Well I like that little chart you've got up top! I'm trying to think what values I would want to pick if I were doing something similar for my daughters. I value compassion and empathy, and the Buddhist idea of compassion for the self (as a way out of the feminine socialization of not caring for the self), and things like bravery and honesty. I'm thinking of William Stafford's writings on nonviolent resistance (can't think of where but he wrote a piece about being a silent but important witness to a playground beating, choosing to stand with the underdog even if he couldn't defend the kid), on peace as an actual value to teach, connected to dissolving prejudice and racism too. As a feminist I would value teaching things like recognizing oppression, violence that's unspoken, intersectional oppression too. Some of this is maybe more "here kiddo read some bell hooks" territory but... I despair of devising any kind of story that might teach these kinds of things, I'll be intrigued to read along as this project goes! Learning to speak about your own identity is a big one. Learning to articulate your own values. Maybe the quest is to identify her own values through the course of the story? Kind of how in some classrooms they start out the year with the kids defining their own classroom rules, so it feels authentic in some small way rather than a regurgitation of received wisdom.
This project of yours reminds me a lot of Stephenson's the Diamond Age, that magic everything-teaching book computer in it. It starts with the most basic basic thing and then one day you wake up a warrior princess scholar or whatever, because the book is designed to get you there no matter how humble your origins. Have you read it?
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This project of yours reminds me a lot of Stephenson's the Diamond Age, that magic everything-teaching book computer in it. It starts with the most basic basic thing and then one day you wake up a warrior princess scholar or whatever, because the book is designed to get you there no matter how humble your origins. Have you read it?