The non-linear potential of didactic action

Abstract

Starting from a perspective that views education as a complex and adaptive system, this paper is aimed at providing a first reflection on the concept of linearity, intended as a possible interpretation of the limitations arising from the characteristics and the relationships among the actors, the objects and the events that form part of the teaching-learning process. What results is a deterministic vision of teaching and a real negation of the embodied and situated dimension of teaching. This reflection forms part of a branch of educational research that investigates didactic corporealities - those aspects of teaching that are manifested in bodily form, real and metaphoric representations of the triadic interaction between the teacher, the student and the environment. This is configured as the set of elements that contribute to a complex meaning of the teaching experience, able to contribute to a deconstruction of linear schemes of action that are repetitive in nature and are inadequate to address the emerging needs of 21st Century classrooms. In order to foster and promote the success of all learners, a pluralistic and proteiform perspective is therefore required. This view paves the way to a non-linear form of teaching that is aware of the didactic morphologies that are the characteristics, the spaces, the functions and the potentialities of action during teaching.

Six colours for inclusion: results of an explorative activity in a simplexity approach

“…It also emerges that the vertical thinking hat, i.e. white, does not turn out to be one of those most attributed, a sign that the teachers are attempting a change of course in the way of acting and operating, attempting to overcome a vertical tendency in the way of approaching the problem, highlighting an initial form of non-linearity (Sibilio, 2012;Sibilio & Zollo, 2016) through recourse to emotions, to positivity, also experimenting with a possible interconnection of the six hats through organisation, highlighted with the choice of the blue hat. However, the road to be taken so that the green hat, i.e., that of lateral thinking, is preponderant, is still uphill, as the teachers do not show, for all four groups, a general tendency to wear such a hat, which is useful for exercising creativity, while also respecting the detour from operational standardisation.…”

“…The school, in the age of complexity, due to the presence of a plurality of stimuli, of innovations. In this context the teacher must support the students to decipher of all the stimuli and problems, as well as search for strategies to deal with them (Sibilio, 2020), trying to find innovative and non-linear strategies (Sibilio, 2012;Sibilio & Zollo, 2016), which are on the great line of creativity (de Bono, 2015a). In this sense the logic of creative thinking, if declined in educational experiences included in the construction of the teacher's competences, could prove to be an interesting strategy for the resolution of problematic situations.…”

Metacognition and Colours for Inclusion: results of an explorative activity in a simplexity approach

“…It also emerges that the vertical thinking hat, i.e. white, does not turn out to be one of those most attributed, a sign that the teachers are attempting a change of course in the way of acting and operating, attempting to overcome a vertical tendency in the way of approaching the problem, highlighting an initial form of non-linearity (Sibilio & Zollo, 2016) through recourse to emotions, to positivity, also experimenting with a possible interconnection of the six hats through the organization, highlighted with the choice of the blue hat. However, the road to be taken so that the green hat, i.e., that of lateral thinking, is preponderant, is still uphill, as the teachers do not show, for all four groups, a general tendency to wear such a hat, which is useful for exercising creativity, while also respecting the detour from operational standardization.…”

“…An initial analysis of the areas of competence, knowledge, and behavior associated with this value that the teacher should possess, outlines a perspective according to which teachers are reflective practitioners (Shön, 1993;Aiello, 2018) and their initial training. The teacher not only transmits knowledge but meditates during the teaching action, identifies what are the strengths and weaknesses of his or her actions, trying to find innovative and non-linear strategies (Sibilio & Zollo, 2016), to overcome the weakness and enhance the strength, according to an exercise that stands on the great line of metacognition (Flavell, 1985) and creativity (de Bono, 2015).…”