Tangible (‘Hands-on’) Learning

From a perspective of experiential learning, the construction of a conceptual map by the learner is the product of enhanced modes of interaction with the learning concepts within the

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environment. Papert’s term ‘objects-to-think-with’ (1980, p.11)implies a hands-on approach

to cognitive processes, where otherwise abstract ideas are made not only visible but tangible through interactive technology. Through the construction of ‘meaningful public entities’, students, peers and teachers have a clear manifestation of learning as it takes place:

For a while, I dropped in periodically to watch students working on soap sculptures and mused about ways in which this was not like a math class. In the math class students are generally given little problems which they solve or don't solve pretty well on the fly. In this particular art class they were all carving soap, but what each student carved came from wherever fancy is bred and the project was not done and dropped but continued for many weeks. It allowed time to think, to dream, to gaze, to get a new idea and try it and drop it or persist, time to talk, to see other people's work and their reaction to yours -- not unlike mathematics as it is for the mathematician, but quite unlike math as it is in junior high school.

(Papert & Harel 1991, p.4)

This suggests an alternative to the modular and sequential approach to learning, instead advocating a structure more commonly found in artistic subjects, which emphasise the choices and decisions of students and allow them to apply skills in a variety of cross-

curricular contexts11. Though the structure employed within classes like the one which Papert

observes is, at least in part, a consequence of the less rigid control imposed on them as ‘non- core’ subjects (auxiliary to the traditional Western educational triad of English, science and mathematics) he values this structure as unrestrictive to the personal development of the students, and seeks to incorporate it into his own subject, mathematics. By producing learning materials which the student can see and ‘sculpt’, in this case, computer-generated, Papert pursues a mode of learning rooted in ‘problem-creation’, where continual acquisition and application of knowledge that is driven by the choices and orientations of the individual learner (Harel & Papert 1990, p.24).

Consider the practice-based research model: The practitioner-researcher begins not with a problem, but with their individual creative process, from which some knowledge is extracted. They then apply this to a new creative process, and so the reflexive cycle progresses:

11_{Such an approach, termed project-based learning, is common in the Finnish educational system. See, for}

47 The innovative and critical potential of practice-based research lies in its capacity to generate personally situated knowledge and new ways of modelling and externalising such knowledge while at the same time, revealing philosophical, social and cultural contexts for the critical intervention and application of knowledge outcomes.

(Barrett & Bold 2014, p.2)

This model has afforded a rigorous mode of inquiry to the creative arts, one that allows the practitioner-researcher to investigate how context shapes their practice and vice versa. In social constructionist theory, this awareness is termed ‘reflexivity’ (Cousin 2016) but has a clear parallel to the constructivist theory of equilibration, that of ‘coupling with our surround’ and ‘[acting] on new experiences and information’ (Fosnot and Perry 1996). Reflexivity can be thought of as an analysis of this process, a constructed awareness of how it happens. It seems, then, that this model has central relevance to educational practice within the creative arts.

The crucial distinction in this form of learning is that it is not a matter of an individual changing as they absorb an unchanging body of external information. It concerns interaction with an environment (setting, context, task, resources, other people etc.) and the feedback of this experience. This feedback is itself a dynamic process, something which the learner has an influence over. It is shaped by their perspective, the mechanisms by which they internalise it, assimilate it, or possibly reject it. This then manifests in some practical change, the means by which they re-interact with their environment. But, in doing so, it is not just the individual undergoing change, but also the environment with which they are interacting. This is the

archetypal mode of observation for the practitioner-researcher: How and why does my

practice influence my environment? How and why does my environment influence my practice? We might say that the practice-based researcher is engaged in constructing (or perhaps re-constructing) their own conceptual map through these practical interactions and reflections, and this allows them to challenge concepts from their field and contribute new knowledge.

The extent to which young learners can engage with the creative modes of enquiry here described depends upon the provision of a suitable environment, in which they can apply their existing skills to negotiate new concepts, allowing them to venture further still (i.e. express creativity):

48 ‘[Children’s] willingness to improvise and compose is a function of creating an

environment where children can express their creativity. By starting with activities that are not too far removed from the child’s immediate experience, creativity becomes integrated with the child’s existing musical experiences and skills. Furthermore, by locating children in a range of musical settings they come to

recognise the multidimensional nature of what they already know, think and can do.’ (Burnard 2000, p.21)

This suggests maintenance of a ‘flow state’ (see Czikszentmihalyi 1996) in which present challenge should increase in proportion to acquired skill; a change in environment in

response to the needs of the learner, or an environment which adapts to the learner, mirroring the cognitive dynamics of equilibration. How might interactive digital technology contribute to such an environment?