Monday, September 7, 2015

Formal and Informal Learning Can Coexist Within Varied School Worlds by: Tony Iannone

Formal and informal learning can coexist
within varied school worlds.


Imagine the following scene; an elementary school teacher and his Science thinking partners (from Discovery Place) have just placed an array of materials in the middle of his fourth grade classroom. The materials include (among other things) used and broken toys, construction paper, art supplies like construction paper, markers, crayons, duck tape glitter, pipe-cleaners, glue-sticks, glue guns, and tissue paper. The school teacher’s Science thinking partners add to the mix, bringing tools like screwdrivers, scissors, and hammers. The room is buzzing with excitement as the students anticipate how the materials assembled have anything to do with what’s supposed to be happening this morning. The teacher moves to the middle of the room, gets the students’ attention and states, “This has been an amazing year of discovery! We have learned a lot from each other. To honor our learning journey together Maggie, Michael, and I have compiled this assortment of materials you see in front of you. Your directions for the next 90 minutes are simple, get up and MAKE something.” Because of their previous experiences with the adults in the room, the students were up, out of their seats, eager to get started, before their teacher finished his last thought! What ensued was a 90 minute exploration into what was possible via thinking, collaborating, problem-solving; MAKING!


The scene depicted above is rooted deeply within a concept known as MAKE. By MAKE, I mean a process that involves (but is not limited to), inviting students to literally, make things; with words, with natural and man-made materials, and with their ideas of how to make their worlds. MAKE (within the context of school) uses content specific to a grade levels' course of study and is literacy rich, asking students and teachers to share, reflect, loop back, remake, revise, remix, and connect with others. How does a teacher, situated within a school world predicated on formal learning, partner up with Science educators from Discovery Place, an organization established on the premise that informal learning is what ignites wonder to create space for students to learn, and, through experiences like the one described above, balance both forms of learning? The short answer; through participation in collaborative happenings like the Intersections Project. Not enough detail? Want more? Keep reading. Understand though, before you proceed that the long answer is a bit more complicated, nuanced, and full of twists and turns. That should not stop any of you though because if you are reading this resource, you are, like me either a teacher or some variant of educator that spends the majority of your day working within this complicated, nuanced, “twisty-turny” world. It is very familiar terrain so, come and join me!


Formal and informal learning can coexist
within varied school worlds.


The path ending with the MAKE described above comes through hours of negotiation; negotiation with pacing and curriculum guides, with administrators curious and simultaneously supportive of how Science and Literacy intersect through the concept of MAKE, with the Science educators from Discovery Place in an effort to align both forms of learning, and finally with the students, who come to the classroom well versed through their many and varied experiences, in both forms of learning yet a bit tentative as to how both can intermingle within their classroom. Negotiations of this nature are not foreign to anyone reading this piece. Like me, you engage in similar forms of negotiation daily as you attempt to construct (dare I say; MAKE) a learning experience for your students that will result in your students getting the most out of the instructional day.


Formal and informal learning can coexist
within varied school worlds.


For me, the path has been paved through my participation with the Intersections Project. This project paired classroom teachers like me with Science educators from Discovery Place in an effort to inquire into the intersections of Science and Literacy, as well as formal and informal learning. My participation has taken many forms; both outside of the classroom, through planning sessions and within the classroom. A recent example of participation took place in my classroom while I was teaching a Science unit on Electricity. This example, in my humble opinion, shows the potentiality that lies within both an exploration into the intersection(s) between Science and Literacy as well as the convergence of formal and informal learning. It shows that…


Formal and informal learning can coexist
within varied school worlds.


I decided to start the Electricity unit in a traditional (formal) manner; I read some of the material in the science textbook, in an effort to orient the students in ways to read this sort of text. Informational text is typically not read in the same way one reads a novel. I wanted the students to see the difference so, as I read, I thought aloud about the content, made comments, posed questions, and noted things that I found interesting. Next, I had them read several lessons from the textbook. All I required of them during this time was that they emulate what they saw me do while I was modeling how to interact with the text. One way I get students up and talking to each other is to have them find a friend, stand back to back with that friend, then turn and talk. To start the conversation I may invite the taller student to start or a student wearing white shoelaces. If both students meet the requirement, I ask one of them to just invite the other into the conversation. They were charged with commenting on the text, posing a question to their partner; only if they had one, and talking about something that interested them.


Next, I had the students take notes. I’m charged with helping my students recognize different forms of energy (like light, and electrical) and to think about how these varying forms create change. They needed a way to capture their thoughts. So, it only made sense to have them use daybooks, as a place to do their thinking out loud on paper. Specifically, I had them use a strategy they were very familiar with; the dialectic journal response.


Formal and informal learning can coexist
within varied school worlds.


At this point, we are still within the realm of formal learning and you are probably wondering, where is the convergence with informal learning? The convergence comes when formal learning experiences like the one I have portrayed here include informal experiences. Before I proceed, I feel, for the purposes of this Resource that I need to define what I am talking about. This definition is by no means definitive; it merely provides an image of what is possible. That said informal learning experiences can involve tinkering, specifically the manipulation of tools in an effort to make something. This tinkering can be done in isolation, working by oneself or in conjunction with others, tapping into the collective intelligence. Throughout the school year my students have had many opportunities to tinker as they’ve explored the “intersection” of Science and Literacy. This tinkering has come in the form of several MAKES. The tools have been as simple as construction paper, pipe cleaners, and glitter to the more sophisticated like screwdrivers, hammers, saws, and electrical tape. With these tools the students have constructed diverse images of learning ranging from collages that represented their understanding of Nutrition concepts to re-presentations of animals and their adaptations made from bits and pieces of old toys.


After the formal learning experiences focused on electricity, I wanted to see what would happen when the students were given tools and merely prompted to, “MAKE!” So, as the students walked into the classroom, 2 days before the end of the school year, I informed them that we would be doing one more MAKE. Like the MAKE that opens this piece, I proceed to take out the tools, construction paper, cooper tape, surface mount LED lights, and ion lithium batteries. I told them they could do whatever they wanted, working alone or with friends. The only (direct)-ion was; MAKE something! I stepped aside and watched.


Formal and informal learning can coexist
within varied school worlds.


Some students chose to work alone. Many decided to work with a friend. Before I knew it one of my girls had figured out how to get the lights to “light up” using all of the tools at her disposal. Words cannot describe the look on her face, the success she felt in that moment. She immediately went to a friend to show her what she’d done. From that moment on, it became the collective mission in the room to help each student experience that same success. In order for that to happen, they figured out that they were going to have to work together. The only thing I did was provide more tools when students needed more. I had only allotted 45 minutes for this MAKE. However, the collective momentum and desire for each student to succeed propelled the experience to 90 minutes.


Formal and informal learning can coexist
within varied school worlds.


It is my hope that after reading the experiences here that you reflect on your own classroom practice. I am confident that as you proceed with that reflection you come to realize that what you’ve read here isn’t necessarily too far away from your own practice. The differences, if any, are nuanced; predicated on a belief I have physically placed throughout this piece…


Formal and informal learning can coexist

within varied school worlds.