As mentioned previously, you have a major assessment task for our current class focus, ‘Belonging’. The first task of the ‘Belonging Portfolio’ is to create a mind-map that documents your developing understanding of belonging. In an ideal world this mind-map would have been started from Week 1 of this term. But, alas, we do not live in an ideal world and therefore we only started looking at the mind-maps in class last week.
Here’s a definition of a mind-map (or concept map) from JCU Study Skills Online:
Mind mapping (or concept mapping) involves writing down a central idea and thinking up new and related ideas which radiate out from the centre. By focussing on key ideas written down in your own words, and then looking for branches out and connections between the ideas, you are mapping knowledge in a manner which will help you understand and remember new information.
The key words for you are CONCEPT (for your study, this means ‘belonging’ and ideas relating to it) and CONNECTIONS.
In class we looked at some examples of mind-maps on the web and also had a look at an example I drew on the board. Below is a short youtube clip in which the creator of mind-map, Tony Buzan, explains what mind-maps are and why they’re helpful:
To make an effective mind-map for belonging, it’s a good idea to think about what you think are the central aspects of belonging and make these your main ‘prongs’ on your mind-map. Some possibilities include:
- people
- place
- community/groups
- wider world
- identity
- relationships
- understanding
- acceptance
From each of these main ‘prongs’ you will add a more specific idea. Typically these are one or two words – conceptual nouns such as ‘isolation’, ‘joy’, ‘friendship’, ‘customs’, ‘restrictions’, ‘freedom’ etc. You may then like to move to the next level of connection and add the name of a text in which this idea about belonging is evidenced. A final prong might identify a character, scene or event from the text that provides further support to your points.
Here’s an example I created using a free trial of iMindMap which is pretty cool!
Check the ‘Mind-map’ folder in the AOS Belonging group on edmodo for more helpful resources!
Language Matters 
