CHOOSING AND PLANNING A PROJECT

Katz and Chard (2000) stress the importance of choosing a topic as a major consideration for project work.  They note

"In some classes, the diversity of the incoming pupils' experiences might be so great that it would be beneficial to begin the year with a topic the teacher is reasonably certain is familiar to all children. A sense of community in the class is more likely to develop when all the children have sufficient experience related to the topic to be able to participate in a discussion with some confidence, and to be able to recognize and relate their own relevant experiences" (p.86). For the ECE 497 students, coming up with a project All ready embedded in the Penn State community and  traditions that surround that membership, the Nittany Lion seemed an obvious choice. The idea of Penn State Proud is easily reflected in the student body in their commitment to scholarship and of course, in their devotion to the Penn State football team.

In terms of thinking about young learners, it is important to consider how we might go about choosing a topic for project work with our students. 

Questions: 

• What are some potential topics that might spark the interests of young children? 
• How (and where can we locate ideas about the lives of young children that might help to inform us of potential topics for a project?  

 
Following the model outlined in Engaging Children's Minds: The Project Approach, students separated into two groups of 5 and two groups of 4. They were provided with a post-it notes, markers, and 2 large sheets of paper.

The students went to work immediately. The process of brainstorming allowed students to think through ideas collectively, to share their own experiences, and attend to nuances. 

A question about representation provided an opportunity for Kyle and Beth to think about what it means to represent and to be represented…

“How does the Nittany Lion represent us? “

“Wait, don’t we all ready have that question?”

“No, we have how do we represent the Nittany Lion?”

“Aren’t they the same question?”

“NO! They are two TOTALLY different questions!"

The familiarity with the topic and the expertise of different students helped to propel their ideas.  For example, Caitlin and Jess have great connections because of their participation in dance team/ cheerleading (respectively) and these connections showed themselves in their choices for guest speakers. Audrey has experience with photo-mosaics and suggested that we use images to make a mosaic of the Penn State Lion. Kyle opened up thinking about sequencing lessons by suggesting that we use a project on representation as the basis for our mosaic, nesting individual representation into a larger concept of community representation.

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"During phase one, the teacher helps the children to build a shared perspective on the topic and to formulate a set of question that will guide their investigation" (Katz and Chard, p.70).

Once the students had completed their graphic organizers, they were instructed to consider some overarching questions and to also consider non-print modes of inquiry. As a means of expanding the student’s ability to think outside traditional modes of knowledge production, I instructed them to consider activities that might be appropriate for young children. This suggestion opened up lines of thinking that expanded the use of modalities. We were not only thinking as teachers, but also as learners of the topic.  We merged into a large group discussion that allowed us to share questions and modalities of thinking to explore those questions. As a group, we considered how they overlapped and might be combined. A final list of questions was formulated. 

 

Why are we the Nittany Lions and how does it represent us?

How do we, as Penn Stater's, represent ourselves as Nittany Lions?

What is the significance of the general history of the Nittany Lion and PSU?

What are similarities and differences between real lions and "nittany lions"?

How do people, past and present, shape what the Nittany Lion means today?

How have the responsibilities and traditions of the lion mascot developed over time?

The students articulated that they found the process fairly easy, no real difficulties. They were able to note that there is always a balance between possibility and practicality and that there are limitations to what we might be able to accomplish within the given parameters of a classroom.

There were some small disagreements about final formulations of questions. Caitlin suggested a final question “How have the responsibilities and traditions of the lion mascot developed over time?” Kyle felt as if this was a sub-question to one of the other overarching questions. Caitlin and Danielle stood their ground to explain how it was different. And Beth was skeptical on using Lion Amabassadors as guest speakers, wondering what they could bring to the project that would be interesting. Although the lion ambassadors could provide us with great historical information, would it be interesting to sit in a classroom and listen to them? I tried to point out that this is an important thing to remember when planning projects for young children (and ourselves).

As the facilitator, probably the hardest part of the process (for me) is the discomfort of disagreement. I do not want students to feel “shut down” in the process and I want people to realize that every idea is worthy of being put on the table. I wish I had posed some questions about how we can work through dis/agreement , how we can listen to ideas with openness, and how we can agree  on solutions that prioritize the community as a whole. These seem like important processes for developing collaborations between teachers…and collaborations between teachers and students.  After all, not every idea, every activity, and every speaker is going to make it into the final draft of the project but the process itself can provide valuable tools for learning how to listen carefully and find value in each idea.