It’s the mid-term break now, and I’m still marking papers. I’m helping to teach two modules this semester – Game Design, and Introduction to Interactive Media Design. It’s interesting (though challenging) to see the difference in the way the two modules are taught, as well as graded. As I continue to teach in design-related modules, I’m also starting to gather insights on best practices in teaching, and some of the difficulties and challenges of teaching design modules.
Something struck me today.
The process of design is often a very difficult one to grasp for students. It takes numerous examples and constant exposure to practice before they get it. Even for me, I’ve been doing design work for the last 4 years or so, and I’m only barely getting a glimpse into the methodology that goes behind the work. Almost nobody ‘gets’ it and is able to put it into practice after one exposure. It takes repeated exercises, repeated work, before the principles become habit.
And that is really the goal of any design teacher – to practise and train their students until the principles that they are taught manifest themselves in habits of behavior and thought. You don’t pass on knowledge, you pass on a skill… a pattern of doing things. And this must become tacit knowledge – must become ingrained into the student’s soul – before it is of any practical value.
The trouble is… these things take time. They take practice. You can’t teach a skill like piano-playing in a day. Similarly, you can’t teach a design methodology in a day, a week, or even a semester. It’s a very slow process. You have to practice and repeat, practice and repeat… expose them to the same skill and same principle operating in various circumstances, until they get it. But how can you do it in a classroom setting? And how can you successfully measure the outcome, if the learning objective is a process, not a product or a body of knowledge?
It’s a very difficult problem, and I’m not sure I know the answer.
Right now, I can see that the best way to teach a design habit is really through a mentoring / apprenticeship model, the way all other craft skills are taught. You have someone working on something, and a more experienced mentor working alongside, showing them how to do certain things, and evaluating their progress, on a one-to-one basis. You’ll have to structure the lessons in such a way that one aspect of the skill is taught at one time, and constantly reinforced throughout the course by subsequent lessons as well.
My life is full.
Packed to the brim.
HELP!!
Somehow, these last few weeks have started to seem really crammed to me. For one, this week was the start of tutorials, so now I have to actually spend more time preparing for each class and marking afterwards. Then there’s the graduate studies, where I have to compile a reading list of research material and actually get around to reading it. Which takes up another big chunk of time – not to mention that I’m considering changing my topic, which could potentially double my workload as I read a little of both and decide whether it’s worthwhile to change or stay. Then there’s ministry, which is starting to ramp up as the Young Adults Zone is getting its’ act together under a new pastor and I’m being tapped for more involvement in church activities, plus ministry training and preparation. Then there’s the NUS Games Development Group, which I’m also trying to help and train. Then there are a bunch of friends that I’m trying to spend time and hang out with.
All of these add up to a huge amount of time.
Surprisingly, even though it’s exhausting and I occasionally find myself just blanking out at my desk… I like the sensation of being able to live life fully. And I still find little pockets of time to rest. But I’m well aware that I can’t maintain this pace indefinitely. Sooner or later, something’s going to crack. And when it does – when I fall down exhausted from running the Red Queen’s race, I’ll be left behind and struggling to catch up, in even more of a rush than before. I think it’s only by the grace of God that I’ll be able to stand this pace. What’s more if I start to follow the inklings of my heart and pursue romance once more.
Which is why, before that happens, I must must MUST discipline myself to spend time in prayer. Martin Luther once said (and this is one of my favourite quotes):
Work, work, from morning until late at night. In fact, I have so much to do that I shall have to spend the first three hours in prayer.
I don’t know if I have the stamina to spend three hours in prayer like he did, but I’m coming to understand that prayer IS a very vital component to sustainable spiritual life. And so, it is important to pray. Now it’s just a matter of actually doing it.
Today I turn 25.
I think for me, this marks the beginning of a new stage in life… a new season. A third of my life – a quarter-century – has come and gone. If I were to look back, I would think that the first third was characterised by a quest for manhood. The main goal and search of my life was to find out and then become an ideal of manhood. What does it mean to be a man, and how can I live up to that standard? That was the question that always surfaced in my mind whenever I examined myself or thought seriously about my life.
And now in the last year or two, I think my views have solidified, and I have found an answer. It may not be a complete answer, and may not encompass the whole definition of manhood, but for me, it is enough. It satisfies my understanding of what seems to be the key essence of manliness – the cornerstone of manhood upon which all other qualities are built. And this can be summed up in one word: responsibility. Responsibility – as a husband, as a father, as a teacher, as a leader, as a citizen, as an employee, as a friend. When Duty calls, Man must answer.
A man can be measured by the depth and breadth of the responsibilities that he has been entrusted with, and how well he bears up under the burdens of them. Responsibility for the care and safety of his family. Responsibility to not leave or run away… for staying and being there when others need him. Responsibility for the decisions he makes, and the consequences thereof – from choosing Who he will follow to what he decides to do in the day-to-day moments of his life. The first words that God spoke to Man included in them a burden of responsibility and a duty to fulfill: God charged man to “fill the earth and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Gen. 1:28, NASB)
So that is my answer to the quest for manhood that took up the first third of my life. I will probably still continue to grow and discover more about what it means to be a man as I gain new experiences in life, no doubt. But these will now no longer be my focus. I think the season is changing for me.
The next season in life, I feel, is going to be about the pursuit of wisdom. I have learned, and have acquired responsibilities – as a teacher, as a friend, as a leader, as a son. But the wisdom to manage those responsibilities well – to advise people who are facing difficult situations, to handle unexpected surprises in life, to know what to do and what to say in troubling circumstances… when Solomon inherited the awesome responsibility of being king over God’s chosen people, he prayed for wisdom to be able to fulfill his task in life. And so, too, I pray and wish for the same.
What does it mean to be wise? And how can I increase in wisdom? Those will be the questions that will guide me in the next 25 years of my life, as I deepen and broaden my experiences in life – as a working adult, a Christian leader, a filial son, a husband, a father, a friend, and a teacher of others. When I turn 50, I hope I will be known for my wisdom and insight into human nature and Divine reality. But there will be a long road ahead.
