Close-up of the craft of making a multimodal lecture for teenagers about the universe: the importance of a meaningful context and supporting colleagues

Abstract

In this paper I reflect upon transformative peer learning processes connected to the structuring and communication of a lecture for teenagers about ‘Man in the universe’. The lecture transported the lecturer and me, his observing colleague, from one existential vantage point to another. The joint experience of art and science combined in the lecture was not only acknowledged, but this experience also brought about change in habits of mind. The questions posed for this study of the craft of making a multimodal lecture for teenagers were: what are the characteristics of the lecture, and what are the possible reasons for transformations of understanding among two involved colleagues? Transformation, multimodal meaning, and some principles from Otto Scharmer’s U Theory of a creative process (the intention, the relation and authenticity) serve as guiding principles in the reflective text. Multimodal reflection in action is suggested as a concept suitable for this type of a lecture. A suggestion is also to call the lecture a lecture performance. Risk taking, the provocation and vulnerability of the lecturer in the encounter with teenagers is acknowledged as part of the situation. However, the reward in engagement, involvement and innovation is potentially very high.

Keywords:

• transformative learning
• a lecture performance
• multimodal reflection in action
• U Theory
• supporting colleagues

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank my colleagues in the Program for Teacher Education at NTNU University in Trondheim participating in the SPACE ME research and development project for letting me be a participating observer, and for sharing their reflections upon experiences in the project in the team. www.ntnu.no/plu/space-me. Special thanks are due to Professor Alex Strømme.

Notes

1. https://vimeo.com/44724276 (password: RnD summary).