Messing About
Messing About: the three-phase cycle of exploring a material, idea, or situation in order to bring familiarity, make meaning, and raise further questions:
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Phase O: a time for unstructured, open-ended play while teachers observe the children’s work
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Phase Δ: a time for differentiating work by identifying and pursuing multiple possibilities based on observations
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Phase ▢: a time for unpacking and verbalizing theories that have developed, through discussion among children and teachers
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When we first encounter a new material or idea, we instantly strive to understand it. We can enter this quest through any of the three phases above, but to thoroughly feel comfortable, time must be welcomed for all of them.
The optimum length of time needed for in-depth learning is often greater than we predict. David Hawkins described a classroom experience in which he had proudly scheduled two-hours for unguided exploration – only to realize that the time needed was actually several weeks. David adjusted his plans to suit the requirements of the children.
The optimum length of time needed for in-depth learning is often greater than we predict. David Hawkins described a classroom experience in which he had proudly scheduled two-hours for unguided exploration – only to realize that the time needed was actually several weeks. David adjusted his plans to suit the requirements of the children.
“To program learning often means to hamper it by restricting children to the stereotyped anticipations of the programmer.” Frances Hawkins
During an evening of professional development, members of Hawkins Centers of Learning observed the following micro-scale version of the cycles of Messing About:
A group of 30 teachers were invited into a room filled with recycled materials of all kinds.
On several tables were questions designed to provoke thought and provide loose goals:
- Make up a story and use recycled materials to either illustrate it or act it out. Write your story to share with others.
- Create a 2 or 3 dimensional composition from recycled materials that conveys an emotion.
- Create a plan for a simple machine you would like to build, and construct it out of recycled materials.
Some of the teachers immediately walked to the table of materials and began touching them, investigating them, collecting them (Phase O).
Some of the teachers gathered to talk with one another, forming their own learning groups to plan their strategies (Phase ▢).
Some of the teachers walked right to the questions to get a feel for which one spoke to them (Phase Δ).
As the teachers worked, they were observed visiting all three phases, staying with some for longer periods of time than others – each moving at an individual pace. In this way, they were able to work not only with content that was compelling to them, but also with learning styles that were individually designed. There were very few questions for the facilitators, and engagement was high. Children exhibit similar patterns and levels of engagement when working in such a personal manner.
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“There were many sorts of discoveries made, but we let them slip by without much adult resonance, beyond our spontaneous and manifest enjoyment of the phenomena. So discoveries were made, noted, lost, and made again.” David Hawkins
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Typically, the younger a child, the more likely she is to enter an investigation of the unknown through the O phase. As she works, she dances from one revelation to another without looking back. Often she reencounters earlier ideas. These multiple exposures help form theories more solidly in her mind.
As the child gets older, the other phases come into play in a stronger fashion. Time spent with the O phase produces a sense of confidence and intimacy with the material, which in turn leads to creativity and innovation. |
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“Messing about” effectively with materials and ideas requires a very delicate balance. The presence of the teacher is subtle, space and time for the children’s unrestricted exploration is crucial – but the hand of the teacher is nonetheless very present. She must be there to recognize threads of interest and to ask the questions that will provoke new thoughts for the investigation.
Traditional instruction requires that each minute in the school day be accounted for. The thought of a classroom with no plan or order, one that might be considered laissez-faire, is frightening. A classroom that employs messing about is neither authoritarian, nor permissive. Rather, as Frances Hawkins knew, the teacher is always engaged, whether as observer or participant. |
“It takes time and experience to find a more natural way of stepping in and out.” Frances Hawkins
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Frances and David understood the dance of watching, questioning, talking. They knew that the classroom belonged not only to them, not only to the children, but rather to the collaboration.
To read more about the idea of Messing About, please read the essay, “Messing About in Science” in The Informed Vision.
