“Never underestimate the vital importance of finding early in life the work that for you is play.” Dr Paul Samuelson

Why are we working towards helping pupils to identify the underlying powers they possess?

Have you ever had that moment when you have been so absorbed by something that hours go by like minutes and you are caught up in a moment that you never want to end? A time when you chuckle to yourself knowing there is nowhere else you’d rather be and nothing you’d rather be doing. You are speaking in a language that comes naturally to you and creating something that gives you joy.

If we can help young children find those moments/places early in life, then it is obvious that implementing opportunities to learn while in their element or using their super powers will benefit the learner, the teacher and the class. It will also help children to work out who they are and what they want to do for the rest of their lives. Something that a one size fits all education finds very difficult indeed.

Phillip (not his real name) was a child that the authorities had labelled a ‘nervous non-attender’. He wouldn’t talk much, particularly to adults, he had ‘behaviour issues’ and he had no intension of going to school where the whole environment he found too stressful. He was 14yrs old and attended a unit where the dedicated staff worked hard to get give him and a handful of other students to engage in meaningful educational experiences, find out what they liked to do and get them to learn. The unit contacted the technology centre where I worked at the time to see if we could help find activities that interested the students. Working closely with the staff we decided on an activity for each student. Phillip was to make a film. My experience doing this project impacted the future direction of my work.

As we arrived at the empty skate park, the venue Phillip wanted to film at, we saw a boy happy in his environment, lost in what he was doing. Myself and our photographic artist in residence spent the morning filming and talking with Phillip, quite to the bewilderment of his teacher who rarely got him to speak. Perhaps we had found him in his element with skating and filming. Over the next months, we worked together filming and editing film and images ready to show at an evening exhibition to the dignitaries of the town. The day before the exhibition I invited Phillips tutor to a private viewing of the film. The film finished and there was silence. I asked what she thought. Still silence. When the lights came on I could see why. She was in tears and couldn’t speak. Between her hard work and insight, our creativity and Phillip, we had found the magic bean that was to help him to grow. The night of the exhibition saw more tears as his Nanna who brought him up saw him alive and excited and talking to adults in a grown-up way. “He’s changed” she said.

Our problem has been to have enough time with each student in a class of 30 to be able to take that journey together and discover what it is that makes them tick.

Starting to build a digital portfolio and profile identity, detailing what the student is passionate about and what super powers they most associate with from an early age can not only identify how best to organise their environment to allow them to learn well, but also help them map out a pathway to a fruitful life for themselves.

If we as teachers can bring together groups of students with complementary ‘superpowers’ then we are more likely to see efficient creative harmony than slow moving chaos in the classroom. The children will be developing their strengths and the project work will be of a much higher standard. Who knows! The engagement might be increased and the behaviour improved. Now wouldn’t that be a thing? 

“Many people have not found their element because they don’t understand their own powers.” Sir Ken Robison