Unit Planning as Emergence

8/2/2019 Unit Planning as Emergence

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I am never at ease with myself before I start a new unit. I worry

about how much I am projecting my view of a topic onto my students. I

worry about how their interpretations will be linked to my

interpretations. I want them to create their own meaning, but at the

same time, I want to tell them a story. Human beings have been

creating narratives to learn and teach for tens of thousands of year. The

oral storytelling tradition was in essence a device for teaching future

generations. The caves painting at Lascaux were stories and lessons from

voices in the past. Greek mythology taught the Greeks about morals

and wisdom. Now, we have oral and written story-tellers in our pockets.

I was reading Daniel Pinks A Whole New Mind, and loved the chapter

on stories and narratives used in companies and education institutes. It

is a refreshing thing to read that doctors are being trained to think of

their patients in terms of the stories of their lives rather than as non-

living entities that can be broken down to their parts and re-assembled.

Being able to see and craft stories and to explain your world is an

increasingly important skill in the 21st century, one which requires

creative thinking and big picture synthesis.

A Meta-view (Fractals and Emergence)

Kath Murdoch said to us at a training conference in Tokyo, try to

feel comfortable with fogginess. As my interest and educational

metaphors are taken from Complexity Science and Ecology, I tend to

gravitate to the natural organic shapes of the physical world. Among

that incredibly large and diverse group, is Fractals.

Fractals

Fractals are a geometric term that were discovered byBenoit

Mandelbrot in the 1960s. He refers to them as the Geometry of Nature.

The nature of fractals is simple and as Mandelbrot explains contains only

a few key elements which have direct implications for education,

teaching and classroom planning. They are an extremely powerful

metaphor for inquiry and learning.

A Unit Planner as an Emergent Phenomenon; C Dwyer
http://www.ted.com/talks/benoit_mandelbrot_fractals_the_art_of_roughness.htmlhttp://divergentmba.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/a-whole-new-mind.jpghttp://www.ted.com/talks/benoit_mandelbrot_fractals_the_art_of_roughness.htmlhttp://www.ted.com/talks/benoit_mandelbrot_fractals_the_art_of_roughness.htmlhttp://divergentmba.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/a-whole-new-mind.jpghttp://divergentmba.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/a-whole-new-mind.jpghttp://www.caveofforgottendreams.co.uk/http://www.caveofforgottendreams.co.uk/


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A Fractal starts with a seed (a rule) and

then is iterated into itself, where the output

of one step becomes the input for the new

step. In a learning environment, this seed

would be the embodied history of all the

members of the collective. Each child brings

different ways of seeing and knowing, and

those agents interact to make up new

possibilities to know and see.

Fractals are essentially patterns;

complex and detailed. Making and seeing patterns are an essential skill

for the world we live in today, and patterns are an essential componentof inquiry learning. Within a given discipline (subject) there are a

multitude of patterns at play that shape and give meaning to the

discipline. There are also trans-disciplinary patterns that education is

becoming more explicit at

noticing and teaching in its

curriculum and learning

engagements.

Fractals are also self-similar,

which means depending on the

level, or scale, you are looking

at, they are the same.

Fractals start with incredibly

simple rules and grow into

infinitely complex forms. The

implications for education are many. Knowing and learning are evolvingprocesses where one continues to explore and integrate new images,

metaphors, and applications to what we previously understood. When

we learn that the sum of two integers may not be a larger whole, we do

not throw away our previous knowledge of addition as a larger sum of

two numbers. Rather, we add this new form to the grander whole and

allow the meta understanding to be more complex and detailed.

Learning is Fractal, not linear.



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Emergence

An important aspect of Fractals and inquiry learning is the concept

of Emergence. In the case of Fractals, Emergence happens when the

simple seeds (initial rule) are allowed to iterate, creating complex and

beautiful wholes that could not be predicted from the original rule. This

would be an example of Emergence. Differing agents (geometric seeds,

children, ideas) operate together in an environment (a classroom)

forming complex patterns and possibilities that could not have emerged

on their own. The key here is that the agents in the system are driving

the emergence forward. If the system is centralized, then emergence

and new possibilities will be stifled; but, if it is decentralized then the

conditions for Emergent behavior and understanding will bestrengthened. Similar to our seed in Fractal geometry, if the original rule

is too centralized, the emergence form will be controlled by that rule.

On the other hand, if the rule is simple and open, a new form may

emerge. There is a rule. There is a shape. It is not chaotic and

random, but it is not structured and top-down either.

This is how I see the classroom. If learning and knowing are

Fractal and Emergent, then shouldnt a classroom also be so? Shouldnt

the learning be centered on, and driven by, the students? Child centered

learning is a great thing, but far too often that buzzword is used without

a mindful understanding of why. Child centered learning is Emergent, it

sets an environment where the possibilities are open and diverse, and

the learning and knowing that evolve are, like our simple Fractal seed,

unpredictable. A classroom is Fractal.

Mindful Unit PlayingI dont like the word planning. It implies something that is

determined in the end as given, and suggests that there are steps to

follow to get their. True, we can be flexible with our plans, andplans can

change, and any other host of metaphors. Still, I prefer to use the term

playing, as it suggests more of a creative and Emergent flow; it implies

that change will occur, and new ideas will arise. Play is imaginative, and

their is no end or goal to to play. Playing is the goal of play, just as

learning is goal of school. Creativity and imagination are build into play,

and cannot exist without them.



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How does a teacher play a unit (or a lesson) that is Emergent and

Fractal? Before I explain how I do it, it is important to know that by the

very nature of Emergence and Fractals, it cannot be a prescriptive

activity. As soon you prescribe the end, the learning will follow that path

and new Emergent understanding cannot possibility come into being.

The following steps are ones that I follow to allow me to set the

possibility for Emergence. This way works for me, and allows me a

sense of freedom and autonomy in the classroom. It does not box the

learning into a prescribed space, yet at the same time it is focused and

directed. Like our Fractal seed, it is simple enough to allow for

complexity to emerge. It also allows for multiple ways of knowing and

the end direction in unclear, yet rich with possibilities.

Choosing the shape of the Story

Before I begin any unit, I need a seed. Since I am obsessed with

shapes, that seed is usually a metaphor related to shapes. More than

that, it relates to a story. What is the overall feel and shape of the unit?

What is grander narrative I am attempting to tell? It may go into

unknown territory through student inquiry, but the shape of the narrative

keeps us within the confines of our system. As with all Emergent



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phenomenon, the rules shape the eventual direction it takes. It sets it

free, all keeps it constrained. A few examples:

Culture

During a unit on culture I

choose the shape of nested circles,

and how each layer is embodied

within another, and how each layer

makes a grander whole that is a

product of the sum of its parts. The

individual pieces cannot be

understood without looking at thewhole.

Ancient Civilizations

While studying ancient civilizations, I choose the image of a

meandering river. This was meant to serve as a guide and reminder for

finding our way. Often, the journey is more

important than the destination, and like ancient

peoples, we do not know what lies around the

next curve, yet we continue to follow the curves

and let our understanding grow and flourish as

we find it. The end of a river is the sea, yet a

river never stops moving and is never the

same. As Heraclitus said, You cannot step twice into the same river.

Forces and MotionsFor this I used the Kath Murdoch Inquiry Model. This is more of an

educational resource than the

other stories, but nonetheless has

powerful narrative capacities. As

little scientists studying the world

of physics for the first time, we

needed to be aware of what we

knew, how we knew it, and how

we applied it to the real world.



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There are many aspects of science, and scientists have many different

roles to play. They do not just do experiments; but they come up with

ideas, they research, they reflect and synthesize what they know in

order to communicate to others, and then then do something with this

new knowledge. It is a complex process that we must be mindful of as

we move from tentacle to tentacle.

Learning Objectives and Skills

Once the seed has been planted, I can turn my attention to the

parts of the unit that I must include; be it skill based learning, curricular

commitments, or moral education. Each teacher is beholden to a

different set of standards and benchmarks, different implicit and explicitaims and goals, and varying commitments to a wide range of skill sets

and methodologies. Leaving aside the question of whether these are

useful for education, lets instead focus on the how we can use them to

create an Emergent environment. The learning objectives should be

broad and open to many possible interpretation. If there are multiple

levels of expectations (standards, skills, and morals) then these should

be chosen with care to compliment each other, either through an

amplifying feedback loop, or a dampening feedback loop.

For example, if the unit is focused on the standard of understands

the physical and human characteristics of place then by choosing a

specific skill or attitude to focus us, we can change the lens through

which we view that standard. If looking at through a Knowledgable lens,

it would seem to be more about remembering the places and making

lists of the characteristics. But, if we look at that standard from an

Empathetic lens, we are now dealing with issues of social justice andinequality.

It is hard to give advice about how to do this section. It is not

prescriptive, and each teacher is dealing with a different curriculum and

expectations. What is useful though, is looking at these concepts and

benchmarks not as items to cross off a list, but rather as characters in

the grander narrative of the unit. The central idea or question, the

investigation points, the standards and benchmarks, the skills and

attitudes, the moral education, the essential questions, the key

vocabulary; all of these are agents that are going to come into contact



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with the class collective, and through their interactions, Emergence may

occur.

Idea Brainstorming

At this point in my planning, I sit down with my standards,

benchmarks, central ideas, guiding questions (etc.), and start to come

up with possible activities that we could engage with. I make a very

long list of ideas and place them all in the planner. At this point,

quantity is more important than quality. The list usually takes into

account various learning styles, differentiation needs and so forth.

Another method that works for this step is group idea collaboration.

Sitting down with a team of colleagues and coming up with a large list ofideas and engagements is a powerful tool in collective knowledge

building. For a further layer of complexity (if you are interested in

hearing ideas that you never imagined) try it with your students! Have

them develop the list of learning engagements, and then leave it up to

the you, the teacher, to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

It is important to note something at this point; this list of ideas is

nothing more than that, ideas. They are possibilities, but nothing is yet

determined. You may gravitate to certain ideas from the onset of a unit,

but by the time you get to the point where that idea would be enacted,

the kids have taken the learning in a different direction, and that original

great idea suddenly seems mundane or inappropriate. Having a long list

of potential possibilities acts as a resource of thought, constantly on

hand in case the inquiry goes in a certain direction. I would say on

average (I am generalizing here) that about 10% of the original ideas

make it to the final narrative.

Teaching as Orienting Occasions for Emergence

With all of this in place, we are ready to hand control over to the

students and let them guide the inquiry. The teacher will obviouslyplan

the first lesson as an introduction to the narrative (shape) of the unit,

but from there out, it becomes less about theplan, and more about the

play. As far as the day-to-day work goes, teaching becomes less about

planning, delivering and explaining; rather is becomes about adapting,



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evolving and changing with the ebbs and flows of the groups

understandings and interpretations.

The role of the teacher, in this system, is essentially to orient

attention and create occasions where Emergence might occur. Instead

of walking into a classroom with an idea, walk into a classroom with five

ideas and choose one based on the general mood, history, background,

and current level of engagement and understanding that the group in

front of you has. Or choose two, have some students working over here

on this and others working over there on that. Or three. Or, do

something completely different that you had never thought of before.

Let the students feed the ideas and you adapt it to your overall narrative

and its learning outcomes. There are many ways to inquire, and no oneway is correct.

As a general rule for myself, I never plan anything more than one

day in advance. The story and the learning objectives are working in

tandem with the students curiosity, questions and understandings; and

together they are forming the shape of the unit. While being mindfully

aware of how the collective is operating and understanding the content

(as well as interpreting the content), some great ideas can arise that

were not possible before, and many of the ideas on the initial list are

usually replaced with ones that emerged out of student led learning.

With the physical document of the planner, it is a powerful tool of

self-reflection and gauging the narrative of the story that has passed so

far. If it truly is to be a living document, it needs to be updated and

interacted with daily. From the list of possibilities, I start to pull out the

activities that I have actually completed and insert them into the

planner. As the unit unfolds, so does the planner. They co-evolvetogether and they both help shape and focus of the unit. In essence, the

planner itself is an Emergent phenomenon. The style of writing varies

from teacher to teacher, some preferring short list-type instructions,

while others are more of a past-tense narrative of what has transpired.

Both should be celebrated. As the story unfolds, I write the planner in a

past tense narrative, journal style. I erase original ideas if they pass by,

or I insert them into the story if they were appropriate. The end result is

a story of what we did, not what we had to do.



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An Example of Emergence and some final thoughts

During a unit on natural disasters, our class conversation drifted to

how people react to natural disasters in movies and television shows,

and how that is very different from people who live in areas of, say, high

seismic activity. One student made the comment that it was like a

movie poster showing an Earthquake as splitting the ground open. I

had planned to take the lesson in a different direction, but this was too

good an opportunity to pass up. With the internet at my finger tips, I

was able to quickly show them a variety of movie posters from the 50s

and 60s for pulp disaster and alien films. We made a list of the

characteristics of the posters, talked about the type of language and

images the posters used, and even investigated how different fonts leadto different feelings. Then, we made a disaster movie poster, which

required them to understand how the disaster inflicted people, and how

the people were in turn psychologically affected by disasters. There is

no way I could have ever planned something like that.

By being mindfully aware of the complexities of the collective, great

opportunities are possible. Free of structure, imagination is able to

flourish, and creativity is able to thrive. The knowing, learning, and

playing in the classroom are evolving forms as the collective grows in

knowledge and interpretations of a given discipline/topic. In tandem,

the central planning tool (the planner) is also emerging and helping to

grow the learning to new and previously unimagined places. All of this

calls for the teacher to be aware, not of the pedagogy of why an idea

was planned, but of the pedagogy of the moment.

As Einstein once said, I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to

provide the conditions in which they can learn.


Unit Planning as Emergence

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