One of the great joys in life is unexpectedly experiencing something that animates us, that prompts us to an elevated or exalted place, that breathes new life into us. We tend to think of inspiration as coming from something greater than ourselves; we look to nature or to artists, poets, and philosophers to guide us. Certainly, these can spur us on to great thoughts and purpose-filled action. And yet, we needn’t turn only to these lofty sources for inspiration – sources are everywhere if we are alert and watch for them.
This week I was observing the first day of school for students in a 6-9 classroom. One child, about 7 or 8 years old, caught my eye. Having just completed a work, she returned materials to their designated place and then turned to cross the room. With the first two fingers and thumb of each hand, she gently lifted the hem of her skirt just an inch or two, as if she were descending a grand staircase in an elegant ball gown. Head erect, she purposefully, gracefully placed one foot ahead of the other as she intentionally traversed the distance from one side of the room to the other. At that moment, she was so confident and self-possessed – master of her environment. She owned her destiny. I watched to see what was drawing her from across the room but unfortunately, just before she arrived at her intended destination, an adult rang the bell to announce that it was time to prepare for a hike. The spell was broken.
This inspired me to think about what triggers that elevated level of self-confidence and intentionality. We often see it in first-plane children who are engaged in horme – purposeful activity repeated in order to self-perfect in some area. It is a little harder to witness in older children, but if we watch for it, we will notice the self-assured way in which (as the year progresses) children confidently perform well-internalized procedures like checking work at the checker table or cleaning up at the end of the day. We may also be fortunate enough to witness the child whose execution of a test-tube division problem looks more like a beautifully choreographed dance than like long division, or the child who becomes so absorbed in timeline studies that he is genuinely shocked to learn it is time for lunch! Some researchers attribute this captivated, self-confident absorption to having struck the ideal balance between skill and challenge. This resonates with me, and yet I think there can be another component of equal importance: relevance – knowing that this activity contributes to something that I care about, bridging from what I already know/can do to what I want to know/do. When these three elements, skill, challenge, and relevance, come together, it is the academic perfect storm of learning!
How do we encourage this perfect storm early in the school year at a time when we are still getting to know our students? How do we align the level of challenge with their skill and knowledge when we have not yet established what they know? How do we ensure relevance when we are still discovering children’s passions? Should we even be thinking about these things at a time when our primary focus is on establishing classroom rules, routines, and rituals? The truth is that most of us put these considerations onto the back burner – something to tackle once the class is more normalized. Once children are successful with the routine and with completing suggested or required work we begin to actively promote inspired work. While compartmentalizing like this may help us feel more in control, it cuts us off from a potentially powerful source of normalization.
Montessori defined a normalizing event as an occasion when a child freely chooses a work, successfully completes it, and returns it to the shelf. At the beginning of the year, we hope that children will experience multiple normalizing events each day. If we plan to provide these opportunities exclusively through lessons/activities that we deliver, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment. We simply cannot present lessons sufficiently quickly. With this approach, children may develop the unfortunate idea that the work cycle is intended to provide time to complete required or suggested work, after which they can visit with friends with impunity.
What if we loosen our grip on the reigns just a bit? What if we introduce the idea of inspired work (a.k.a. personal interest work) as early as possible – in the first weeks? When children choose the idea or skill that they most want to pursue, relevance is all but guaranteed. Children will naturally adjust their pursuits so that the challenge and the skill align. Initiating inspired work from the outset is a great way to promote the idea that each child is in charge of his/her own learning. The classroom becomes less adult-centric and the children practice greater independence and interdependence.
Our youngest elementary children, our emergent readers, will need extra support to find a way to pursue research-based interests. Having a study buddy – potentially an older student with a similar interest – can promote interdependent learning as well as sociability within the class. Alternatively, emergent readers might choose to pursue something that is less print-intensive, for example practicing sewing by creating a mini-button blanket, or learning about art by producing their own version of a famous work by a great master, or building models of geometric solids from clay.
Helping children choose a first personal interest work that is self-limiting is key to the ongoing success of child-centric learning. For example, if a younger child chooses to research Golden Retrievers, encourage him/her to think of 3-5 questions that they want to answer about the species. An older friend or an adult can help write the questions. The work of the child is to research the answers. If desired, the child can be offered the opportunity to share what s/he learns with a poster or an oral presentation to interested children. Older, more experienced students may still benefit from scoping the project before initiating the work. Does the child want to learn to knit? Suggest a washcloth or hot pad for a first project rather than a scarf. Is the child passionate about sharks? Setting a goal of learning about the three species that most intrigue him/her can help delineate the project. Of course, conferencing about personal interest work takes time – something that is always in short supply at the beginning of the year. But this time is an investment in the normalization of the children and of the community.
There are many ways to inspire children to engage in personal interest work. The Reflection for Children below is one way to kick things off. There are others, which we will explore in future blogs. But right now, I am going to put on my invisible tiara, lift the front hem of my skirt an inch or two, and take myself to the library. Last weekend, I learned at a glass studio that the first civilization known to have used glass intentionally was the Mesopotamians – they coiled molten glass around a clay pot to make something resembling a drinking glass. I simply must know more about this!
REFLECTION FOR CHILDREN
Think about the coolest things you have ever learned. Did you learn how to do something new? How something works? Fascinating facts about something that you find interesting?
Make a list of at least 3 things that you learned that you found really interesting and fun. How did you learn each of these things?
If you could wave a magic wand and learn more about one of these three things, what would it be and how would you learn it?
Make a list of at least 3 things that you don’t know much about right now, but you would like to learn about. Do you have ideas about how you would learn these things?
REFLECTION FOR ADULTS
PART ONE: Sometimes, the best way to encourage inspired work in the classroom is to model it. What have you always wanted to know more about? Can you share this and what you discover with the children?
PART TWO: Did any part of this week’s blog make you uncomfortable? Did it reveal a hesitancy to allow children to direct their own learning? If so, can you trace that back to its source? Here are a few common ones
- concern about children spending time on studies that may not directly lead to mastering state or Common Core standards
- concern over the amount of effort it might take to manage individualized projects
- concern over having collaborative learning so early in the year
- something else?
If you can identify one or more concerns, what would help minimize those concerns?
“Out of routine comes inspiration. That’s the idea anyway. To grasp what’s exceptional you first have to know what is routine.”
Michael Kimmelman