Teaching at GHP

How has Renzulli’s three-phase model of learning activities been put into practice at GHP? We’ll look at the art department and the math department, both of which have structured the overall summer along these lines. [N.B.: These examples are from the past when the program was six weeks long. Adjust your expectations accordingly. —Dale, 2011]

Phase I: Teacher as director

The art department spends the first two weeks cycling the students through the various media being offered for the summer: painting, ceramics, drawing, 3-D, etc. In each, the student is given a basic assignment, such as painting a still life, creating a teapot (must have a handle, a lid, and a spout; need not contain water), and so forth. Throughout, teachers give direct instruction on techniques the students need in order to perform the assignment.

The math department moves its students through several research projects independently of the classes it offers. The first one is a “scavenger hunt” activity, designed to introduce students to the resources of the library and the internet, as well as the various areas of mathematics.

In both departments, the notion of “ad hoc” empowerment is first and foremost at this stage.

Phase II: Teacher as facilitator

Next, the art department brings in guest artists and has them demonstrate “how they do it” for the students. Then the students are invited to replicate those strategies and techniques, experimenting with them and either incorporating or rejecting them in their own work. Here we see the replication of models at work.

The math department gives its students a menu of topics to choose from and asks them to explore one of them. Once again, the teacher sets the problem, but the student devises the solution.

Phase III: Teacher as mentor

Finally, art majors are asked to propose a series of work they’d like to work on. It might be an exploration of a particular medium, or subject, or strategy. For example, a student several years ago did a whole series of mixed media works on household appliances. At this point, the teachers just sit back and observe, and the kids know they can ask for assistance on any problem they’re having, either technical or artistic.

In the math department, students must find a final research topic that interests them from the broad fields they’ve been exposed to. It might be an actual math problem to develop, or some historical or technical topic to explain. The math teachers, again, serve as backup when students hit dead ends.

These two departments use the Renzulli model as an overarching structure for the entire summer, art as the basis for their whole program, math for one strand of theirs. You can see how the structure might apply to your coursework, whether to a one week course in social studies or a brief lab unit in science.

Perhaps others can share how they’ve implemented it in their GHP classes.

NEXT: 7. Instructional goals