Summary of “Off the Grid” (Doolittle, 2018)
“The failures of the grid are due to the phenomenon that at some point the ability to compensate for failures of the preconditions for the grid breaks down, no matter how determined and how powerful you are.” (Doolitte, 2018, p.104)
I completed the activity for this week before reading Doolittle’s (2018) article, and by doing so, it gave me a more meaningful perspective of the initial observations in my drawings. Doolittle emphasizes the failures of the traditional grid system and the troubles of “grid-based spatial and temporal forms (p. 101). He explores the notions of Indigenous ways of knowing, specifically the Rotinonhsonni culture, which does not integrate any lines, curved or grid, in the division of boundaries. Rather, their “territory was defined by the river” (p. 113). In his critique of failed grid systems, he offers “alternative geometries better suited to our needs in many domains, including education” (p. 102). The roots of the grid, according to Doolittle, is a method to organize space and time, and ultimately, gives the illusion of a sense of control. However, it often ignores the “specific life, qualities and characteristics of a particular place” and as a result, “forcefully imposes ‘evenness’...” (p. 104).
List of failures
Failure #1: Gardening, agricultural plots, grids of rectangles, water may not b evenly distributed, accessibility more difficult inland.
Failure #2: Land division, plots, does not take into consideration elevation or drops
Failure #3: Street Grid Systems, does not account “gentle but insistent curvature of earth” (p. 107), and the north edge is slightly shorter than the south. This requires correction lines
Failure #4: Calendar, grids, set timetables, rather than adjusting schedules based on the rise of the sun, the length or day, the changes to seasonal temperatures.
Gerofsky (2018) ‘hints’ at the possibility of another form of geometry, Riemannian geometry, where “we can vary the way we measure distance from one location to another, and from one direction to another” (as cited in Abelson & diSessa, 1981). No particular system is better than the other, and “allowing all grids on an equal basis…allow us to look past the particular rid we may be using, to refocus on the actual underlying geometry of the situation” (p. 111).
Many of these notions tie back to the notion of “one size fits all”. Like the grid system, we often impose learning styles or content that is heavily standardized, rather than focusing on the needs of the students. Rather than understand or foster those who are 'off the path', we tend to force or fix them like we do uneven lines on a grid. This notion of fixing broken grids stem from our education systems to other systems as well. Though the author offers many concrete examples of failed grid systems, what it does emphasize is the need to break from static, forced, grid-like means of solving problems. Perhaps rather, allow for the dynamics to play out and influence how we may approach ‘boundaries’ or rather embrace the “chaotic control”.
Doolittle, E. (2018). Off the grid. In Gerofsky, S. (Ed.), Geometries of liberation. Palgrave. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72523-9_7
I appreciate you listing the failures of grid systems that I had never considered. In the classroom setting, we are so much fixated on the grid system, and I agree with you that the education system focuses on learning styles or content that is heavily standardized rather than on the needs of the students. We often try to align students that go off the grid by enforcing. Instead, we should go and explore the off-grid system of learning, such as outdoor education and see how it benefits students.
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ReplyDeleteBy the length of this post, it seems that you really connected to this Reading! It sounds very interesting, and I hope I remember to come back to it "when I have the time."
ReplyDeleteI had ɑ session in ɑ class one time with ɑ knowledge keeper from Australia. He spoke about the forced system of fencing that was brought with the Colonizers and the idea of "owning land." Indigenous people all around the world have lived "on the land" and never had the notion that they own it, but that they are protectors of it and have the responsibility to care for the land. This thought process was brought to my mind when I read your quote from Doolittle, "a method to organize space and time, and ultimately, gives the illusion of a sense of control."
I think the list of 'failures' is proof that as humans we have (possibly) missed the mark in protecting and caring for Mother Earth by attempting to bring it under our control. We are so accustomed to our "digital life" now, that I don't see ɑ way for us to really "get off the grid" any more, we need electricity, like our computers and phones, our cars, and house appliances,(including washing and drying machines) the forced air heating, the list goes on...
just as we attempt to have ɑ balanced curriculum where our students can intertwine their learning in mathematics with language arts, social studies etc, maybe we can find ɑ balanced life without ɑ strict "grid" and as you state, Christina, "allow for the dynamics to play out... and embrace the 'chaotic control.'"