Not all learning is created equal. Sometimes the learning that we achieve and the success generated through our engagement with a learning opportunity is spectacular. At its very best, our learning unlocks fresh understandings for ourselves and sometimes even for others. What conditions allow for such spectacular learning, and how might we bring these conditions into our classrooms?
When we are engaged in spectacular learning, we know it. There is a sense of energy that we do not feel while engaged in routine learning. We are highly engaged and active participants in the process. We experience a ‘flow' like state where we are completely involved in an activity for its own sake. We almost certainly understand the purpose of the learning and its relevance to goals that matter to us. The outcome of the learning is likely to offer us fresh possibilities and Practical advantages. Our learning journey probably commenced with a sense of curiosity or a need to overcome an obstacle. The culmination of these circumstances is a learning experience in which we are able to achieve more than we might otherwise expect is possible.
A key element of learning like this is that we are connected to both the process and outcome. For learning to achieve such power, there must be an emotional connection. This is an understanding backed by the brain research of Mary-Helen Immordino-Yang (2016), who found that "It is literally neurobiologically impossible to build memories, engage complex thoughts, or make meaningful decisions without emotion. Put succinctly, we only think about things we care about". When this revelation is combined with a fundamental conclusion of research by Project Zero, that all learning is a consequence of thinking, we see the full impact that an emotional connection to what we are learning might have.
"When learning and knowledge are relatively devoid of emotion, when people learn things by "rote" without internally driven motivation and without a sense of interest or real-world relevance, then it is likely that they won't be able to use what they learn efficiently in the real world".(Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, 2016)
Spectacular learning then requires an emotional connection with the content and process, and we must see how what we are learning will matter to us in our lives if it is to live on beyond the scope of the class or programme of learning to which it belongs.
It is perhaps not surprising then that when Jal Mehta and Sarah Fine (2019) went searching for deep learning in American schools, they found it absent in most regular classrooms. The sort of deep learning that they were looking for was more likely to occur inside co-curricular learning opportunities. These co-curricular learning opportunities are less likely to be constrained by state or national curriculum mandates and are more likely to be designed in response to the needs and wants of the learners who choose to participate. It was also the case that in these co-curricular groups, students were more likely to have a strong sense of agency over the content and the process. The endpoint of such experiences is often a performance or product that has real meaning to the students involved and was unlikely to be a test taken in isolation and marked externally. It is also typical for this learning to occur within and amidst a community that has come together for a collective, creative process where learning is a part of the shared experience.
It should be noted that Mehta & Fine did not conclude that this type of learning is only possible within co-curricular programmes. They found that the teacher's pedagogical philosophy towards the discipline being studied could allow for deep learning. Mehta & Fine found that teachers either exhibited a belief that their discipline was closed or open. Those who believed the discipline was closed imagined it as a collection of knowledge to be absorbed by the student. Those who believed the discipline to be open imagined it as a field to which the student might bring fresh perspectives and where new insights might be uncovered through a collaborative process.
If teachers saw their fields as fixed or inherited bodies of knowledge, teaching as transmission seemed like a logical and efficient approach. . . Conversely, if the fields were understood as places where different people would develop different interpretations, experiments, and approaches to problems, it seemed natural to invite students into this process of inquiry, connecting them to the generations of scholars and seekers of knowledge who had come before. (Mehta & Fine 2019)
These teachers understood the true nature of their discipline. They saw themselves as members of a profession that was alive and to which they might contribute new knowledge. Their most valuable knowledge is an understanding of the epistemological foundation of the discipline. They may also possess sound discipline-specific knowledge, but they know that possessing this alone is not sufficient. A scientist is not defined by their recall of the periodic table but by the manner in which they approach puzzles and ambiguity. An author may require a sound knowledge of grammar, but they are defined by their approach to communication as a creative act between their language choices and their audience. Each discipline has its unique epistemological foundation, and deep learning is achieved when teachers invite their students to become participants in this.
The creative process starts with a sense that there is a puzzle somewhere or a task to be accomplished perhaps something is not right somewhere there is a conflict a tension a need to be satisfied. The problematic issue can be triggered by a personal experience by a lack of fit in the symbolic system by the stimulation of colleagues or by public means. In any case without such a felt tension that attracts the psychic energy of the person there is no need for a new response therefore without a stimulus of this sort the creative process is unlikely to start. (Csikszentmihalyi 2013)
I often refer to the quote above from Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's research as it points beautifully to the conditions required to spark a creative process. Spectacular learning is likely to emerge from the conditions that Mihaly describes as the catalyst for creativity. From our sensing that there is a puzzle or a tension within ourselves grows a feeling of curiosity or wonderment. Once our sense of curiosity is sparked, and if we are presented with the right conditions to act upon our curiosity in fruitful ways, spectacular learning becomes a possibility. Curiosity is undoubtedly a powerful driver of learning as the research of Gruber, Gelman & Ranganath details:
When people were highly curious to find out the answer to a question, they were better at learning that information. More surprising, however, was that once their curiosity was aroused, they showed better learning of entirely unrelated information that they encountered but were not necessarily curious about. Curiosity may put the brain in a state that allows it to learn and retain any kind of information, like a vortex that sucks in what you are motivated to learn and everything around it. Second, the investigators found that when curiosity is stimulated, there is increased activity in the brain circuit related to reward. Third, when curiosity motivated learning, there was increased activity in the hippocampus, a brain region that is important for forming new memories, as well as increased interactions between the hippocampus and the reward circuit.
Spectacular learning requires and is a product of high levels of intrinsic motivation. For us to experience a state of 'flow', we must have a great desire to be in and remain in the task. Spectacular learning requires that we bring our very best selves to the task, and this only occurs when we are highly motivated by the learning itself. The research of Ryan & Deci is enlightening here:
Comparisons between people whose motivation is authentic (literally, self-authored or endorsed) and those who are merely externally controlled for an action typically reveal that the former, relative to the latter, have more interest, excitement, and confidence, which in turn is manifest both as enhanced performance, persistence, and creativity - (Ryan & Deci. 2000)
For teachers, social-cognitivist approaches shine a light on the factors which result in motivation towards learning. Learning is said to be enhanced when individuals have positive self-efficacy for learning (Bandura 1977). Motivational theories such as self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000) point to three significant needs (autonomy, purpose and mastery) (Ryan & Deci, 2000) as the forces which drive intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy. According to Ryan & Deci, our need for autonomy is satisfied when our actions are self-endorsed and in accordance with our abiding values and interests. Our need for competence requires us to sense our potential to be effective within the given context; to recognise the possibility for success. Lastly, and significantly, our need for relatedness requires us to know that we are cared for and belong.
Dan Pink, in his book 'Drive' (2009), identifies three similar forces which act to motivate us. According to Pink, purpose, mastery and choice rather than traditional (external) awards motivate us the most. Once base needs are taken care of, we seek opportunities to master skills and concepts, gaining tangible benefits from the feelings of success that come with doing so. We seek choice and autonomy in how we perform our duties and expend our energies. Clarity of purpose allows us to see the value in what we do, and when it is a purpose that connects us with something that matters to ourselves or those we care about, we are more likely to commit. Spectacular learning requires then opportunities for mastery of things that matter to us or those we care about and is engaged with by choice.
A recent article published by the Global Online Academy and written by Andy Housiaux shares the results of a question posed to students enrolled in a programme at the Phillips Academy Andover. The programme had been explicitly designed to engage students in learning that was deep and durable. The result of the teaching teams efforts is a term-long immersive programme known as "The Workshop". In this programme, students committed their whole efforts to this one programme. At the conclusion of the programme, students were asked, "What's the best work you've done at Andover, and how do you know?". The answers are telling and confirm much of what has been described above. Students identified three key elements that contributed to what they identified as their best work. They had the time and the motivation to achieve mastery and worked with an 'ethic of excellence'. There was not a sense that tasks were there to be completed in a timely fashion and to comply with external demands. Secondly, the students reported a genuine connection with the work they engaged with, and that work was authentic. Students gained a sense of identity from the work and saw themselves as full citizens of the disciplines they engaged with. Lastly, the work allowed a creative pursuit of their 'own line of work'.
The Workshop is similar to the Personal Passion Projects I have described elsewhere. The idea of a 'Personal Passion Project' was not unique when I first experimented with this in 2007 but was less common than it is now. Ideas like 'Google's 20% Time' were not well known in education, nor was the term 'Genius Hour' commonly used. They had opportunities to design their own learning and the time to pursue interests that were important to them. By turning the curriculum over to the students, the relationship between teacher and student changed. A partnership in learning formed, and students had equal responsibility to drive their learning forward. The result was that the class and I sort of fell into the project and learned as we went along. A key to their success at this point were the collaborations that took place between the students. Without prompting from me, they were encouraging and supporting each other through the projects. This collaboration ensured that students were able to manage the complexities of their projects and that individuals never felt overwhelmed by the scale of what they had taken on. Sugata Mitra (2010), in his Kalikuppam Experiment, investigated how self-organised learning environments can thrive. He found that when given access to information and some encouragement to learn, young people are very capable of organising themselves into functional learning communities. This occurred for students within the Personal Passion Project when they were invited to take charge of their learning and were permitted to direct their own learning journeys. Each year the students amazed us with what they produced, and they left us with greatly enhanced confidence in their abilities to manage difficult and complex learning experiences. Running a 'Genius Hour' project can, at times, be exhausting and messy and challenging for all involved. The pay off is a spectacular learning experience that provides a solid platform for future growth.
Spectacular learning is an achievable goal and should be something that all learners experience. If the purpose of school-based education is to inspire students towards a life-long love of learning, then spectacular learning must be a routine part of this. To achieve this, we must partner more closely with our students. We need to provide them with genuine opportunities for agency in their learning and chances to focus on learning that matters to them in ways that are meaningful to them. They will gain much from teachers who invite them into the life of the disciplines that they study and help them to see that there is space within these for creativity and new voices. They will gain much from learning experiences that foster a sense of wonderment and curiosity, where questions are valued more than answers. This spectacular learning will require time and the freedom to pursue ideas through long and convoluted journeys. Spectacular learning is not well served by a straight line, full speed ahead, forced march through the curriculum. And what is spectacular learning for one will not be for others. Choice will matter, and after all, we want our students to choose learning. And at the end of all this, what might our goal be? This:
"The fullest representations of humanity show people to be curious, vital, and self-motivated. At their best, they are agentic and inspired, striving to learn; extend themselves; master new skills; and apply their talents responsibly. (Ryan & Deci. 2000)
By Nigel Coutts
Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Immordino-Yang, Mary Helen. (2016) Emotions, Learning, and the Brain: Exploring the Educational Implications of Affective Neuroscience (The Norton Series on the Social Neuroscience of Education) W. W. Norton & Company.
Mehta, J. & Fine, S. (2019) In Search of Deeper Learning: The Quest to Remake the American High School Harvard University Press.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2013) Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. New York; Harper Perennial.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1997). "Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life", Basic Books
Mitra, S. & Dangwal, R. (2010) Limits to self-organising systems of learning—the Kalikuppam experiment. British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 41 No 5 p672-688
Pink, D. (2009). Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. New York, NY: Riverhead Books.
Ryan, R., & Deci, E. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being.American Psychologist,55(1), 68-78.