LEARNING WITH IMAGINATION

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LEARNING WITH IMAGINATION

• Enquiry, Communities, and Power
• in the Mantle of the Expert System

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Dr. Brian Edmiston

• Professor of Teaching and Learning
• Ohio State University
• edmiston.1_at_osu.edu

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• What children ask for is an experience of
  school that is engaging and meaningful, that
  supports the learning the children need for their
  adult lives in a manner that also acknowledges
  their priorities as children. (150)
• Devine, Dympha. (2003). Children, power and
  schooling How childhood is structured in the
  primary school. Trentham Books

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• the knowledge that our students really want,
  and that is the knowledge we owe them is not
  merely the facts, not merely the theories, but a
  deep knowing of what it means to kindle the gift
  of life in ourselves, in others, and in the
  world
• Parker Palmer (1998) p. x

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Deep learning about life

• you learn from people
• you can think quite a lot when youre actually
  having fun at the same time
• you have to keep up with things that you dont
  want to do
• when your imagination runs wild you can
  design ideas
• you can think of ways to make life better and
  ways that would make it worse

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and about using the mantle of the expert system

• you think like an adult and how their life is
• you can feel what its like to work
• learn things you didnt know before
• it makes your mind unwind
• you get to know things you would like to learn
  and things you wouldnt like to learn

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3 BIG IDEAS

• Deep knowledge of life comes from ENQUIRY
• Enquiry happens in relationships between people
  in different COMMUNITIES
• The type of community people create depends on
  how they POSITION each other and share POWER

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People create deep knowledge of life through
ENQUIRYe.g. in a hobby

• People choose to engage
• in collaborative social practices
• through which they explore questions of interest
  to them
• make meaning and over time acquire the expertise
  (knowledge, skills, understanding) they need
• to become more competent
• and (ideally) ethically responsible human beings
• In doing so they join and create communities of
  enquiry

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• Enquiry can take people beyond their current
  understanding of the world through collaborative
  explorations of the lives we want to live and the
  people we want to be
• Jerome Harste (2001) p. 1

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• Leaving pupils learning a deep knowledge of life
  (along with related facts and theories) to
  everyday life means leaving learning to chance
• We can use the mantle of the expert system to
  create opportunities for learning by design

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An example

• Living with Wolves
• Y2 (Grade 1 in the U.S.)
• Imaginative Enquiry (or Dramatic Enquiry)
• in the Mantle of the Expert system

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Learning by design through enquiry in imagined
communities

• The pupils gradually take on ethical
  responsibility for running an enterprise in an
  imagined community
• The pupils care enough about the long-term goals
  of a fictional client that they choose to engage
  in collaborative social practices and explore
  questions
• In doing so the pupils (and adults) begin to
  imagine the world of a professional community and
  over time acquire expertise

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however

• children and adults are still interacting in
  the everyday classroom communities

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EVERYDAY CLASSROOM COMMUNITIES
IMAGINED COMMUNITIES
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• The imagined expert communities become more
  complex and extensive over time

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EVERYDAY CLASSROOM COMMUNITIES
IMAGINED COMMUNITIES
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EVERYDAY CLASSROOM COMMUNITIES
IMAGINED COMMUNITIES
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Adults (and childrens) use of POWER

• is not necessarily controlling, domineering, or
  oppressive
• (though it can be)
• People use power, in relation to other people

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People in classrooms have more or less power in
relation to each other

• In your classroom, how are you (and children)
  able to use power?
• the power to move (physical power)
• the power to interact (social power)
• the power to interpret and evaluate (power of
  ideas)
• Which adults and children tend to have the
  most/least power?

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• Physical power -- the power to move
• Social power -- the power to interact

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• The power of ideas -- the power to
  interpret/evaluate

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When you begin to use the mantle of the expert
system

• As children begin to use power differently to
  move, to interact, to interpret/evaluate
• How do you respond?
• You (and other adults) can also use power
  differently to move, to interact, to
  interpret/evaluate
• What are you comfortable trying?

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children must be able to use power

• Children must be able to use power
• (to move, to interact, and to interpret/evaluate)
• in order to make meaning and acquire expertise

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• Using power to make meaning and acquire expertise

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Power circulates, accumulates, and disperses

• Power circulates among everyone in a group in
  relation to everyone else
• Some people always have more power than others

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• Some people become dominant (sometimes
  domineering) and others can become excluded

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Children (and adults) use, give, take (and
resist) POWER by how they POSITION other people

• Power over others
• Power for others
• Power with others

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How power is used over time creates different
types of COMMUNITIES

• Power over others
• authoritative communities like factories,
  prisons, military, etc.
• Power for others
• nurturing communities like families, hospices,
  animal care facilities etc.
• Power with others
• collaborative communities like explorative
  laboratories, choirs, creative groups,
  investigative teams etc.

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What sort of community do you want in the
classroom?

• more authoritative -- like a factory?
• more nurturing -- like a family?
• more collaborative -- like an explorative team?

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Whose classroom is it?

• Is it
• my classroom?
• their classroom?
• our classroom?

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As adults

• how we use our power (and react to how children
  use their power) creates different types of
  community

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• The mantle of the expert system provides us with
  opportunities to use power differently than
  people usually do in the classroom

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Everyone uses power differently in different
situations with different people

• People shift back and forth among
• using power with
• or for
• or over other people

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Which uses of power are more dominant in
classroom practices?

• The dominant uses of power create an overall
  classroom tone
• Creating a tone of cooperation, collaboration,
  attentive listening, sharing ideas, negotiation,
  making meaning together i.e. sharing power with
  others as colleagues is at the heart of good
  teaching

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• and is essential in successfully using the
  mantle of the expert system

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• Overall we share power with children and help
  children share power with one another
• I can do this as me or by positioning children
  as if I am someone else, like a colleague in an
  animal care enterprise ,or as a Park Ranger, a
  Bank Manager, or even a wolf

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This doesnt mean we dont use power over
children, or for them

• Ideally uses of power over children, and using
  power for them, are nested within using power
  with them

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Power with others
Power for others
Power over others
Nesting power relationships in a COMMUNITY of
ENQUIRY
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• We can shift back and forth between handing over
  more power and holding on to or taking back more
  power

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• Handing over
• more power
• Taking back
• more power

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Hand over more power
Power with others
Power for others
Take more power
Power over others
Adult sharing power with children to create
liberating constraints
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Using power with others

• Children (and/or adults) position one another
  with broadly equal power
• Colleagues share knowledge and abilities
• invite cooperation
• collaborate in activities
• In order to negotiate meaning

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Using power with others

• Use the language of we
• and make decisions together
• including important life decisions
• How would we be able to ?
• We were wondering why
• How might we ?

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EVERYDAY CLASSROOM COMMUNITIES Has anyone not
had a chance to speak?
IMAGINED COMMUNITIES How will we be able to work
together to capture the wolves without hurting
them? Does the Ranger have any ideas?
USING POWER WITH OTHERS the language of WE
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within which is nested
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Using power for others

• Children (and/or adults) position themselves
  (and/or are positioned by others) with less power
• colleagues help one another and lend a hand
• amplify ideas
• bring ideas from the edge to the centre

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Colleagues use power for others

• Lending a hand
• Bringing ideas from the edge to the centre

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Using power for others

• Use the language of you
• and make decisions with attention to minority
  as well as majority views
• What do you need right now?
• Would you like to ?

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EVERYDAY CLASSROOM COMMUNITIES Would you like me
to hold your drawing so everyone can see it?
IMAGINED COMMUNITIES Did you all hear what she
just said about using tranquilizer darts?
USING POWER FOR OTHERS the language of YOU
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within which is nested
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Using power over others

• Children (and/or adults) position themselves
  (and/or are positioned by others) with more power
• Some colleagues are servant leaders
• but colleagues dont exclude others ideas

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Colleagues use power over others

• as servant leaders
• but dont exclude

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Using power over others

• The language of I
• I want to
• I would like you to
• I thought we had agreed to

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EVERYDAY CLASSROOM COMMUNITIES I thought wed
agreed to decide together what wed do?
IMAGINED COMMUNITIES Wait a minute, Im worried
about how the wolves might feel if you use your
hypodermic needle like that!
USING POWER OVER OTHERS the language of I
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Hand over more power
Power with others
Power for others
Take more power
Power over others
Adult sharing power with children to create
liberating constraints
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• the knowledge that our students really want,
  and that is the knowledge we owe them is not
  merely the facts, not merely the theories, but a
  deep knowing of what it means to kindle the gift
  of life in ourselves, in others, and in the
  world
• Parker Palmer (1998) p. x