Defining a Practice

Welcome!

Today I had a vision while listening to the radio.  My vision: every radio story, every expert interviewed, and every lengthy discussion would mention the handy term Variables Thinking.  Because every student had been given the opportunity to practice Variables Thinking from Kindergarten through 12^th grade, every adult would use the short hand term to describe the process of considering multiple aspects of any one challenge or problem.  Each variable would be considered in relation to the others thus completing the process.  And to describe this process: that’s right, the term I have coined, Variables Thinking.

I paint therefore I consider variables. My thinking process… from choosing subject matter, to deciding scale, to surface, to prepping that surface, to choosing brushes, to paint, to mixing paint, to rate of brushwork, to layers of brushwork, to extending drying times, to rushing drying times, etc and so on is one example of VT.  Any expert considers a large number of variables in everything they do well.  Cooks, athletes, scientists, doctors, astrologists, hedge fund managers, yoga Instructors and teachers do it.  Isn’t it time we begin to look at the meta process of considering variables and make it something our children get to practice?  And more importantly, isn’t it time we foster in children an understanding that all problems are essentially the same?  Problems have aspects/parts/elements which are variables.   Giving thought to the relationships between the aspects/parts/elements in addition to considering what aspects/parts/elements might be missing from the problem become fundamental skills.

Here are a few concrete ways I will use Variables Thinking this school year with High School students.

As idea generation:  Brainstorm Variables.  Example:  As you design your ideal home, list all the factors that would ultimately affect your choices.  (Budget, codes, materials, location, perceived spatial needs to name a very few.)

As focusing tool:  Isolate one variable.  Example: Tell a story in 5 paragraphs, then 1 paragraph, then 1 sentence.  LENGTH is the variable here.  Which length is suitable for what use?

As play:  Pick 3 variables from a list of 5 (color, texture, shape, line, value.)  Make 3 different compositions where you emphasize the three Variables differently. In other words in composition #1 prioritize Variable 1, then 2, then 3.  Then switch the order. 

As analysis:  Read two extremely different critiques of the work of Jackson Pollock. Then write about what possible factors contributed to such glaringly different points of view.

Variables Thinking is what goes on in any reflective practice.   Therefore it is adaptable and flexible.

Start with:  What are the parts?  How do they relate to each other?  The practice can address simple things (Play Doh) and complicated things (climate, poverty) and everything in between. 

With the world we live in, a routine practice of Variables Thinking across disciplines and grade levels is a pretty logical idea.  Or at least a pretty cool dream.

Thanks for reading. - L