In last week’s blog post, I explored trends in my field, eLearning. Now, trends in eLearning overlap with trends in adult education, so I found myself wondering what trends in adult education I could explore outside of my field for this blog post. Then it hit me! I am going to talk about a trend in adult education related to active learning strategies, something called Liberating Structures.
Now, Liberating Structures are not just a trend in education. According to McCandles and Lipmanowicz (http://www.liberatingstructures.com/), liberating structures can be used to, well, liberate organizational structures, meetings, presentations, brainstorming sessions, and other non-educational practices. But, they are also active learning strategies that can be used very effectively in educational settings, both face-to-face and online.
The article I will explore to for this post is A liberated professor speaks by Arvind Singhal, a professor at the University of Texas at El Paso. Mr. Singhal has been using Liberating Structures in his teaching for the past several years, and states that “the nature of the student feedback I hear has noticeably changed…[to being] deeper, more soulful.” (Singhal, p.2), and that Liberating Structures have, by removing him from being the sole [PROVIDER] of knowledge to enabling him “see the vast experiential and intellectual resource participants bring into a classroom individually and collectively.” (Singhal, p.7)
What I enjoyed the most in this article was the joy Mr. Singhal expressed when talking about the profound change in his classrooms and students after he started using Liberating Structures. Even “[s]imple structures like sitting in a circle, introducing a talking stick, and providing people an equal opportunity to be seen and heard changes the quality of the connections and interactions in a classroom.” (Singhal, p.6) The circle is at the heart of Liberating Structures (representing the breaking down of the hierarchy of the classroom), as is the use of the talking stick, which creates a situation in which everyone is heard equally, without interruption. Singhal finds that by becoming a part of the circle and “just “letting go” of the thought of “professing” profoundly changes the way I design my classroom.” (Singhal, p.7)
McCandles, Lipmanowicz, and Singhal in their 2015 work, describe one faculty member’s use of a Liberating Structure called Impromptu Networking (pp. 9-10), stating
[t]his small example illustrates how and why it is possible to be more effective and productive as a group and, at the same time, make it also enjoyable for all participants. It is enjoyable because everybody is actively engaged from start to finish. It feels good because everybody is given equal space to speak and be heard. It is fun because it is dynamic and energizing. It is rewarding because it gives everybody the opportunity to contribute to the whole learning process. It generates lots of interactions between people who otherwise would remain distant in spite of sitting in the same room. These multiple interactions build connections and, gradually, trust between people thus fostering a sense community, something to look forward to spending time with. Allowing the entire variety of contributions to emerge from the group enriches the conversations while leveling the playing field. The teacher becomes more of a facilitator, a partner in discovering solutions, a co-conspirator in how to have a good time while working together.
I, myself, have started to integrate liberating structures into meetings and other non-educational situations, as well as into the workshops I facilitate. For example, I will sometimes begin a meeting or a workshop with the Liberating Structure called 1-2-3-all (which is related to think-pair-share) as an ice-breaker activity, or as a means of getting people thinking and talking about a problem. I’ve used Troika Consulting as a way to help people trouble-shoot issues or problems they have been trying to solve. What I really like about Troika Consulting is that it creates a situation in which the person with the problem has to listen to the potential solutions without interacting. Finally, I have used 15% Solutions at the end of a workshop to encourage people to think about what they are able to do now (no matter how small it may be – 15%!), after attending the workshop.
One of my goals over the next year is to continue to integrate these and other Liberating Structures into my workshops. It is sometimes a challenge for me, as many of my workshops involve participants in a lab working on computers, but we are fortunate in BC to have people well-versed in using Liberating Structures to support their use. BCcampus facilitates workshops and events across the province, and I am looking forward to attending one such event here at Camosun College next year. In addition, there are user groups for Liberating Structures, including one here in Victoria, which I need to get more involved with.
References
McCandles, K. & Lipmanowicz, H. (n.d.) Liberating Structures. Retrieved from http://www.liberatingstructures.com/
Lipmanowicz, H., Singhal, A, & McCandles, K. (2015). Liberating Structures: Engaging Everyone to Build a Good Life Together. Retrieved from http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/1272828/26211093/1431102982207/Lipmanowicz_Singhal_McCandless_Wang_LS_Chapter+Nov+25+2014-Final.pdf?token=YvDw3jHeRhfEwoX8VZI9pZ2ZeBM%3D
Singhal, A. (2013, April 8). A liberated professor speaks. Retrieved from http://utminers.utep.edu/asinghal/Liberated%20Professor%20Speaks%20–%20Arvind%20Singhal%20–%20April%208-2013.pdf
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