Leonardo Effect

Hickey and Robson (2013) explain the Leonardo Effect as a creative approach that empowers children with the freedom to construct their own learning. This is through investigation of a topic using a complementary curriculum design which incorporates the collaboration of science and the arts; through their experiential learning, other subjects such as literacy and numeracy are also visited, therefore enhancing the knowledge of the pupil. Whilst using the Leonardo Effect in the classroom the teacher’s role is purely as a facilitator, guiding the learning using their knowledge and skills. When children are taught in a traditional teacher-led setting it is suggested that a number of pupils will become disengaged, thus limiting their attainment and damaging their desire to learn (Hickey & Robson, 2013).

The curriculum design stems from the works of Leonardo da Vinci, which are a perfect example of how art and science are not separate entities. You only have to look at the Vitruvian Man below to see that da Vinci had a sound scientific understanding of the proportions of the human body, which has been meticulously recreated to scale using his artic skills (BBC Science and Nature, 2014).

(Vinci, 1490)

Leonardo da Vinci believed that in order to develop ideas pupils must gain first-hand experience; feed their curiosity by exploring the subject. In turn this will re-ignite their passion for learning and expand their potential to learn. The theory is, by encouraging our leaners to think and involve themselves actively in a task the meaning and relevance of the subject will become more apparent to the leaner (The Leonardo Effect, 2013).

The curriculum design is practiced in many schools throughout Scotland and Wales and has been proclaimed an innovative approach that enables children to “become more confident collaborators…rising to learning challenges” (The Leonardo Effect, 2013).

As a course of exploring the benefits of the Leonardo effect in practice we conducted an activity using the principles of the method. This process is explained below:

Step One: As the facilitator of the session our lecturer, Laura Philips, gave four tables a sheet of paper and asked us each to write down our assigned element. Our table was given Water. From here we were asked to record any words that related to this element in two minutes; once our time came to an end we would move clockwise to each of the tables and spend an additional two minutes adding to the documents. As you can see from the image below, the end product visited avenues that may not have been explored had there not been input from all of the pupils in the classroom, or if the lesson had been planned ahead of time by the teacher for a structured session.

 

Step Two: We were asked to prepare a five minute presentation as a group, based on one of the words, to present back to the class. As a group we decided upon the Bermuda Triangle; a topic that, had we not used The Leonardo Effect curriculum design, we may never have explored. It was fascinating that from the four original elements we ended up with such a variety of interesting presentations that fully engaged each member of the class.

The activity was not only interesting and engaging, it was also challenging. Once the third and fourth table was reached, two to three groups had already visited them and it was becoming increasingly difficult to think of words without being influenced by other groups’ suggestions. Once the obvious words had been documented we began to think in abstract manner; thinking about the periodic table (H2O), the different states of the element (ice, snow), current and past events around the world (the Tsunami or the Bostcastle flooding) as well as tapping into our geographical knowledge (The Bermuda Triangle). The presentation itself accessed additional areas of the curriculum.  We created a PowerPoint presentation before presenting back to the class, so Information Technology and Communication Skills were also key areas that the method encouraged the groups to visit. With this said it is not difficult to see how children are surpassing ceilings and excelling using the method as they are gaining a richer and more varied learning experience, covering a multitude of subjects simultaneously.