I understand how learners grow and develop, bearing in mind that patterns of learning and development vary not only individually but also across cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical areas. I strive to design and implement authoritative learning experiences which are both developmentally appropriate and challenging.
One must consider when contemplating this standard: how can the concepts I am presenting use differing perspectives in order to effectively engage learners in critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative problem solving related to authentic local and global issues?
One way that I engaged this standard began to occur on the very first day, with the integration of the discipline of history in order to make the play we were about to study become more three dimensional. It is my hope that likewise, when these students encounter the subject at some point in a history class, the meaning of this particular period in history will have greater resonance because it is connected to the play.
1. Ancient Greek Theatre masks
I began by providing a foundation of the knowledge of Ancient Greek Theatre, in this lecture. We explored the relevance of tragedies in Ancient Greece and the magnitude they had upon their society. We explored such topics as the amphitheaters where the plays were held and even pondered such questions as, how on earth could the people in the very back rows hear the actors? And we came to understand the meaning of the chorus in Greek plays, what they looked like and what purpose they served. We introduced into our class vocabulary the term “deus ex machina.” And then, perhaps most gloriously of all…we learned about the masks (“personas”) worn by Ancient Greek actors (“hypocrites”).
Each mask had to represent a “persona”…was it a happy persona, a sad persona? We contemplated how “persona” in the present day represents an image of a false self (a very figurative mask!) presented to the world. I queried, is anyone among us perhaps guilty of presenting a persona…perhaps we are one person in front of our friends, and another person in front of our parents? NO! came the resounding, mumbled cry from my hypersensitive, self-conscious adolescents, as they glanced around uncomfortably at their peers to see if anyone had perhaps…seen through them? “Of course you don’t,” I reassured them with a smile, sensing and seeking to soothe all of their nervous energy. “That doesn’t happen until you’re old like me.” At this, they relaxed. And agreed with me whole-heartedly.
Each student created a mask. And to each mask, they assigned a “persona” about which they wrote a paragraph, describing it.
“The persona of my mask is Shrek. Shrek is lonely and longs for companionship but never gets it from anyone because of his scary exterior. It takes the love of a talking donkey and a cursed princess to change that. Shrek has a heart of gold. I personally can relate to Shrek because he feels he doesn’t deserve love just because of the way he has been treated, but learns it’s not what’s on the outside, it’s what’s on the inside. ”
I was curious at first to see this student making a Shrek face for a mask, and nearly redirected her to a more uniform interpretation of the assignment, but I intuited that she was somehow very sincere. Once I read her paragraph, I understood why. She connected her prior knowledge of a cartoon character to the significance of the purpose of Ancient Greek theatre masks and then went even higher by making a personal connection and suddenly it was meaningful to her on a personal level. This, to me, was huge. In a moment, differing perspectives lead to critical thinking and creativity.
2. Antigone Anticipatory Set
In the Antigone Anticipatory Set, students were challenged to consider and think deeply about moral and ethical dilemmas in preparation to consider the moral and ethical choices made by characters in Antigone. Once they had made their choices and reflected upon them in three to four sentences, discussions were had (depending on the composition of the class according to Gardner’s Theory) in small groups or with the class as a whole. This provided the students with the opportunity to collaborate and engage in thoughts of problem solving needed in the world on local and global levels.
3. The Tragic Hero Project, pt. 1
Another opportunity which reflects the manifestation of this standard occurred when, toward the end of the play, I introduced the concept of the Aristotelian tragic hero. Before launching into the concept, I asked them…what did they think it meant for a hero to be tragic? We discussed these ideas. And I asked them, who was the tragic hero in the play? Everyone immediately named Antigone, the protagonist. I agreed, they were right, but yet…could it be possible for the antagonist in this situation to also be a tragic hero, even though he was the “bad guy”? This gave them pause. There was confusion. So I tasked them to take to the internet and research everything they could find on tragic heroes, and to create a presentation to give to the class. They were asked to consider how not only was Antigone a tragic hero, but also, how Creon (the antagonist) was as well. And then, for them to give their own opinion of which one they felt was the most tragic.
One by one, students submitted their findings, and their conclusions on which hero was the most tragic. I was pleasantly surprised at what they produced. They put so much effort and thought into their research, and considered their final opinion so carefully. This student was one among many who didn’t take the most obvious way out by justifying the protagonist as the most tragic. To argue that the antagonist was somehow the most tragic figure was a more difficult route to choose.
I, of course, once all the students had presented, I engaged in some self-indulgent pontificating and weighed in with my opinion.