As I write this, I’m sitting on a plane traveling to
Phoenix, Arizona for one of the National Science Teachers Association’s
regional conferences. The flight’s a
fairly long one from Newark, New Jersey, so between almost completing today’s Times crossword puzzle (anyone know a
four letter word for “jazz line?”) and reading about some great “geek science”
opportunities in this month’s Discover magazine,
I’ve had quite a lot of time to reflect on an important conversation I had
earlier this week.
One of my roles as a regional science coordinator has me
working with classroom teachers on any myriad of science education initiatives
they choose to explore. As I was
planning an inquiry-based “deep observation” experience with a teacher, we got
into talking about the topic of “play.”
This teacher mentioned the challenge that many of his students have with
seeing more than the forest when they look at a stand of trees. To quite a number of his students today, a
plant is a plant is a plant. Why would
they need to know any more about it?
This view is a troubling one, and is a reflection of the
constantly “on” lifestyle our students (and many of us) lead. Very few of our students can remember a time
where their mother or father told them to, “Get out of the house and
play.” Why? Because hyper-scheduling has made any
unstructured play a near impossibility.
Whether this is due to countless after-school activities or more time
spent on homework, the end result is a crop of young people who don’t have the
time to truly observe the world around them.
This is an annoyance for us as educators, but may prove to be a bigger
concern if the trend continues. True
innovation requires deep thinking, and deep thinking can only happen when one
has truly taken the time to observe, consider, and learn from all that is
encountered. To truly be creative, we
need to have the opportunity to think outside the box, and that requires time
and exposure to unique and new experiences (as opposed to the same old routines). In an article by Tom Kelley and David Kelley
in the Harvard Business Review, the
need to avoid a “creativity crisis” is a main focus. The authors emphasize that we shouldn’t
stifle the innovative and creative impulses that all children are born
with. They write that education must
encourage students to embrace “messiness,” the judgment of others, and taking
the first, often frightening, step to exploring something a little different.
As educators, we have to be the guides that lead students
along this slightly less-beaten path.
Here are a few tips for helping your students become reacquainted with
play, creativity, and innovation:
·
Provide time to be one with the world. Too much education takes place indoors. For students who aren’t involved in outdoor
sports, their only outdoor time in a given day may be running from the front
door to catch the bus. That isn’t good,
and it doesn’t provide time for students to truly “see” a different world then
they are used to. Contrary to what some
might believe, any class can be held outdoors.
That doesn’t mean the focus of a lesson needs to be on studying the
world outside, but a Shakespearean reading on school grounds, a study of bus
idling procedures, and/or a playing field area calculation all provide students
with the chance to observe more than a classroom.
·
Promote percolation. Instead of letting the class end with a bell
(or the transition to lunch or recess), build in five or ten minutes for
students to reflect. For many students,
reflection doesn’t just happen, and strategies (such as creating a “Questions I
have. . .” chart, or an “If it were up to me. . .” learning progression
statement) should be incorporated to help students begin to become more active
thinkers. By making thinking time a necessary
part of your work with students, you’ll encourage them to reflect regularly and
often.
·
Push for unstructured “play.” The teacher I was working with earlier this
week told me about a recent time that he was taking a bunch of students outside
for recess. Unfortunately for students,
the playground balls that were usually available for recess could not be
used. Students stood around for a minute
or so, and then asked to return inside.
Very few seemed to even realize that there was much more to do outside
than play an organized game of football or soccer. In some respects, many of our students today
need to be “forced” to play in an unstructured-environment, if for no other
reason than to learn what it means to just be a “kid.”
It worries me that my daughter,
who will be three in a few months, and who engages in imaginative play at the
drop of a hat, could lose that important quality, and partly because of the
design and structure of our educational system.
I want her to be a truly innovative leader who thinks critically and
isn’t afraid to imagine. I believe we
want that for each and every student we encounter. We can’t afford to experience a further
“creativity crisis,” and it should never be a problem for students to play.
Works Cited:
Kelley, David and Tom Kelley.
(2012). Reclaim Your Creative
Confidence. Harvard Business Review. 90 (12), 115 – 118.
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