As we are winding down another year (good grief!) I am in my usual state of review, reflect and project for the coming year. What worked, what didn't? What did the kids surprise us with? How should we move forward? It's the big-picture version of the constant reflection and review that the teachers do with the kids and one another all year.
One
of the things that has me transfixed is the explosion of "loose parts"
project work happening at both schools. It is so exciting to witness the
kids approach to materials with no preconceived purpose or designated
use. There are collaborative relationships that spring from the work,
incredible problem solving taking place and connections being made as
the kids experiment with different purposes and representations.
The
theory of loose parts was originally suggested in the 70s by a British
architect named Simon Nicholson. He was interested in the ideas that
kids had when involved in the design and planning of play spaces and
quickly realized that "in any environment, both the degree of
inventiveness and creativity, and the possibility of discovery, are
directly proportional to the number and kind of variables in it."
(Nicholson,S.1971)
Offering
more undefined variables is an infinitely enticing and exciting concept
for me. It operates on the assumption that everyone is creatively
gifted and the only way to realize one's unique potential is to be able
to take those creative risks. I have been watching a few projects using
found objects, loose parts and natural materials evolve over this year.
There is so much going on, but the recurring themes are of creative
experimentation, persistence and welcoming unexpected results. With such
limitless possibilities, there is this incredibly opportunity for true
possibility thinking.
A
simple box, dropped off by a parent one morning, was the genesis of
weeks of (mostly) joyful work. That first day or two, it was
spontaneously pressed into service as a dozen different things. Once the
novelty began to wear off, there was a more focused interest in making
modifications to transform it in a more literal way. As you can
imagine, different people had differing ideas about that. A teacher
posed a few questions and then let the kids work through a democratic
process that involved narrowing down the possibilities, an initial vote
and ultimately a run-off. There was a tie and so, in the end, the box
was carefully worked into a rocketship at one end and a pirate ship at
the other. It was a success on so many levels it still makes me smile
when I think about it.
