theories

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Messy and sticky learning or workshop 5 #creativehe

All workshops linked to the Creativity for Learning unit are now over… well officially they are. But we did manage to add two more. I didn’t, my students did, which was wonderful. These extra sessions will be peer led. There will be a workshop around academic posters and one around action research. Plus monthly tutorials with me and online support. How will our action research groups work? They have been naturally formed through self-selection and it will be very interesting to see how this will work for us all. Is the new online community space going to work? Not everybody has signed up yet… this has been a major issue for me… put perhaps less fir my students? I heard one of them saying that they enjoy the face-to-face sessions so much that they don’t think the online can add anything? I need some further information regarding this as I will be offering the unit again in September. I have been thinking of specific changes already but discussing these with my current cohort will be really valuable.

Ok, let’s go back to workshop 5…
I was extremely excited about this one, but then I am always excited when I put my sessions together as I just love the suspense and surprise factor. I do think that when we enjoy what we do as teachers, the potential that our students will also enjoy it. Now, of course enjoyment doesn’t necessarily mean learning. It us important to remember this but also the fact that negative emotions and discomfort can also lead to learning. I am focusing on the suspense-factor that triggers enjoyment and discomfort as it is about experiencing the unexpected. This keeps us alert, excited. It also stimulates our thinking and action and increases our playfulness, I think.
This workshop took place in a studio were we could be messy and make learning stick, literally and metaphorically. The idea was to use unwanted resources – a sustainable solution? – to create visual masterpieces of our learning linked to specif theories and approaches that could be considered in the context of our innovation projects.

our stuff: recycling, upcycling in action, image source https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8650/16726861801_0802c263d3_z.jpg

For me, personally, this was very unorthodox, if you like, as I prefer building theory though practice, but it is not about how I like to do things, or at least what I dislike should not stop me from exploring these approaches with my students and help me reflect in these practices and approaches and use them as opportunities to develop my practice further. I could see a value in doing it that way but still felt that it was very abstract and detouched from personal and professional realities. I tried to bring in context but am not sure if I achieved this. I think the conversations that the action research groups had, somehow evidenced that there was some of this happening, which was good. Thinking now back at my instructions, I think a specific scenario could have helped further? I need to think about it a bit more…
It was wonderful to observe the sets. I just loved the way they worked together and how the masterpieces emerged through rotated collaboration. I was really impressed with the level of engagement and the commitment to the task. Using elements of the Word Cafe approach worked and while we didn’t have a lot of time, progressively the groups did speed up and were more focused, which meant that activities took less time. Were the groups also in flow?

collaborative installations, theory in 3D image source https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8666/16107973283_bcf712a6b6_z.jpg

The Value Jar is now full. Below are the responses from this workshop. A quick Wordle has been included in the slideshare further down. What follows are the responses from the 5th workshop.
The theories we were studying and representing within the session were demonstrated in practice by the way the tasks were constructed: it allowed for planning, action, discussion and reflection. Everyone’s different skills and strengths were brought together to create a strong visual. You (Chrissi) stepped in with specific assistance when we needed to focus on certain things more.
It allowed to discover a number of different theories in active way which involved research, discussion and creation. Visualisating ideas helped me to understand the concept. Visualisations helped to facilitate discussion in a group.
The session linked academic theory to the practical. Each group’s understanding of the theory drove ideas in different directions. Diversity is great!!
The best one! Making is learning and learning is knowing you are able to make sense of things in pictures, ideas, balloons, people smile 😉
“Vizualise” thoughts and ideas make them easier to understand.
An innovative way to explore theory, sharing the inportance of using visual and creative elements as well as text. Also an enriching opportunity to ? How to do critical reflection/analogies with students. Much food for thought in practice.
I am going to try something like this next week – a modified vresion! I am aware of my own “issues” with visual representations!
Working together to discuss theories and using the discussion to make an image really helped me to explore ideas and check my understanding. It was fun too!
Being able to bounce off other peoples energy when mine was low. Diagrams made theory much more digestable for me.
Working as a group/collaboratively to farm a shared understanding of complex theories. Loved how visual it was and how the installations grew.
I am also adding a slideshare I have put together to capture our first term together. This is the first draft at the moment (7 March 15) which needs to be updated with a few more things and I will do this over the next few weeks.
A bit sad that our workshops came to an end. However, I know that this is just the beginning and am really looking forward to what is still to come, our collaborative working, your innovations and a ther projects which are emerging already. On our list are so far
  • contributions from the whole group for the next Creative Academic Magazine around play
  • a collaborative paper using the above as open research data
  • evaluating the workshops based on the content of the Value Jar, I would like to do this with the group as well.
More ideas will emerge, I am sure, they always do when we enjoy what we do, enjoy working with each other and see value in the professional relationships that develop out of these.

Patiently waiting with closed eyes! Thank you all. I hope you will be using your brand new shiny badges, image source https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8651/16105612164_78486a6908_z.jpg

Thank you David and Haleh in preparation for this workshop, especially with the boards and painting these!!!, Ellie for designing our badges and all for participating so actively in this workshop and the previous ones. Your help and openness made a huge difference to how we experienced these weeks together.
See you again soon.
Chrissi
ps. Draft No. 2
pps. Gentle reminder at https://tellagami.com/gami/8U8Y2E/
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instruction just doesn’t work, babies can ‘tell’ you that

all I have now

… one ‘told’ me the other day. I wish I had taken a video!!! But the reflection on how this event could be useful for so many others kicked in (too) late. Now, all I can do is try and share it with you using words…I guess, this could be developed into a little picture story or comic strip and I might actually attempt to do this.

Well a few days ago, I was trying to show a 10-month-young baby boy how to ring a cow bell (I have loads of them at home and use them for teaching too). I placed the bell in his little hand and showed him how we could make it ring. We rang the bell together for a little while and he instantly started smiling and you could see it in his big eyes how excited he was. Instantly, I knew the bell was a hit. He must have loved all the noise he could make using the bell. However, what he didn’t like was me showing him how to do it. I understood that straight away.

The baby-boy was determined to take the bell from me, and he did. He started experimenting on his own with it. He didn’t need me! He wanted to make the bell ring on his own and he tried different techniques. No, he didn’t copy how I did it. He wasn’t interested in my way! He tried it his own way – and soon discovered that this wasn’t going to work. But he didn’t give up and he didn’t keep trying doing it the same way!!! The baby boy soon changed technique and was so happy to discover that he could now ring the bell even louder than we did together. He had full control of what was happening. He was smiling and laughing and having fun and the noises where filling the whole house – his laughter and the sounds the bell was making. It was such a great experience to witness the pleasure of learning through play and discovery.

What are the implications of the above for teaching and learning? Are we all experiential learners? Do you remember pedagogy, (also instructional theory) andragogy and heutagogy and how these seem to be attached to specific age-groups?  I would be very intersted in your views linked to the above observations, reflections and thoughts.

I just wish I had the camcorder at hand and captured this little important episode…