Professional Wrestling and the Romantic Lie.

For the past four weeks, I have been working with four classes of Grade 7 & 8 students at 3 different schools. 

About 100 kids ... and I have been lying to them all.

I have been preparing them for a "Mystery Unit" about which "I am not at liberty to share information" because ... "I am in discussion with both the Principal and Superintendent in order to get permission to try this experiment". 

I do provide the following information...

• It is an incredible unit that they will find rewarding and engaging.
• It requires a high level of independent work and they get to be the stakeholders in their own education.
• Therefore, it requires a level of maturity (that I know they possess) but....
• the Superintendent and Principal are cautious - and need to see the evidence.
• So we are going to do some activities that show them how effectively we can work at a high-school level.
• All will be revealed after the March Break and ... fingers crossed...we get the Green Light! 

Almost everything I have told them is true. The three month, cross-curricular unit I have planned has always proven to be rewarding and engaging. It also provides students with multiple opportunities to share their voice and engage in rich debate through Class Discussions, Blog Writing & Flipgrid posts - shared between classes through the Social Media platform Edmodo.

My only fib is in the mystery I have intentionally created around the big reveal...truth be told...the unit has already been green lit, and will be launched when they return from March Break.

Even if you are not a fan of Professional Wrestling, you have likely heard of promoter Vince McMahon of the World Wrestling Entertainment empire. He, and his team of writers, have perfected the tricks originally developed by promoter, huckster and eventual politician PT Barnum in the late 1800's. 

This formula in current wrestling parlance...

• Hint at possibility - Tease
• Create mystery - Create an Angle 
• Build suspense - Generate Heat
• Deliver - Get Pop & Put the Face Over
• Sustain through Surprise - Swerves, Heel Turns & Face in Peril 

Dress it up in the outlandish costumes & over-the-top pageantry and you've got a billion dollar empire.

There is a reason that this approach lands with kids. It's too much to get into here - but there is a lot to discover in the works of anthropologist & philospher Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) and educational theorist Kieran Egan (1942- ), particularly his 1999 book Children's Minds, Talking Rabbits & Clockwork Oranges.

Herbert Spencer and Kieran Egan's 1999 Book

In a nutshell - early teens are typically in a state of Romanticism (just like the period) and both could be summarized as

• Showing delight in the exotic (especially the supernatural)
• Putting emphasis on individualism.
• Revolting against convention.
• Evidencing rich imagination.
• Having an intense interest in self-inquiry.
• Resisting order and reason.
• Celebrating transcendent human qualities (particularly redemption).

I guess this was a long explanation to justify my lie. I am a liar with a noble purpose (talk about a Romantic notion). I hope to set these students up for a highly engaging unit that they will find rewarding. I am also confident that they will become better thinkers and communicators by unit's end. I intend to document the journey here. Hope you can join me.