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.