What is the Eagle Eye Inquiry Project?
A classic teaching legend.
Written and performed by master storyteller Peter Donaldson.
Captured on film before a live audience in a First Nations pit house.
An inquiry-based curriculum with DVD and web-resources.
A new framework for understanding biodiversity, sustainability and systems thinking.
A call to citizen stewardship.
Purpose
The purpose of Eagle Eye is to use the art of storytelling, film and inquiry to inspire learning and action towards achieving sustainable prosperity in our lifetime.
Goals of the Eagle Eye Project
- To call the next generation into action; to become passionate, knowledgeable citizens who understand biodiversity and are able to think through complex systems to become wise consumers, voters, workers and volunteers in the emerging sustainable economy.
- To support integrated, inquiry-based learning in secondary and college level courses including ecology, economics, social studies, English, drama, media arts, career education and the professional development of educators. Eagle Eye is also recommended for use by community stewardship groups.
Eagle Eye Learning Themes
- Biodiversity…“What is the wisdom of nature’s four-billion year old economic model and how is modern human society aligned with it?”
- Systems thinking…“What is the value of understanding how parts make a whole? What are the consequences when we place value on the parts but neglect how they function together?”
- Sustainability…“If this is the golden rule extended to all living things and over multiple generations, how are we doing?”
Thought Provoking Educational Film
Eagle Eye was originally performed on November 16 and 17, 2007 during the twelfth annual Fraser Valley Bald Eagle Festival. The performances took place in a First Nations pit house at Xa:ytem Longhouse Interpretive Centre near Mission, British Columbia. Eagle Eye was filmed before a live audience with follow up video interviews of local thought leaders including First Nations elders addressing the real life implications of story.
The content is intended for advanced students at the secondary and college level. It is appropriate for building curriculum connections between traditional courses in ecology, economics, indigenous studies, English, drama, career education, youth leadership and project-based learning.
Components of the Eagle Eye Resource
- An 18-pagescript annotated with key inquiries and web links for classroom analysis and dialogue.
- A performance DVD (40 minutes) Peter Donaldson performs the legend of Eagle Eye before a live audience. To facilitate classroom inquiry, the 40-minute story is divided into five shorter chapters (5-10 minutes long) each with several embedded inquiries which are annotated in the margins of the script. Chapter headings include:
Where have the people gone?
Fledgling
More mature less certain
If a tree falls in the forest
Reunion
- An expert commentary DVD (45 minutes) Featuresvideo interviews of local thought leaders, including First Nations elders, who saw the live performance and offer their insights on themes from the story. A special chapter features career path stories and early inspirational educational experiences. Chapter headings include:
Themes from the story
Biodiversity defined
One thing missing
Crisis / Opportunity
When does a career begin?
- The Sustainable Stories Video Library is a growing online library of short films on real world stories of sustainable principles in application.
Background
The Fraser Valley Bald Eagle Festival Society, through the generous support of the Fraser Salmon and Watersheds Program , has commissioned master storyteller and educator, Peter Donaldson, to create an original legend as a foundation story for an educational resource for secondary and college level students.
The Eagle Eye story creates the experience of a classic legend, full of archetypal animal characters, grand themes, dark corners and perhaps more riddles then answers. As a classic teaching legend, Eagle Eye embodies the spirit as well as the science of biodiversity through the ancient dance of interdependence between the Salmon and Eagle and all of the animals participating in this fiercely shared abundance.
Systems Thinking