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VI 3 (3) pp. 391–404 Intellect Limited 2014

Visual Inquiry: Learning & Teaching Art Volume 3 Number 3

© 2014 Intellect Ltd Article. English language. doi: 10.1386/vi.3.3.391_1

DaviD RufoSyracuse University

Breaking internalized teacher

scripts: from traditional

habits of mind to a creative

mindset

aBstRact

This article tells the story of an elementary school math teacher faced with the chal-lenge of preserving a classroom devoted to innovative and creative learning, as his independent day school moved towards standardization and traditional educational approaches. After being informed that his instruction needed to come into closer align-ment with the rest of the school he invited his students to brainstorm ways in which they could inconspicuously remain empowered agents of their own learning. The class decided to set aside one hour each week as a time for self-directed learning. During this time they produced math-based carnival games culminating in an event they called ‘Math Palooza’. Reflecting on this experience, the author realized the importance of using critical self-reflection to interrogate the status quo and as a safeguard from fall-ing into habitualized methods of instruction and obsolete forms of curricular design.

a solo pRactitioneR

On the first day of the 2013–2014 school year I promised my fourth- and fifth-grade students to make math fun by incorporating hands-on, kinaesthetic and arts-based explorations. I was interested in constructivist approaches to

KeywoRDs

critical pedagogystudent agencycreativityelementary educationaction researcharts educationelementary

mathematics education

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education where students become motivated learners rather than passive recipients (Malik et al. 2013). My classroom was a place where the arts, student agency and collaboration were integral to the learning process (Rufo 2011, 2012, 2013). This learning process was built off the belief that a synergistic relationship exists between constructivist teaching methodologies, arts prac-tices and collaborative learning (Hendrix et al. 2012). In my classroom envi-ronment, collaborative arts-based modes of learning combined with student agency lead to creative leadership opportunities (Mitra and Serriere 2012). When students felt empowered within democratic spaces, they were situated to become self-motivated learners willing to take on leadership roles within classrooms (Basu and Barton 2010). During the autumn semester my fourth- and fifth-grade math students engaged in a model of learning that became a staging area for collaboration and creative leadership.

Arts integration came naturally when working alongside Greg Sommer, my teaching partner for the past four years. Greg’s background as a musician and my experience with fine arts precipitated a wealth of ideas, making crea-tive approaches to curricular design a crucial aspect of our pedagogy. After Greg decided to take a hiatus this autumn, I became a solo practitioner for the first time during my eighteen years as an elementary classroom teacher. Alone, I had to continue our democratically based classroom environment dedicated to creative modes of teaching and learning that valued student agency and self-governance.

Creativity is a popular buzzword in twenty-first-century education (Craft 2000; Giridharadas 2013) and student agency remains an essential element in fostering creativity in the classroom (Craft et al. 2012; Douglas and Jaquith 2009; Lin 2011; Rufo 2013). Yet both student agency and creativity necessi-tate a departure from the status quo (Amabile 1998) and are antithetical to the standards-driven world of public education (Rolling 2013). As Stringer points out ‘The culture of an educational institution is not, therefore, condu-cive to social and educational activities that are essentially democratic, partici-patory and emergent’ (Stringer 1999, as cited in Wamba 2011: 165). Whether consciously or not, schooling institutions and systems work to preserve the existing state of affairs (Noffke 2009). In fact, Donald Schon describes a force embedded within social institutions he refers to as dynamic conservatism ‘that constantly pulls practitioners back to a status quo that consists of norms, rules, skills, and values, which become so omnipresent as to be taken for granted and go unchallenged’ (Anderson and Herr 1999: 17). As a progressive educator, I have been exposed to ‘institutional barriers’ (Anderson and Herr 1999: 17) and the defensive posture (Boler 1999) taken by ‘those with a stake in maintaining the status quo’ (Anderson et al. 2007: 5).

The school where I worked advanced the notion of creativity in testimoni-als, promotional materials and within its core values, but did not stipulate how creativity could be implemented in specific classroom situations. Descriptors like creativity, passion and innovation sound good on the page, but the push for increasing standardization combined with the highly ritualized environ-ments of schooling institutions (Csikszentmihalyi 1990) made creative teach-ing practices based on student choice a daunting and risky endeavour for teachers in the field, prompting many to ‘join the status quo or leave teaching altogether’ (Long 2004: 142). Teachers who stay develop classroom protocols and methods of teaching that mirror the customs and habits of their larger institutions. Eventually, these customs and habits become metanarratives that exist as ‘general and encompassing accounts of truth, value, and reality’

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(Burbules 1995: n.p.). These habitual practices and beliefs lead to what educa-tor Elizabeth Delacruz referred to as ‘internalized teacher scripts’. Delacruz affirmed that to engender a creative mindset we have to circumvent ‘rigid k-12 school culture’ and relinquish ‘our own internalized teacher scripts’ (Personal communication, 21 February 2013).

As a teacher in an independent school it is easy for me to critique public school practices as inflexible and teacher-centred (de Souza Fleith 2000). Unlike public school educators, teachers in independent schools are not required to deliver curricula that are ‘increasingly subject to monitoring and surveillance’ (Barrett 2009). But even independent schools that eschew public school practices such as standardized testing often succumb to traditional schooling customs and conventions like adopting prepackaged curriculum programmes and class-room management techniques. It is essential for independent-minded school educators to be vigilant in their attempts to reflect on and discern their own teaching practices that impede creative growth and innovation. Complacency sets in when educators do not challenge existing practices (Hargreaves 1994) but settle into predictable, routine and automated pedagogies (Russell and Grootenboer 2008). All educators need to look inward and self-reflect to seek out and critically analyse these teacher scripts as a safeguard against falling prey to habitualized methods of instruction and obsolete forms of curricular design.

The status quo, ritualized practices and teacher scripts were made manifest at my school as traditional schooling protocols and procedures that included:

employing a hierarchical model positioning the administration near the •top, followed by the faculty, with the students at the bottomprofessional development events for faculty determined by administrators•commercially produced curricular programmes adopted by administrators, •implemented by teachers and practiced by the studentsclassrooms designed to ensure compliance with direct instruction meth-•odologies having students seated at desks or tables set in rows facing the teacher who was located at the front of the classroomstudents seldom given opportunities for autonomous actions during the •school daydetailed schedules delineating student learning partitioned into discrete •blocks of timestudent movement within classrooms and around campus highly regulated•teachers addressing students in an authoritative manner•behaviour protocols and expectations dictated to students.•

Keeping the status quo at Bay

Since I could not work alongside a collaborator who shared my educational philosophy and provided informed feedback on daily basis, I had to make an extra effort to examine my own teacher scripts within and interrogate the status quo without (Long 2004). The teacher scripts I needed to resist were related to my inclination to obsessively plan lessons and activities. My excessive plan-ning unintentionally and inadvertently privileged teacher-directed rather than student-initiated pedagogies. Without a teaching partner to provide another lens through which to critique my classroom practices I was in danger of fall-ing prey to pedagogical myopia. As the sole adult in the classroom, it is easy for a teacher to deliver lessons that do not take into account student interests or give them ownership of their learning.

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To counteract this tendency, I became a reflective practitioner (Schon 1983). Reflective practitioners engage in continuous critical reflection (Tsafos 2009; Winograd 2002) becoming active agents in their own teaching prac-tices (Hinchey 2008; Tofteng and Husted 2011). Reflective methods may include journal entries (Daniels 2002), video documentation, peer observa-tions (Munson 1998), conversations with colleagues, developing professional networks (Hillocks 1999) and participatory action research (Smith et al. 2010). Whatever the methodology, it is crucial that the reflections inform scholarship and transform teaching practice. Teachers must question existing assumptions and view them through new lenses and various perspectives. Reflection does not lead to change until past methods are interrogated and new ideas exam-ined (Daniels 2002). Over time, conventional teaching methods often become embedded within classroom practices and therefore must be continually monitored and closely analysed from a critical standpoint (Rufo 2013).

A creative mindset is a by-product of critical reflection. The current twenty-first-century ‘creative economy’ (Delacruz 2011: 1) values ‘reflective engage-ment’ (Delacruz 2011: 3), and therefore the future of education depends upon creative and nuanced forms of knowledge production (Kincheloe 2008). John Dewey recognized the value of creativity in education (Hansen 2006). Today educators such as Katherine Douglas and Diane Jaquith who started the Teaching For Artistic Behavior (TAB) movement understand how student choice and agency drive creative and innovative thinking in the classroom (2009). A creative mindset requires innovative teaching strategies that place greater value on student perspectives (de Souza Fleith 2000) than on tradi-tions, customs, habits and routines.

My challenge was encouraging and supporting creative learning in my fourth- and fifth-grade math classes without submitting to a status quo buttressed by metanarratives entrenched within the school’s institution. I espe-cially needed to be mindful of the internalized teacher scripts that threaten to ossify every teacher’s career path.

At the close of the previous school year Greg and I were told that our organic classroom structure did not coincide with the school’s new direction and vision. In the past few years the administration was led by a headmaster who encouraged diverse teaching styles and philosophies among his faculty members. Although Greg and I met with a variety of conflicts from tradition-ally situated faculty, we were allowed a degree of latitude and autonomy in our classroom practices. Conversely, the new administration required conformity among the faculty and throughout the grade levels by establishing uniform classroom structures and teaching methods. At the beginning of the follow-ing autumn semester I was instructed to make my teaching practices more consistent with the Middle School classrooms. I was informed that Middle School students were not given a wide latitude of choices in their learning and they found the lack of agency in sixth grade unfair after experiencing my class-room. In previous years I argued that the Middle School instructors should help create a smoother transition for rising sixth graders by reassessing their teaching and classroom practices instead of the burden of altered preparation and accommodation falling only on the Lower School faculty. Our proposal was briefly considered but never put into practice.

I found myself faced with the challenge of bridging two disparate educa-tional experiences: one in which students were co-creators of the curriculum and involved in discovery-based learning, and the other wherein students were required to attend to predetermined modes of learning. Within this bifurcated

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environment, I had to find a way to keep the status quo outside of my class-room from disrupting the efficacy of my own classroom practices. I wanted my classroom to continue as a place where kids were empowered and could partake in joyful learning experiences. An answer to this dilemma presented itself in the form of a day, once a week, when my students were allowed to think and learn outside traditional educational frameworks.

Math palooza

I taught math to two groups of fourth graders in the morning and two groups of fifth graders in the afternoon. I met with each group for an hour block, while the other group had science class in the room next door. In the past few years Greg and I had the same group of kids throughout the day making it easy to set aside an hour or two each week for a time we called Open Studio. Open Studio was designed as an opportunity for students to engage in self-initiated creative endeavours. Open Studio was loud and active, taking ‘the form of a festival with an assortment of sounds, activities and demonstrations’ (Rufo 2013: 153). The fourth-grade students were new to my classroom and not familiar with the concept of Open Studio. The fifth graders, on the other hand, pleaded with me to include Open Studio as part of this year’s schedule. I knew the value of allowing creative agency in the elementary classroom (Rufo 2011), but in light of the recent critique of my teaching practices I wanted to be careful regarding any activities that might bring attention to my classroom or make it appear out of alignment with other Lower School classrooms. If I wanted my kids to have creative agency, I had to allow my students to integrate their creative endeavours within a mathematical theme.

In early September I held brainstorming sessions with my students to determine how creativity could become part of our math lessons and activi-ties. We discussed a wide variety of possibilities including math-themed art shows, puppet shows, theatrical productions, comic books and movies. The kids settled on creating arcade-type games such as those found at carnivals and fairs. Each student was allowed to submit a name for the event. After generating a list of 26 possible names, the students voted for Math Palooza. Next we had to determine logistics and devise a production plan. Through a series of conversations, debates and votes it was decided that each Thursday would be set aside as a Math Palooza preparation day. On Thursdays we put our regular lessons and activities on hold and the time was spent in student-directed learning. The kids looked forward to Thursdays. They managed their own time and were allowed to ‘roam and explore their divergent interests, discovering their own paths of learning’ (Rolling 2013: 168). During this time the students produced imaginative and enterprising projects that could never have been possible in a teacher-directed learning environment.

active, louD anD eneRgizeD

Math Palooza preparation days were active and energized affairs that had more in common with busy production studios than elementary classrooms. Students enthusiastically communicated their ideas conversing in pairs, chatting in small groups or shouting across the room. Some children unable to contain their excitement moved about the room by skipping and jumping. The energy ebbed and flowed as the students wound about the space in swarms displaying ‘collec-tive, self-organizing and adaptive’ (Rolling 2013: 186) behaviours. The students

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busily glued, taped, hammered, sawed, painted, cut, coloured, drilled and drew using traditional materials such as paper, markers and cardboard boxes, as well as non-traditional materials such as sleds, house paint and metre sticks. Stools, benches and tables were also appropriated in unconventional ways as they were stacked, tilted or turned upside down. Within a few weeks the classroom became a repository for all manner of work – some finished, some abandoned and some works-in-progress. Soon a teetering tower of boxes, containers, cups, tubes, wooden planks, rolls of paper and other assorted supplies appeared on tabletops that lined one side of the room.

The students took on a variety of roles depending on their self-selected missions. For those who were not interested in creating math-based games they chose to become performers, assistants, documentarians or conces-sion, and ticket stand operators. No one was bored in this venue. All of the students were engaged, not as compliant subjects attending to prescribed protocols and procedures, but as empowered agents in their own creative learning. The students supervised a variety of stations such as ticket and prize booths, snack pavilions, concession stands and gaming areas. The game titles included Bacon Ball, Bouncy Math, Koala Roll, Knocking, Basketball Math, Sliding Math, Balloon Pop, Shoot ‘n Answer, The Math Wall, Master Panda, Solved, Math Attack, Climbing Wall Countdown, Ball Roll, Super Realm and Castle Math. There was a musical act who called themselves The Mathematics. One girl chose to make a photo-documentary of the events, another adver-tised the celebration by creating a Math Palooza Billboard and a third set up ‘The Happy Table’, where she handed out compliments to visitors.

For their Ball Roll activity, a group of students used wood scraps to create a ramp set up. To do this they needed to learn how to use power drills, hand-saws, clamps, screwdrivers, hammers and tape measures. The learning not only included abstract mathematical reasoning but real-life mathematical applica-tions such as measuring and estimation. Other students explored how to mix colours, apply paint and fashion items out of found materials. Throughout this process the students quickly realized the importance of trial and error and the need to embrace a methodology of experimentation and discovery.

suBveRting Ritualistic peRfoRMances

After eight weeks each of the four groups decided they were ready to host a Math Palooza. However, school events are highly ritualistic performances. School-sanctioned choral, string or band performances, Halloween parades, holiday programmes, science fairs, assemblies and theatrical productions are all embedded with established customs and conventions. During choral, string and band performances students are instructed to wear white shirts and black pants. Science fairs require lines of students to stand vigil next to homogene-ous trifold boards and repeat scripted information to passersby for hours on end. Whenever outside visitors are in attendance, students are told to be on their ‘best behaviour’ and are expected to act like miniature adults rather than children. They are compelled to ‘dress up’ and come to school wearing suit jackets with ties or flouncy dresses with patent leather shoes. At the onset of their schooling experience children are inculcated with codified modes of behaviour and decorum. Consequently, these events function more as adult amusements rather than learning opportunities for children.

I thought it would be prudent to keep the Math Palooza a private affair. Instead of inviting parents or other grade levels, we planned to have one

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fourth-grade group host a Math Palooza for the other group fourth-grade group, and vice versa, and then do the same with the fifth-grade groups. This allowed us to pilot a new type of event without being concerned that it might be misunderstood or misinterpreted by parents, faculty or the administration.

Math Palooza surreptitiously disrupted and subverted the re-enactment of ritualized schooling performances for adult audiences. The students were given control of every aspect of the planning and production. Every Thursday I relinquished my traditional teacher role to become an advisor, assistant, attendant and gofer. With the students in charge they learnt how to make decisions, broker disagreements, solve logistical and creative dilemmas, and take on leadership roles based on their abilities, interests and personal skill sets. The children gravitated to the task for which they were best suited. In this student-led democracy there were children who were good at managing, negotiating, visualizing, promoting, communicating, constructing, painting, drawing, lettering, editing and mathematics. Those who excelled in one area readily helped others who were less proficient.

the Big Day

On the day of Math Palooza the first group of fourth graders took a few minutes to set up their game areas, asked that I queue up Elvis Presley’s Greatest Hits, and then invited the other fourth-grade group to attend their first ever Math Palooza. As the students filed in, one of the hosts was putting last minute touches on her ticket booth, others were waiting by their game tables, while another strolled about the room holding a vender tray fashioned out of a cardboard box attached to a duct tape neck strap shouting, ‘Popcorn, get your popcorn!’ It looked and sounded like the mid-way at a county fair. Music played, tickets were procured, masking tape balls thrown, ping pong balls bounced, balloons popped, paper airplanes tossed, plastic discs slid, dice rolled, prizes won and popcorn consumed. The students began to play and shout. As one group orchestrated the festivities the participants in the other group were allowed to freely navigate the space.

stRess fRee Math leaRning

What I found especially interesting was how smoothly the event proceeded. As an adult observer it was difficult for me to make sense of how the booths were arranged and the games displayed. Things looked unclear. I found it difficult to discern between the game arrangements and the residual supplies such as paper cups, scraps of paper, snacks, water bottles and plastic bags left about the room. I assumed that the participants were going to be confused by hastily written instructions posted at the game sites with signs hung askew, torn at the edges and fraught with misspellings. However, children devise and interact with organizational structures differently than adults. For exam-ple, I saw what appeared to be a piece of duct tape randomly stuck to the floor and was about to remove it when a student informed me that it was part of her game. Throughout the day I misread the students’ objectives and mistook their intentions. Unlike typical school performances where the chil-dren are required to adhere to prescriptive plans and narrowly defined roles, Math Palooza was created and administered by the children. They were willing to improvise, adjust and adapt according to their needs. This extemporane-ous approach removed any traditional organizational barriers that might have otherwise hindered the experience.

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The students were able to organize and interact without teacher-directed instructions. If a player did not understand how to play a game, the host student patiently restated the rules and was also willing to adjust how the game was played depending on the skill level of the player. It was evident that the hosts wanted the players to feel successful. One student, who did not have her math facts committed to memory, was playing a Skee-Ball-type game when her ball landed in spot that required her to answer a higher-level multi-plication problem. The game operator, aware of this difficulty, simply invited her to try again. When students first proposed the idea of requiring tickets to enter the room and play the games, I worried it would add a pecuniary aspect to the event causing arguments and tears. But the children successfully managed the tickets without issue.

The other three Math Palooza groups had a similar feel. The second fourth-grade group chose to play Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony as a small group of students managed a combination prize booth and ticket counter. Every few minutes one of the students shouted, ‘Get your prizes! Get your prizes!’ After playing a round of games students would trade in their game winning coupons for prizes such as paper bracelets and animal figurines fashioned from wire, tape, construction paper and paperclips. The games ranged from kids having to navigate the classroom-climbing wall while solving math problems to using a ruler to flick a masking tape ball into the mouth of a painted cardboard box resembling a panda.

The first fifth-grade group opened their Math Palooza with a musical act called The Mathematics. After being introduced, The Mathematics ran between rows of spectators onto our classroom stage and cut a ribbon to open the festivities. After singing a few original songs about multiplication they ended the show by tossing confetti into the crowd. In the front row one seat was reserved for a student who won a raffle and another for a student who was in charge of photographing the event. During the second fifth-grade group’s Math Palooza, students incorporated a wide range of materials for their games and activities including an old set of math textbooks, commercial carpet tubes, base-ten blocks and stacks of stools precariously perched on table tops.

To ascertain the learning that took place one must view education from a holistic perspective rather than discrete units of study to be mastered in a linear progression. Math Palooza was my students’ first foray into a fully self-directed educational environment. The math they chose to integrate into their games and activities consisted mostly of math facts and simple algorithms rather than a sampling of all the topics they had learnt up to that point during the school year. I believed there were two main reasons for this. First, I have found in my teaching experience that the requirement for automaticity and rapid recall of math facts produces a high level of anxiety among most fourth- and fifth-grade students. Math Palooza provided a safe and entertaining way for students to explore, interact with and deconstruct the computational aspects of mathematics. Second, math facts and simple computations were easy to adapt and integrate into the configuration and format of the games. However, the learning that took place included experiences that went beyond mathematics. The students developed confidence as they took charge and learnt how to advocate for themselves. Each student had a sense of belonging and individual agency as they chose to work in groups, pairs or independently. They effortlessly segued from student to teacher and instructor to learner. This type of self-governance provided aspects of learning that were relevant, meaningful and lasting.

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iMplications anD challenges

The Math Palooza productions deviated from typical school events in a number of ways. Instead of handing out professional-looking fliers, the students posted hastily scrawled signs on our classroom door. Within the event space, children were allowed to roam, wander and explore. It was an unrestricted learning environment. There were no adult judges with clipboards or teachers with grading rubrics. Students were not required to adhere to evaluation instru-ments of any kind. There were no directives in place or protocols necessitat-ing specific modes of deportment. The children did not have to feign affected behaviours commonly associated with school gatherings, performances and events. It was a democratic venture and a time to celebrate learning. The activities were set up on tables, benches or stools, while others were arranged on the floor. From an adult perspective it appeared chaotic and haphazardly constructed. Yet none of this seemed to matter to the children who remained engaged and excited throughout the festivities.

After our school’s winter break I set aside time for each group to reflect on and critique the Math Palooza events. Our discussions were framed around three questions: what went well, what could have been done better and what to do next time. The students agreed that a positive attitude permeated the Math Palooza experience. Each group felt supported and in turn promoted each other’s games and activities. They liked that it reflected a carnival atmos-phere and ‘had the feel of a real arcade with tickets and popcorn’ (Personal communication, 4 January 2014). Everyone said they enjoyed the activities because the booths were cleverly constructed and the games were fun to play. The most criticized aspect was the limited amount of time allotted for each group’s Math Palooza event. The students wished they had more time as hosts and as participants. As hosts they would have liked to have had more time to prepare the games, set up their booths and develop serendipitous happen-ings. One such happening was holding a raffle that started with the first group and became a widely popular activity with each subsequent group. However, since it was an unplanned event, the students needed more time than their schedule would allow to figure out the best way to integrate their raffles into the preplanned festivities. The students voted to have another Math Palooza during the spring semester but decided that more time should be set aside for planning, production and execution.

In Swarm Intelligence, James Rolling proposes ‘ten principles of creative learning and practice’ (Rolling 2013: 224). The ten principles encourage the reader to seek out creative habits that generate novelty, develop capacity, produce enquiry, initiate pathways, reinterpret conventions, forecast possibil-ity, increase complexity, invite inclusivity, inform divergently and come simply. The student-led Math Palooza event incorporated each of these principles.

During the preparation days novelty was generated and capacity was developed among the students as they shared ideas, observed how their peers solved problems and used that information to expand their own designs. The agency embedded in this process allowed the students time to ask ques-tions and follow alternate modes of enquiry leading to the exploration of new pathways. The freedom to observe, share and question generated a crucible of ‘collective, collaborative, swarming creativity’ (Rolling 2013: 16), spawn-ing new possibilities. I have found in my teaching practice that students will explore ideas more thoroughly if they are allowed to deviate from the origi-nal design or intent. This had happened a number of times during the Math

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Palooza preparation days. Although the initial concept was for the students to design math-based carnival games, some chose to design alternate activities leading to more complex, diverse and ultimately inclusive avenues of engage-ment. The simple act of empowering students by giving them one hour, one day per week resulted in an experience that not only led to a reinterpretation of conventions, but a way to break free from constrictive learning paradigms for both the students and their teachers.

Through this process the students applied their learning in innovative and creative ways. The students showed evidence of their learning by incorporat-ing mathematical concepts and skills into their games and activities. Being in control of the process required the students to engage in additional competen-cies beyond mathematical thinking and reasoning. The students had to decide whether they wanted to work alone, in pairs or in a group. They had to develop ideas, devise plans, construct models and test prototypes. In this democratic space it was necessary for each child to critique and analyse every decision along the way. At the Math Palooza event the children became directors, supervisors, artists, designers, entrepreneurs, inventors, engineers, promot-ers, entertainers and emcees. During the Math Palooza preparation days, the learning incorporated hands-on as well as conceptual learning applications. Everyone engaged in some type of cooperative or collaborative group work as they decided what to create, which materials to use, how their game or activity should work, how to share the workspace and how to construct their design so that it conveyed their aesthetic vision.

The Math Palooza experience was a success because it met the learn-ing as well as the collective needs of each individual student. One student in particular enjoyed assisting others but had difficulty settling on her own idea. To complicate matters even more, she felt unsuccessful in general as a student and her lack of confidence interfered with her ability to make deci-sions. Realizing that she needed time to figure things out, I allowed her to roam about the room instead of demanding that she come up with a game or activity like the rest of the class. At first she helped the Mathematics sing-ing group design and paint a stage extension that went out into the centre of the audience. She then decided she wanted to advertise our upcoming Math Palooza event by creating graffiti around the school campus. After informing her that I would not be able to obtain permission for her to graffiti the school she settled on painting mathematical symbols on an old fifteen-foot plank, we were able to obtain that had once been part of an old set of bleachers. She eventually lost interest and the plank remained outside our backdoor covered in a blanket of snow. On the day of the Math Palooza celebration she decided to set up a table where she offered original artwork, inspirational quotes and personalized compliments. Although her final product had nothing to do with math, it had everything to do with her social and emotional learning needs at that time. For whatever reason, she was not yet ready to integrate math into her Math Palooza contribution. Instead, she needed to express herself in paint and words, which I allowed her to do.

what if

If my students were able to generate something as dynamic as Math Palooza when allowed agency during a small fraction of their time in school, imagine what they could do if they were permitted more opportunities for self-directed learning throughout their schooling experiences. What might happen if

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children were allowed to direct all of their learning and produce projects that were relevant and meaningful to them? What would this type of classroom look like and how would it operate? The Math Palooza event demonstrated that a classroom devoted to student-directed learning would necessitate a rethinking and reconceptualization of schooling practices.

First, classrooms would have to move from fixed scheduling systems to flexible agendas. To expand this type of learning beyond the one hour per week that I was able to offer my students, there would also need to be a shift from teacher-directed learning to student-led, discovery-based explorations. Additionally, the practice of student assessments demands re-examination. Obviously, there is no place for quantitative testing in this type of environ-ment. Lessons, assignments and activities would have to take into consider-ation the developmental appropriateness of children rather than traditional schooling expectations based on the factory model of education (Callahan 1964). Children could no longer be required to produce polished, ‘professional’ looking projects according to adult perspectives. Instead, teachers would need to act as guides and mentors engaging with students individually while at the same time being sensitive to the various group dynamics as they unfold. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, teachers would have to set aside their hierarchal practices and take advantage of the learning opportunities that emerge from student self-governance and choice-based pedagogies.

what one teacheR can Do

This is obviously a radical departure from the public school system as well as most independent schools in the United States. One teacher is not able to change the course of educational institutions. However, one teacher can and should attempt to make a difference by being cognizant of opportunities in the class-room that value creative agency. One way to do this is to become mindful of the ‘creative micromoments’ (Beghetto 2013: 6) that arise during the day. According to Ronald Beghetto ‘Creative micromoments are brief, surprising moments of creative potential that emerge in everyday routines’ (2013: 5). Teachers need to find moments and spaces where they can make learning meaningful, fun and engaging for their students. Even teachers who find themselves in institutions that repress progressive methodologies can find ways to include ‘self-initiated, interdisciplinary and creative approaches to learning’ (Rufo 2014: 18).

In the current educational climate of standardization, testing and quantita-tive assessments children need learning experiences that encompass collabo-ration and afford opportunities for creative leadership.

RefeRences

Amabile, T. M. (1998), ‘How to kill creativity’, Harvard Business Review, 76: 5, pp. 76–87.

Anderson, G. L. and Herr, K. (1999), ‘The new paradigm wars: Is there room for rigorous practitioner knowledge in schools and universities?’, Educational Researcher, 28: 5, pp. 12–21.

Anderson, G. L., Herr, K. and Nihlen, A. S. (2007), Studying your own School: An Educator’s Guide to Qualitative Practitioner Research, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Barrett, B. D. (2009), ‘No Child Left Behind and the assault on teachers’ profes-sional practices and identities’, Teaching and Teacher Education, 25: 8, pp. 1018–25.

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suggesteD citation

Rufo, D. (2014), ‘Breaking internalized teacher scripts: From traditional habits of mind to a creative mindset’, Visual Inquiry: Learning & Teaching Art 3: 3, pp. 391–404, doi: 10.1386/vi.3.3.391_1

contRiButoR Details

David Rufo is a doctoral candidate in Teaching and Curriculum with a speciali-zation in Art Education at Syracuse University. With eighteen years’ experience as a general elementary classroom teacher, David’s current research interest

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is the self-initiated creativity of children in a democratic learning environ-ment. In addition to being a full-time teacher, David is also a visual artist and an instructor at Syracuse University where he has taught courses titled Art Educators as Contemporary Artists and Art in the Classroom. David has published articles in peer-reviewed journals such as Art Education, Teaching Artist Journal, the STEAM Journal and Power and Education.

Contact: Department of Art, Art Education, 054 Comstock Art Facility, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244, USA.E-mail: davidjohnrufo@gmail.com

David Rufo has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work in the format that was submitted to Intellect Ltd.

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