Scott Macklin – Convening Community through Stories
“The World needs so very much to know that we are different not in order to be separate, but different in order to be those who compliment one another” –Desmond Tutu
Scott Macklin is an educator and award-winning documentary film-maker whose work bridges communities. Scott also serves on the advisory board of the Head Start Center for Inclusion and on the board of the South African NGO Saving our Schools and Community (SOSAC). He believes in the power of social media as a tool for learning and social justice.
Scott began his presentation with the concept of Ubuntu: “We are — therefore I am.” He asks, “What does it mean to start with the we?” The “I” of the western “cogito ergo sum” is instead set in the context of “we.” The individual can be strong, but the power of community is stronger. You do not need to be the youngest or strongest member to thrive; you excel by drawing on your connection to others. Part of Scott’s creative process is “deep-hanging out:” making films with people, not just making films about people.
Scott tells the story of canoeing with a Native American tribe in the Pacific Northwest. Though he was the youngest of the bunch, his canoe continually arrived last, despite his fervent paddling. However, once he changed his mentality and moved with the rhythm of the group, we was able to keep up with rest of the tribe.
“Stories aren’t linear progressions; our stories are tales of reciprocity,” Scott says. He showed two examples of using digital media to create progressions. The National Network for Educational Renewal Annual Conference brought together a panel of 5 people work in the news; one of the main concerns they voiced was giving agency to instructors. Education now is top down: the school board dictates what the teachers do, yet the teachers are the ones actually leading the classroom. We will never have good schools until we share a common goal prescribed by the parents, teachers, students and administration: the rhythm.
Scott drew parallels between this statement and the tenements of the Seattle music scene. The screen showed a montage of clips of artists like Gabriel Teodros, Laura Peace Kelly and the Seattle Fandango project. Every performance is a community event that engages people of all generations. The lyrics emphasize community, and serve as casual learning environments. Scott poses the question: how do we connect the informal learning environment of a hip-hop show with the formal education of the classroom?
The key to storytelling, the imaginative act, is breaking through the mentality that, in Scott’s works, is “always situated and dated in a society in a cultural matrix of one spirit or another.”
Scott ended the presentation with words from his grandmother: “listen to your Nonna now.” Learn to suspend your stories in order to enter in to the stories of others.
–Helen Pitlick
