I will try not to make this blog too long (for a change...)
I visited the class twice this week. The
first time was on Monday, when I went in to deliver the “key
tension”… This is often the most
interesting part of a Mantle of the Expert experience – a moment
when something arises to test the whole ethos and identity of the company. If
the key tension is right, it makes the children dig back into ALL the work that
has gone before and think very hard. We must have achieved something like that
because by the end of the session children were saying “this is hard”, “my head
hurts”, “This is an important decision” and “We need to sleep on it.”
So what happened…?
I arrived in the class during lunch break
to find several of the children in the classroom using the class ipads. I’d
love to tell you they were carrying out independent work on the mantle project,
but in fact they were all playing on Garageband, making music for their own
entertainment. And fair enough too. When the bell went, children arrived and
everyone went to get their badges without prompting. They are now accustomed to
this shift into their ‘ARS’ identity.
Only 18 children in the class today. A
lovely number. If only all class sizes were this small!
The company ‘meeting’ began, chaired by one
of the children (T). First thing was an email from Mr Somers (ARS boss)
confirming what should be in the final presentation to the client.
Andy
was making use here of the fictional “other” to help guide and narrow the
project – he wants to ensure the children can achieve the task in the available
time.
Mr Somer’s email also mentioned a rival
firm ‘Global Simulations’ who are interested in the job and might be tendering
for it too….
During
the week, Andy had shown the class some designs from this other group – as
exemplars for what their own outcomes might look like.
Next on the agenda was ‘visit from Wiremu’
and there was some discussion about whether this should happen straight away,
or whether we should wait a bit – the children were anxious to get on with
their designs – only 9 days to go until the deadline – AND there was now
competition…. They decided they would do the visit first.
So I transitioned into role. One boy, (J)
had a bit of ‘fun’ with this, pointing out that he didn’t know Wiremu wore
glasses, earrings or lipstick. I responded as I always do if a child
‘challenges’ the role – popped back out of role and complimented him on his
understanding: “Yes you are quite right, Wiremu doesn’t wear these things, VivA
does…. You are reminding us what happens
when a teacher goes into role – thanks. Now shall we get on with it…”
Back in role – with no further challenges -
Wiremu answered some questions from the team about the tank and the shark, and
whether he know about this other bid (he didn’t). What he DID reveal was that
he was considering quitting his job at the aquarium…
… because he had found some papers on his
boss’ desk that showed where the money for the project was coming from and he
didn’t like it. Here’s a video clip of me in role as Wiremu, revealing this
information.
The rest of the session was spent exploring
the implications of this information. Children were asked to stand on a
continuum to show where they stood on this issue. The opinions were widely
divided. Some were completely horrified and felt this undermined their ability
to work on the project “It says in our mission statement that we support the
environment – how can we do this if it is about killing sharks?” Others thought
it didn’t make any difference, “If Wiremu hadn’t found this out, we would never
have even known… and anyway, humans use fish for farming and food all the
time.” And some thought of completely different aspects – “It might be illegal,
if they try harvesting the sharks while they are still endangered” and “If it’s
been sponsored by this company and they are making so much money out of it –
they could have offered more to US”
After exploring their personal responses at
some depth, I told the children I was now going to challenge them to explore an
opinion that they might disagree with. Numbering them off into two groups, I
asked them to become Wiremu’s conscience – group 1 would take the position that
Wiremu should definitely quit his job – group 2 would take the position that he
should definitely stay. Each group huddled up and thought of their best
arguments. Then, they formed a “conscience alley” and spoke these arguments as
I walked through. I didn’t fully go into role as Wiremu this time but rather
carried the hat, as a symbol of Wiremu.
I
find the more ‘abstract’ conventions can generate a sense of ritual and
seriousness that draw the children in…
Here’s a short clip of part of the
conscience alley:
Monday’s session concluded with Andy, the
classroom teacher gathering the colleagues together for a discussion on what to
do next. In many ways, this was the richest part of the whole Mantle so far. Children
were highly reflective, engaged and spoke as serious-minded, responsible human
beings with a real problem on their hands. It was great to see them referring
back to the mission statement and mulling over issues of personal and
collective responsibility – ethics and values in a really genuine way.
This
is ‘front end of the curriculum’ stuff – and I don’t know a better way to teach
it!
The session concluded with children
deciding they would think about the issue and how to respond. The general consensus
seemed to be that it was important to get the work done (for our professional
reputation) but that it would also be important to let our bosses and the
clients know about our mixed feelings on the sponsorship issue.
Both Andy and I felt quite moved and
emotional after the session. One of those moments when you are very gladdened
to be a teacher because you sense something important just happened….
I’ll stop now and report on the Tuesday
session in a separate post.
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