CEOct13

=Stories to scaffold creative learning= // (part of the Fall 2013 Collaborative Explorations: Creative Thinking for All series) //

A Collaborative Exploration (CE) that explores story-telling and scaffolding in relation to each other and to creative learning. >> on hangout for 1 hour each week in October at a time and day to be arranged to suit those who apply. The URL for the first hangout will be provided only to those who apply, which entails making a commitment to attend that 1st session and at least 2 of the other 3 hangouts.
 * //In brief, CEs are an extension of Problem- or Project-Based Learning// and related approaches to education in which participants address a scenario or case in which the problems are not well defined, shaping their own directions of inquiry and developing their skills as investigators and prospective teachers (in the broadest sense of the word). (For more background, read the prospectus.)
 * //If you want to participate, read more.// (Eventually you'll get to the link to the form for applying.)
 * //If you want to know what a CE requires of you//, review the expectations and mechanics.
 * //If you are wondering how to define a meaningful and useful line of inquiry// on the topic above, let us present a scenario for the CE and hope this stimulates you to apply to participate. We will then let CE participants judge for themselves whether their inquiries are relevant.

> It is one thing to know that people are not passive recipients of life forces. But... it is another thing to identify initiatives that might provide a point of entry to the sort of rich story development that brings with it more positive identity conclusions and new options for action in the world. Michael White (2011)
 * Scenario**

It is said that humans are a story-telling animal. At the very least, we are often moved by stories, especially our own. Yet stories are shaped by conventional structures or sequences, such as the self-making or destiny of the central subject or hero. What would it mean for stories to emphasize "scaffolding"—the supports that other people contribute to our learning, seeing new paths, and not simply continuing along previous lines? In short, what lessons can be drawn about how to foster or support creative learning--in oneself and in others--through telling alternative kinds of stories?

If you want to appreciate why story-telling and scaffolding could be a concern in promoting creative learning, consider the passages and sources in the box below. But, if the broad topic of stories to scaffold creative learning is enough for you to be interested, feel free to see what a Collaborative Exploration entails and apply.


 * A colleague said recently that story-telling is a form of scaffolding. To develop this idea, we need to explore what story-telling is--or could be; ditto for scaffolding; then link them together.

Story-telling According to the Soviet theorist of folktales, Propp, story-telling adopts familiar structures, in which, > the story... often begins in a state of equilibrium..., where we find the hero leading a relatively safe and untroubled existence [but] somehow different... Whether by choice or compulsion, the hero is eventually dislodged from [their] home... This turning point is often depicted as the beginning of a journey or adventure...Having departed, the hero moves in a new realm where [they] must survive a series of tests... imposed either by the environment... or by qualities of [their] own character... [T]he tests are specifically designed... to bring out the human in the hero. As in folktales and myths, this transformation depends on a beneficent power or "donor." The appearance of the donor... is thus crucial to the outcome of the story.... [T]he hero initially suffers from some deficiency, usually physical, and it is often in nonphysical form that the donor appears... Still [they are] not finished, for, to prove [their] humanity, the hero must be tested again... Yet there is a final irony, as in many myths. Again and again we hear how a hero, having accomplished great deeds, succumbs to pride or hubris and is destroyed (Landau 1984; see also http://www.the-cma.com/images/openmagazine/201210/seven-steps.png).

Scaffolding and creative learning We have all seen tubular scaffolding used in construction or renovation. The "scaffolding" metaphor makes us think, therefore, of someone starting with a final structure in mind and providing the workers a reliable, safe arrangement of physical elements they can use to complete the structure. In education scaffolding has been used to refer to an analogous arrangement of elements (more conceptual and procedural than physical) that allow students to come to understand the relevant ideas and end up proficient in the practices. But scaffolding has other connotations that might be fruitful to explore. For example, if we think about the maintenance of our bones, a scaffold could connote a dynamic structure with components that are constantly replenished with new materials, doing so, moreover, in ways that maintain its integrity as a structure while adapting to changes in its contexts (like new stresses strengthening the bones) and, in turn, generating possibilities not seen or experienced before.

Suppose we focus on the potential of //everyone// for creative learning. (Use of this term invites elaboration, but for now let it simply point to generation of alternative ideas, connections, practices, and solutions, in contrast to memorizing knowledge that others transmit to us.) In the context of everyone becoming creative learners we have to notice the variety of projects of inquiry and engagement different adults and children pursue in their work, education, and lives. We also have to acknowledge the pragmatic concerns people have in pursuing those various projects. But can we still imagine benefiting from "connecting, probing, and reflecting" that stretches us beyond particular concerns? If so, what can we learn from and contribute to other people inquiring and engaging in a creative spirit. In other words, in what ways does creative learning get scaffolded:
 * When do different people keep to themselves or interact in a private, trusted circle? How have people reached out to build constituencies and counter feelings of isolation?
 * When and how have they sought support in //not// continuing along previous lines—that is, in taking initiatives where they cannot rely simply on the skills, resources, networks of connected people that they have built up over time and, in to a large extent, have embodied?
 * What stock-taking routines go on before they proceed from one phase to another; on from an activity or event; into dialogue with others; or at a branch point, when choosing an activity or path to pursue?
 * What role have they given to mentors and mentoring? To friends and cultivating friendship?

Linking these two realms into questions for the CE What stories in literature (including memoir and biography) and the arts emphasize scaffolding over the self-making or destiny of the central subject or hero? What structures or sequences of steps can be seen in those stories? Can lessons be drawn about how to foster or support creative learning--in oneself and in others--especially through story-telling?

Stories that might stimulate our thinking about scaffolding creative learning P. Fleischman, __Seedfolks__, __Mind's Eye__, __Borning Room__, __Saturnalia__ L. Cunningham, __Sleeping Arrangements__ Mildred Taylor, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_the_Circle_Be_Unbroken V. Paley, __The Girl with the Brown Crayon__ Apollo 13 (the movie)

Other sources: Gottschall, J. __The Storytelling Animal__ Landau, M. (1984). "Human Evolution as Narrative." __American Scientist__ 72(May-June): 262-268. White, M. __Maps of Narrative Practice__ ||

> a) tangible: lessons that can be drawn about how to foster or support creative learning--in oneself and in others--through telling alternative kinds of stories; and > b) experiential: being impressed at how much can be learned with a small commitment of time using the CE structure to motivate and connect participants.
 * Intended outcomes of this inquiry** are of two kinds:

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