CIRCLE

As a learner and facilitator I have participated in ‘sitting in the circle’ and have observed a few things. First, that the simple act of sitting in the circle, opens up and creates an environment of acknowledging others. When you are physically positioned to sit in a circle you are most likely going to have to look at others next to you or in front of you and on some level recognize their presence. The next thing I noticed is that by having to talk and participate, as the learner you are listening to what others are saying, their reflections, experiences, commentary on life and issues–this then may spark your own thoughts for sharing. The expectation that everyone around that circle is waiting to hear from you, is powerful and inescapable. I could see how perhaps someone who is not accustomed or finds it difficult to share with others, may find this activity intimidating. However, I have observed that because it is organic, not rushed, and mindful of listening to one another, that many times, even the most reserved learner will ease their way into the circle. Lastly, I think that it is a way to hold each other accountable in speaking and listening, in dialogue and conversation through respect and honoring one another’s voice.

Using “circles” as a tool in the classroom undoubtedly has an insurmountable amount of benefits for educators and students. I myself have personally experienced this technique in attending and working at a summer camp for the past twelve years. Starting on the very first day of camp, we have always had the bunks of girls form into a circle for an icebreaker. In facilitating discussion, we give every camper the chance to voice topics varying from their favorite ice cream flavor to what they’re looking most forward to that summer. I have noticed that the shape of the circle works well with all age groups, as it requires each camper to listen to one another, equally share the spotlight when it is their turn to talk, and help quieter kids come out of their shell. Like Chicago, I am also a firm believer in allowing a “pass” if they do not feel comfortable responding right away, but eventually making sure to come back to remind them that there opinion always matters, making them truly feel a part of something special.

As a counselor I have used this tool in serious situations as well. When coming across a problematic camper or negative experience that may have occurred during an activity, we use circles to let each camper voice their experience without calling out or judgmental notions. Sometimes solving problems in the classroom that occur between two students may make them feel out-casted or objectified, whereas working in a circle can be a productive way to work through difficult agendas. Every summer we would have these circles sprawled all over the grassy hills, some serious, some silly, but always making headway in growing a connection that is not only respectful of each other, but would provoke us to think for ourselves as well as learn from one another.

As a learner and as a teacher, the best advice I can give with this circle strategy is to give it a chance. There were few occasions that I can recall from high school walking into my English classroom with the desks arranged in a large open circle and not getting extremely excited for discussion that day. I always enjoyed class debates where we used circles and can only hope that future educators become aware of the benefits of encouraging participation and active listening in such an easy, admirable way!

The essence of this circle discussion is to create discussion space. Space is a social situation or field connected by various social relations and takes various forms. It is created trough connection of different social elements, which exist and work by taking different positions. Every man is at the same time a participant of space and time. Man becomes an capital to seek more value. And behind man, there are cultural capital and experience capital, the interaction between which give rise to new innovations and changes the value.

Artistic creation is a kind of experience, memory, and imagination. It is a recognition and experience of the society. Art defends people against the colonization of mass culture and brings people back to their nature. Postmodern art offers multifarious approaches to feel. It can be achieved without any knowledge about patterns, colors or graphic expressiveness. Many art creators come from all professions. This is in fact a requirement of modern society to visual art. We see colors, images and structures abandoned when art reaches the field of postmodernism. It starts to know the social cultural system. Once the support of formative aesthetic and technology is gone, artistic knowledge and techniques will degenerate into individual experience that are incapable of being copied and taught. This is why we must adopt the method of circled participating teaching to give everyone the chance to share his or her own experience. Besides, this method makes teaching process more meaningful while shorten the distance between teachers and students. When people are sharing their experiences, they are encouraged to let go of their self restraint to analyze their own growth. In this way, everyone becomes an element in the learning which learns in a dynamic environment. It is indeed a wonderful method for teachers and students who haven’t tried it before. There are several reasons why they didn’t try it: 1. They don’t understand art well or pay close attention to the society and underlying problems of human being.
2. They ignore the differences between students. Instead, these teachers use a relative model to restrict the students so as to turn skills into a handcuff to creativity. In this situation, students have to be clear about their current position and what he/she or the predecessors are doing in order to find a unique way to express himself/herself. 3. The propaganda and themed creation are too ideology-oriented.

For those who have tried this method, here are tips to follow: 1. Create a space where every participant can fully trust each other and willing to share his/her own experience. 2. Find out the technical weak points through discussion. At the same time, point out that artists’ creation depends not only on talent to make everyone realize the power of the group comes from their unique language background, ideological capital and social relations.

I have not tried this particular approach, but not for any specific reason. One of my personal teaching goals this year was to help my students grow more comfortable with sharing ideas and discussions, but I am embarrassed to admit that I have not made as much effort and progress as I should have. I found it a lot easier to try new techniques and make progress when I taught year-long courses, probably because students grew more comfortable with each other over that time and because the year-long time frame allowed more opportunities for in-depth content development, growth, and ‘practice’ with discussions.

This is my first year teaching semester courses (and now all ceramics courses), and I have been struggling throughout the year to somehow find a magic balance between the ‘creation,’ ‘production,’ ‘response,’ and ‘connection’ standards…my new school’s art curriculum has students developing skills and techniques the first marking period, then the second marking period is research, individual project development and creation, and setting up the end-of-semester art show and displaying their own individual portfolios. I find it very difficult to condense everything they need to know into one single marking period of 45 minute classes and then expect them to have a solid foundation (in terms of artistic thoughtfulness and technical skills) that will adequately enable them to successfully develop a personal and expressive final project. As much as it pains me to admit it, class discussions have been neglected and put on the back burner. However, I have never tried this particular circle approach and here are my thoughts…

Potential Challenge: Obstructions or limited open circle options with my built-in tables…no true ‘open area’ in my ceramics room.
Potential Solution: Move stools around outside of tables (form a circle, but tables still separate lower bodies); move stools around pottery wheels (which are lower and less obstructive…only lower legs and feet will be blocked).

Potential Challenge: Students aware of required ‘share expectations’ but even upon the ‘pass’ return, still refuse or don’t provide personal response. ‘I don’t know,’ ‘Same as her.’ (Or constantly copying/repeating responses to avoid coming up with their own.)
Potential Solution: Some may be motivated to share if discussion included in participation grade. Provide topics and questions that require some element of unique, personal connection in the response (memories, experiences). Avoid ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ discussions. Create rule that allows you to agree with another person, but then you must develop a response that could be from another person’s point of view so you contribute a new point.

Potential Challenge: Students are extremely shy or uncomfortable opening up and sharing thoughts and ideas. Have thoughts to share, but can’t express them clearly.
Potential Solution: Pottery wheel area has white Christmas lights hanging above it…could turn them on as ‘fun discussion lights’ to lighten the mood. Pose a question or topic and have students quietly reflect and then jot down their thoughts on personal dry erase boards or notepaper so they have a chance to visually organize thoughts and something to refer to when it’s their turn (encourage students to add to their notes throughout discussion). Mini-discussions to build up to longer or more in depth ones. If students uncomfortable sharing their ‘personal’ views, could have option of providing a potential viewpoint from another person. Incorporate game elements (‘sharing stick,’ ball, etc.). Give students something like lollipops to make it less informal (and help deter side chatter because their mouths would have a lollipop in them unless they are the one sharing, haha).

Potential Challenge: Students struggle with discussing topic beyond ‘face value’ ideas and observations; struggle with thoughtful responses beyond basic contributions.
Potential Solution: Provide students with upcoming topics a day or two in advance to allow more time to ‘marinate’ in their minds. Introduce discussions gradually; demonstrate with quick and less intimidating topics to build foundations/steps behind deeper ones. Provide students with a few prompts to encourage more thoughtful responses.

Although I do not teach art I have implemented the circle design in my classroom. At my school we do “Daily Raps” at least 3 times per week. During the Daily Rap students sit in a circle around the classroom and discuss different topics that are affecting them in school such as bullying, peer pressure, cliques, etc. the circle forum is really important because it allows all students to see each other and focus on the conversation. However, there were also some challenges such as logistically fitting 31 students in a circle around the classroom. While I like the idea of not having any tables in the way that’s just not feasible in my math classroom. Another struggle has been what to do when there are side conversations going on. In my room students must’ve move themselves from the circle if they are talking but that does not always solve the problem.

I believe this is all about a personal comfort level. I teach middle school kids and there will always be a few students that are too shy to speak in front of even a small group. I have found that it all depends on the topic of choice. Opening yourself up in a circle formation breaks the barriers of security but puts everyone in the same boat so to speak. If a student is excited about the topic and can relate they will speak, if they are unfamiliar they may wait for other students to respond before they take a chance and further open themselves up.

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As a teacher, I have tried this circular approach before several times. At first, it did not go so well. You will always have those students who jump at the chance to answer a question. They are the ones that always have their hand in the air and always dominate the classroom conversation. I also ran into students who are either too shy or too fearful to give a good answer. Fortunately, I have learned several strategies to help this circle-strategy become more meaningful to all students involved (thanks to our districts Reading Apprenticeship program). One of the best strategies involves combining the circle-share out with a Think, Pair, Share activity before the circle-share out with the class. This allows students to practice their answer with a classmate and bounce their ideas off another person before being singled out in front of everyone. The key with this strategy however is to actually give students time to THINK. A good 30 seconds of silent think time before sharing always provides better results. I also make sure to tell students that it is OKAY to have a similar answer as another person in the class, just add another sentence to elaborate on your answer a little further. This way they can’t cop-out by saying “Johnny already said my answer”.