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.