CREATIVE INTERDISCIPLINARY FUSION: THE ESSENCE OF HIGH ORDER TEACHING & LEARNING

By Samuel J. Bolduc, Ed.M.? July 24, 2018 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Context, Creativity, Empathy & Authenticity: Four educational enablers, that guided my career success in our honorable profession that spans over twenty years. Being an Educator, entails a daily immersion in one’s values, which involves renewing commitments to oneself, re-energized to serve and empower our future leaders, providing them with the tools they need to create their solutions and adapt to life’s challenges with optimism and perseverance. We Educators, must be role-models for our learners that reflect passion for teaching & learning and guidance from the heart, attuned to the contexts of our learners, designing custom strategies to meet their exceptionalities. Educators must always strive to perfect their craft with creative interventions and interdisciplinary curriculum development, infused with innovation. 

We need to take the elitist idealistic vocabulary that we read in our teacher education programs and share some of these concepts in our respective classrooms with our students. I say this because I remember when I was first introduced to words like Constructivism, Meta-Cognition, Multiple Intelligences, as well as student directed “flow moments” which was the object of extensive research that was developed by my Friend & Mentor Dr. Lori Custodero, Associate Professor, Teachers College/Columbia University. Her groundbreaking research along with the other standard teacher education literature, these words and ideas need to be brought into our schools, as part of a vocabulary that stimulates diverse thinking strategies. I have heard teachers say, “that’s too complicated that’s college level material.” This was the reaction of a teacher who was clearly expressing that these types of reflections are not suitable for “these types of kids”, he was not in agreement with my High Expectations and engaging but rigorous instructional strategies, nor did he understand my unshakable faith in my students, at that point, I did not respond to the comment. It was his opinion, although it resonated as a culturally and academically demeaning comment regardging our student population. 

This type of behavior necesitates proactive attention that addresses the educational imperatives detailed herein. I would even go a step further & advise DISTRICT WIDE initiatives that could have profound positive impact in our schools Nation-wide...such an intervention has great potential to even the "educational playing field."

However, throughout my career, I have too often heard, Administrators quote dryly district "catch phrases" that mandate the following expectations without modeling the methodology...as they often proclaim: “We are preparing our students to be college & career ready!" ... In the opinion of this Author, the college needs to come to them!…& in my classroom and professional development sessions it does. That simple objective is one of the many strategies that I promote for implementation in the classroom…and yes, my students do grasp reflective concepts like thinking about thought (meta-cognition), as one student explained, “this is a way that can help us learn and better manage our behaviors” she said. 

Words & rhetoric taught as the art of persuasion resonates with middle school students, many of which struggle with self-expression because they haven’t been presented the tools & the “wait time” to apply it to their classwork, and an infinitesimal quantity of students are even remotely being encouraged to use rigorous words, strategies, and reflective philosophies memorialized in their daily life. But I can personally vouch for the strategy utilized in my focus groups that reflects the methodologies expressed within this article were transformed by opening the door to creativity which caused a notable change in the conversations that I sustained with parents who I empowered as partners in the best interests of the student, they felt like part of our academic team, a school that listens to their feedback. 

Of course, the activities and deliveries of the vocabulary mentioned above as well as many other rigorous words that are nourishing food for thought, the content is incrementally explained in tangible attainable steps aligned with Arts Standards & anchor Standards across core subject. So that the learner can begin building their persuasive tool kit and explain its meaning in ways that our young learners will understand and provide positive reinforcement for students that engage in the initiatives. These initiatives should be the object of celebration and reward-- words that I can only imagine that most of you were stricken with in awe, when considering their intrinsic and ongoing value & meaning for us and the communities we are entrusted to guide. We must convey our crafts with open minds, with passion & authenticity. The predominantly successful anticipatory set is one that is by nature a creative prompt, those that frequent said realm, often can attest to the unequivocal truth that any prompt or problem can be delivered inverted, cross referenced and ultimately explained many ways, over the course of infinity. Recogning this existence of multiple ways of thinking and processing information, allows your own authenticity to act as a beacon that leads your learners toward success, their own self-reflection and pursuit of higher goals. This can only be achieved through a mutual sharing of contexts and an environment of mutual respect and trust. 

The learner can then be given the quintessential challenge that could prepare them to thrive on cognition, with reflection time to develop fluid integrated cognitive function...the fruit of a challenging seed that must be watered with guidance. However, the students must do the planting. Because creativity is the blossoming virtue of honor & authenticity, and that is a gift that humankind must give themselves. This process is made easier when the teacher has challenged themselves, and is attuned to the needs of the learner, because empathy is a vital ingredient from which one derives meaning that can help them become builders of synthesis, regularly immersed in tangible narrative that promote proactive conduct, which is a choice to become our better selves through a creative classroom environment, that inspires the learner to seek out the nexus between creativity, authenticity, and enlightened critical thinking. 

The context of this article involves a particular class that I was guiding, which was business as usual--a class fully engaged! The events that transpired were shared via social media by the Regional District Leadership... a "learning walk group" had entered my classroom and saw me engaging in my true nature, one that was embarking on a path of observation and my own process of daily learning. I pointed out strategies that can help one use the "Audiation" skills & Active listening among other fundamental components within music, sharing my secrets, and the power of emotional investment, that is willing to reflect on literature through a creative lens. This manner of self-expression enables the learner to engage a plethora of creative modalities for problem solving in every subject. A classroom that consistently promotes problem solving through comparative and interdisciplinary interventions is powerfully enabling the learner to express through ART what cannot be expressed with words, and through that process gaining a profound understanding of the content & themselves. 

In effect this connection between musical form and expression was built upon the fundamentals of Music & RELA Vocabulary that challenges and introduces the student to the empowerment of Rhetoric--the ART of Persuasion, wherein its mastery holds a treasure trove of opportunities. But there is no rush! Because the process of problem solving is the self-rewarding act of creation, reformulation, truly infinite diversity within infinite combinations. They are now transfixed with attentive eyes that endeavor to make connections with etymology, history, and the society in which they will strive, thrive and break the "fictitious ceiling of learning"—through self-direction they will exceed their goals... All of this can happen every day through the integrated mind with which creativity has helped imbue. It's not long before we begin to realize that teaching is less about sharing a fact, and more about helping the learner become aware of what they already know. Because humanity is innately inclined toward knowledge and curious imaginations are what fortifies our leaders of tomorrow.... But fear not, my dear colleagues, all this learning & exploration is executed with incremental small steps such as the Music Vocabulary that we were committing to their long term memory through active and productive use of all the tools for which we all yearn....we fused Music, Visual art, Reading; Active listening that produced informed self-expression and student led discussion about the Social Sciences, the philosophical nature of numbers, History & their connection to the task at hand for completion of a Reading English & Language Arts "Creative Intervention". Essay formats & structure were meaningfully entwined with musical form through the sturdy bridge of interdisciplinary connections that provide thoughtful experiences that resonate with the context of the learner. This is "arts integration", reduced to it lowest common denominator...Creativity! A fundamental component of academic perseverance & the impetus to create your dreams & transcend your goals which will set your learners on a path for college & career readiness....and BEYOND! 

By Samuel J. Bolduc ? 2018 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED