EDF1005-Reflection #5

Initiation rites and rites of passage ceremonies have a relation to teaching in which they both accept new people into their group, society, and classroom. They welcome all the newcomers, just as teachers do. It is the coming of a new member. But, sometimes initiations are done for different purposes. For example, they may be done for an introduction to a group or a transformation that has come about such as becoming an adult. Initiation rites relate to learning because when an initiation occurs, you may have to learn new things, customs, beliefs, or even new responsibilities come about. The new members and old member both learn the same way it happens with teaching and learning. When you are teaching someone something they are learning the material or technique, but you are also learning something new about them that you never knew before over this period of time. You get to learn a new experience, and we learn through our experiences that form paradigms. An example of a rite of passage is the Sambia, they used their strong men for war, and men who were able to reproduce were to be put with women. It is the same thing as if you were in a classroom. For example, it’s the first day of school and you don’t know your teacher, she welcomes you and shows you her customs, technique, and way of doing things in the classroom. You begin to learn all these things and master them which help you develop. It is just like an initiation, you are shown the new customs and way of doing things you believe in, and then you learn, succeed, and begin to grow in the hierarchy. Mount Kenya also has a strange ritual that deals with girls shavings their heads and carrying a bell around there calf, then they have to race to a tree and are considered sacred. Most of these initiations are traditions that have been passed for a long time, and we have continued them to keep the culture going. Everyone has different ways of celebrating occasions or different parts of a person’s life. In my family we don’t do any crazy initiations but I have heard that Jews for example celebrate when the boy becomes a certain age. Everyone has a different way of doing things in life, which brings us back to what culture is all about.