View From the Edge: January 2015

Friday, January 30, 2015

Austin Kleon: "Steal Like an Artist" @ TEDxKC (2012)

During a windy snow day this past week, the IP faculty asked the iPeople (a term synonymous with "IPians," introduced by Khaled A.) to watch a video on "stealing" and art. We, the IP team, hope that this talk will inspire our learners to not only form collaborative partnerships with one another but also to re-evaluate the notions of influence, plagiarism, and originality as they move forward in life.

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Writer, author, and New York Times bestselling author of Show Your Work! and Newspaper Blackout, Austin Kleon (@austinkleon) has spoken to young artists and at organizations such as Pixar (@DisneyPixar) and Google (@google). In 2012, he delivered a talk at @TEDxKC, "Steal Like An Artist," after releasing a book of the same name earlier that year. During his presentation, Kleon offers a list of ten ideas that all beginning artists should consider. His talk amounts to a radical yet timely reinterpretation of creativity for the 21st century.

So not only was my idea idea completely unoriginal. It turns out there was a 250 year-old history of finding poetry in the newspaper. So what am I supposed to do? Instead of getting discouraged, I kept on. Because I know something that a lot of artists know but few will admit to. And that is: nothing is completely original. All creative work builds on what came before. Every new idea is just a remix, or a mash-up, of one or two previous ideas.
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How does an artist look at the world? Well, first, she asks herself, 'What's worth stealing?' And second, she moves onto the next thing. That's about all there is to it. When you look at the world this way, there is no longer good art and bad art. There's just art worth stealing and art that isn't. And everything in the world is up for grabs. If you don't find something worth stealing today, you might find it worth stealing tomorrow, or the month after that, or years later.

What did you think? Have you "stolen" anything notable lately? Please post in the comments section below.

Description of 1st image: Kleon's visual representation of how artists see the world. Photo located at sharingisliberty.wordpress.com. Kildonan and its IP program claim no ownership over this picture.

Monday, January 26, 2015

"The Radicalism of Conversation," by Jonathan Bisson

Let's begin on Friday, December 5th. Ms. Charlap, myself, and Khaled (affectionately known as K.) had just settled down in the IP office to one of our formal meetings. K. had just told us that he was researching children's literature a la J.R.R. Tolkien. He had explained, like Tolkien, that there was no definable entity known as "children's literature." All literature, he posited, possesses merit (even if certain stories, he went on to say, lack a certain sophistication that might relegate them to a sphere for children). * To learn more about K.'s explorations in this area, please click here. *

All of a sudden, when I asked “why,” something erupted. K. answered. I, feeling dissatisfied, parried his argument. He - looking positively ravenous - pulled up a chair, issuing forth a torrent of qualifications. As we locked horns, I had the distinct impression of something irrevocable and fundamental shifting. Fundamental to my expectations for the meeting, certainly, but to something else too. Fundamental to education. Fundamental to the behavioral expectations set forth in schools for decades.

Something died. And we - student and educator - were to blame. What happened?

On one hand, K. was still being “taught” at this moment. He was gradually narrowing his conception of childishness to produce a specific definition of children’s literature and to explain how it might differ from “adult” literature.

On the other hand, however, he was coming to understand the radical notion that he could challenge conventional forms of authority. And the source in this scenario? His teacher. Me. When he and I began our verbal battle, the traditional educational roles, that hierarchy between teacher and student, those weighted identities for which I had prepared myself at the beginning of the year as an educator new to the field…they proved untenable.

I realized that I simply could not teach him. I began to understand that, at that moment and perhaps at every other moment before, K. and I did not occupy a space in which the roles of teacher and student made any sense.

So...where was the teacher at this moment?

Roundtable Between Teachers and Students

Roundtable Between Teachers and Students

Perhaps the question defies a single response. Realistically, it seems rather silly, too, in its infantile grasping for some authority figure that can contextualize the situation.
So...why not abandon that need altogether? Why not consider that the true authority of this moment rests with the act of #conversation itself?
Sure, it would be rash to say that “talking” is somehow innovative. Having spent the last twenty years in various education systems myself, I remember receiving feedback on countless occasions.

But let me explain.

There is a distinct difference between talking to and talking with someone. Students are often talked to in education; teachers do not advise but tell them, unequivocally, what opinions they should form, what questions they must consider, and what their learning objectives are. Now, only now, are teachers beginning to alter that practice by talking with their pupils. Only now are they beginning to allow their agendas to breathe, to speak not to dominate learners' arguments but out of a genuine interest in the ideas that they are formulating.

It is that domain, among others, that holds particular promise for the future of education. As I walked away from that conversation with K., I felt consumed by the burning desire to know, to create more of those scenarios so that I could begin not only to understand my students on a "whole child" level but also to collaborate with my colleagues more meaningfully. I left, too, with the enduring impression that conversation, real conversation, gloriously begins to separate "learning" from "schooling." It begins to build that supreme level of engagement so sought after in classrooms; it works to instill personal passion.

Conversation, when distilled to its quintessence, builds stronger relationships. To accomplish this, it cannot function divisively; it cannot preserve the traditional roles of "teacher" and "student." Instead, it can only equalize. Rapturously, it must only create "learners."

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For more reading on the power of dialogue in learning, please explore Steve Wheeler (@timbuckteeth) and his two blog posts: "Learning as dialogue" and "Teaching and learning through dialogue."

Description of 1st image: A shot of the conversation between K., at left, and myself. Photo taken by Ms. Charlap.

Description of 2nd image: A roundtable consisting of teachers and students. Photo located at www.vicsrc.org.au. Kildonan and its IP program claim no ownership over this picture.

Shelley Wright: "The power of student-driven learning" @ TEDxWestVancouverED

A teacher/education blogger living in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Shelley Wright (@wrightsroom) enjoyed a career-altering experience when a course on pedagogy opened her eyes to self-directed learning. In a TED Talk delivered at TEDxWestVancouverED (@TEDxWestVanED) Wright relates that, one day, she created the space for her science class to independently launch a project. They decided to raise money for a non-profit organization attempting to build schools for Ugandan refugees. The goal of Wright's students? $20,000 in 45 days.

And so as I stood at the front of my room looking at my students, I said, 'If you could design school to be anything you wanted it to be, what would it look like? What would it sound like? What would I hear? What would I see? What would it feel like? What would you be doing?' And when they realized that I was serious, they began to write.
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That day I learned to believe in my students. To believe in what really, deeply matters to them. And to remove whatever obstacles I can to try to make that happen. More importantly, my students learned to believe in themselves. They learned that they can make a difference. They had a saying the entire forty-five days: 'We are not the future. We are right now.'

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Trey: Sound Design

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Trey @ The NAMM Show 2015

National Associaton of Music Merchants (NAMM)

Building upon last year's experience, Trey is continuing his explorations into sound design off-campus. He left Kildonan early this morning and boarded a flight to Los Angeles, CA. Once he lands, he will travel to Anaheim for the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Show 2015. NAMM.org describes the show as:

...an action-packed global industry event where you can expand your share of the market in the coming year with face-to-face meetings, product demos, idea-filled sessions and networking opportunities. As a trade-only event, The NAMM Show is attended by companies that meet the association's membership criteria (generally those that manufacture, distribute and/or retail musical instruments/products), as well as trade and consumer-focused media outlets.

We encourage you to follow Trey on this adventure by consulting his Twitter handle (@treymansauers), the NAMM Twitter handles (@NAMM, @NAMMShow), or any one of the NAMM hashtags (#NAMM2015, #NAMM, #NAMMShow).

Description of image: The NAMM Show. Picture located at www.roli.com. Kildonan and its IP program claim no ownership over the graphic above.