Learning faster with gestures

If you are a teacher who organizes small group conversations or uses new tools in the classroom it is really important to give clear instructions to orchestrate the group activity.

Fluff your lines and the participants will not be sure what to do. Make a mess of using a tool and you might appear incompetent, and so destroy your carefully cultivated professional image.

But there is a faster and more certain way to remember and fluently give instructions to your students or participants.


It's all connected to how we "program" our brains using language and gesture. It's the way we learned to do new stuff when we were very young.

At a certain stage in their development, children talk silently to themselves to sequence and organize new actions. Older people occasionally do the same. We think aloud when faced with a complex/difficult task, when under pressure or when we feel tired. If we are a teacher or presenter, our external "inner speech" can quickly become a muddle with hard-to-remember precise instructions, old speech routines that belong to another topic and the authority speech we use to keep the group under behavioral control.

But if we associate gestures with the instructions, magically we remember the correct sequence, a kind of spatial or kinesthetic memory. Memories of the words and gestures point to each other in memory and reinforce each other.

Gestures and speech go literally hand-in-hand. They fit like a glove. Sometime gestures complete what we say, or explain with a flourish what we mean, develop a life of their own or even become independent languages. Emblems are gestures with special meanings such as thumbs-up for "Yes!" Signs are a language in their own right, such as pointing to yourself to indicate "me". And pantomimes are complete stories using gestures of various kinds.

The orchestration of speech and gesture occurs in Broca's area, a part of the brain where the sequencing of motor and speech actions are side-by-side. The same mirror neurons fire when we see others performing an action as when we do it ourselves. What begins in young children as pointing and grasping becomes a veritable avalanche of gestures at about age three co-expressed with the sequencing of words.

Here's a workshop to practice gestures, emblems, pantomimes and signs:

1. Brainstorm a list of all the different kinds of GESTURES you have seen people use when they communicate with others e.g. OK sign where the thumb and pointer finger make an “O”.
2. Take turns to explain to your partner, “what Life’s like at my house”. Make notes of the GESTURES that each person uses and what they were saying at the time. Then capture a list of the gestures: what people were saying.
3. As a group, play two rounds of Charades. After each turn, from memory name the mystery activity and describe the GESTURES each person used to offer clues.
4. EMBLEMS are gesticulations which have developed their own special meanings e.g. V for victory. Describe as many emblems as you can.
5. SIGNS are a complete language in themselves. Design a language using a mixture of signs for common concepts as such as me, you, come, go, up, down, into, through, house, car,
6. PANTOMIMES are sequences of gestures that tell a story. Craft a description of some gestures and the story that they tell.. e.g. you and I will drink tea...(points to other person, then points to self, then holds thumb and first finger together and lifts to mouth).
7. Propose a hypothesis for how gestures, emblems, pantomines and signs might develop in childhood. Consider these points in your theory. Brain cells represent cells. Speech and gesture are co-expressive. The orchestration of motor and speech actions are side by side in Broca's area of of frontal lobe. The same mirror neurons in Broca's area fire off when people watch others perform an action and when they perform the action themselves.
8. Design a learning activity which makes use of the features of mirror neurons and the co-expression of gesture and speech.

Out of control

The lecture is a very persistent "meme" that refuses to go away. This curious form of "knowledge telling" is the main way teachers and lecturers communicate with students.

The word "lecture" comes from the Latin lectus, which is the past participle of legere "to read" which is what some people do when they simply read aloud the words crammed onto their Powerpoint slides or the text of their lecture notes.

At first glance, the lecture seems to give a speaker considerable control over the audience. People sit quietly/respectfully in their seats. They listen. Some make notes. Others ask questions at the appointed time. Most remain in their seats until the lecture is over. Then they leave.


But the reality can be quite different. Unless the audience is so entertained by the topic or so enthralled by the speaker their minds may be somewhere else. Thinking about sex, shopping, what to buy for dinner or the hot guy in the first row. Some snooze. One or two snore.

My friend Professor Emeritus Sean O'Connor conducts a workshop to demonstrate the difference between the lecture and the workshop. He shows how workshops allow the facilitator to exert remote control over the learning experience.

He divides the session into two half hour activities. The participants are invited to use a sequence of questions to guide their discussion about a poem, such as Samuel Coleridge Taylor's poem..."In Xanadu did Kubla Khan, a stately pleasure dome decree...." Then he asks the participants to critique their discussion.

Most groups report that the process was very democratic, everyone had a say, they were very creative and it was fun. They also conclude the process gave them control over their own learning.

Sean begs to differ about the issue of "control".

He begins by asking "who gave you the task?

"You did," they tentatively reply

"Who gave you the process to explore the topic?"

"You did." they say.

"Who performed the task as requested?"

"We did." they chorus.

"So who was in control?"

"......You were." they reluctantly acknowledge.

You too can regain control over the learning process by combining the "information" elements of the lecture and the "interactive" elements of the workshop...even if the audience is seated in rows like a lecture hall or classroom.

In doing so you can become a challenging Interactor - an inspirer, provocateur, orchestrator and facilitator of knowledge creation - who asserts power and influence by helping people engage with each other in new and interesting ways. They will never forget you, the experience or what they learned during the process.

Here's a workshop to help you achieve the best of both worlds:

1. Briefly describe a topic and the main points you would like to communicate to an audience about a theory, method, concept, idea or issue.
2. Choose a topic other than your own (from question 1), and brainstorm an open-ended discussible question that you could ask the audience to discuss in pairs for 2-3 minutes.
3. Choose a different topic (from question 1) other than your own, and brainstorm an activity, experiment, exercise, you could ask two people to perform in pairs (and the results shared with another pair in front or behind them). e.g. draw something, act something out, observe a set of actions.
4. Design an interesting way that a large number of ideas could be collected from an audience and recorded and displayed for all to see.
5. Thinking about all the Multiple Intelligences, brainstorm an idea for an audience participation activity that could tap into two or more of the different learning types. Bodily-kinesthetic. Interpersonal. Verbal-linguistic. Logical-mathematical. Naturalistic. Intrapersonal. Visual-spatial. Musical.
6. Describe a method you could use to get an audience to find the patterns in some data collection activity e.g. the colour of people's eyes, favourite pastime, most dangerous experience.
7. Describe an amazing activity you could design which gets the whole of your audience on its' feet at the end of your "interactive lecture" that resonates with your big idea. e.g. a Gregorian chant of slogans for next year.
8. Imagine yourself as an Interactor. Describe how you might deliver a 30-minute "interactive lecture" in which you have three activities interspersed through the process that engage your audience interactively, perhaps with a resounding finale.

Sitting still and being quiet

They were a bunch of kids from a school on the outskirts of London. They were "disruptive", "difficult", "disengaged", "problem" children. Some were on the verge of being expelled.

This was their last chance. And it was my first and last chance too. The big test was to see whether a collaborative, interactive, conversational approach to learning would make any difference.

The electronic meeting room was set-up in a large hall. Down one end. The teachers observed from a respectable distance so the students would not feel intimidated. A dozen keyboards were connected to a laptop. The image was projected on a large screen. The tables and chairs were arranged in clumps, so people could talk/discuss/argue/think together in groups of 5-6. Nothing like the traditional classroom where students sit alone and in rows, facing the front, so they can't talk to each other

I explained what we were about to do and asked for a volunteer facilitator, to take over my role half way through the session. But only if they thought they could do it AND it was worth doing.

The session began with some fun questions to establish the Talk-Type-Read-Review etiquette, which helps quickly orchestrate/organize a group. This was followed by a seven question workshop about personal goals, and a similar length workshop about how to deal with bullying, and finally a feedback session. In just one hour.

Two students volunteered to facilitate. One was chosen and conducted the remainder of the session with minimal assistance.

It soon became clear why this group was in trouble. When asked "what's the nicest thing that's ever happened to you?" it was a chorus of kinesthetic learners whose voices I clearly heard. "When I signed my first contract at [name deleted] athletic", "I scored the winning goal", "won the really good cup for the football team", "scored a hat-trick", "I scored the winning penalty....and broke my shoulder", "when I scored the winning goal in netball" and "riding a scrambler bike".

School for these kids was like a prison sentence. Twelve years of sitting perfectly and silently still in class. Unable to converse with each other or do stuff. This brief experience with an interactive technology was probably their first and last. It was for them, a glimmer of hope that the mind-numbing and body-numbing experience we call school could perhaps one day be different.

At the end of the session this was what the students had to say about our collective performance, warts and all:

Pluses

* I think that positive things have come out of this whole trial. We can see other peoples feelings without maybe embarrassing them if they had to speak their feelings.
* It was all good because it is an interesting way of learning, it was very modern and would help keep interest and also gelp people from getting distracted.
* The + were we got to use great technology this is fantastic all the equiipment we ggot to use. _ were missing English my favourite subject.
* I have learnt about other peoples feelings and emotions
* It is a different way of learning so keeps us more occupied.
* It is good to see everyones point of views.
* People who are quiet could also have a chance to be heard if they didn't have the confidence to speak in front of everyone.
* You don't have to write and you show and say your ideas without having to acually put your hand up and say infront of everybody
* The pluses of this session was we learnt how to use some new technology and we can see what other people feel when they are being bullied or if someone else is being bullied.

Minuses

* None
* Some people didn't take it seriously and think that its funny to display immature messages.
* I think that it was all good.
* It would be very confusing at first but you soon get the hang of it. It takes a long time to do very few questions,
* Some people might of been silly about their answers
* Ermmm...nothin was wrong with this apart from we missed a valuable english lesson
* Its brilliant nothing wrong with this
* It was all fine not to hard or easy just rite a good class

Points of interest

* The whole thing the program was great and I think it is great that the oldest person you have working for you is 21.
* I learnt how to use this package which I thought was very fascinating and glad that I have come here this afternoon, its been great thank you very much.
* I learned that learning could be enjoyable!
* I thought that this was was a really good experience trying something different
* I thought the whole idea was very interesting and a fun way of learning. i learnt other people point of veiws instead of just my own or [another student's name deleted], that was interesting to see what other people think.
* It was really interestin the way you could type somethin from over here and endin up on a screen over there. this use of technology would be brilliant in our school. would be interesting to see if it boosts up teachers and students grades
* Finding out what other people think about points an ideas '
* A new way how to talk without looking or feeing embarassed of your opinion

So what would school be like if we all asked our students what they like or don't like about their lessons? What if we listened to what students have to say and changed some of the ways we teach?

Here's a workshop for students to give us feedback:

1. What do you think hinders your learning?
2. What do you think helps your learning?
3. How do you learn best? What kinds of activities/experiences excite and interest you?
4. What bores you the most?
5. What could teachers do to make learning more interesting for you?
6. If you could learn about anything you wanted to what would that be?
7. If you had more responsibility for your own learning what would you do?

The wise application of knowledge

Futurist John Naisbett famously said in his 1981 book Megatrends, "We are drowning in information but starved of knowledge". But at the start of the 21st century, he might just as well have said, we are drowning in knowledge but unable to apply/use it wisely.

Wisdom workers have been around forever. Tribal elders. Religious leaders. Politicians. Captains of industry. Pillars of the community. Their job is to make the best possible use of our knowledge, to help us survive as a species, to live a better life, to live more lightly on the planet.

The knowledge and wisdom industry combined is huge. Each year about 1.4-1.5 million peer reviewed scholarly articles are published in 24,000 academic journals. Some 2-3 per cent of people have a doctor in front of their names. Two percent of people work as teachers, lecturers or trainers. Wisdom workers in the form of leaders of all kinds comprise another 2-3 percent of all workers.

Yet despite this huge massive effort we still have many unsolved wicked problems that never seem to go away. Poverty. Famine. Disease. Environmental degradation. Crime. Chronic unemployment. Species loss. Just to name a few.

Maybe it's time for all of us to play a role. One possibility is to think about wisdom in the same way that a computer programmer does and become our own determiners of what is wise. Wisdom is at the pinnacle of the data hierarchy. Activity. Data. Information. Knowledge. Wisdom.


At the base of the wisdom-data hierarchy is Activity. Activity is simply events. Physical events such as the earth revolving around the sun, water freezing as ice or an apple falling off a tree and striking the ground. Chemical events such as a fire burning or steel rusting. Geological events such as earthquakes and volcanos. Biological events such as the flowering of plants, sex or consuming other species. Social events such as a conversation, party, meeting or war.

The process of collecting data requires some kind of measuring device. Observation by our senses - sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. Or a ruler. Measuring tape. Microscope, Telescope. Beaker. Balance beam. Spectrometer. Or gamma ray detector.


Here's how it works. Consider this image. Some parts are colored black, some deep blue, other parts are white and some are brown. That's all data is. Pixels, symbols, numbers, letters or words wthout any meaning.

It's only when we analyze what we see, usually through a theoretical lens, that we can decide what the data means. This generates a kind of smarter data we call information....perhaps the white fluffy swirls in the picture are clouds, the red patches are deserts, and the circular rim is the boundary between the earth and the rest of the universe. Or if we suspect it's a picture of a beach ball, the patches of color are just the designer's imagination run wild, and the circular boundary is the limit to the ball.

Next, we use the information we have collected to create knowledge. We make judgments about whether the data represents a picture of a ball, a planet or some other other object. Knowledge is merely our collective best guess. Its' often represented as a diagram, a model, an equation, a graph, a list, a process, or a statement about relationships between the subject of our study and its component parts.

We can process our best guesses even further, and choose how to apply the knowledge with wisdom. For example, we could use the knowledge acquired by analyzing the magnificent image of earth photographed from space, combined with other kinds of knowledge about our planet, to work out how we might more wisely live on space-ship earth or be more compassionate about our fellow travelers.

Here is a workshop so anyone can learn how to convert data into information, information into knowledge and begin to apply it wisely:

1. Activity – What is our field of our study? What kind of events/objects are we observing? What observation method/tool are we using?
2. Data – What can we see/observe or measure? e.g. color, shapes
3. Information – What could be the meaning of what we observe/measure? e.g. brown parts might be earth/deserts
4. Knowledge – What are the patterns, if any, in our interpretation of the information? What is our hypothesis or best guess about what we observe?
5. Wisdom - How could we learn from this? How could we apply our knowledge wisely to benefit not just ourselves but all others?

Learning as a game

Imagine for a moment a computer game based on traditional classroom methods, the lecture, the closed question, worked examples, tests, and learning alone with little or no interaction with your peers. How many kids would play such a game?

Computer gaming has become extremely popular with “children” of all ages. It has proven so engaging that the design principles are now being adapted for learning technologies to attract students who are bored by conventional classes.

So what are the game design principles we can apply to learning?


Malone & Lepper suggest seven intrinsic motivators. Think of them as design rules. The "learning game" should immerse the player in some kind of fantasy world. It should appeal to their curiosity about what comes next. The task should be challenging, but not so hard that the learners switch off. You should feel in control of your destiny. There should be some kind of competition/engagement with another player, but at the same time some kind of co-operation with others, and finally you need to receive rewards or recognition as you progress.

The rules for "learning games" have their origins in Flow theory which shows that enjoyment is the main reason people play games.

Flow theory is the brainchild of psychologist Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi. He found that when people engage in activities they enjoy like chess, rock climbing, rock dancing, skiing, brain surgery, computer games or making love they so lose themselves in the experience that time seems to pass in a moment.

Learning games work best if they quickly attract and keep a player’s attention for hours, and then progressively increase the player’s perceptual, cognitive and memory workload.

They become enjoyable when they are challenging so players want to keep playing and achieving. However, the tasks should not be so challenging the game far exceeds a player’s ability that they become anxious or be too easy so the game is boring and not worth doing. Because Flow is a moment-to-moment experience, an overly difficult or irrelevant task can change the mood and level of engagement.

The learning game should progress. As a player masters one level, more complex and difficult tasks remain. Players should learn as they play, receive rewards for making progress and, if they get into serious difficulties, receive hints or be able to read a simple on-line manual. Ideally, the cues should be present in the game.

Our research shows that sequences of open-ended discussible rich questions, with self-contained prompts and check lists, perform much the same function as a game.

The questions help the learner recall what they already know or could know in an interesting way, then build progressively on this foundation. The prompts/check lists remind the brain where to look for associated concepts. Along the way, there should be interesting/surprising twists. Some questions should include/anticipate the responses from earlier questions, to give small intrinsic rewards.

Here's an example from Knowing Knowledge, a workshop-based Theory of Knowledge course for the International Baccalaureate:

1. Brainstorm a list of all the different kinds of arts. e.g., theatre, novels....
2. Choose two of these art forms with which you are familiar, and describe what you like about each one. Ballet, rock music, jazz, opera, poem, movie, paintings, novels, sculpture, photographs, comics, cartoons.
3. Explain what might be artistic about Cage’s musical composition 4’33”, which is four and a half minutes of silence.
4. Explain what might be artistic about Andy Warhol’s painting of a can of Campbell’s tomato soup.
5. How might science fiction contribute value to people’s lives?
6. How might public buildings, architecture, parks and gardens e.g. monuments, obelisks etc. be considered artistic and contribute to our lives?
7. Explain how the photograph of a shantytown, ballroom dancing, a bird song, a newspaper advertisement, the design of a chair, a watch or a household appliance might be artistic,
8. Can anything be artistic? Where does artistic begin and end? Explain.
9. Do all artistic things have to have meaning? Give your reasons.
10. When people say, "art is in the eye of the beholder” what do they mean?
11. Oscar Wilde once said, “All art is useless.” What could he have meant?
12. If something is meaningless, can it be art/artistic? For example, are paintings by monkeys and elephants artistic? Give your reasons.
13. When people explain/interpret a work of art, what happens to the work of art if people say good things or bad things about it?
14. Who decides whether a work (music, theatre, film, novel, website) has value/meaning and what kind of process do they go through to make these decisions?
15. In what ways might different cultures decide whether a work of art is valuable? Explain Umberto Eco’s idea that advertising a Mercedes Benz in New York might lead a handful of people to buy one, and more people to go out and trash one.
16. Can crafts be considered artistic, or is there a dividing line between the arts and applied arts?
17. How do the arts play a role in people’s lives? In what ways might the arts be a form of knowledge?
18. Give an example, (name of the work if possible), of each of the following art forms that you have seen/experienced and how each made you feel. Ballet, rock music, jazz, opera, poem, movie, paintings, novels, sculpture, photographs, comics, cartoons. Respond like this: Father of the Bride, amused; ........
19. Give examples of how experiencing artistic works expands the way we think.
20. What are the characteristics/features that different kinds of arts have in common?
21. Brainstorm a list of things that your consider to be beautiful?
22. What do beautiful things have in common? e.g. colours that...
23. Here is a list of different aspects of beautiful things. Choose one or two and explain why they are beautiful? Repeating patterns. Harmonies in music. Rhythm in dance. The intensity of jungle drums. The symmetry of a circle or square. Curves that have an interesting shape. Shapes or colours that mimic nature. Art that exaggerates or makes more real.
24. Explain the difference between the ordinaryness of everyday life and the form (shapes, patterns, colours, sounds etc.) found in artistic works?

Malone, T.W., & Lepper, M.R. (1987). Making learning fun: A taxonomy of intrinsic motivations for learning. In R. Snow & M. Farr (Eds.), Aptitude, Learning, and Instruction: Cognitive and Affective Process Analyses. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Thesis, Antithesis and Synthesis

Students who undertake the Theory of Knowledge Course for the International Baccalaureate, the ultimate in secondary education, are required to prepare and submit an essay that argues the pros and cons of a contemporary issue such as climate change, intelligent design or whether "all art is useless".

The students explore how "we know what we know" through the lens of the natural and human sciences, arts and languages. They examine the role that reason, perception, emotion and ethics play in the creation and application of knowledge.

The course acknowledges that knowledge creation is a collective process. The students are encouraged to discuss and debate the topic from a myriad of perspectives. But not so the essay. It's an individual work judged on a personal performance.

But what if the essay writing component could have a collaborative element that "walks the talk"? Each student would choose a topic. Then they would work as a team to help scope out each other's essays, in much the same way a teacher might provide assistance. They would collectively explore the possibilities. Develop a framework. Construct an argument. Reach a tentative conclusion. And get a head start. Not only for their essay, but for life in the real world, where leaders in business and government need to be able to create new knowledge together.

Each student would then fly solo. They would do the hard part themselves; the literature review, write up the arguments, reach their own conclusions, and dot the "i"s and cross the "t"s. It would be all their own work.

This is an approach I like to adopt in my own research but prefer to go even further. I choose to write papers for conferences and academic journals with colleagues because when we do, like Vygotsky's children in collective play, we "perform as if we were a head taller."

So here is a workshop method to implement this idea. It is as old as Socrates. You begin with the thesis (one side of the argument), develop an antithesis (the other sides of the argument) and resolve them into a synthesis (an overarching new and better solution) which hopefully resolves the conflict.


You can also use the method to analyze any issue in the broader world of business, politics, religion and community.

1. Who are the main protagonists in this argument? Names, titles, organisations.....
2. What are the main arguments put forward by the protagonists?
3. What interests do each of the protagononists represent, what biases may they bring to the discussion, and what are they trying to achieve by participating in the debate/discussion?
4. For each of the arguments that each of the protagonists, put forward what kinds of knowledge (reason, intuition, gossip, deductive reasoning, abductive reasoning) and what support is there for that knowledge (documents, independent research, paid research, hearsay).
5. On what issues do the protagonists agree, and for which there is no dispute?
6. On what issues to the protagonists disagree, and why is there a dispute?
7. Considering all of the sources, their reliability, and the biases/interests of the protagonists, what would you conclude (and why), if your were a disinterested observer?
8. How can we be sure this is a real problem? Is it merely an isolated localisated disagreement or an issue with much broader consequences? Give your reasons.
9. What biases do you bring to the issue that you need to make public and discount?
10. What possibilities are there for the two different positions to be reconciled by abductive reasoning (using a new metaphor) that allows you to create an overarching solution which is consistent with all of the information/data/knowledge upon which the protagonists rely?
11. Why might the protagonists reject the “third way” that you have developed?
12. How can you improve/enhance the proposed solution so that it better meets the needs and interests of all the parties?
13. What might be the benefits/advantages of the protagonists embracing the “third way” that you have develeped which is more consistent with the sources.
14. What are the consequences of the status quo/doing nothing.