Strategies
I have noticed that many people hold an assumption that the scientific view of the world should be the basis for all knowledge and all that is knowable. This is scientific materialism. One of the principal problems with a radical scientific materialism is the narrowness of vision that results and the potential for nihilism that might ensue. There is more to human existence and to reality than current science can ever give us access to (Dalai Lama, 2005).
The current trend in American Education is "high stakes" standardized testing which stresses linear, individualistic, and competitive thinking. A fundamental disadvantage of this approach is the over emphasis on cognitive learning at the expense of all other modes of learning. On the other hand, Aesthetic Education, as practiced by the Lincoln Center Institute (LCI) promotes divergent, wholistic, and cooperative thinking. It embodies many key ideas: to heighten perceptual ability; to illuminate the choices made by artists, which help shape the perceiver's experiences; to expand understanding of the context surrounding a work of art; and to explore the relationship of aesthetic experiences to other educational and human experiences (LincolnCenterInstitute 2004).
Children and adults have the capacity to respond to a work of art in ways that can stimulate fresh insights, encourage deeper understandings, and challenge preconceived notions. Without the limitations imposed by "right or wrong" answers, the process of responding to a work of art develops each student's ability to think in fundamental and powerful ways (LincolnCenterInstitute 2004).
Through an educational process of aesthetic inquiry, the LCI approach cultivates two interrelated capacities: receptivity to experiencing any given artwork, and the ability to reflect on that experience. By cultivating these capacities, the LCI approach helps students develop an inside understanding of the artistic choices that contribute to any given work of art. Students gain practical insights and strengthen core skills that readily apply across the curriculum and throughout life. Two examples include abstract thinking and problem solving—skills as relevant to studying a ballet performance as to conducting a Chemistry experiment or solving a mathematical equation (LincolnCenterInstitute
2004).
The Institute's experiential approach to art and education brings students into the world of the work of art through explorations that actively engage students in perception, research, reflection and discussion. As a result, unexpected connections are made, alternative points of view are considered, complexities explored, and doors to new and imagined worlds opened. This process is a catalyst for change in the way teachers teach and students learn (LincolnCenterInstitute 2004). It propels us to feel inside the box and think outside the box.
Experiential learning can help students develop their social emotional learning aptitude and connect with the essence of their humanity. Consequently, once the background information on the origin of the elements is presented and student performance on various assessments exceeds the minimum requirements, my instructional emphasis will shift beyond knowledge to interpretation. Ultimately, the students will describe the concepts, analyze their effects and then interpret the relationship they have with the abstraction through drumming, dance, drama, and design (Walters, 2004).
Drumming
Using the drum as a metaphor for the Universe, students will experience the evolution of rhythm (Universe) from Africa (Big Bang) to America (Expansion). The drum is a universal language understood by all that needs no interpreter. The act of hearing involves all three sections of the brain: the lower "reptilian" brain, which handles the autonomic functions; the midbrain, the seat of our motivations and emotions; and the upper cognitive functions such as assigning meaning to stimuli. Participating in a drumming jam—may bring all of these regions into sync, so the brain is functioning as a unified whole.
In particular, rhythm stimulates the reticular activating system (RAS), a part of the brain stem that acts as a kind off "alert system" for the upper cortex preparing it to receive and assign meaning to incoming sensory data (Cushman 1993). An area in the midbrain, the nucleus basalis, gives weighted emotional meaning to our auditory input and codes it as important and worth sorting in long-term memory. Because music evokes emotions, the playing of music accelerates and enhances the ability of learners to make rapid emotional assessments and to act according. Music making forces us to create, reflect, bare our souls, and formulate in ways we have never done (Jensen 2001).
Dance
The elusive behavior of subatomic particles is a topic one might discuss at a symposium on theoretical physics. Yet, according to modern dance choreographer, Scott Putman, what is possible in physics, is possible in dance and vice versa (Baker 2006).
Frequently, students ask why they have to take Chemistry or Physics. Does it matter, they say. Many urban minority youth are disinterested in science because its pioneers rarely look like them. It is important to avoid the Euro-American tendency to see Africa's people as an undifferentiated mass with skin color as a chief characteristic. Africa's communities are every bit as diverse as those of the Western world, and each unwilling immigrant who came to America in chains was at least partly shaped by his or her place of birth and tribal upbringing (Cerami 2002).
The initial search for the basic constituents of matter is generally credited to Greek philosophers (Cox 1989). However, evidence of the study of astronomy is found in cultures in every part of the world. It is now recognized that many cultures in Africa, pre-Columbian America, and the Pacific also developed a high degree of astronomical knowledge. Perhaps the best known, and most mysterious, example of astronomical knowledge in Africa is the case of the Dogon tribe of Mali (Marriott 2004).
It has long been said that the Dogon people, many centuries ago, charted the stars with astonishing accuracy. Whether this is truth or myth is a subject of controversy among researchers. These remarkable Africans had—and have to this day—thoughts that astonish their neighbors in Mali and occasionally others of the wider world (Cerami 2002).
Benjamin Banneker was born in rural Maryland in 1731, the descendent of slaves and grandson of a Dogon. He demonstrated early on, extraordinary mathematical and analytical abilities, along with a photographic memory. Between twelve-hour shifts on the family farm, young Banneker, without the benefit of formal schooling and with little more than a handful of borrowed texts as his guide, achieved excellence as a mathematician and astronomer. Long before the Hubble Orbiting Telescope, he hypothesized that the unusal light coming from Sirius, the Dog Star, could be attributed to the now established fact that it is actually two stars in orbit around one another (Cerami 2002).
His writings on time seem to have prefigured some of the intuitions of Planck, Einstein, and Bohr by more than a century and a half. However, Benjamin Banneker's genius was repressed by the socio political climate of the era. If Einstein was born in a Black body in 1731, society would have been deprived of his insights for centuries. Consequently, the students will read Charles A. Cerami's biography on Banneker and interpret the impact of African Astronomy on contemporary American society through dance.
Drama
Creative drama consists of non-scripted, improvisational, process oriented techniques. The students will participate in an array of facilitated activities that build concentration and cooperation. Using Creative Drama in the classroom has numerous benefits. It enhances speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills. It also stimulates creative and critical thinking. As an instructional strategy, it appeals to multiple learning styles.
Design
Creative design is the visual dimension of the process. It captures the imagination of the student and promotes abstract creativity. Using multimedia technology, students will study photographs of microscopic and subatomic structures, as well as macrocosmic images from the Hubble telescope. In addition, they will view segments from popular movies. From this visual data, students will create artwork that depicts the relationship between the System of International Units (Metric System) and the various levels of structural organization.
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