Bridges

Dom Luis Bridge at Sunrise, Santarém, Portugal
Originally uploaded by bridgepix

I love the imagery here of the sun rising mid-bridge. It reminds me that while the destination is the ultimate goal, crossing the bridge - the journey - is what makes it meaningful.

It is very much in keeping with the design principles I am using for this program as well as my image of education. Marg O’Connell of ed(ge)ucation design asked me for my thoughts on emergent design process. Here are some.

Like with the bridge, the starting points and objectives are crucial. I need to know where my students are now and where they need to go, but what we do with what they already know and can already do and how we do it is where the beauty of education lies for me.

It’s learning how to negotiate in ambiguity that is the secret for success in teaching in a way that harbours true success for all participants.

When I say negotiate in ambiguity, I don’t mean to clamber around in the dark! I mean to have a good sense, a very good sense, of the competencies I want my students to acquire and how I will assess that they have acquired them. And to have the same good sense of my students’ abilities, interests, and learning styles. The ambiguity lies in allowing those two sets - essentially curriculum and students - to interact and create learning situations that are meaningful, purposeful, and fun for both student and teacher.

It is emergent because the design emerges dependent on the variables in the two sets - the specific curriculum and the specific group of students, the latter of which changes throughout the year as interests, abilities, and styles grow and change with the students.

That is the beginning of my take on emergent design, Marg. I will be returning to this idea many times this year, I am sure