Role of Play in Creativity, Empathy and Learning

Motivation

Motivation is not only vital in a student's success in the classroom, but also in the teacher's ability to teach.  When I look back at my schooling, the teachers I remember were the teachers that loved their jobs.  I remember them because they had a passion for school, and a passion for really TEACHING their students. Simply put, they enjoyed their jobs. They were the teachers that just 'got me'.  I think student motivation isn't just based on what is inside the student, it is also is based on what is inside the student's teacher. Rebecca Saxe mentioned all people are equipped to 'read each other's minds' (Saxe, 2009)  Some are better equipped than others.  I believe the best teachers out there have the ability to understand our students and what they are thinking.  If we are able to understand what the students are thinking (an 8th grade mind is a scary and confusing place to be), we can better provide for our various students.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi had some really great inside to pure enjoyment.  He referred to this pure enjoyment as the ‘FLOW’ (2004).   Flow is a term that Csikszentmihalyi used to describe the feeling anyone gets when they truly forget the world and immerse themselves in joy.  He had found no matter the person or their profession, they describe their happiness very similarly (Csikszentmihalyi, 2004)  . He also mentioned that under these conditions, people usually perform MUCH better than those who are extrinsically motivated by money.  He had discovered that material wealth does NOT create happiness (Csikszentmihalyi, 2004).  This relates to education greatly.  The reward of getting a good grade does not motivate students. Daniel Pink also touched upon this in his TED talk. He mentions extrinsic motivators like bonuses and commission rarely work for anything other than narrow and specific tasks (Pink, 2009).  This is also the case with grades.  The promise of a good grade does NOT motivate the student to actually learn. Pink goes on to state that the higher the reward, the less the subject’s desire is to complete the task. I have seen this in the classroom.  I used to threatened to grade something in order for kids to complete the assignment.  This didn’t work with a large number of my students. I have learned from this and created assignments where the students have a choice.  My results from those assignments are usually much better.  Pink’s description of google and their innovative days.  The workers at google are given a period of time to ‘do what they wanted’ while at work. Many of the workers created some of the most popular aspects of google (Pink, 2009). This just shows that when students are able to pursue what makes them happy, they are more successful. Pink then goes on to state how business (and education) operate goes against the science that is out there on motivation (Pink, 2009). Alfie Kohn agrees with Pink.  He states that the more you reward a student, the more they lose interest.  He believes we have a failure to understand motivation (Kohn, 2009). I think the focus is too much on test scores and grades, and little attention is given to a student’s enjoyment of learning. Fostering an environment that allows students to enjoy learning can help students stay motivated.

As a history teacher, it is really hard for me to intrinsically motivate a student that has no interest in history.  I try to make the subject as enjoyable as possible.  I love it more when I am teaching and the whole class is captivated than when they all get good grades on a test. I have found that they can better recall my historical performances than specific dates and facts that they had to memorize. They can recall it better because they enjoyed my animated teaching style.  Csikszentmihalyi states that  “the concentration of the flow experience -- together with clear goals and immediate feedback -- provides order to consciousness, including the enjoyable condition of psychic negenthropy” (Csikszentmihalyi, 2006).  He believes that true happiness is comprised of various aspects.  These aspects include clear goals, and immediate feedback (Csikszentmihalyi, 2006 ).  As teachers, we can provide this structure that allows students to be happy.  Students want to understand their goals in the lesson and also provide support and immediate feedback.  As the teacher, I can provide this for them! I am generally a very happy person in the classroom. I can see enjoyment in their eyes when I praise them, and mean it.  There have been several times this year when myself and the students were so into a lesson, we were both surprised when the bell rung.  I often hear, ‘Man this period went fast!’  After reading Csikszentmihalyi’s thoughts on happiness, this made me smile. Csikszentmihalyi describes flow as an “experience that, when it lasts, one is able to forget all the unpleasantness aspects of life” (Csikszentmihalyi, 2006). I realized that my students were ‘in the flow’.  I see this on occasion, but I would like to see it more with my students.  The assignments this week will help me get there!

Mindsight is a skill that is vital to a successful teacher.  Knowing what each individual student needs, helps them to learn.  Providing every student with the same standard and the same path to get there greatly hinders learning. I think our school system has gone down the wrong road by requiring ALL students travel the same path to meet an arbitrary measure of ‘high standard’.  What is one student’s high standard, might not be anothers.  I think it is silly to measure all students the same.  Our students don’t think alike, and don’t have the same set of skills. Why should we expect them to take the same test, and have the same measure of ‘success?’ Not only do we expect students to all meet the same standard, we also force the same methods to a goal on them. I don’t think it should matter HOW they get there, just that they do! I know that there is a vast difference between my students.  I have high level, 8th grade Algebra II students that will end up being accepted to Harvard, and students that are struggling to understand a text on a 3rd grade level.  I recently used a metaphor in my classroom.  I described the American Patriots in the Revolution to a festering sore on a leg of the British. I had some that were able to get this instantly, I also saw a handful of very confused faces.. Patriots? United States? Festering sore?  Once the metaphor was explained, most of the students understood where I was getting at. Each student ended up understanding the comparison, just some needed an extra push.  Honestly, watching their light bulbs go off was priceless.  Each student has a varying toolbox of skills.  If the toolboxes are not equal why should we expect them to reach their standards the same way? Each child’s brain is different, and presents different skills and weaknesses.  It is our job as teachers to understand what they need and to provide them with opportunity and support to get them there.  I think understanding our students, provides teachers with the ability to motivate their students.  If we can tap into that mind, we can unlock what they enjoy doing and their intrinsic motivation.

References

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (Presenter). (2004, February). Flow, the secret to happiness. Lecture presented

   at TED 2004, Montery, California.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2006). From flow: The psychology of optimal experience. In G. Marcus (Ed.),

   The Norton Psychology Reader (pp. 210-222). New York, NY: W.W. Norton and Company. (Original

   work published 1990).

Kohn, A. (2009, January). It's bad news if students are motivated to get A's [Video file]. Retrieved

   from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQt-ZI58wpw

Pink, D. (Presenter). (2009, July). The puzzle of motivation. Lecture presented at TEDGlobal2009,

   Oxford, England.

Saxe, R. (Presenter). (2009, July). How we read each other's minds. Lecture presented at TEDGlobal2009, in Oxford England.

The Role of Empathy Voicethread

Vision and the Brain

  Honestly, this was one of my favorite ‘units’ in the EDIM program.  I find the brain and vision extremely interesting.  I can now admit that I too, was one of those educators that didn’t completely understand how vision and brains work. I think I had this unit really opened my eyes about the workings of our brains and how sometimes our eyes can fool us. I knew that there were paintings and ‘tricks’ that would make you think something that wasn’t there.  I really did not think too much into these optical illusions. As I read the Hoffman’s article, I realized that our minds always try to gain meaning from what we see (Hoffman, 2006).  We want what we see to make sense.. if it does not, we invent or construct something that does. The optical illusions in the book were neat to look at, but the one that got me was the turning chaplin mask (rayOman, 2006).  My mind KNEW that I was looking at the inside of a mask and still my vision and mind constructed a face out of the inside of the mask.  I really didn’t expect that to happen. This just goes to show you that we always try to find meaning in what we see. “The ripple, the magic square, and the devil’s triangle -- are simple demonstrations of your visual intelligence and its genius to construct” (Hoffman, 2006).  I think finding or constructing meaning is one of the main characteristics of being human. Our natural need to explore, discover and innovate. We ask questions, we find answers and create solutions. Our superpower as humans is that our brain isn’t perfect. We always have room to grow.  My students are always astonished when I say I learn every day and they will too. I explain that I learn from each of them, and our brains are never ‘full’.

     According to Nancy Kanwisher, each part of our brain could potentially have a specific function.  She already believes she has identified parts of the brain that processes faces, body parts and spatial environments (Kanwisher, 2006).  I believe that this shows that specific functions can be related to a specific part of the brain.  Even though our brains are not perfect, they are amazing, adaptable machines. I saw that in the videos of the split brain patients.  Prior to this course, I had never heard of this happening, and I of course, did not understand how or why this procedure took place.  I was astonished to see what the experiments confirmed/discovered.  I found it really interesting that the subject could not speak the name of the object that flashed on his left side, but he could draw it.  This shows that language is found in the left hemisphere of the brain. (Neuroslicer, 2007).

     Bjarke Ingles’ designs show how humans are not perfect.  In his presentation, he goes over how he and his design team work.  It is trial and error and ever evolvolving.  Some designs don’t work and they sometimes try out several, if not more, designs till they find something that works. He described the design process as a tree (Ingles, 2009). New ideas come from what didn’t work in the last stage. What didn't work in one situation could work in a later situation! That is why Ingles keeps all of his designs, no matter what (Ingles, 2009). If our brains were ‘perfect’ there would be no need for 2nd tries.  We as humans wouldn’t have the needs to innovate and we would be satisfied with the status quo.  Our brains are great BECAUSE they are not perfect! Computers can be considered to have perfect computation skills, but according to Donald D. Hoffman, our fastest supercomputers can’t compare to the creative geniuses we are as humans (Hoffman, 2006).  Our imperfections allow us to be creative! Each one of us can create unique solutions to problems.  Bjarke Ingles used his creativity to create an apartment and parking complex that was unlike any other, but also provided the functions of a simple apartment/parking complex (Ingles, 2009). Creativity and designing is something we all do. “ Design in its simplest form is the activity of creating solutions. Design is something that everyone does every day” (Pink, 2006).

     Another thing that I got out of this week’s readings and assignments is much more appreciation for my vision.  I have a condition where holes have developed in the back of my retinas.  These tears can cause a retinal detachment.  If I lived in another time, I would have most likely would have been blind by now.  Thankfully, preventative surgery has saved my eye sight.  I appreciate it so much more now!  I also enjoyed the color blind section of the assignment.  It showed me what it was like to see through different lenses.  My brother is color blind, so it was interesting to be able to see a few things like he sees them.  I think understanding the brain can also create empathy and the understanding that someone might see a certain situation much differently than you.  I think this can easily be brought into education.  I always try to be as empathetic and understanding as I can, and I think it is a skill that I should model for my students.  “Everything you experience by sight is your construction” (Hoffman 2006)  We as teachers, students and humans, construct our own meaning out of what we see.

References

Hoffman, D. D. (2006). From visual intelligence: How we create what we see. In G. Marcus (Ed.), The Norton Psychology Reader (pp. 81-90). New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company.

Ingels, B. (Presenter). (2009, July). 3 warp-speed architecture tales. Address presented at TED Global 2009.

Kanwisher, N. (Presenter). (2006, April). The brain basis of human vision. Lecture presented at MIT World Series Soap Box, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA.

Neuroslicer. (2007, April 18). Split brain behavioral experiments [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMLzP1VCANo

Pink, D. H. (2006). A whole new mind: Why right brainers will rule the future. New York, NY: Riverhead Books.

rayOman. (2006, May 16). Charlie Chaplin optic illusion [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbKw0_v2clo&feature=PlayList&p=EC2F485A28AF5A1D&index=6

A Whole New Mind Initial Reaction.

My initial gut reaction to the cover of Daniel H Pink’s book was negative. I have always considered myself a very left brained, logical brain. Throughout my life, I had been under the assumption that you are either left brained or right brained. That’s it. When I saw the cover, I initially thought to myself, “Oh here we go, Right brainers are sooo much better than people like me!” As I picked up the book, I was expecting ‘left brain’ people like me were going to get bashed. I was pleasantly surprised! As I read the assignments out of this book, I caught myself wanting to read more! I felt myself agreeing with Pink, and making lots of notes in the margins. Usually with classroom readings, I really have to concentrate to read it, because a lot of time, I am not all that interested or motivated to read it. This book however, was fantastic. I saw myself agreeing, and thinking to myself, “Oh wow, he’s right!!” I knew most of the information that he wrote about, but he organized it in a way that really made me understand what he meant by “Right brainers will rule the future.” I had a prejudice that you were either right or left brained. As Pink explained his reasoning, I completely understood AND related to it.   Relating to it was the LAST thing I expected.

     From Pink, I learned that we, as a society, are exiting the ‘Information Age,’ and entering the ‘Conceptual Age’ (Pink, 2006). This was all very new to me. Even if it was new to me, I understood it completely. I loved that he included the chart on page 49 that illustrated the different ages of man. Being a history teacher, this comparison between the ages really stood out to me. I also learned that the goal of every person to be to utilize both sides of their brains. Pink explained both sides of the brain and their functions so well. I really did ‘get it.’ I learned that in order to be successful in the conceptual age, one must learn to utilize both sides. If you are just L-Brained, you are great at analyzing information and logical thinking, but there is no ability to innovate. The ability to change, and adapt comes from the right side of the brain. In order to stand out in today’s society, you need both skills: The ability to gather information, and the ability to use that information to be innovative.

       I have always seen myself strictly as a L-Brained individual. Change and anything artistic scares me. I have always been jealous of people that could sing and draw. Pink quoted Betty Edwards as saying, “Drawing is not really very difficult. Seeing is the problem” (Pink 2006, pg 15). This took me also by surprise. I can’t draw a straight line with a ruler. I don’t have an ounce of drawing skill in my repertoire. I always struggled in artistic classes. As I thought about Edward’s quote, I thought to myself, well I’ve tried drawing, I just can’t see like artistic people can. I have a hard time translating a subject, to a drawing on paper. I then I asked myself if I express my creativity in any other way. I do. I love taking photos. To me, they tell a story. I have to say, that being a teacher has helped me cope with the fear of change. In some ways, teaching has also helped me overcome it.  You HAVE to have some level of creativity to be a teacher. Things rarely go as planned and a teacher has to have the ability to adapt. I appreciate art and find meaning in it. I encourage my students to think outside the box, and they always rise to the occasion. I find myself also being very creative in my lesson planning. As my knowledge of my subject reaches a mastery level, I find myself being more creative with how I present the information. This also aligns with Pink’s thoughts. We now have an abundance of information and knowledge. Knowledge and literacy are no longer scarce. Now, we focus on how to create something new from this knowledge I am much more creative than I thought.

I absolutely loved Pink’s inclusion of a designer toilet scrubber. I laughed out loud. Pink states that “in the age of abundance, appealing to the rational, logical and functional needs is woefully insufficient” (Pink 2006, pg 34). We no longer want a functional toilet scrubber; we also want one that is pretty. An abundance of products allows us to focus on our emotional and spiritual needs instead of a means to an end. Being a social studies teacher, the part of the book that talked about the effect of outsourcing has on our economy was really interesting. I always knew that there is cheaper labor overseas and that because communication is so easy (Pink 2006). These two things make outsourcing labor very easy to do for companies. Outsourcing jobs makes me nervous because it has such a negative impact on our economy.  This made me think that it might be time for the US to innovate again. We need to create jobs that help foster the ‘conceptual age’ instead of clinging on to the ‘information age.’ All in all, I really enjoyed reading this book. I found myself also agreeing with a lot of what Pink had to say! I am interested to see how our country adapts to the new Conceptual Age.

Pink, D. H. (2006). A whole new mind: Why right brainers will rule the future. New York, NY: Riverhead Books.