Final Paper

Old Camp Magunticook had a collection of black and white slides which were shown on occasion to attract new campers. Slides of that sort must have been popular in the early 1920s, for we have a large box of them which depict the early days of Flying Moose. Things look remarkably the same today. Change the boys' knickers to blue jeans, bring the old cars and trucks up to date, modernize some of the camping equipment, especially the ungainly knapsacks and other pieces of World War I surplus, and Flying Moose 1921 could pass for Flying Moose 1986.

It was in the middle of the 1920s that home movies came within the reach of many people, and Mr. Domi and Mr. Smith moved with the times. Two large reels of black and white film still exist from that period. Some of the scenes in those reels are those that Mr. Domi brought to our home in 1927. In those shots, and later additions, it is interesting to pick out my classmates and others who were at Flying Moose with me during my early summers. Some time in the intervening years Mr. Domi's clever titles became separated from the film; and that was a great loss. Being an English scholar, he was not satisfied with simple titles; but rather chose his from the works of Chaucer, and they fitted very neatly. I don't know how many of his viewers were aware of that, but I eventually caught on.

In the 1940s it became my responsibility to continue adding to the camp film. Color eventually became reasonably priced, and every summer we tried to add some 300 feet of new film with new faces and new activities. It was that moving scene of Flying Moose, as well as another less up to date film which was mailed to those at a distance, which sold many people on Flying Moose

—from A Bad Case of Moosepox (Price, 1986 p. 207)

For the past ten years I've helped run a rustic wilderness summer camp for boys called Flying Moose Lodge (FML). It is a place without the distraction of city life and mass media, "where boys can be boys" says Chris Price, the current director (2002). Campers come live with no electricity and no phone for 26 or 52 days each summer. At base camp, Fridays through Mondays, they stay in large tents; on trips, Tuesdays through Fridays, they canoe, hike, and bike throughout Maine.

In its 83 year existence, Flying Moose Lodge has had only four sets of directors. It was founded in 1921 by Mr. Domivich, a Quaker teacher from Germantown Friends school in Pennsylvania. In 1927, ten year old Harrie Price III, a student at Germantown, spent a summer at FML, then returned as a camper, then as a counselor. In 1940, when Harrie III graduated from college and became a Quaker teacher, he bought the camp from his teacher and ran it until 1985 when his son Harrie IV, a 5th grade teacher, took over. Harrie III died in 1992. Two years later Harrie IV died and his younger brother Chris Price, and Chris's wife Shelly, took over FML and have directed it since.

Remarkably, amidst great change in other aspects of society, not much has changed in terms of the camp's physical location and condition or the philosophies that guide it. In the words of Harrie Price III (1988): "very little changes at Flying Moose Lodge except the length of boys' hair" (p. 4)

The Community of Practice at Flying Moose Lodge

Because campers live with each other 24 hours a day for 3-1/2 to 7 weeks at a time, Flying Moose Lodge becomes a community where campers learn from each other. It is this type of community of life that John Dewey (1994) referred to when he wrote that "our intelligence is bound up, so far as its materials are concerned, with the community life of which we are a part" (p. 182). In camping situations at FML, the materials of life are pared to the essentials. Boys go on expeditions in small groups and rely on themselves and their group to gain skills and survive. Their intelligence about being a camper and most of the skills at work come from that community.

Beyond mere intelligence though, Wenger (1999) emphasizes that we create meaning by actively participating in the customs of social communities, and by constructing identities in relation to those communities. Essentially, campers leave behind their homes and home identities in order to immerse themselves in the culture of FML. There, over the course of several weeks of fun and challenge, they develop not only skills, but identities and values, which they construct and modify in relation to fellow campers and counselors.

While the interaction of community members is significant in constructing an identity, the historical context of the community sets many of the parameters for discourse and practice, and therefore also greatly influences identity construction. In this sense, the camp program at FML sets the stage and scene, if you will, for the campers to act in, and build the roles and characters they play.

Identity construction is also affected by prior expectations. In the case of Flying Moose Lodge, many current campers are classmates, friends, sons, nephews, and grandsons of boys and men who were also campers at FML and have constructed their identities as Flying Moosers. So many current campers have already been primed, so to speak, to construct an identity relative to the expectations of family members and friends who are already part of that community. Returning Moosers tend to further develop their identity and take on leadership roles in the community.

Theoretical Framework

The theoretical framework for this study is based primarily on the tenets of Cultural-Historical-Activity-Theory (CHAT) that Discourse/Practice reveal values. CHAT builds on work in Educational Theory and Psychology throughout the twentieth century relating thinking, activity or experience, and community (Dewey, 1910; Lave & Wenger, 1991; Leont'ev, 1978; Vygotsky, 1978; Wertsch, 1988). It suggests an ultimately circular process of influence, and posits that what we believe and value is revealed in our activity -- what we do, and conversely what we do is influenced by the beliefs of the community of which we are a part.

Within CHAT, Lave & Wenger (1991) look at Communities of Practice and assert: “who a person becomes depends critically on which activity systems he or she participates in and on the support and assistance he or she receives from other members of the relevant communities in appropriating the specific values, knowledge and skills that are enacted in participation." In other words, our existence is grounded in communities. What we like and dislike, our opinions and deepest heartfelt values, are based to a large extent on the activities and practices of those who came before us, and those who currently live and interact with us.

"All viable culture make provisions for conserving and passing on their 'works'", Jerome Bruner (1996) reminds us (p. 24). Using the idea of culturalism, Bruner (1996) describes the informal interchange between institutions an individuals in the transmission and modification of culture (p. 14). With over 83 years of history and multiple artifacts of cultural transmission Flying Moose Lodge makes an interesting case study in which to explore the transmission of experience, and cultural models.

For this project, I hold that FML values arise from FML experience. This is the type of thing John Dewey (1925) gets at in Experience and Nature when he notes, "The reason for appreciation, for an enjoyed appropriation, is often that the object in question serves as a means to something; or the reason is that it stands as the culmination of an antecedent process" (p. 397).

In many respects, my project focuses on this "antecedent process" that Dewey (1925) mentions, in that I am looking at FML experiences, as revealed in stories circulated among FML's directors -- those who set the activities for campers, and who carry the torch of the camp's historical situation. For example, Harrie Price III (1987) speaks of the magic formula of what works for FML's camp program. Everything from the Tuesday-Friday trips to serving French toast Tuesday mornings has been experimented, challenged, and found to work well, to the point that it begins to take on a ritual-like meaning, and is passed down from generation to generation as the way things work at Flying Moose.

The "way things work" at FML is not so much a history as a collective memory, documented in part through stories about the camp in the form of the written, filmed, and oral narratives. Wertsch (2002) connects these narratives to collective memory, and points to the need through them "to create a usable past" (p. 45), that can be "a means for anchoring or constructing one's sense of who one is" (p. 120).

However, whereas much traditional sociohistorical literature considers only our growing into a cultural identity based on "major structural features of society," Holland et al (1998) link "the development of identities and agency specific to practices and activities situated in socially-constructed 'worlds'" (p. 7). Within these socially-constructed worlds, who we become is informed and influenced by cultural models, which Holland & Quinn (1988) define as "presupposed, taken-for-granted models of the world that are widely shared … by the members of a society and that play an enormous role in their understanding of the world and their behavior in it" (p. 4).

Harrie III wrote A Bad Case of Moosepox (Price, 1988), a history of stories from his 65 year involvement with FML. Mr. Domivich and Harrie III made silent 16mm promotional films to show prospective campers. Chris and Shelly Price are the current directors/owners and share stories from Chris's 53 year involvement with FML

Research Description

Drawing from Lave and Wenger's (1991) communities of practice and Holland's (1998) cultural models, I will employ Gee's (2001) discourse analysis and narrative inquiry to explore the development of personal identity through a sense of community membership. In essence, I believe that past and current owners and directors express identity through their stories of Flying Moose Lodge.

Bruner (1996) writes, "we frame the accounts of our cultural origins and our most cherished beliefs in story form" (p. 40). As G.M White demonstrates how cultural models can be seen in proverbs (Holland,1987), so also much of what those who run Flying Moose Lodge value can be traced in the cultural models revealed these stories. By examining the discourse of their stories about the camp, as conveyed in their film making, life/camp history writing, and oral narration, I hope to better understand the cultural models that the camp was founded on, and then determine to what extent those cultural models have changed. I expect that they have changed very little, and that these cultural models still express much of what it means to be a "Flying Mooser.

Research Question

In order to better understand the interaction and evolution of cultural models at work at FML, I will explore how dominant cultural models -- those of past and current owner/directors -- have changed. The research in this investigation will focus on: What cultural models are revealed in the discourse and practice of the directors of Flying Moose Lodge? This analysis is essential in laying the groundwork for a consideration of cultural models in use by campers, at which point I can analyze the interaction between dominant (directors') and counter-dominant (campers') narratives.

Methodology

In my study, I will utilize triangulation of, and within, multiple data sources to maintain consistency (Stake, 1995). The data that has already been generated exists in three forms: A Bad Case of Moosepox (Price 1988), a 288 page book of stories of FML's history; silent 16mm film footage of the camp, seven hours encompassing1921-1973, filmed and edited by camp directors to market their vision of the camp. Additionally, my own ten years of direct experience helping to run the camp as an assistant director, along with informal interviews, emails, and conversations of two of its directors, family, friends, and camp alumni contribute data.

Case Study

This project fits Stake's (1995) portrayal of a case study, in that its examination, although of multiple data sources, is bounded in time and place -- Flying Moose Lodge from its founding in 1921 up to the present. It is important to note, as Geertz (1973) prompts, that "the locus of study is not the object of study" (p. 22). Accordingly, I am not studying Flying Moose Lodge, but am looking for greater understanding of the cultural models embedded within its dominant discourse. Because I seek out insight into the philosophy and values inherent in the camp, Stake (1995) refers to this type of case study as instrumental.

Narrative Inquiry

Considering that I am looking at stories and representations of camp, narrative inquiry plays significant role in my exploration. Connelly & Clandinin (1988) explain narrative as "the study of how humans make meaning of experience by endlessly telling and retelling stories about themselves that both refigure the past and create purpose in the future." Similar to case studies, Connelly & Clandinin (1990) go on to say that narrative inquiry seeks the voice of key participants in a particular time, place or setting. Gomez (1997) notes that "analysis of narratives are primarily conducted on the content of stories -- the actors and actions portrayed in them and the places and times in which actions located -- and/or on the discourses -- the words, voices, and forms -- people use when telling them."

Fitting these guidelines of narrative inquiry, I examine as a primary data source a comprehensive self-portrait of Harrie Price III, who perhaps most influenced Flying Moose Lodge. Much of his understanding of how the camp should be run, came from his experience as a camper, then as a counselor, when Mr. Domivich was the director. The stories he heard as a camper, as well as those he witnessed play a big role in A Bad Case of Moosepox (1988). In addition to the stories told from the perspective of a respectful and reverent camper, he tells stories from his 45 years directing the camp. Many stories he had crafted, while others originated with staff, families, and campers, and were circulated time and time again over the years. In 1985, Harrie III gave up his role as the camp director to his son Harrie IV, although he was stuck around and quite involved in the day-to-day operation of the camp. In 1986, friends and family convinced him to write the stories down, and he did so in 288 pages. Beyond a mere collection of stories of the camp’s lore and history, A Bad Case of Moosepox (Price, 1988) indicates the foundational philosophies and cultural models behind the way Flying Moose Lodge was run.

Discourse Analysis

To more easily analyze the narrative structures in the film, writing, and verbal narrative forms of the data, I will employ elements of discourse analysis, using the idea that the 'little d' discourse of my data acts as a social language that communicates cultural models (Gee, 2001, Holland, 1998). The stories Harrie Price III shares in A Bad Case of Moosepox (Price, 1988) are those stories that both indicated his understanding of Flying Moose, and also shaped an understanding of the camp to those who had heard and circulated the stories for years before. The stories reveal some of Harrie III's understandings of how the world works -- for example, what it means to be a boy: what they do and think about, what foods they love and hate, how they learn, and what camps should do for them. It is a collection of understandings based both on his years of experience and on stories related to him by others.

Multimodal Discourse Analysis

In addition to these stories, I have silent films and interview/observation to provide triangulation. As expressed in the excerpt at the beginning of chapter one, just about every summer from 1921-1939 founder/owner Mr. Domivich made silent films of aspects of the camp and edited them into movies that he could take and show to prospective campers and their parents. These silent films, although created to market the camp, also act as narratives. Shots and scenes were chosen, and at times constructed, to highlight what the directors wanted to emphasize about the camp. Essentially, the scenes form the camp director's vision of what Flying Moose Lodge is, and what boys are -- and attempt to persuade their audience why the two should spend their summers together.

In 1940, when Harrie III bought the camp, he also took over the film-making and marketing duties until 1974. The films total over seven hours, and were donated to the North East Historic Film Society in Bucksport, Maine, where I had digital copies made. Far from Hollywood, these films are, for the most part roughly edited into favorite scenes. Some scenes are set up, and there are some that are totally fabricated. One example is of a group of campers sitting around a campfire smoking corncob pipes; when the camera approaches them, they become surly and confrontational. Chris Price (2002) tells me that his father created this scene as a practical joke; he gave the boys corncob pipes with flour in them and asked them to portray a seedy scene of camp so he has a resource to show mothers whose boys he doesn't want at camp.

Kress & Leeuwen (2001) demonstrate that old films like these provide a source of multimodal discourse to examine. In their filming and editing choices, the directors tried to capture their vision of the camp, and so indicated their values, and the overall values embedded in Flying Moose. Decisions made in design and production of this film footage for marketing, Kress & Leeuwen (2001) assert, reveal discourse not only in content, but in expression.

Framing of Questions

In order to provide cohesiveness throughout the larger study, I need to consider a question for the first part that will apply to, and set the stage for, the second part of the study. Given the theoretical framework of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CITE), and specifically drawing from Lave and Wenger's (1991) Communities of Practice, I am focusing on the social and historically-situated values embedded in identity. Accordingly, the question for the first part of the study will focus on social and historical Flying Moose identities, as revealed in the book, film, and interviews/observations of the owners/ directors, who both constructed Flying Moose identities and values themselves, and then attempted to pass them on through their philosophical vision in directing camp.

The primary research question must also conform to the methodologies of narrative and discourse analysis I use in this instrumental case study. Appropriately, then it will be a question that seeks understanding instead of proof, and centers on 1) the nature of the case, 2) its historical background, 3) physical setting, 4) and key informants (Stake, 1995). The question What values/cultural models are revealed in the discourse/practice of those who have directed Flying Moose Lodge? will provide a chorus of voices and perspectives through which a verdant reading of the cultural models in directors' discourse/practice will reveal core philosophies and values.

Interview/Observation

After Harrie IV's unexpected early death at age 49 in 1994, his younger brother Chris (and Chris's wife Shelly) struggled to make the decision to take over the business of running the camp. Chris, at age 53, says he was born at camp, and has been there every summer of his life. I've been working with Chris and Shelly as an assistant director of the camp since 1993, and have gained their trust and friendship. They have agreed to help me answer questions about camp and about philosophies behind the camp, specifically Chris's own, as well as his father's and brother's. I have an hour long video interview as well as phone and email access, and in the summers, direct access to Chris. I see Chris and Shelly as a review, or check, of my analyses of the other two modes of discourse. Their review of my synthesized analysis will aid my understanding of the cultural models that have influenced, and continue to influence the camp.

Method of Analysis

I anticipate many cycles of recursion as I analyze the three sets of data. I will start my analysis based on a phrase that the current director used in a conversation with me to sum up Flying Moose Lodge: "it's a place where a boy can be a boy" (Price, 2002). This suggests to me the concept of cultural models, which Gee (1999) explains as "images or storylines or descriptions of simplified worlds in which prototypical events unfold. They are our first thoughts or taken-for-granted assumptions about what is 'typical' or 'normal'" (p. 59).

Informed by my own ten years experience helping run the camp, and with these data sources at hand, I can identify and record cultural models that occur in all sources. I will analyze A Bad Case of Moosepox (Price, 1988), coding examples and themes that reveal the cultural models of boyhood that Harrie III may have used to understand the world. When I have identified enough themes of significance, and coded specific examples of them in A Bad Case of Moosepox (Price, 1988), I will begin scrutinizing the film. Here I will seek out examples of similar cultural models, as well as note additional cultural models that may more readily emerge in film than written discourse. Sifting recursively back and forth between book and film to refine the themes, I can produce analytical summaries of common cultural models, which will be submitted to the current directors for additional comment, suggestion, and correction.

Representation

Donald A. Norman (1993) promotes good representation as one that "captures the essential elements of the event, deliberately leaving out the rest" (p. 49). Using the resulting log of text excerpts, scenes, and commentary by Chris and Shelly Price, of the recurring patterns and themes that play out among the data sources, I will assemble my own multimodal (audio/video/text) narrative that highlights pervasive cultural models in the dominant discourse of Flying Moose Lodge. In a sense, I will be doing documentary work, constructing a story that fits not only academic constraints, but also my own intellectual and emotional demands (Coles, 1997).
Because of the richness of representation afforded by technologies of recent years, I am excited to explore and promote multimodal formats of representation such as video, hypertext, and animation. However, I realize that change often happens glacially, and to be successful in promoting the transition I must also satisfy the still-valid demands of traditional formats. Therefore, to further support the representation of my analysis, I will produce a text-based guide to the multimodal narrative that supplies and discusses the theoretical underpinnings of it. At this point in the process, I am open to what this guide will ultimately look like, and welcome ideas and suggestions on it.

Sources

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Connelly, F.M. & Clandinin, D. J. (1988). Teachers as curriculum planners: Narratives of experience. Toronto, Canada: OISE Press.

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Dewey, J (1925). Experience and nature. New York: Dover.

Dewey, J. (1994). In The moral writings of John Dewey. Gouinlock, James, ed.

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Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of cultures; selected essays. New York,, Basic Books.

Gomez, M.L. (1997). Definition of narrative inquiry, In Grant, C. A. and G. Ladson-Billings (Eds.), Dictionary of multicultural education. Phoenix, Ariz., Oryx Press.

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**check this citation** Holland, D. C. (1998). Identity and agency in cultural worlds. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press.

Kress, G. R. and T. Van Leeuwen (2001). Multimodal discourse : the modes and media of contemporary communication. London, New York, Arnold : Oxford University Press.

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Norman, D. (1993). Things that make us smart. Reading, MA: Perseus.

Price, C. (2002). Personal interview.

Price, H. B. III. (1988). A bad case of moosepox. self-published.

Smith, M. K. (2003) 'Communities of practice', the encyclopedia of informal education. www.infed.org/biblio/communities_of_pratice.htm . Last updated: 06 January 2003.

Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research. Thousand Oaks, Sage Publications.

Vygotsky, L. S. and M. Cole (1978). Mind in society : the development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, Harvard University Press.

Wenger, E. (1999) Communities of practice. Learning, meaning and identity , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wertsch, J.V. (1988). Vygotsky and the social formation of mind. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Wersch, J.V. (2002). Voices of collective remembering. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

The final paper from my Spring 2003 "Introduction to Qualitative Methods" class with Beth Grau and Simone Schweber.