Hi all
I'm very late reading and replying to some of the discussion on this list -
sorry, have a terminally ill father-in-law and have been out of town
visiting him.
I am interested in Jean's comment about being able to draw, better than
represent ideas in words. When I was a staff developer I occasionally
used to ask the groups I facilitated to represent ideas pictorially - for
example, to represent their work environment graphically (VERY
enlightening! images of cells; people with bows and arrows aiming at each
other; but sometimes people holding hands and dancing, it wasn't all
bad). They could speak to the pictures if they wished, or pass, or not
show them at all. (Important in an emotion-raising exercise like this, to
make space either in class or subsequently for people to discuss what this
raised for them). Or I would ask them to draw their ideal learning
environment - again, very interesting! Some people drew palm trees and
beaches (well, we ARE in the South Pacific!); others drew sunshine and
flowers; some drew people holding hands and walking in the same
direction. Strangely enough (NOT!) nobody drew sitting at desks in
rows...;-)
One of the best assessments I ever designed was to ask, in a class on
educational theory, for a graphical depiction of some sort, of a given
theory or theorist (or the student's own synthesis of theory that made
sense to them). It used to be called a 'poster session' but the
creativity took it way past posters - one guy built a construction out of
boxes, with a wee 'elevator' on one side and stairs up the outside. He
explained that the process of learning the theories had been the painful
climb up stairs, but now he was 'at the top' he could take the elevator to
whatever floor (theory) he wanted to draw on and move about freely.
They're an eclectic lot! A Maori educator wove seven small kete (wee flax
baskets) in each of which was a whakatauki (proverb). You pulled the
whakatauki out of the basket to read the words, and she would explain how
that whakatauki illustrated some aspect of Maori educational theory, a
concept that built on a cultural story of 'Maui', a man of legend, who
ascended to heaven and brought back the seven baskets of knowledge. A
woman drew a beautiful picture, one side orange, one side blue, with a
journey traced on it, to explain invitational theory and its impact on her
practice (it's a fascinating theory, if you haven't come across it before -
makes a lot of sense to people including cross-culturally). The session
was peer assessed according to a range of criteria, such as whether the
theory was made clear to the listeners, whether the presenter was able to
answer questions adequately, how well the presenter could explain the
impact of the theory/theorist on his/her own educational practice. They
WEREN'T assessed on their artistic ability! Student feedback over a range
of years indicated that this was one of the most enjoyable and helpful
assessments they had encountered in the programme.
I think this range of examples perhaps goes some way to illustrate how
some of us strive to incorporate the visual along with the verbal in our
practice, and the really positive response we can get from students when
we try to think outside the square.
Kind regards
Pip
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