Ecstasy in the classroom?
Have you ever heard of “Flow?” I bet you have felt it before if you’ve never heard it before. It’s that feeling you get when you’re doing something you absolutely LOVE. You know it’s happening when you stop watching the clock…heck, you forget it’s even there. You get obsorbed into what you’re doing, or what you’re listening to, or watching.
Flow is
“… what the sailor holding a tight course feels when the wind whips through her hair….It is what a painter feels when the colors on the canvas begin to set up a magnetic tension with each other, and a new thing, a living form, takes shape….”(Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi)
Flow is a condition of being totally engaged, involved in, and made happy by, a thing we’re involved in. That feeling, according to a recent Fast Company article, FLOW has primarily been involved with the entertainment and sports arenas. Thinkers are now trying to find ways to apply this concept in the office, that if workers were actually involved in projects where FLOW happens, they will produce better results, be less time concious, be more involved and passionate about their work etc. Lots of pro’s to creating a FLOW work environment.
But I ask, what about creating FLOW in the classroom? Specifically, creating FLOW in the ESL classroom? Would similar results occur? Would learning be more successful? Would students and teachers actually start enjoying classroom experiences? Would classroom addiction go up?
I recently heard Flow described as a state or situation in which all actions and thoughts are connected. It seemed to involve the notion that everything that is done is part of process of contribution. A leads to B leads to C.
What I’d really like to know is how to pronounce that author’s name. A teacher I know used to say, “Me-High Chick-Sent-Me-High”
Comment by scott — September 8, 2005 @ 3:46 pm
Hi Scott, thanks for your post. I was surprise you found me. How did you? I am still in the process of setting this whole thing up. Over at Fast Company, they give this pronunciation: (Mee-high CHICK-sent-me-high-ee) so your teacher friend is pretty close. Just missing the “ee”.
I think you’re right about FLOW. You said that
I think there is a huge connection that happens when you enter a state of FLOW. But I think it’s more than just a connection, it seems like a new state, like a synergy. Most of all, it is fun! And what you are working on no longer feels like work, class no longer feels like a class, research no longer feels like research. Your productivity shoots up. Your interest in what you’re doing is all consuming, and time has no meaning. The saying “Time flys when you’re having fun” is very true…and for the purpose of this conversation I could say, “Time flys when you’re in a state of FLOW.”What do you think?
Comment by Administrator — September 9, 2005 @ 9:08 am
Mortgage Broker
Comment by Mortgage Broker — October 11, 2005 @ 6:48 pm