Sept 20 | Week 2:
There is something about fashion that captures the attention of individuals of all ages and all cultures. Educators all over are starting to get envious. In Wong and Hendrickson's article 'If Fashion Were Ideas' (2008), an exploration is made by the authors to critically analyze the deep psychological connections that humans have with the world of fashion. The idea is to capture this essence and apply it to our teachings. The authors however, warn us that it is simply not good enough to select the 'cool' topics that our students like and apply it in our everyday lessons, but rather we need to use it as a framework for creating our own powerful educational experiences . The authors suggest that we as educators need to strive to recreate the 'experience of fashion', to do that, we must create lessons that will evoke anticipation, hope, desire and dreams in our stduents' minds. The article cites Dewey by explaining that we must explore the "imaginative bridge between the actual and the possible (2008)". This article allowed my mind to wonder to many interesting places. I imagined a different kind of learning, one that does not constrain myself and my students to the classroom walls. I imagined a space that would inspire my students to move beyond the curriculum and have lessons that provide powerful meanings to them. This article also led me to reflect on my experiences as both a student and an educator in our current system and wonder about the powerful systematic barriers (i.e grades, report cards, scheduled classroom times, mandatory courses etc) that prevent us from creating this feeling of excitement for the stduents. On the positive note, I have seen this article's philosophy applied by my business department head, who is in fact an expert in business marketing. The department head takes trendy business shows like "Dragon's Den" and creates an environment for the students which allows them to get into character and imagine themselves as entrepreneurs. He tries to make the experience as realistic as possible, he even invites guest Dragons to rate their inventions and allows them to fully take ownership of their work, as well as encouraging them to pursue their ideas past his classes. His courses are the most popular in the school and he is well known by the community for creating an atmosphere where learning comes to life. However, the amount of commitment, passion and dedication he has towards his courses is something that I have not seen anywhere else before. David Wong and Danah Hendricksen, “If Ideas WERE Fashion.” Mirror Images.Diana Silberman-Keller et al, Eds. Pp. 179-198. |
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