It's not a new phrase, but I was reminded of it again recently by Aaron Davis, a secondary school teacher in Melbourne, who has a prolific education Twitter account. I feel 'it takes a village' requires some unpacking.
In 1962, in his book The Gutenberg Galaxy, media theorist Marshall McLuhan popularised the term 'Global Village' as a description of global contraction through proliferation of electronic technology. In 1962, technology use was minimal in comparison to today's ubiquitous global digital capabilities. McLuhan was describing the instantaneous movement of information across the globe, through the new telecommunications systems that included underwater cables and satellites. Today, we have a bewildering array of technology at our disposal, including incredibly powerful handheld computers that fit neatly into our pockets. We truly live in a global village if we accept McLuhan's terms. However, other analogies are also available.
What is a village? In the traditional sense, it is a grouping of people who live in close proximity to each other. It is often a community that shares a common identity and purpose. People who live in a village tend to know each other better than those who live in more dispersed or larger communities, such as those in urban dwellings. They communicate on a more regular and intimate basis, and have shared experiences. Everyone in a village plays a specific role in the community - even the 'village idiot'. Villagers tend to help each other out more readily because of their strong social ties. There are examples that personify these principles. The Amish community, which is associated by its strong religious codes, will turn out en masse to help a farmer build his new barn. He in return will feed them and return the favour when they next require his help. Many hands make light work. People in villages and other small close knit communities tend to look out for each other.
I believe this is what Aaron Davis and others mean when they say: 'it takes a village'. We scaffold our learning by freely sharing our own content with each other. The wider amplification of content through 'global village tools' such as Twitter serve to reinforce the ideals of our professional (village) lives. Those who do not share can still benefit from the sharing of others, if they are members of the community. The more we share, the more there is to go around, because unlike physical property, the sharing of ideas never runs out - it just becomes stronger. Giving away ideas and knowledge is a bit like love, as told in the story of Jesus and the feeding of the 5000. You can share it around as much as you like, but you still get to keep it, and there is always plenty left over.
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
It takes a village by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
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