It was a sunny Wednesday morning and the learning plan for the week said it was time to go out on a shadow walk. We were exploring the topic of light, and naturally, we wanted to engage with the sun, our world’s most important source of light. As we set off on a walk around campus, I enthusiastically modelled for the children my joy at seeing my shadow. I played with changing the shape of my shadow, and the children happily did the same.
We continued walking our usual path, which would take us around the track and field. It was there that the children’s attention began to shift. One child had found a piece of garbage and brought it to me. My grateful reaction then inspired another child to seek out the garbage. Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent that there was a lot more garbage to be found. Soon every child was looking for garbage and my hands were beginning to get full. At that moment I had a choice, to try to re-engage the children with the topic of shadows or to let go and take the time to acknowledge what we were experiencing. I chose to let go.
Then and there, we stopped and had a quick meeting where I laid out on the ground all that the children had found and we talked about how we felt about it. All the children agreed that what we found was gross. “¡Que asco!” they exclaimed, which means disgusting in Spanish. In continuing our walk I invited the children to keep an eye out for more garbage along the way, and boy did we find some.
Later that day, as I reflected on our walk, I had the sense that the children had experienced something important and I wondered how to capitalize on it. A few years previously I had used the Pyramid Lite tool with my students to explore a problem. I remembered how engaged the students had been through the process and thought that maybe the tool could help us explore the garbage problem that we had discovered. My challenge would then be to figure out when we could make time to work on the problem, while also continuing with our exploration of light.
A few days later I introduced Pyramid Lite to the class. Many of the children immediately recognized the shape of the tool as a triangle or a pyramid, and we took note of how the shape was bigger at the bottom and small and pointy at the top. With an image of the garbage, we had found, projected on a large screen close by, I then explained to the children that the Pyramid could help us solve the garbage problem that we had discovered. I asked the children to look at the image and posed to them the question at the base of the Pyramid, “What is happening?”. As children offered responses, I realized that their answers weren’t always fitting into the first section, but instead were more suited for the second or third sections: “Why is it happening?” and “What can we do?”. I knew then that I needed to change my approach, so I decided to guide the children to write responses in whatever section seemed most suited for their answer. The children gladly came up to the board and “wrote” their answers on the Pyramid.
We worked on the Pyramid on one other occasion, fitting it in after cleanup time in the classroom and before we went outside. I then decided it was time to do some additional research to explore one of the answers that suggested there was a problem with garbage because “The big kids don’t know where the garbage is.” I should take a moment to explain here that the children had become certain that it was the “big kids” that were throwing garbage on the ground because we found the garbage closer to the secondary school. I asked for volunteers and six students eagerly raised their hands to come with me while the rest of the group began center time. Our first stop was the place where we had originally found the garbage.
Each child, with a clipboard in hand, documented their observations. “The garbage was all on the field.” “There is no garage can.” Where were the garbage cans, I asked? The children immediately began running towards the cafeteria and what they believed to be garbage cans. It turned out that what they spotted were actually recycling bins, so I took a moment to help the children to notice what was in the bins and if it was garbage. Where is the garbage can, I asked again? The children spotted one not too far away and went to take a closer look.
At that moment I knew I needed to help the children make the leap to being able to explore the idea that “the big kids don’t know where the garbage is.” I guided the children to look back to where we had originally found the garbage and directly asked them, “Is this garbage can close to or far away from where the garbage was?” They immediately identified that the can was far away. With that, we returned to the classroom for the remainder of center time. After a cleanup time, I invited the volunteers to share their discovery and add it to the Pyramid.
Over the course of the week that followed we may have looked at the Pyramid one additional time, while I thought about how I could help the children take the next step in the problem-solving process so that we could decide what we needed to do and how we were going to do it. For this, I ended up using props (a piece of green foam for grass, two plastic children, two small cups, etc.) to act out a story of a child who throws garbage on the ground. In placing a small cup (i.e. garbage can) far away, I was able to help all the children connect with the idea that there were no garbage cans close to where we found the garbage. This physical representation of the problem also helped the children come up with ideas for what we could do and how. “Poner más botes de basura.” (Put more garbage cans.) “Comprando más botes y ponelos donde los necesitan.” (Buy more garbage cans and put them where we need them.) As we wrote in our additional ideas, one girl excitedly exclaimed “We’re almost to the top!”
After 16 days the moment had finally come, we were ready to do something about the garbage problem. It happens that I am in charge of the school’s recycling program, so I knew right where we could go to get a garbage can. It was quite adventurous for the children to be able to go to a place where students don’t normally get to go. They were very interested to see where all the campus garbage and recycling is collected. Everyone wanted to have a turn pulling the big can out to the field.
Once we had the garbage can in place, the children spread out to see if there was garbage to be found. There was some garbage and the children quickly and happily took care of it.
Later that day the children had the opportunity to share their work and thoughts with the 6th-grade class who happened to be working to address a separate garbage problem related to the eating areas on campus. I believe this experience provided an added sense of importance for the children about what we had done. It also felt like a great culminating moment.
Moving forward I would really like to find another opportunity to use the Pyramid Lite tool with these same students so that I can reinforce for them the usefulness of the tool and the skills they are using to complete it. For now, though I think the next step for us will be to revisit the field in a week or so to see if there is any garbage. I truly believe we made a difference for our school community, and it goes to show that even the youngest of learners can be change-makers!
What I have discovered:
- Even though it took us more than two weeks to complete the Pyramid Lite tool, the children never wavered in their interest to continue the work.
- The children needed to express their ideas in a more lateral way, as opposed to strictly following the linear progression of the questions on the pyramid. I wonder how this might change as students get older?
- Storytelling with props helped the students develop a picture in their minds of a problem and enabled them to think of solutions, which I then incorporated into the story I was telling. This could be helpful for both identifying the best solution as well as for eliminating those that might not work as well.
- Through the process, I needed to accept that there were potential ideas that the students weren’t able to generate themselves. For example, I knew that the garbage problem stemmed largely from the afterschool sports program, which my students aren’t at all familiar with. I was able to help ensure the success of the student’s plan by going to the sports director and sharing with him our discoveries. He then talked with the coaches about having students clean the field after sports.
- Every time we leave the classroom now the children are taking more notice of their surroundings and spotting even the smallest pieces of garbage. I know that this noticing skill will be useful in other aspects of the children’s lives.
Karen Virta
Karen Virta has worked at the American School of Puerto Vallarta (ASPV) for the past five years as the lead English teacher for students ages four and five years old. She holds a Masters in Curriculum & Instruction with a focus on constructivism, as well as a certificate in early educational leadership. Karen is a member of the Compass Education Learning and Empowerment Team and is certified as a Level 2 Compass Educator. In addition to her work bringing systems thinking tools into her kinder classroom, during the previous year Karen worked with a team of stakeholders at ASPV to complete a Sustainable Community School Transformation process. Karen currently helps facilitate the Primary School SEL committee and manages the school’s recycling program in collaboration with a team of high school students. When not at work, Karen can be found enjoying time with her family, watching movies and playing card games.
