photo © 2008 Tom Mascardo | more info (via: Wylio)
Synthesis is one of the scariest words in education. Seriously. It’s what we know how to do ourselves but struggle the most to teach others to do.
In Search of a Synthesis Metaphor, and Finding Martha Stewart Along the Way
Synthesis reminds me that moment when a trapeze artist lets go of her bar but has yet to clasp onto the hands of her partner. It’s not just showing off the facts we learned. It’s almost intangible … and yet it is our job to make it tangible.
I’ve struggled for some time to come up with a metaphor for synthesis. At times, I say it’s like what Martha Stewart does. Anybody can go out into the garden and pick flowers (facts) and dump them on the table (PowerPoint slide). That’s not synthesis.
What Martha does is artfully arrange them. She trims some stems to make them shorter but leaves others long. She may not use all the flowers she picks (because we are all working under the assumption in this metaphor that this billionairess actually still does all her own flowers, right? Work with me,people). Some may be discarded or moved into other vases.
That’s what makes the arrangement a synthesis.
Synthesis is about choices, arrangement, and putting one’s own stamp on things.
In talking with a brilliant colleague earlier this week, we also talked about how synthesis comes at the end of a research project, sure. But it also comes each time a student reads/views/experiences a source. The student engages in a continual mini-cycle of find, understand, make notes.
We searched for a metaphor to describe that cycle of many mini-syntheses that led to a Big Synthesis at the end. I liked the metaphor of a quilt — many carefully curated smaller pieces that, together, make a harmonious whole. She reminded me that kids, unlike librarians, are not that interested in quilts.
We cycled through many, many, MANY more possibilities.
From Sheep to Sweater
The one that finally stuck was that maybe research is like going from sheep to sweater. (I know - I worry that it’s worse than QUILTING!) First, you shear the sheep … then that wool is carded, and the less useful parts put aside. Then the yarn is spun into thin skeins. Then those thin hanks are twisted together into yarn. Then the yarn is dyed. Then, skeins of yarn that are either harmonious or provide intriguing counterpoint are knitted together into a sweater … or a scarf … or a pair of mittens, whatever the occasion requires.
Not all of the original wool gets used, nor does all the yarn get used. At each step, the materials are refined, and unnecessary parts are eliminated. Finally, there is a moment of transformation — although the final product is built from the original sheep’s wool, it is not a duplicate. It’s something new and original.
And About Those Index Cards
And that brings me to index cards. I had a student go into a school where the librarian wanted to teach index cards for notetaking. Seemed old-fashioned to me. But then I started thinking about my undergraduate thesis, done in the days when 3×5″ was an idol to that many of us worshipped. I clearly remember taping the cards to the bathroom wall and rearranging them a bit each morning as I brushed my teeth as I worked through the ideas and the outcomes. Maybe those librarians had a point. What index cards made easy was the ability to quickly mash up and intermix content from various sources. Yellow highlighting doesn’t do that.
Here’s Where You Come In
I got a little carried away with my Hallelujah moments this weekend and completely botched up the order of the next “Nudging Toward Inquiry” column. I screwed up and forgot that Synthesis is the next issue, not Formative Assessment. (I’m sure there is an academic joke in there somewhere.) So … will you put on your best Martha Stewart and consider giving this one a crack?
Many thanks!
