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Featured Courses
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L98 416 Rediscovering the Child
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In spring 2005, a new course called "Rediscovering the Child: Interdisciplinary Workshops in an Urban Elementary School" was offered by the American Culture Studies Program in Arts & Sciences. Designed by Professor Gay Lorberbaum of the School of Architecture, this course takes students through a creative design process to create hands-on workshops for children at the Adams Elementary School in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood in the City of St. Louis. The course is supported through funding from the Dean of Students office and the American Culture Studies Program.
Washington University faculty from various disciplines guest lecture early in the course to demonstrate their own disciplinary expertise and passion. Past lectures for the course have included:
By working in teams, students learn how to collaborate and shape workshop content based on their disciplines. With students from Arts & Sciences, Architecture, Art, and Engineering, workshop themes have included:
"The workshop centered
on experiential learning. It was remarkably different to experience the
creative process through hands-on processes rather than through processes
that dictate a certain guideline and expectation. Most of the classes
I have come across had strict guidelines to abide by, and initially I
had trouble with the notion of the creative process. I was afraid of what
would be the right or wrong answer, and it took me weeks to begin to see
what dictates creativity—essentially, allowing myself to explore
new thoughts without the intrinsic fear of it being wrong or not satisfying
a certain component of the task." "When I first visited the Adams Elementary School, I was nothing
short of amazed. It is the most unbelievable school, more so than any
other elementary, middle, or high school that I have ever seen. The building
itself is very unique, maintaining some elements of the old structure
while combining some newer architectural features."
"One of the most impacting aspects of the class, and what I felt
was a key part of the multidisciplinary approach was the exposure to the
"Brilliant Ones." These lecturers, from Bob Hansman of Architecture
to Barbara Schaal of Biology, are some of the most brilliant minds from
a very diverse range of fields … . They had all found ways to apply
their own fields to broader issues that interested them … When they
spoke, they moved beyond the purely academic aspects of their work to
discuss their position in the world and what they felt they were accomplishing
on a broader scale." "I definitely enjoyed working with a partner, especially when brainstorming.
By talking through our ideas, it gave us a better understanding of what
we wanted to do with the workshops. The combination of art and history
worked well for us because I interpret art as a venue for continuous discourse
on where you place yourself in society and in history. We came up with
a general idea that the content will mostly be focusing on history and
the activities will be more tangible and centered on 'creating.'"
"I am interested in [taking the course] for several reasons. Centered
on the pole is personal growth and awareness, through two ends, self education,
and teaching others. In the end I don't really see them as very
different, merely different aspects of a whole working in the natural
process of evolution of communication. I see art as playing a crucial
role in building local and national communities. It is a way to break
internal personal boundaries and interpersonal boundaries through the
process of creating something new." "Children need encouragement, love, laughter, discipline, activity,
hugs, movement, information, friends, and many other things. People will
act up to the level you provide for them. If you come into a situation
treating someone like they cannot do something, they are more likely to
not do anything than if you give them a challenge that is possible for
them to complete. The children at Adams School, specifically, will probably
not have a shortage on people telling them that they are poor and black,
and it is not a service for us to go to their school and tell them the
same thing. My students at the Adams School have just as much potential,
brains, and energy as any other kid. They need to know that they are smart
and special, not that they are 'disadvantaged.'" "As amazing as it was to get to pass my passion for neuroscience
on to a group of unsuspecting children, it is not the real lesson I learned
at the Adams School. I'm not sure if I accomplished my goal of motivating
the children to pursue science, but if they learned half as much from
me as I learned from them, then I feel like I accomplished something remarkable.
I learned what truly does make a child, even a child from tough circumstances.
I learned the power of their ability to unconditionally be shaped by their
experiences and the power of their resilience. I learned how to put myself
on an equal plane while still serving, and how to learn from the hardships
of others without feeling pity. All children are shaped by what happens
to them; these children were just shaped by different circumstances than
the ones that shaped my own childhood. No matter where we come from, though,
or how we got to be where we are, we were all children once. If this experience
has taught me anything, it's that we could all use a little bit
of the special qualities that make a child." "The lessons I learned as a leader and an individual have helped
me to be better prepared for next time. Teaching at Adams Elementary has
only further encouraged me to continue working with younger students.
I hope that I can pass on my passion for science and match their enthusiasim
for learning. Every week after the workshops, I was tired but happy. I
knew that I had made a difference in someone's life, and they had
made a difference in mine." "[Professor Lorberbaum] wanted us to think on our own and discover
our own answers. … We just had to find [it] ourselves, to the best
of our ability. As I grew to understand this concept more throughout the
semester, my ideas about learning gradually changed. This course has completely
changed the way I view my own education by forcing me to think more creatively,
to pursue the things I love, and to use my knowledge, creativity, and
passion to serve and benefit others." "Next year instead of enrolling in only a master's program
in education, I plan on enrolling in a dual degree program in education
and public policy. Further down the line … I would like to work
towards reforming educational policies … so that children do not
end up illiterate in the fifth grade." For more information about the course, please contact Gay Lorberbaum, 314-862-1128 or Deborah Jaegers, djjaeger@wustl.edu , 314-935-4912. |
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During
the first half of the semester, Washington University students form teams
to design problem-solving workshops for six to eight children. Throughout
the process, Professor Lorberbaum challenges the students to synthesize
complex ideas from their own knowledge base to create hands-on, problem-solving
workshops for the children. Students also participate in faculty guest
lectures, field trips, and weekly reviews.
At
the end of the semester, students revise the workshop curricula and write
academic papers that synthesis and reflect their experience and learning
throughout the semester. Here are a few excerpts to express the students'
experiences in their own words:
"The
success of the community-unifying aspect of our class began with the sheer
number and variety of professors involved in teaching us. Each professor
brought a new bit of knowledge about St. Louis and about his/her particular
field of study. This emphasis on interdisciplinary education was important
in our education about the St. Louis community, but it also helped us
think about new and productive ways of approaching our students, socially
and intellectually."