Simulated Socialization and the Young Pioneer Institute (YPI)

 
 

Introduction

Simulated Socialization is defined as placing children in a structured learning situation monitored and directed by a Young Pioneer Institute (YPI) responsible or team of responsibles. The children are then encouraged to act out specific actions, roles, and functions taken from the many political economic attributes of their society or the society that is the goal of the revolutionary movement/organization. In our case, these activities train our youth for adult responsibilities as a conscious African based on the attributes of the African personality. Each one of these activities should be developed in light of the age and gender of the participants, the geopolitical realities of the area where the YPI is located, and the economic capacity of the area to initiate and sustain particular types of learning experiences.

Since each one of these actions, roles, and functions are components of some particular aspect of the wide variety of activities and events associated with generic human socialization, they prepare the participants for real life. In the context of these socio-dramas, or imitations of life, each participating child receives grounding in Philosophical Consciencism according to his or her age group, and geo-political circumstances. An example of this kind of activity can be found in the practice of the old USSR where they had a special young people’s town set up to give their Pioneers practice in running a society. Other examples are things like the Junior United Nations, Future Farmers of America, Future Homemakers, 4H Clubs and the like.

Through interaction with other young Africans in simulated activities, our children learn social rules and the use of the moral reasoning required for the development of an appreciation of philosophical consciencism. These simulated activities are a very effective way for our children to accumulate a vast amount of basic knowledge about the world around them, knowledge needed for later learning in language, math, science, social studies, art, and medicine. In essence knowledge needed for construction of the continental African nation of the future. There are three broad kinds of simulated activities: Constructive, Self-guided, and those Guided by Formal Rules.

 

Constructive simulated activities

Involves young Africans creatively manipulating the objects and materials found in their immediate environment, and then explaining the outcome of their manipulation to the YPI responsible and to peers. Through use of objects and materials in this manner the child's virtuosity with words, ideas, and concepts are increased.

 

Self-guided simulated activities

Involves young Africans in experimentation with language and emotions by doing things based solely on their own imagination, such as drawing, working with clay, writing an essay, composing music, plays, songs, presenting oral history, and so on. This aids in the development of the child's ability to represent in abstraction critical social attributes such as time, place, amount, symbols, words, and ideas— by dent of their efforts to convey a particular message to the other YPI participants.

 

Activities Guided by Formal Rules

For the older youth we suggest formalized, rule based activities such as:

  • soccer or track & field, gymnastics, basketball, and similar kinds of team sports
  • bands, drill teams, drumming, dance groups, group singing
  • web site development, producing a video, printing a small paper, starting a small business
  • forensic debates, scout – type activities, 4-H type activities, Future Farmer type activities, Jr. Achiever type groups
  • academic competitions (math, spelling, writing, history, geography bees)
  • skills and crafts contests (from cooking and quilting to model making and wood working)

 

All of the above, and much more, can be used to develop an intellectual link between rules and sanctioned social activities.

 

Suggestions for the Simulated Socialization Process:

  1. Write a YPI Guide that would be available to each YPI responsible. The guide should be designed to heighten their understanding of the concept of a conscious movement of conscience, the history of the Pan-Africanist movement and its role in our culture and history. Should include advise for use with different age groups. This advice should allow for the broad variations of circumstance to be found in different geopolitical areas.
  2. Develop a Mobile Educational Kit that should contain a YPI Guide, positive videos, and the essential components for simulated socialization appropriate to the particular local area. The latter articles should be left to the discretion of each local geopolitical area. The Guide and the videos should be standard across all YPIs.
  3. Design Special Young Pioneer Programs activities booklet for younger groups. Task could include the group analysis of key historical events, individuals, and sites in each particular geopolitical area using the YPI Guide. With the completion of each task in the activities booklet, the child can earn an official Young Pioneer Badge and Certificate. Whenever and wherever possible this should be supplemented with large colorful flash cards, easily read books (big letters and illustrations), films, children’s songs and music, child friendly web sites. These booklets should be designed by the particular geopolitical area according to its means and human factors.

 

 

Using the World Wide Web (WWW)

For general child oriented searching on the web use search engines such as Yahooligans! At:

http://www.yahooligans.com/

 

I used this search engine to find some ideas of how other interest groups design sites to educate young people about Africa (or to be accurate their institutional view of Africa), and I located the following sites:

http://www.hmnet.com/africa/1africa.html

http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Home_Page/GIF_Images.html

http://www.geographia.com/indx06.htm

http://www.cherbearsden.com/story1.html site developed by Christian missionaries,

http://www.mnh.si.edu/africanvoices/

http://library.thinkquest.org/16645/

http://www.mrdowling.com/611africatoday.html

http://www.arm.arc.co.uk/home.html for older youth who can understand the proper interpretation of concepts such as reparations and return of stolen artifacts