Compelling Educational Experiences - Synthesis Post

As I have been reflecting on the nature and design of compelling experiences, I have come to believe there are three things that make an experience more compelling: emotional impact, personal connection, and self-discovery. I do not mean to say that there cannot be other elements, only that these three seem to stand out as predominate for me.

Emotional impact can mean simply that the experience moves me or stirs me in some way. Whether the emotional response is compassion, anger, or joy, it makes no difference, only that I am drawn into the experience by some kind of emotional response. It can certainly be said that students are more compelled to learn when they are enjoying themselves, when the educational experience is fun or engaging. In the same way, lessons in literature or history can be made more compelling by providing visuals, photographs or film, that portray the content in a way that is emotionally stirring.

Personal connection to the experience gets me involved. I feel a part of it. It becomes more significant when I can relate to it or see how it affects me personally. In Language Arts there is a tri-level connection theory: text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world. An underlying premise of the theory is that teachers can evaluate student's ability to use prior knowledge to understand texts. I can also see value in the theory's ability to create a bridge for the students between the literature they are studying and their own personal experience and the world they live in. In this way, they are able to relate to the literature and are more compelled to read it. It becomes more meaningful.

By self-discovery I mean this: the experience enables me to reach down inside myself and discover something I didn't know was there. It may be an emotion that inspires me to greatness, it may be an ability I was not aware I had, it may be a revelation of some hidden potential. Students are compelled when education brings out their best. I'm not talking about filling students up with knowledge or information about academic content. I'm talking about helping them discover who they are. Any experience that gives me a greater understanding of myself is compelling by its very nature because the search for meaning and significance lies at the very heart of all we, the human race, do and are. There is no more compelling experience than that which points the way to my purpose.

High stakes or at stake?

As the demands of high stakes testing increase, the challenges of creating compelling educational experiences increase proportionally. And yet, I have witnessed some very creative MEAP test preparation (MEAP is State of Michigan assessments). I have seen teachers plaster their walls and even their ceilings with colorful posters and diagrams with test relevant information. I have seen teachers use drama to teach writing to prompts and manipulatives to teach math. Even though standardized testing has put thinking at stake, it is still possible to teach students to think. The children we are teaching will face some huge issues, global warming and energy not the least of them, but with populations increasing, the basic needs of human life, food and water, may become critical issues. Education can't be only about knowing how to respond to something a certain way, or solving a problem based on an expected outcome, but must also be about reasoning our way through problems, by thinking, and discovering, and by asking questions, by wondering how something works or why something is the way it is. We have a responsibility, as educators, in spite of current trends, to teach kids how to think. Creating compelling experiences that draw the students into the curriculum, rather than getting them through it, is our only real hope.

Fashion and Reflection

The greatest barrier to "fashioning" a better educational environment and improving our way of teaching is our own reluctance to change. We become set in our ways. It's a cliche, I know, but it's also true. Like the woman in the "What Not To Wear" episode, we want to hold on to those old, often ugly, clothes because we're comfortable in them, or because they have some sentimental significance. Sometimes we don't even see how outdated we are or how badly fashioned our teaching style has become. I was in a classroom recently that looked like a flash back to the sixties. This teacher has been teaching for nearly thirty years. It seems to me, either this teacher should get a makeover or get out (retire) and give the wheel to someone with some fresh vision. I am a firm believer in self-reflection. Not occasional reflection, but constant, consistent reflection. Every time we teach, we should be evaluating, asking ourselves: did this work?, not: this worked twenty years ago, so surely it will work today. The students we are working with are very different than the students of twenty years ago. Technology has made the world a different place to live. My kids laugh when I tell them we didn't have cell phones or even "cordless" phones when I was growing up. We must be willing to grow and change through time, to fashion something better everyday.

Metamorphosis

I have never been in a classroom that was aesthetically pleasing. They are ugly, uninviting, utilitarian, concrete boxes. Yesterday I spent some time in my daughter's third grade classroom. Her teacher had succeeded in transforming the room into something reasonably attractive. One corner, what I presume was the reading corner, since it was carpeted and had no furniture but a single chair, has been framed by shades of green and blue tissue paper streamers hanging from ceiling to floor. Large leaves have been cut from similarly colored tissue paper and hung from the ceiling and taped to the windows. Exotic stuffed animals are hanging about, monkeys, snakes, and the like. It has been made to resemble a rainforest. And it has made all the difference between a drab, uninviting classroom and one that welcomes you. It is amazing how this simple change in outward appearance metamorphoses the room and I can only hope, and strongly suspect, that it makes the children who spend their days there, my own daughter included, feel better about being there.

fashion as a means

I've been reflecting on this idea of "fashion". Fashion as the way we present ourselves to others. Fashion as the outward appearance that either attracts or repels. Fashion as a reflection of self image. Fashion as the way we want others to see us. Fashion as a means of taking what's good in us and making it better. Because you can't make something out of nothing, the basic beauty or aesthetic quality must be there to begin with. We simply use make-up and haircuts and knowledge about skin tones when choosing wardrobes as tools to enhance the inherent.

I have seen this use of "fashion" in education. A perfect example is children's literature. When I was learning to read, we read "See Dick run. See Jane hop. See spot jump." Neither the language nor the illustrations were the least bit flashy. They certainly were not designed to appeal to one's sense of aesthetics. Today, children's books are sophisticated. Both the language and the illustrations are clearly intended to attract attention. And the book's covers are made to entice consumers to buy. I believe it is meant, on the part of the publishers, to aid in turning a bigger profit, but also to make kids want to read more. And they do. Want to read more. These books also appeal to me as a teacher and as a parent. I have enjoyed reading these beautiful books to my students and to my own children.

Fashion as a means of making reading attractive.

Elements of Music in Education

Rhythm:
There is no music without rhythm. Likewise, timing in teaching can be critical. Not allowing enough time means having to continue a lesson the next day or prolonging a lesson, which can tax younger students. Moving too quickly means having unstructured time remaining in which many students exhibit misbehavior. Pace can be important as well. Allowing time for students to comprehend and then practice the content of the lesson is important to the learning process.

Melody:
There is nothing so calming or comforting as a familiar tune. In the classroom, predictable expectations, fairness, and shared responsibility create a safe and cooperative environment.

Harmony:
Certain musical pitches, when combined just the right way, sound pleasing to the ear. Add flavor to your lessons. Read poetry and picture books (whatever the grade level you are teaching), play music that reinforces the lesson, incorporate art, go outside and explore the natural world, take a field trip (providing there are resources), make something, out of words, or paper, or technology, or popsicle sticks, or empty shoe boxes.

Movement:
Our body responds to music. We tap our foot, nod our head, shake, rattle, and roll. We dance. Students will respond to the educational process when it is infused with a sufficient degree of motion. That is to say, lessons that involve them and engage them, that get them out of their seats, that require them to think rather than simply process information.

All in a song....

Music can inspire you to do great things. It can challenge you to be the best that you can be. It can get your body moving even when you're feeling tired and lazy. It can lift your spirits when you're down and out.

It can nourish your soul. Fuel your mind. Speak your words. Express your deepest emotion. It crosses cultural barriers. Cries for peace. Screams for love. Believes there is hope.

It unifies. Clarifies. Sheds a light.

....all in a song.

Imagine what we could do with education if we would harness the power of music. Learn its secrets. Release its soul in our classrooms.

Every Corner

I think music is one of the most powerful forms of art. It defines cultural boundaries, inspires nations to patriotism, calls people to worship, organizes political protests, teaches children, has theraputic value in medicine, signals soldiers to rise for battle, mourns the dead, and celebrates life, love, and all that is good. In my opinion, no other art form has wielded any where near the same degree of social influence so consistently in every corner of the world.

Music itself has multiple uses in the educational environment. It's potential for teaching and learning crosses all academic fields of study. This one fact alone is reason enough for us, as educators, to carefully consider what it is about music that makes it so universally compelling and so powerfully able to impact every area of life.

Focus on Learning or Experience?

I have certainly been aware, while out in the business world, that how the environment is designed has some bearing on how I feel there, but it has been in a vague, indirect way. I think I am less cognizant of it when the surroundings are more neutral. When a building is blatantly artistic in it's design so as to be beautiful or so badly done it's just plain ugly, I notice it more. I think maybe the most effective design is the one that is designed to effect you without you noticing it.

Good education is like that, too. When you create an environment that is safe and fun, with lessons and activities that engage students, and meaningful connections to the real world, students learn because they are not focused on the "learning", but rather on the experience. Especially as kids get older, they become programmed to think that school is boring or not fun. When we create an atmosphere in which they are truly enjoying themselves, these are the things they remember and take with them as positive and significant.

Empty canvas?

Natalie comments on her blog entry "Bridges - Photography and Education", while making a metaphorical comparison between forms of art and education, saying, "The canvas is empty and it's the teacher's and her students' mission or calling to create something just as an artist would." I like your thinking, Natalie. I like the image of an empty canvas waiting to be filled, the child's mind and heart. I can see the artist's pallet, the many colors as yet unmingled, the teacher's vast knowledge and experience. I can see the brush poised above the canvas, the teacher's love as she pours her heart into what she does. However, it has been my experience that the "canvas" is almost never empty. Children, including preschool and kindergartners, and especially middle school and high school students, show up in our classrooms with a plethora of prior circumstances, some good and some bad, that effect, in a variety of ways, their ability or inability to learn (and in some cases to simply function). If the "canvas" were truly empty, we would have no need to consider how to make the educational process more compelling.

We would simply paint. The canvas would simply become painted.

But it is not simple. Because children come to us with a set of expectations already installed and each child has a different set, it is in fact extremely complex. We must somehow meet the needs of them all, whoever they are, wherever they have come from, and whatever abilities they may or may not have. Perhaps we need to be looking for ways to work with a canvas that has already been painted, ways to make it better and more beautiful, regardless of it's appearance when it arrives.

Utility or Home?

My first reaction to the Architecture and Interior Design Module is that the notion that a house must appeal to our physical and physiological senses before it can feel like home is a far-reaching attempt by Suzanka to sell houses. I think she is a brilliant woman with remarkable insight and I do not discount her theories. I do beg to differ that a house with less asthetic appeal only functions in it's utility and cannot feel like home. With respect to creating compelling experiences in Education, what comes to mind almost immediately is that school bulidings are built almost exclusively for their utility. Giving credence to Suzanka's ideas, school buildings are some of the coldest, least inviting places I have ever been. They are made of brick, having dropped ceilings, generally they are poorly lit, and they are filled with ugly, uncomfortable "furniture". I have been in classrooms where teachers have made clear attempts (and sometimes successful, I might add) at making their rooms more inviting, but there is only so much you can do with a brick cube illuminated by overhead florescent lights. In light of Suzanka's theories, perhaps we would do well to consider school building design that takes asthetics into consideration so that our students might have every possible advantage.

What Makes Us Tick

I mention in the "Director's Comments" at the end of my Film Project that students never really learn until they are engaged and they never really listen until they are compelled to hear. I would like to make an attempt to connect these comments with the comments made in my previous blog posting about making an emotional impact and tugging at the heart. We engage students by presenting lessons in a manner that interests them. Much depends on the means of delivery, such as humor or playacting, or the use of technology, or getting them out of their seats and involoving them in the process. But we must engage them in the learning process by making it somehow meaningful to them. Film directors create compelling experiences through understanding what motivates and inspires their audience. It is our task as educators, if we wish to create compelling experiences in the educational setting, to understand what makes our students tick.

Brain Storms

The first critical issue of creating any project is arriving at a topic. I have sometimes been frustrated with students working on writing projects, when they sit at their desk with a blank piece of paper and claim, "I don't know what to write". I have a new empathy for them. Brainstormimg for this "film" project has seemed a bit more like Brain Storms than brainstorming. If I knew I had more time, better skills, and more sophisticated equipment, I might succeed at conjuring up a few more and more complex ideas. As it is, I feel the limitations bearing down on me. I have done a few music recording projects in the past, projects that took months, thousands of dollars of musical instruments and recording equipment, and considerable talent and skill to complete to my satisfaction. I do continue to remind myself that this is not a film class, but an educational psychology class. My focus must remain on the elements of the project that will make it a compelling experience for others, tugging at the heart, eliciting an emotional response....

Emotional Punch-lines

Here are some initial points to consider, things I gleaned from the assigned readings in the current module on the Nature and Design of Compelling Experiences in Film and Televsion:

1. you need an emotional punch-line
2. what does this person (people) care about? (know your audience)
3. research the topic
4. silence can create emotional impact
5. planning is critical

The Compelling Experience of Photography

I am attempting to discover how the study of what makes photographs compelling can be applied to teaching. In our study of photography, we examined elements of a good photograph, the elements of composition: pattern, symmetry, texture, depth of field, and lines, as well as subject placement, framing, balance, and lighting. What can these things possibly have to do with education? If anything, these composition elements may be compared to effective tools of classroom magagement. A well ordered classroom with clearly defined expectations creates a safe environment in which learning may be facilitated, but does not necessarily translate into compelling experiences. The element of a photograph that is truly compelling is not it's technical aspects (although, as we have seen, these certainly do contribute), but it's emotional quality. Does it have significance to me, as the viewer? Can I relate to the subject, is the image moving, does it call for an emotional response? This is how we make education compelling: create learning experiences that are somehow meaningful, that students can relate to, that stir emotion. Not specific or practical enough, I know. I hope to clarify in future posts....

Getting Started

Okay. This is my first ever blog. This in itself is a somewhat compelling experience. It stretches the boundaries of my paradigm into a realm in which I have never been. I'm not exactly certain what will be published here. This is a requirement for The Nature and Design of Compelling Experiences, an Educational Psychology class at Michigan State University. It is an electronic journal. Welcome aboard....