Flow: A mere Theory or the road to the NIRVANA state in learning?

In 1990, a positive psychologist with the near unpronounceable name of Mihalyi Csikzenthimihalyi proposed a theory of FLOW or optimal experience, which he described as “the total involvement in the task at hand….where the doer gains a sense of intense concentration,…..when the body and mind are stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.” Flow is an “inner experience in which there is order in consciousness.”.

Flow, says its first proponent, is the way people describe their state of mind when consciousness is harmoniously ordered, and they want to pursue whatever they are doing for its own sake.

The main impediments to student learning, says Csiksentmihalyi, are not cognitive, they are motivational.

At Inventure Academy, where continuous interpretation of the ways we can apply our multiple intelligences to learning, growth and development is our mission, it is vital to harness this inherent capacity for FLOW within each child or teacher. This is required for our interaction with each other and the building of effective relationships in life. To improve the quality of our lives, by achieving control of what happens in the mind, children and adults can choose from a variety of activities that consistently produce FLOW: sports, games, art and hobbies; all of which yield happiness. To weave into the teaching learning process activities that can transform lessons into flow-producing states of mind and action is a successful approach in any age segment of our students.

Fun while learning is not to introduce frivolity or diversion in the lesson, but to bring to the pupils the enjoyment and sense of control of their learning, which children experience in Flow. “Serious play” and “hard fun” are intense learning situations where learners engage themselves for long periods of time, and these are examples of flow or optimal experience There is eventually a sense of fulfillment for the learner, the teacher and of course, the parent, who understands the value of enjoyment in learning. The work task or assignment then becomes an opportunity and not an infliction or necessary evil, for assessment.

Csikzentmihalyi defined eight dimensions of FLOW

Clear goals and immediate feedback
Equilibrium between level of challenge and personal skill
Merging of action and engagement
Focused attention sense of potential control
Loss of self-consciousness
Loss of sense of time passing
Autotelic or self-rewarding experience

The seat of FLOW is mental consciousness, in all its aspects; physical, mental and emotional. Concentration ensues with engagement in a task of choice and challenge. Where there is little or no challenge, boredom ensues and FLOW cannot happen. As a consequence, enjoyment and engagement, the all important aspects of learning, are lost.

The concepts which FLOW centres around are:
· Attention
· Control
· Curiosity
· Intrinsic interest.

Applied to learning activities, Flow facilitates that children become focused, involved and capable of concentration. They feel both a sense of ecstasy and serenity. There prevails a sense of inner clarity and they stay focused on the present. This can be observed in a classroom where students are experiencing flow, when a teacher has devised activities which make children feel that they have the skills to cope with challenges on hand. The learning process itself- and not just the result are interesting and motivating. Students will do what they are required, with little concern for results or marks etc. This is really what intrinsic motivation is, to create, to explain, to experiment, to apply.
Whatever produces FLOW becomes its own reward.

Loss of self consciousness is another pleasurable facet of FLOW. There is an enhancement in exploratory behaviour, and control.

Open, active and project-based learning stimulates a sense of challenge and curiosity.Gaming provides levels to play. Creative tasks provide for explorations and freedom to roam in the worlds of ideas and fantasy.

Flow then, is a mental state of operation, which is recognizable by full immersion, involvement and success. It is described by Csikzenthimihalyi as being “on the ball”, “in the zone” or “in the groove” and the very word FLOW suggests the metaphor of a water current carrying along those who engage in an activity which induces and sustains such a mental state. All sense of time and other physical symptoms of need like hunger and fatigue are forgotten and pushed into the background of consciousness.

Group FLOW implies creative spatial management where parallel organized working can be enabled. Knowing the activity will be possible a student is neither anxious nor bored.

Activities which produce FLOW are gratifying in themselves, and are intrinsically rewarding. FLOW activities provide what is known as the autotelic experience. The adjective derives from two Greek words: auto meaning self and telos, meaning goal. Very often, children react adversely to music or art lessons, a fitness routine, or anything that requires assiduous discipline and practice. But sometimes, with patience and tactful handling by adults (never force or coercion) such activities can become intrinsically rewarding. It must be noted that the emphasis placed on competition one way schools destroy student enjoyment and the possibility of FLOW.

Much of the way learning in schools is structured makes it very difficult for stidents to experience FLOW. When designing lessons, teachers must try to match the challenge with the skills which student have or are developing. How subjects are taught is all important. Music and Art are typical areas where flow occurs, as these subjects involve more active learning, fewer external rules and less anxiety for the students. Mathematics , where students face very external sets of criteria___ rigid ways of doing things. Perhaps we need to free students of the criteria of the right way of doing everything. Less rigidity and fewer time constraints may accomplish flow and consequently raise performance levels. There is a difference between focusing on winning and on doing one’s best.

A FLOW ROOM at school is a rich field for facilitating flow. The Flow Room at Inventure Academy may look to the casual observer like a hobby room. But in this space are provided a great variety of materials and resources which facilitate flow either to individual students or to small groups which involve them in educational board games, building materials, playing musical instruments, reading etc. A teacher directs and is on hand to help. Children are free to choose their own activity.

Interest Pods also cater to the creation of flow opportunities, where students choose their teacher guides based on whichever way their interests lie and may work on a group project or presentation.

With the current educational scenario offering systems that are time-honoured, but are sure to fail in preparing learners to meet their future needs, where immediate needs are too compelling, schools must try and structure learning so that students can become involved, lose their self-consciousness and their focus on external demands. Schools can help to find their internal motivation. It is the ability to enter into a state of FLOW which will reduce stress, absorb free time usefully, improve the quality of life and provide happiness and help build the all important competencies needed for life.

Compiled:
Pritam L. Benjamin.

References: Flow Theory.. from Wikipedia Edutech.
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by M. Csiksentmihalyi
Certainties: Journal of the national Center for innovation.

Learning Science through Discovery, using Multiple Intelligence

Science is interesting when concepts are discovered through observation, experimentation, analysis of results and drawing inferences. Learning a concept through discovery is meaningful and lasting for a learner.

It is no doubt easier for a facilitator to lecture a concept using a slide show or the board as a teaching aid but how much of the concept is internalized is a question to be pondered. Students may be able to spout the theory or law but will be unable to apply the concept to a different situation.

Experiential learning on the other hand opens windows to new learning helping students connect, relate, hypothesize and apply.

At Inventure Primary school, learning science through discovery is the mantra. One would wonder how concepts can be discovered by students. Well, they are discovered through experiential activities provided by the facilitator.

Here is an example. Fifth grade students need to learn the uses of air pressure. One of these is that air pressure helps to propel objects. This is understood best when the student can observe, relate and infer.

How was the concept learned in grade 5?

Students were divided into groups. Each group was given a balloon, a straw, a string, papers, coloured pencils, scissors, scotch tape, cloth peg and two chairs. The only instruction given to the students were that they needed to use all the materials given to them and make the balloon into a bird and make it fly. The students worked in groups. They were engrossed in trying out various techniques and to arrive at a viable solution. It was amazing to see that one group made an interesting observation. They noticed that for every small amount of air released from the balloon the balloon traveled an equal distance, in the opposite direction. Unknowingly the students had arrived at Newton’s third law of motion. Each group of students then presented their observation, hypothesis and inference. Through this activity students exercised their interpersonal, logical, linguistic and spatial intelligences.

Learning through the activity was not only fun but also meaningful helping the student observe, analyze, hypothesize and infer completing the cycle of learning. Such a learning experience is memorable , developing the desire in each child to explore and become independent learners.

Inventure students with Parikrama

The time we spent at the TNT Parikrama was very meaningful and at the same time it helped us realize how lucky we were to have a good family background.

We have parents who can afford to send us to good schools, we can afford to have 3 meals a day and even more if we wanted.

Helping these children builds up awareness in you, we realized that these children are no different from us they are exactly the same but they just have less opportunity that is the only difference.

So after doing this exercise we will now help them in the little ways we can on our own without being told to do it.

This was a great experience and we had a great time bonding with the Parikrama students and this exercise also helped us realize our inner self.

Multiple Intelligences Xplored

On 17th January, 2009, over 300 children from 9 leading Bangalore schools participated in Multiple Intelligences Xplored (M.I.X.) – an interschool event organized for the second consecutive year by Inventure Academy, Bangalore. Exclusively for students from grades 1-7, this event challenges the contestants across eight intelligence categories, as propounded by Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences, and has been designed to distinguish inherent talents and bring about a powerful positive impact on the children’s self esteem. The unique events were conceptualised and designed by MI experts at Inventure.

The Think-a-thon!!! Event tested logical, interpersonal and spatial intelligences. A sample of the challenges:

Division 3 [Grade 5 students] had to construct a glider from a collection of materials like thick plastic sheets, broom sticks, plastic sticks, twine and wire. The glider would then be released from one of the buildings carrying two eggs and had to land as far away as possible, without breaking the eggs!

Division 4 [Grades 6 and 7 students] had to make a propeller powered boat using ice cream sticks, broom sticks, paper, rubber bands, twine, glue and cardboard!! The boats were tested in a huge roundabout tank filled with water.

Creative Sparks tested the musical, kinesthetic, interpersonal, spatial and linguistic intelligences; the different divisions were given different challenges.

Students of Grades 1 and 2 had to create a “vocal orchestra” – using just their voices to create the effect of a symphony!

Participants from Grades 3 and 4 had to actually create a set of musical instruments using plastic bottles, glass containers, coconut shells, coffee seeds, rubber bands, pins, buckets and water. They then composed songs [lyrics and music!] and performed with their “created” instruments as accompaniments!

Teams from Division 4 got 3 unrelated pieces of material – a prop, a CD with instrumental music and a message. Using mime or dance [no words permitted!], they had to convey their message using the prop and set it to the music on the CD! One team got a mop as a prop and a piece of fast-paced music to convey the message, “Sleepless!”

Wild Wide World tested the Naturalist intelligence of participants from Grades 1 and 2. They had to “create a new species of animal”, dress up a team member as that animal and get him/her to enact it. They were given old clothes, paint, thread and papers to “make their creature”.

Colours of Our World challenged the hidden artist and his spatial intelligence. Events varied from a rangoli based on tessellation patterns, rock painting using natural dyes, to wall painting and painting handmade paper with the aid of foot and hand prints! The themes for all art events were the core values / core purpose of Inventure Academy, phrased in a manner that could be understood by children of specific age groups.

Josh was the event for the sports oriented. The children had to run an obstacle course, do a complex route on the Climbing Wall, “cross a river ” suspended in mid-air, do some serious dunking on the basketball court, and sprint to the finish!

All by Myself was all about getting in touch with oneself and one’s inner strengths. This was an individual activity and required participants to design a Coat of Arms that portrayed them best. For the second year running, Inventure Academy emerged the overall champions!

Co-Founder and CEO of Inventure Academy, Nooraine Fazal, summed up the purpose and spirit of the day through her very apt words... “As members of the learning community, it is our responsibility to adapt to and promote new methods of learning, to acquire higher levels of achievement in education and prepare our students not just to survive, but to excel anywhere in the world. We have organized this event to make each and every one realize that they are gifted in some unique way, and equip them with the ability and conviction to realize their full potential.”

After much excitement, drama and competition, the day brought forth the following champions in the four divisions.

Annual Day celebrations at Inventure Academy

For its Annual Day celebrations, the primary school section (Grades 1 to 5) of Inventure Academy presented an adaptation of the musical ‘Beauty and the Beast’. It was a show stopper and will definitely go down as one of the finest in the history of the school. It was a proud day for Inventure Academy as the entire school community, from the CEO to the housekeeping boys, pitched in to put up a show that brought the curtains down and the audience to its feet for a standing ovation!

In the run up to D-day, the children were tireless in their efforts to put up a show to rival any on Broadway! 185 students pitched in to paint props, devise costumes, sing, dance and, of course, act! Their tremendous dedication and untiring efforts paid off as on D-day one was hard put to remember that the oldest actor on stage was all of 10 years old!

Everyone and everything came together that evening to create the MAGIC that, in the words of Beauty, “… is the beauty which lies within us”. As one of the teachers so aptly said, “It was an evening of splendor, tears and euphoria – a dream coming true beyond expectations”.

In a note to the entire team, a parent of the school summed the evening up beautifully: “Congratulations to you and to your entire Inventure team (students, faculty, support staff, administrative staff, nurse and every person involved) in staging such a wonderful show. The play had good humour, great songs, beautiful dances and colourful costumes. The technical aspects: audio, visual and even smell (agarbati) effect was excellent. The projector on stage (which showed the lyrics of the songs) was also a great idea. I could see that a lot of effort had been put in by every individual and I definitely agree with your statement that this is the best Beauty and the Beast adaptation I have ever seen. A lot of little details had been looked into and planned well for the comfort of the entire Inventure team.

We had a wonderful evening with the Inventure family… please reserve two permanent first row seats for my husband and me for every entertainment by Inventure”.

Special mention must be made of the production’s guiding forces, its directors Joseph and Joel. In the face of personal loss they gave new meaning to the adage that no matter what, the show MUST go on. The evening was as much a tribute to their dedication as it was a confirmation of the strength and commitment that the Inventure Academy family has always been associated with.