A Cognitive Autobiography, part 2

 

A study of a shell by an adult participant in one of our training programs.

By Dr. Cynthia Herbert

NOTE from the Authors: Dr. Cynthia Herbert is our Learning About Learning Colleague and partner in New World Kids teacher training programs. She has authored a "cognitive autobiography" that traces a number of the core ideas in New World Kids, The Parents' Guide to Creative Thinking. We will excerpt her essay with a continuing series from her writing. Her essay explains the how and when and where of the origin of many of the ideas that form the foundation of our new book. Susie Monday was also a student at the Baylor Children's Theater, while Susan Marcus was in the "sister" program at the Dallas Children's Theater and both shared many of Dr. Herbert's pedagogical and creative experiences.

Part Two continues from an earlier post about Cindy's childhood experiences:

Another feature of the program at Baylor Children's Theater, are what I would now call a variety of cognitive scripts or process schemas. Some of these included:

Idea hunts.
Sometimes we would literally "hunt" for ideas in the world around us. Before setting out to a locale, preparations would be made. For example, if we were going to the railroad tracks to find "beautiful trash," we needed to decorate "Idea Sacks" in which to store our individual finds. If we were going "People Watching," we would need interview questions and/or a sketchpad and markers. If we were going to search for "lines"—in the trees or in a museum—we would create "lookers" of various kinds (perhaps just a rolled piece of paper) to help us frame the interesting lines we found. Students routinely kept sketchbooks, diaries, and physical collections of objects to inspire their thinking.

Simulations.
Especially when exploring history or other cultures, we would be involved in imaginative re-creations. For example, to understand Greek theater, we traveled to Baylor's football stadium (to mimic ancient amphitheaters). Half of the students went high up in the bleachers while the rest attempted to convey ideas and emotions to them from the playing field without screaming. By contrast, medieval drama was better understood through this exercise: three students were asked to dramatize a scene. One of them would rob a goat from the other and a chase would ensue—however—all the action had to take place within a circle about 4' in diameter. These simulations helped us understand, not just in words, but also in muscles and senses, the "elements of form" most characteristic of each type of historical drama.

The Study.
The elements of form (aka Sensory Alphabet) as well as other viewpoints were used as perspectives from which to explore a given subject in depth. The focus of the study could be the elements of form themselves (such as "light"), a product (such as Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland), a question (such as "What are social codes?"), an abstract idea (such as "Our America") or something as concrete as a rock or a horse. Often the study not only involved observation or research, but "what if..." thinking as well. (What if steel disappeared from the world? How would grass look to us if we were ants? What if chickens laid shapes instead of eggs? What if the characters in Alice in Wonderland were compared to "cliques" and individuals in today's world?) The study ended with each individual defining the focus of the study in their own terms—through words, paint, dance, music, etc. Sometimes the student was asked to assume an intrapersonal viewpoint; e.g., "I am water..." "I am America..." "I am light..."

An example: "The Horse." Students were told to imagine they were cave-dwelling people who had come to a new territory. Into this territory would come a strange new animal they had never seen before. Their task was to explore the sensory qualities of this animal and then create paintings to express what they had learned. Then an animal trainer would bring in a real horse and walk the horse in a slow circle. Small groups at a time were given safety instructions, then invited to touch the velvet nose, muscular flanks, and stiff hair of the strange animal. All students were asked to notice the movement, rhythm, sounds and other elements of form of the animal. After a period of exploration, the horse was led away. Children were then given paintbrushes on poles, sheets hung as canvasses and saturated colors of paint to express "the horse" visually. Students could also use other media, work alone or together, and represent abstractedly or realistically. This particular study served to provide a model for future studies and sometimes led into an investigation of the birth of art, dance, and drama.

On the college level at Baylor University, and later, at Trinity University in San Antonio, the course "Integration of Abilities" was offered to students in any discipline. Part of this course was the "study" of an inanimate object. Each student spent 6-8 weeks exploring one natural object of their own choice: rock, twig, leaf, shell, bone, feather, etc. During this time, they drew and painted hundreds of pictures of its colors, shapes and lines, made collages to reflect its textures, and made lists of words to describe its other elements of form. The words were further transformed into movement, music or sound pieces, and finally into characters to dramatize. At the end of the course, all products were presented and displayed—the visual products simultaneously—as Paul Baker and his staff, including Jearnine Wagner, discussed the unique qualities (Sensory Alphabet) in the creativity of each student. Through intense study of an object, each student ended up studying themselves and understanding more about their personal elements of form. The diversity was often startling—and, afterward, many students actually made major alterations in the direction of their careers.

Teachers used cognitive scripts, too; especially: priming—invention—reflection As one of the teachers, I followed this process of thinking in my lesson planning:

What priming experiences would help diverse students be able to invent successfully?
Given the objectives of a particular lesson, what would a student need to invent in order to demonstrate understanding, application, and/or personal meaning?
What reflection questions can I provide afterward that will help students not only meet the objectives of the lesson, but also understand better the quality of their own thinking?

Comments

[Joette]

For years, I have tried to explain to people my theater experience at Baylor when I was a child. I was a participant from about 1956 through possibly the early 1960s. The experience was unbelievably open ended. We designed our own costumes, created our own sets, wrote our own plays and put on our own make-up. We had the run of the theater--nothing was off-limits.
Fifty years later, I established a children's Shakespeare group to perform the most familiar plays, but I realized I had a really hard time sticking to the script. When the children begin to expand on a scene, I was supportive and encouraging as they made it their own. My own childhood theater experience demanded it.