The impact is lasting and uniquely personal.