Communications from the Director

The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools

Communications from the Director

On the Same Page

October 2007
David W. Magill, Director

We have a wonderful tradition at Lab (I suppose that six years qualifies as a tradition). In the spring, our faculty committee chooses a book that will be read during the summer by all members of the faculty, staff, and administration. During planning week, we are divided into heterogeneous groups and participate in a facilitated book discussion.

I was very pleased that the title chosen this year was A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink. Last April, I reviewed this book in my monthly column, On the Same Page. After reading A Whole New Mind during spring break, I could not stop thinking about how so much of what Pink was saying in a 21st Century context reflected what John Dewey believed as he assembled 16 children in a house on 57th Street . . . and the rest is history!

Activities and programs that develop the right side of the brain and, more importantly, the whole brain are abundant in each of our divisions and deserve to be highlighted by representatives of our talented faculty. Unlike Mr. Pink, I would not go so far as to proclaim that right-brainers will rule the future, but I believe that our children will enjoy a higher quality of life if they are engaged in activities that are dependent on the use of the complex neural connections of the right brain.

Curt Lieneck is the first guest author in a series of commentaries about what is included in this provocative book. He is the Schools’ Director of Information Technology, but he is first an outstanding educator well versed and practiced in the progressive tradition. Most of Curt’s career has taken place in the Lower School classrooms, as he has taught kindergarten through fourth-grade children. For the last ten years, he has served in his present position and, in addition to his help in bringing Lab into the 21st Century, he is one of the most respected IT Directors in the Independent School world.

A Sense of Story
by Curt Lieneck

First, a confession: I felt obliged to begin this series of reflections on A Whole New Mind since I was the one who proposed it to the Book Selection Committee. I did not suggest the book because my college age kids saw the title and said, “You should read this, Dad. You could use one of those.”

I suggested it because it contains a provocative metaphor for anyone inclined to take a fresh look at how profoundly technology is altering our cultural landscape. Pink’s engaging framework of ideas gives us a place to hang our hats as we consider what these changes might mean for our students, ourselves, and our vision for school in this new century.

Please note that I don’t agree with everything Pink has to say. Immersed as I am in the gory left-brained details under technology’s hood, it’s clear that he’s ignored much of the underlying beauty and creativity programmers create with zeroes and ones. And my past work rehabilitating brain-injured children makes me wary of his oversimplifications of neural processes, even when Pink qualifies them carefully. Every good story needs a villain, but maybe my poor left hemisphere is too easy a target.

Stronger parts of the book compensate for its shortcomings. More than any other chapter, Pink’s emphasis on cultivating a sense of Story piqued my interest. In over twenty years as a Lab School teacher and administrator, I have come to believe that our passion for stories is our school’s most distinctive characteristic. Our students are never more engaged than when hearing, writing, acting out, or telling stories. Our teachers use narrative deftly to help kids find their voices, share their stories, and make sense of a world filled with others’ stories. Stories are the Schools’ lifeblood, binding us together in the thriving, unique learning community we are.

“Technology is the campfire around which we tell our stories.”
-- Laurie Anderson, performance artist and musician

There has never been a more fertile time for telling and sharing stories. Our existing commitment to storytelling is enhanced by evolving, easy-to-use technologies that empower individuals and groups to construct and share their stories in ways we could not have imagined even five years ago. Blogs, desktop movie making software, file compression software, cell phones, computer animation, high speed networks, audio editing software, faster chips, cheap memory, tapeless cameras—all these tools and more let us capture the imagination of millions as readily as we can for just one.

Of course, a great story starts with strong content and thoughtful planning. That will never change. The mechanics of story construction present in classics from many cultures must be studied and their connections to universal themes explored. The oral traditions passed on to us must be honored and shared. The raw materials we use to build our narratives—memories, pictures, sounds, and other artifacts—must be identified and arranged.

Digital stories require additional skills. The grammar of visual literacy must be learned, as must the manipulation of files, images, sounds, and text to transform the story into something more than the sum of its parts.

We are well prepared at Lab to meet new challenges in developing the sense of Story Daniel Pink describes. At least a dozen Lab teachers have had formal training in digital storytelling. Many more have been shooting and using digital pictures and video regularly for the last few years. This summer’s inventory counted more than 70 still cameras in classrooms with nearly that many video cameras as well, including 50 new, tapeless cameras in the Lower School. There are more than twenty new blogs up and running this year, a fourfold increase from June. We’ve site licensed the next generation of iLife multimedia tools from Apple. Garage Band and Audacity, sound editing programs, are widely available to faculty, staff, and students. Nearly 200 laptop computers on carts are available in addition to our four and a half well-equipped stationary labs.

I can’t wait to see the explosion of stories this year will bring. I hope you will join us around the campfire.