A transdisciplinary methodology

How to practice

Choose a sentence. It can be a quote from a book, of a philosopher, of a writer, a cliché, a verse of a song, of a poetry, the title of a newspaper, something that belongs to the cultural environment, the habits of the students. The teacher can suggest the sentence, better only the first time, in order to start and introduce the new methodology, but in the next times he has to assist student for them choosing by themselves. Every time the teacher has to try to involve all students in all they are doing, it’s a methodology that can be used according to the contexts. By the help of the teacher, students think about the content of the sentence. Meanwhile, they try to give immediately a graphic form to the phrase, drawing as they like, individually. It’s a starting point for developing what the teacher has programed, both in relation with the contents of a thematic area and following the flow of consciousness that will pass between the group while the activity continues. The purpose is for them to think critically about the meaning of the sentence in order to find a sense. Thanks to this, they can reflect about the relationships that sets in motion, with no limits for the directions the students will take on. The role of the teacher is focused on the aim that all students aware of the relationships and interconnections that arise from the anyone’s suggestion. The medium is the art, or, rather, the artistic language, by which they draw starting from the assigned phrase. Why the drawing ? Art is the means for students, by drawing words and letters, to cancel out every feeling of not being adequate. The use of this methodology and the observation of group dynamics have empirically shown that the students normally labeled as the worst, those who in each activity found a way to fall behind, avoid and not fulfill the task, have released a conscious function that has allowed him to interact on equal terms with all other colleagues and achieve success and leadership within the activity itself. Starting with the line of the drawing, they have taken confidence in themselves until they expose themselves with their thoughts regarding the interpretation of the meaning of the origin phrase. Art, in this sense, is the common language that always represents the first stage of construction of a transdisciplinary work model. At the same time, this common basic language facilitates the dimension of teamwork that is also representative of the transdisciplinary perspective.

Timing

There is no fixed duration for each session, it is convenient to adapt to each learning context.

Stages of the methodology

This methodology is carried out in three stages. Initially, each student draws the chosen phrase in their own way. When the reflections on the meaning and the sense of the phrase, the connections, the relationships that they forged will have revealed groups that share a theme, an opinion or another, the teacher will lead them to meet, forming small groups. Here starts the second stage. Each group chooses one of the drafts of its members so that it remains as common work. Around the sentence, the members of the group will be able to draw and/or write what helps them to specify the topic, the common opinion made from the sentence and from sharing the sense in which they agreed. Stage three : every time there is a change of teacher and discipline (it does not matter when : the organization of times, hours, days is the responsibility of each group-class), the group’s draft continues to be a space where the requests of each discipline will have to meet a way to adapt to the drawing itself, with respect to the common sense that united them and that together they are developing. In this way, the students will have to think in a transdisciplinary way - with the help of all the teachers - but they have to do it. In the space of a certain number of hours of school study, the drawing that was initially formed only for a series of colored letters and words, will have been enriched by other elements that the students will have, due to the requests of all the other teachers and disciplines. chosen to add. The end result will be a common product of a group and will represent the work that all teachers together must evaluate for educational purposes. The initial, individual drawing is not lost. They authors have to decide whether to carry out their own drawing at the same time as group work or to use it as a personal diary or another.

The teaching role

The advantage of the process is that the formation of the group - and, not least, its dynamics - depends solely on the way of thinking of its components, leaving out the personal dynamics that normally operate in school life. It is the teacher who is concerned with removing obstacles for everyone to express themselves in order to expose their thoughts. There are no mistakes, no contradictions, no rules, no voting. They are, the teachers, who write down what they observe of the behavior of the students, relating what comes out of them with what they requested in terms of the content of their programming.

The inclusion

There is one more stage that involves the entire school community. The group-classroom that worked together on a topic can choose one of the shapes that they have used, so that the stimulus phrase is evident in one place in the building. Painting the words on a wall, in fact, helps to remember what was thought, what was done and the way the activity was carried on. Above all, it is a way of including the entire school community in a process of reflection. This facilitates a recursive process of the activity itself, of its content, of its meaning, of its value with the entire web of relationships, actions, interactions that developed. In addition, it contributes to the maintenance of a general level of aesthetics of the entire school building.

Notes

The value of this methodology has effects for both students and teachers.

The student :
 He feel free to do what he can, without shame and without a sense of guilt
 Participates without fear of not having an adequate level of specific preparation
 Exercises critical thinking as a personal function and not as a study test
 Discovers his talent and expresses his identity
 Learns to trust himself
 Improves the relationship with others
 Reduce the distance between himself and teachers
 Learns to find meaningful connections between all disciplines and a central idea
 Practices the Sense of Beauty as a language and form of community life

The teacher :
 Experiences concretely the role of facilitator of learning, leaving his position of power chained to the teaching-evaluation process ;
 He begins to concretely investigate the socio-cultural context of his students to propose phrases that fit their world, lifestyle, needs, dreams, etc.
 Learns to handle group dynamics finalized so that the identity of each student finds its space of concrete manifestation
 Specifically commits to removing invisible obstacles to learning
 It moves away from its protagonism and leaves space for the centrality of the students