Jul 22, 2024
Download as PDFIn a recent blog Making Room for Magic, author Annie O’Shaughnessy says that the key to “making room for magic” is to create learning conditions where participants make their own magic. When this magic happens, she explains, participants find personal and powerful connections with the learning: they become agents in their own learning.
Annie suggests starting with a powerful activity: learners articulating their own well-being needs using a Needs Inventory from Non-Violent Communications practice to focus on specific needs that are being met when they are deeply engaged in learning.
A New Zealand Model
I was struck by the close alignment in the inventory with a framework for health and well-being used in all levels of education in New Zealand. The framework, Te Whare Tapa Whā (The House with Four Walls), is a model for approaching mental health developed by leading Māori health advocate Sir Mason Durie in 1984.
The model pictures health and well-being as a wharenui (meeting house) with four taha (sides, walls). As defined by the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand these are:
- Taha tinana (physical – how your body feels and how you care for it)
- Taha wairua (spiritual – personal meaning derived from your relationship with the environment, people and heritage in the past, present and future)
- Taha hinengaro (mental and emotional – how you feel, communicate and think)
- Taha whānau (family and social – your feeling of connection with colleagues, friends, community, the people you care about)
The foundation the house stands on is the whenua (land, one’s roots – your physical and spiritual links to the land and therefore to generations before and after you, as well as physical spaces where you feel you belong).
Just as all four walls of a house and its foundation, must be in balance to support a house strongly, so must all the components of health and well-being be in balance for us to thrive. When one component is weak there is instability, and our health and well-being suffer.
How does the model support “magic” learning design?
Te Whare Tapa Whā provides a holistic easily visualised framework for learners as they consider their needs, and for facilitators as we design for “magic” learning that is deeply engaging. The model fits right in with the principles of Dialogue Education (DE) and a learning-centered approach.
If we plan for learning that supports taha wairua, for example, we will ensure learning has personal meaning – relevance and immediacy. Designing with taha tinana and taha hinengaro in mind will prompt us to consider physical, mental and emotional comfort – engagement. Paying attention to taha whānau will ensure connection – inclusion, respect, and safety. Awareness of whenua will also ensure connection and alignment with all six DE principles.
Learning-centred design that applies Te Whare Tapa Whā can be fine-tuned using the lists of words in the Needs Inventory. The words are grouped under seven headings: Connection, Honesty, Play, Peace, Physical Well-being, Meaning and Autonomy. As illustrated in the diagram below, these also align comfortably with the components of the framework.
How can we use Te Whare Tapa Whā?
When I design for learning, I consider each component of the framework combined with GLP’s 8 Steps of Design. Here’s some questions I think about:
Whenua
I consider how to make the learning environment a safe (and brave) space for everyone to be themselves, and to connect with each other and the geographical space we are in:
- How can we acknowledge the origins and ancestral peoples of the land we are meeting on?
- How can I make space for my own and participants’ origins and ancestry to be acknowledged and shared?
Taha Tinana
I consider when and where I am teaching, bearing in mind the impact of physical needs on engagement:
- Where are participants travelling from, and how much is the session costing them in terms of time and money? How can I address stresses this might cause?
- How can I ensure participants are physically comfortable in the learning environment? Are disabilities and neurodiversity accounted for?
- How can we address “Zoom fatigue”?
Taha Wairua
I consider why and what I am teaching, remembering that relevance and immediacy are essential factors in finding personal meaning:
- Why are participants coming and what will they need?
- How can I turn these needs into measurable learning objectives that are relevant, specific and achievable in the time available?
- How can I check participants’ expectations and make mine clear?
Taha Hinengaro
I consider how I will engage participants in learning, aware that meeting human needs for honesty, play, peace and autonomy facilitate deep engagement:
- Does my teaching avoid monologue and facilitate dialogue?
- Am I planning learning activities every 10 to 15 minutes for participants to anchor and apply the content?
- Have I included a mix of delivery methods and learning activities so that the participants and I remain energised?
Taha Whānau
I consider who I will be teaching, and how to facilitate connection among all of us that meets needs for inclusion, respect and safety:
- Who is attending? How are they different from me?
- What do I know about participants’ age, ethnicity, educational background and life experience?
- How can the content I am introducing be illustrated with examples that are meaningful to participants?
- How do the learning activities foster positive connection between participants?
Learning-centred design provides many opportunities to strengthen each component of learners’ well-being. I am excited to discover the close links between the Māori model Te Whare Tapa Whā and the principles and well-being needs analysis tools used in Dialogue Education.
How has this model inspired your thinking of design and facilitation?
Jane Terrell is a Certified Dialogue Education Practitioner and is currently contracting as a teaching development educator and workplace learning facilitator. She is particularly focused on the needs of under-prepared learner groups, and meeting these through interactive, dialogue approaches.
Here are some resources for further reading: