Language and the Power of Reframing
Credit to Cleveland Clinic, modifications for educational purposes only
This started out as a lesson about learning how to look at data and systems from new perspectives and turned into a #madlib of data synthesis. This was actually a great deal of fun and it is a new tool I will be using with students. The game is called “Coin Purse” for maximum absurdity and permission to be creative with language and the power of reframing.
Why a Coin Purse?
Making Complexity a Journey and Not a Destination
During my JTerm journey with the Metro Middle School students became increasingly curious about my medical condition and why I needed to lay down flat after eating solid food. I waited until the last day when we were discussinng language and reframing problems and questions to explain how I had my esophagus removed. They were very puzzled by the idea that my esophagus just ended below my trachea with a fistula drain out the side of my neck, so I reframed it as a “coin purse”.
Because the complexity of this condition in which I lived for the four years was complex, I wanted to choose the MOST absurd use of my now dysfunctional and terminated esophagus as possible. So I created the metaphor that my severed esophagus was now a place where I could store small coins by swallowing them and holding them in the bag that was once my esophagus.
This had the intended effect of getting the students’ attention right away. Ooh! Why would you willingly swallow coins?! I explained that the esophagus that remained was relegated for saliva collection. So they had to synthesize data and vocabulary and create a way that I could manage salive at the bottom of the “coin purse”.
They offered a few ideas. One was a big bag of saliva in my chest cavity — that they quickly realized was unsustainable. Then they jumped to a sink or a toilet metaphor where the salive could safely drain. They only offered this solution after my solution of spewing saliva and amylase all over them like a fly was roundly rejected.
Why Reframing?
“But if they get there on their own, the knowledge belongs to them and they become their own heroes.”
In my 20+ years of education I have learned one thing that is consistently true about humanity: The Unknown Is Scary. By allowing students to see facts and data as a tool and not a constraint, they bring more creativity, meaning, and most importantly, relevance to the problem. What was once a tedious and scary task becomes a game to create a new paradigm of knowledge with a scaffolded constraint of relevance and fun.
Because these minds are unlimited in their imaginative and creative scope, it can be a challenge to provide sufficient constraints and rules to get to a place of insight and synthesis. But if they get there on their own, the knowledge belongs to them and they become their own heroes.
Take a moment as an adult reader or educator and reframe that last sentence into one word.
But if they get there on their own, the knowledge belongs to them and they become their own heroes.
If I were tasked with converting this sentence into one word, that word would be CONFIDENCE. Many students think they need special skills or permission to be confident. I don’t think so. Confidence is a gift we all of us can only give ourselves. The best thing we can do is link it with joy and discovery. That is why I think reframing problems, when possible, is so important.
Words Have Meaning
Once they understood the mission brief, they were unstoppable. The rest of each period was spent giving names to common things that forced the student to think about a wide array of language that could be used to describe everyday things, but pulled from a vast array of vocabulary, comparison and contrast, and functional synthesis and narrative building.
That was fun and the students LOVED it. Here is a small sampling of creative new names for everyday objects. I chose the ones they agreed on for my “Brunerform” The style I dress in everyday as part of my brand.
My style: The BRUNERFORM
FEDORA — Head Saturn
Bow Tie — Stylish Neck Diaper Tension Adapter
Dress Shirt — Stylish Torso Protector
Lab Coat — Science-Based Torso Protector
Students — Human Emotional and Logical Experience and Learning Entities
I really liked the last one. It just barely beat out Biological Meat Sacks. I campaigned to include the purpose of the students being in the intentional cave of learning and experiences (aka a school).
How You Can Learn More
If you’d like to learn more or find out how I can help you transform sustainability in nature as a STEM tool to augment and accelerate inquiry and problem-based learning reach out to me or leave a comment on my blog or social media. You can use the CONNECT drop down on my website as well.
