A spot of surfing

Since IATEFL, it seems that much discussion has been provoked about the nature of what dogme is or is not. I, in the meantime, have been taking some well-deserved holiday. Yesterday, I was sitting on a sandy beach in Devon. The sea is such a tranquil place. There is something about the effortless meeting of land and water that gives me an immense sense of clarity.

Surfing into shore

At the time of scribbling some ideas down, I am watching a few surfers patiently waiting just behind the area in which waves break, what seems to be their zone. Between them is an obvious expert, no older or younger than the rest of them, but his expertise puts him in a league above the rest. His skill lies in his patience. While the others around him paddle furiously at the very sight of a wave, he sits, unmoved, waiting. Then, finally, after ten or fifteen minutes, the wave he has been waiting for finally arrives and he, the sea, and his surfboard sail towards the shore. Effortless, I think. The enjoyment he derives from the experience is clear from the satisfied smile on his face. I will return to our surfer later.

I avoided giving a clear definition of what I thought dogme is at IATEFL. Thus, anyone who came along hoping for this would have left empty handed. While preparing for the speech, the thought had crossed my mind and I was intending to try to define what it means to me in the talk. As it happens, I decided against it, mainly because I did not think I was in the position to do so. It turns out that I did define what it means to me.

If asked now, I think I could give a rough definition of my interpretation of dogme, based on my experience with it in the classroom. While journeying though my thoughts in search of a definition, I found myself asking the same questions many others have posed: what is it? What is it not? How do I know if I am doing it? Do I not already do it?

In an attempt to explain the concept of dogme, I have come across Taoism, European cultural Imperialism, Anarchism, Humanism and even Eclecticism. Forgive me for my ignorance, but I find these terms difficult to unpack. So I will try my best to be as clear as possible when giving a definition

Curiosity

Is that enough?

I do not think that curiosity alone is enough. Dogme has been associated with impulse, instinct, and even winging it. So, already I am not satisfied with my definition. How I want to redefine it is by stating that it is not dictated by instinct or impulse, although the feeling of elation derived from ‘dogme moments’ may lead to such a conclusion. Instead, what I want to propose is that reflection is the driving force behind action and reaction in the dogme classroom.

Considering this, I would like to suggest a new definition

A conscious curiosity backed up by sound reflection on one’s practice

So, even if I had decided that a definition of dogme was not what I was intending to give, what I walked away with was exactly that.

Catching the wave

Now I want to come back to my surfer. In his mind’s conscious are all the experiences of the bad waves, the nothing waves, the not-quite-the-one waves. This is what gives him the insight to dig a little deeper, to wait a little longer, and anticipate that wave. There have been times when that wave hasn’t come, in which case he has paddled into shore.

“I ask what people did at the weekend, we talk about that sort of stuff, does that make me dogme?”

I am not sure.

Phatic communication passes us by like the powerless waves pass the surfer by. It paddles around, dipping a foot in the water, on the shoreline of curiosity. I do not think the surfer that catches these waves derives the same enjoyment and same zenith that as the expert.

I blogged the other day about how a conversation in the classroom about how tired we felt developed into a full-debate on the positives and negatives of living forever. In that conversation, I let many waves pass me by before I spotted the right wave to take us into shore. What guided me was not instinct but reflection, my conscious.

Defining dogme

So, now I will come back to that definition of dogme. Perhaps it is not the definition that eludes, more that the questions should be fitter for the purpose.