One early morning a few days before our spring exhibition of student work, Festival del Sol, I asked a seventh grade student if he was nervous about sharing his work publicly. His response sums how most of us were feeling:
Yeah, and I’m really excited.
Exhibitions are an opportunity for students (and indirectly their teachers) to publicly showcase their work. They can take many forms, from single classes presenting to a targeted audience to full school exhibitions where parents and community members can see all the projects students have been engaged in. High Tech Middle Chula Vista’s Festival del Sol was a full school exhibition; parents from all grade levels join the teachers and students to examine their work, dig into the process that created it, and celebrate accomplishments.
Exhibitions are, however, more than a single event on the calendar. They are a powerful tool for deepening learning and growth for teachers, students, and leaders. They provide authenticity by ensuring students will have an audience for their work. They create shared accountability and connections between school and community. These elements form a virtuous cycle of motivation for students and teachers to create the type of beautiful work that stems from and fosters transformational learning, the type of learning that sticks with students long after middle school.
Beautiful Work & Authenticity
Creating beautiful work can be transformational for students. It has the power to show students what they are capable of and help them reimagine themselves. As Ron Berger (2013) explains,
Once a student creates work of value for an authentic audience beyond the classroom — work that is sophisticated, accurate, important and beautiful — that student is never the same. When you have done quality work, deeper work, you know you are always capable of doing more.
Ensuring student work has an authentic audience is intricately tied to supporting students to create beautiful and transformational work. In fact Berger (2003) includes opportunities for public presentation as one of the five essential practices to creating transformational work and developing students’ ethic of excellence. An audience can motivate, inspire, and even provide feedback to help students reach levels of work they did not know they were capable of creating. In addition, sharing their work beyond the classroom honors it as an achievement and creates connections between school, community, and families that are centered what students create in their classrooms. When students know they are working towards a public exhibition, it shifts their approach to work. No longer are students simply doing work for a teacher; instead they are creating a product that will be shown to their community. Making work public motivates students to do their best work.
Yeah, and I’m really excited.
Exhibitions are an opportunity for students (and indirectly their teachers) to publicly showcase their work. They can take many forms, from single classes presenting to a targeted audience to full school exhibitions where parents and community members can see all the projects students have been engaged in. High Tech Middle Chula Vista’s Festival del Sol was a full school exhibition; parents from all grade levels join the teachers and students to examine their work, dig into the process that created it, and celebrate accomplishments.
Exhibitions are, however, more than a single event on the calendar. They are a powerful tool for deepening learning and growth for teachers, students, and leaders. They provide authenticity by ensuring students will have an audience for their work. They create shared accountability and connections between school and community. These elements form a virtuous cycle of motivation for students and teachers to create the type of beautiful work that stems from and fosters transformational learning, the type of learning that sticks with students long after middle school.
Beautiful Work & Authenticity
Creating beautiful work can be transformational for students. It has the power to show students what they are capable of and help them reimagine themselves. As Ron Berger (2013) explains,
Once a student creates work of value for an authentic audience beyond the classroom — work that is sophisticated, accurate, important and beautiful — that student is never the same. When you have done quality work, deeper work, you know you are always capable of doing more.
Ensuring student work has an authentic audience is intricately tied to supporting students to create beautiful and transformational work. In fact Berger (2003) includes opportunities for public presentation as one of the five essential practices to creating transformational work and developing students’ ethic of excellence. An audience can motivate, inspire, and even provide feedback to help students reach levels of work they did not know they were capable of creating. In addition, sharing their work beyond the classroom honors it as an achievement and creates connections between school, community, and families that are centered what students create in their classrooms. When students know they are working towards a public exhibition, it shifts their approach to work. No longer are students simply doing work for a teacher; instead they are creating a product that will be shown to their community. Making work public motivates students to do their best work.