RAPPORT
WWW.RECORDINGACHIEVEMENT.AC.UK
Issue 2 (2015)
Setting aside the telling off we received by those in
the know for calling our artwork a quilt when it was
really patchwork, it made quite an impression. It was
fun to make and look at but its true importance lay in
the way it attracted participation throughout the day.
The final piece included 96 squares and had been
made by everyone from the Head of College to the
man on the door. It captured people’s feelings in an
immediate way and also their values and beliefs
about how we motivate learning and teaching. It was
something that many people had invested and
embodied their thoughts in, and had taken pride in
so doing. This sense of pride, along with joy and
pleasure referred to earlier, is another important
aspect of creative engagement, although it is not
confined to it.
As a means of exploring creative approaches to
research David Gauntlett and Amy Twigger-Holroyd
ran two ‘playshops’ (as opposed to workshops)
(Gauntlett 2013). These examined the research
process through creative activities and questioned
how we generate data and what we do with it. One
of these involved a group knitting activity (with roots
in anthropology and participant observation) as a
means of illustrating the importance not just of what
is made but of the conversations which
accompanying its making. This raised issues as to
what is considered acceptable in terms of talking
about research and data. People finally felt able to
say “I have not made sense of this” or “I have got a
range of stuff and can’t quite see the links” which is
sometimes something researchers are afraid of
admitting. This also had parallels with critical selfanalysis: successful reflection is often deemed to be
that which has nicely tidied outcomes and
resolutions. However the really important bit may be
that which is still is a mess inside one’s head. The
act of creating communally was seen to dissolve
boundaries (finding that other people’s research
problems can help with yours) and make
connections between people.
Creative and playful explorations come in
innumerable forms and the ones suggested here do
not even scratch the surface of possibilities.
However inasmuch as they are exploratory and
have no fixed outcome, they can valorize not
knowing, whereas the goal of higher education is
often to make sure by the end of a lesson, unit or
course that you DO know. While it is unlikely that
anyone will ever offer a BA (Hons) in Not Knowing
Very Much (cynics will suggest versions of this exist
already), getting to grips with not knowing and
navigating uncertainty is a skill every university
student (and staff member) needs. Usually by the
end of creative experiences important things do
become known, they just may not be ones that are
stipulated from the outset. While we pay lip service
to the ‘unexpected learning outcome’ in HE, the
increasing dominion of the measurable often means
that we prioritise what we can count or make visible
over that which is important but less tangible.
A creative and reflective approach that can be
applied to complex issues in any context is one I
have explicitly integrated into personal and
professional development sessions at LCF since
2010. This is the use of the LEGO® SERIOUS
PLAY® approach to creating metaphorical models
of learning journeys in LEGO® (see James 2013,
James and Brookfield 2013 and 2014, James
2015a, 2015b, in press). Created approximately 16
years ago as a creative corporate development and
thinking tool, the approach involves stages of posing
a question, building in response to it, sharing
thoughts about the constructions and reflecting on
the insights. Models are built individually first, but
can be collaborative, connected and form part of an
extensive landscape of agents and activities. It is a
highly inclusive method which is democratic and
non-hierarchical and in which the builder owns the
meaning in the model. Therefore, contrary to the
(lone) student who thought I was psychoanalysing
them through their model, what they build and what
they want to say rests entirely within their control.
The models offer a physical and alternative space,
as well as use of space, to think about complex
issues, thorny problems and big topics, and to make
connections, gather perspectives, identify strategy
and action and build relationships.
LEGO®
SERIOUS PLAY® lives out the constructionist ethos
described earlier and by drawing on added
contributions such as colour, shape, texture, size,
scale and distance can offer a highly memorable
means of self-expression, communication and
evaluation. The approach has now been used with
approaching one thousand international students on
a level 4 preparation for fashion course as a means
of evaluating their progress prior to starting their
degree and in many other contexts besides. One
particular example is the work I have done with
Graham Barton on supporting students to grasp
threshold concepts (Barton and James, 2015 in
press) and at all levels of study in overcoming
‘stuckness’ in learning using this approach
(summarized visually in Figure 4). No matter the
context or topic, particular benefits have been cited
by students resulting from their LEGO®
experiences. These have included using metaphor
to help them think more creatively, their ways of
listening and responding, improved attention and
concentration, deeper analysis of experience,
visualising actions and emotions, planning next
steps in 3D, broadening their communicative and
English skills, positive for students with
dyslexia/ADHD and for making everyone feel more
included.
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