The Carondelet Prison
Experiment & The 4Cs In action
Experiment & The 4Cs In action
In Ethics last month we explored Restorative Justice (shout out to Carrie and Caitlin for coming in to intro that for us!) in
relation to various social issues including the School to Prison Pipeline, Policing
in the United States, and alternatives to the death penalty and incarceration for
non-violent criminals.
relation to various social issues including the School to Prison Pipeline, Policing
in the United States, and alternatives to the death penalty and incarceration for
non-violent criminals.
I asked students to get into groups and create a 30 minute
experience for their classmates that explored one of these issues from an
ethical perspective using technology and student interaction (i.e. don’t just
make a freaking Kahoot! please).
experience for their classmates that explored one of these issues from an
ethical perspective using technology and student interaction (i.e. don’t just
make a freaking Kahoot! please).
If you are already feeling uncomfortable and
uncertain – it’s ok I was too – these are really serious topics and I really was committed to making sure they weren’t satirized or trivialized.
uncertain – it’s ok I was too – these are really serious topics and I really was committed to making sure they weren’t satirized or trivialized.
At the same time I was thinking about the 4C’s – Critical
Thinking, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity – something that I had learned about while
getting my credential and something that was a looming Alludo task. In order to
really try this out I felt like I needed to give up some of the normal control
and interference I run while working with students on group projects so I made it a point to have each of these 4 components critical to the group’s successes – hence the
Carondelet Prison Experiment was born….
Thinking, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity – something that I had learned about while
getting my credential and something that was a looming Alludo task. In order to
really try this out I felt like I needed to give up some of the normal control
and interference I run while working with students on group projects so I made it a point to have each of these 4 components critical to the group’s successes – hence the
Carondelet Prison Experiment was born….
A group
of students took the US prison population (by race, gender, and crime) and put
it into proportion of the 25 students in the class. They then created a their
own version of Hedbanz where each student had a card taped to their head
representing their crime and gave the class ten minutes to walk around and guess what
their own crime was by the way other people treated them. As you can imagine things
got weird, rowdy, and slightly uncomfy as someone who was a “murder” was
avoided by the class and someone who had abused a child was put in the corner,
literally.
of students took the US prison population (by race, gender, and crime) and put
it into proportion of the 25 students in the class. They then created a their
own version of Hedbanz where each student had a card taped to their head
representing their crime and gave the class ten minutes to walk around and guess what
their own crime was by the way other people treated them. As you can imagine things
got weird, rowdy, and slightly uncomfy as someone who was a “murder” was
avoided by the class and someone who had abused a child was put in the corner,
literally.
here they are with their Hedbanz cards on their heads waiting for instructions……
The ten
minutes were slightly anxiety provoking for me – I was not in control and was
worried something would be said that would hurt someone or a joke would be made
that would derail the whole thing. I was wrong. The simulation didn’t go perfectly
but the discussion that we had after was so great.
minutes were slightly anxiety provoking for me – I was not in control and was
worried something would be said that would hurt someone or a joke would be made
that would derail the whole thing. I was wrong. The simulation didn’t go perfectly
but the discussion that we had after was so great.
I have often thought that
some topics could not lend themselves to creativity because of their serious
nature. In retrospect this project worked because students were given full ownership of the project (there were vague instructions) and they were allowed to integrate things that were familiar to them (in this case a game that they played: Hedbanz) and consequently the engagement from the rest of the class was high because of the novelty of the idea and because the class overall seemed to want to help each other succeed.
some topics could not lend themselves to creativity because of their serious
nature. In retrospect this project worked because students were given full ownership of the project (there were vague instructions) and they were allowed to integrate things that were familiar to them (in this case a game that they played: Hedbanz) and consequently the engagement from the rest of the class was high because of the novelty of the idea and because the class overall seemed to want to help each other succeed.
Giving students autonomy and keeping the 4C’s in mind really helped me to realize that I do not have the best answers/ideas – my students do, especially when they can authentically work together. I just need to give them the creative space to help them create something amazing.
