Harvard Reflections: Arts, Education and Learning

This summer I was fortunate enough to have been selected to participate in the first ever Institute on the Arts and Passion-Driven Learning held at Harvard's Graduate School of Education in collaboration with Yo-Yo Ma and members of the Silk Road Ensemble.

photo Andrew T. Garcia

My situation was unique.  I was camping in the Adirondacks for 5 days and planned to continue the same for another 5 days after the Institute.  I emerged from the woods, attended the 2 1/2 day Institute and traveled straight back to the Adirondacks.  While in a hammock at the edge of Rollins Pond, I reflected on the experience.  The result is below. This list is in no particular order and may not even make sense to those outside the context of the experience.  However, I have attempted to expound on the list.  Feel free to contact me for any clarifications or just to connect.

'NOTHING WITHOUT JOY'

This is a quote by Loris Malaguzzi that host and Harvard Graduate School of Education Lecturer Steve Seidel shared at the opening plenary session.  He also concluded the Institute with the quote.  Mr. Seidel was the best of hosts (Yo-Yo Ma referred to him as "Mr Rogers for adults"). He used humor when appropriate but also posed excellent questions to frame the Institute.  Some examples: What is the role of passion in learning? What are the possible roles for the arts? How can the arts deepen learning in other subject areas? How do the arts support students in becoming more engaged, empathetic and responsible participants in their learning?

WHAT'S WORTH KNOWING

This question was also raised by Steve Seidel.  It seems like a simple question but it is so important for all educators to spend some time thinking about it.  Given precious little time in the school day/year, what is worth knowing? And why?  Answers to those questions drive the curriculum and what gets 'learned' in schools.  If you teach something, why did you decide it was worth knowing?

SNAKES (ARE BORN THIS WAY)

As an example of what is worth knowing, the video Snakes Are Born This Way was shown. The 2nd grade class at Conservatory Lab Charter School wrote and performed this parody to share what they had learned about snakes through their learning expedition. The Conservatory Lab Charter School is unique as it "empowers a diverse range of children as scholars, artists and leaders through and El-Sistema-based orchestral education and rigorous Expeditionary Learning curriculum."  As the students tell us: "In 2nd Grade our teachers told us that we would be herpetologists".  And that began the exploration. Worth knowing?

EMOTIONS ARE CONTAGIOUS

More than once Cristina Pato (Gaita player) said this.  The important takeaway is to be genuine in teaching, performing and learning situations.  The more one is open and transparent, the better the learning for everyone involved.  

MAKE LEARNING VISIBLE

Butterfly by Aidan William Garcia, age 6

Making learning visible was a theme of one of the workshops I attended.  There are many ways to do this but so much of the time we feel (as teachers) that we lack the time to follow through on this. However, it is probably the most important part of learning in schools. It reminds me of the quote from Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park With George. The character (and once real life artist) George Seurat sings: "A vision's just a vision if it's only in your head.  If no one gets to see it, it's as good as dead".  Likewise, it easy and tempting to keep learning in the classroom only. But it should be shared.  Starting now.  

COLLABORATION, TRUST=SAFETY AND NEW CREATIONS

Collaboration was a big theme of the Institute since the role of the Silk Road Ensemble involves collaboration 100% of the time.  In their own performances, the musicians are always working together, sharing, experimenting and pushing themselves into new territory. When the Ensemble visits schools (as with the Silk Road Connect venture), collaboration is the name of the game.  There exists the school culture and the Ensemble (made up of members from many different cultures).  In these environments, open mindedness,  negotiation and flexibility lead to trust and true collaboration which leads to a feeling of safety and comfort for all participants.  Once this level is reached the collaborative 'dance' can yield new, spontaneous creations.  Powerful stuff.  How can we create these conditions in our classrooms and schools?

DISCIPLINED IMAGINATION

Yo-Yo Ma described an exercise he uses to spark creativity and new thinking. In a conversation with Steve Seidel, he said he uses something he has dubbed "Disciplined Imagination", the crux of which is to take something known and transpose this to a new setting in your mind.  He used the example of knowing Steve and his thoughts, mannerisms, interests, passions in the context of Harvard and then imagining Steve in other settings and how he might engage, communicate and participate in those other settings.

CULTURE BUILDING

Small and large group conversations in several workshops led to the understanding that, as arts educators and educators in general we are really involved with 'culture building'.  Culture building is laying the foundation of how individuals would act, speak, respond and participate in the classrooms/school setting where collaborative (trust-based) learning would take place.  We spoke of the difficulty of some students bringing jaded and negative attitudes into the classroom impeding trust and true expression, sharing and learning.

photo Andrew T. Garcia

LISTENING

Related to Culture Building is building a 'Culture of Listening' in our learning spaces. Since listening and considering the thoughts, ideas, music, etc.. of others leads to true growth and learning and opens the mind.  A powerful definition for teachers in this context would be "The most experienced learner in the room."

KNOW DEEPLY AND SHARE GENEROUSLY

In a conversation on the final day of the Institute, Mike Block of the Silk Road Ensemble said learning happens and transcends the local environment when one knows deeply and shares generously. Amen.

And there you have it.  Some nuggets I took away from the 1st Harvard Institute on the Arts and Passion Driven Learning.  I have shared generously and hope that these personal recollections are of some use to others.  I will forever be working on the 'knowing deeply' part.

If Textbooks Go Digital, Do We Lose Deep Learning?

It really is a fascinating time to be living and to be an Educator. Why? Because it's all changing. Quickly, too- '21st century skills', 'flat world', 'long tail', digital distribution', 'Google everything', 'wikis', 'mashups', 'twitter', 'learners as content creators', 'digital 'text'books'-these are all 'recent' inductees into the lexicon of Education professionals everywhere. They cause excitement for some, and confusion, frustration or resistance for others. Digesting it all and figuring out how students can benefit from any of it is a huge undertaking.

TOOLS OR GAME CHANGERS?
I will cut to the chase. New digital technologies are both Tools AND Paradigm Busters. If they were just tools, teachers everywhere could simply say, "No thanks, I'm not 'into' technology. I'll keep doing what I've been doing." One argument I have heard is that going digital (think online textbooks) will create shortcuts to reflection, knowledge and understanding. I have deep respect for this concern because they (reflection, knowledge and understanding) are the bedrock to all we do as Educators. But I have to ask: Why would going digital be considered a shortcut to any of these?

Take a moment to think about each of these:

• Think about a Textbook.


• Think about You Tube.

When you thought about a textbook chances are, you 'saw' a flat, unopened, thick, worn, book sitting on a desk in front of you. Nothing dynamic or interesting about it. There is no chance for interaction with a textbook. When you thought of You Tube, maybe you thought of a specific video you saw recently, or just had a palpable feeling of the potential things you could view there (redeeming or otherwise). At the very least, you realize there would be clicking, searching and viewing going on at You Tube based on your interests and inclinations.
Let me clarify a significant difference between the two: Textbooks are not primary source documents. They are amalgamations of second-hand information produced by "experts" and marketed by profit-oriented companies. You Tube, on the other hand, contains nothing but primary source material whether by kids, adults, teachers, musicians, amateurs or professionals. Which is more authentic? Which do think has more appeal to students aged 10-18?

It seems having interaction with dynamic, multimedia-rich information has the potential to plant the seeds to richer, deeper learning-if the online versions are themselves organized. That's the key. We can't just turn on computers and the internet and say, "OK, kids, have at it! Go learn about cellular biology (or trigonometry or contrapuntal analysis or parts of speech) ". It will take Educators from everywhere to compile and organize the digital resources and produce new kinds of 'textbooks' that include text but also photographs, interactive maps, documents, videos and primary sources of all kinds gathered for each and every topic of each and every Unit taught each year.

REFLECTION, KNOWLEDGE and UNDERSTANDING

What is the nature of Reflection?
By nature, reflection is something done 'after' (and sometimes during) exposure to some stimulus (event, book, new information, conversation, etc..). Teachers have forever guided the reflective moments and thoughts of students. Perhaps the new way of doing this starts with this: "Now, please turn off the computer monitor for a moment think about...." I'm not convinced that we will lose the ability to reflect because we read and absorb information from digital sources rather than books.

How do we gain Knowledge?
Typically, if we have learned a thing to the point that it resides in our memories for easy recall and/or the new information has changed us in some way, we believe have gained knowledge. If we (students) experience a concept in diverse ways (say a paragraph of text about the Parthenon, followed by Flickr photos taken by 'amateurs' of it, followed by a digital reproduction of a Parthenon metope). Contrast this with how you would have learned about the Parthenon in a traditional textbook. Have you learned more? Less? It's hard to believe that learning the digital way would yield less knowledge. (Incidentally, what using amateur photos does is store the idea in the mind of a student that Greece is a place she can physically travel to when she has the opportunity. It becomes more 'authentic'. She KNOWS it's still around and is a relic from the past.)

What does it mean to Understand something?
This has always been a perplexing, philosophical question. Does knowing something mean we understand it? Not necessarily. As an example: How can something such as a photon or electron be both a wave and a particle? Quantum physics proves it to be so. But do we understand why? What we do know about understanding comes about by sharing knowledge. Are there digital (online) places where people routinely share knowledge? Yes! they're called social networks and they can't be found in texbooks. Classes are, by design, social networks. By sharing information and knowledge offline and online, better understanding will result. But again, there is no loss of understanding using online networks. It's just a change in venue from the classroom.

THE POTENTIAL FOR DEEP LEARNING IN (OUR) DIGITAL FUTURE
Far from being the beginning of the end of reflection, knowledge and understanding, I believe we are on the brink of an Education Renaissance where deep learning will be routine precisely because of the digital availability of information once all of us realize that the digital tools represent something far greater- a total paradigm shift away from teachers (and textbooks) being the 'sage on the stage', once and for all. Teachers would benefit from understanding that their new role is to find, remix and make available the exact information that they want students to reflect on, to know and to understand.