Last week, we had a brief overview of the Systems & processes that go into creating a truly child-driven studio culture. This week, we will enter the first process, the process that is considered the most important of all – the Hero’s Journey.

System #1: The Hero’s Journey

The Hero’s Journey doesn’t seem to be a system at all. It sounds like a belief, a way to narrate a story or a description of life. The truth is, it IS all these – and more. The root of the Hero’s Journey is an archetype that we all live through. Derived by Joseph Campbell, who studied thousands of myths and stories which have been related by man since ancient times, it is a pattern that involves a Hero going through a journey of personal transformation.

Matthew Winkler sums up why the Hero’s Journey is the crux of a Hero’s transformation.

The Hero’s Journey is the most important process because:

• The process of transformation is deeply internal, and can only be experienced and told by the Hero himself.
• The Call to Adventure provides the narrative of taking the first step, and the middle part of the journey (Challenges, Allies/ Helpers, Trials, & Showdown) gives the template for the learning process. Finally, the final part of the Hero’s Journey (Transformation & Return to the Ordinary World) is about bringing the treasure back and being of service to the world.
• We practice Growth Mindset, praises, and other positive languages of affirmation to honour our children’s courage. And the Hero’s Journey clicks together like a glove.
• Acton Academy children are literally called “heroes” because we believe that they are going through the Hero’s Journey. We then call them “Eagles” based on the campus mascot.

How We Do It

First, as you guessed, we live through the Hero’s Journey ourselves, and truly believe in it. It appears in our Guide interview process, and is part of our everyday language. “What’s your Hero’s Journey?” is an important question.

Second, we tell stories. The Preschool has picture book storytelling time, and many of the books chosen follow the Hero’s Journey. The Elementary and Middle studios have discussions around these stories too. And our library is stocked with such books :))

Third, we express the Hero’s Journey by providing an environment that encourages this process. And all we do is create an environment that allows young heroes to make choices within broad explicit boundaries.

At Preschool, it starts with setting clear broad boundaries of the game and letting them play it. It’s simple: keep safe and have fun. At the Elementary and higher studios, the Eagles set boundaries through writing and negotiating covenants. The Guide’s role is not to discipline or be an authority. Instead, we hold up the mirror and ask the Eagles if their choices and actions honour their own Hero’s Journey.

Finally, we create & run all the other Acton processes and systems on the principle that the young hero is on a Hero’s Journey. It is that fundamental!

 

Now can you spot if the Eagles are using courage to make the harder choice in their Hero’s Journey?

Weekly Updates

This week, have a look at how the Eagles are faring along their Hero’s Journey. Are they, indeed, challenging themselves on their Hero’s Journeys?

Preschool / Spark Studio (PS) Update

Rising to the Challenge

The Preschool Eagles are rising to the challenge of the new systems that were introduced last week. In fact, some of them have challenged themselves to, in their own words, “harder work”. It’s so satisfying to watch the ‘magic’ of the systems slowly but surely come to fruition.

Fun, Sun & Sand

Big thanks to Uncle Robert, Alessa’s grandpa, for building a sand pit for the studio. The Eagles have been playing with the sand every morning since it’s introduction on Monday … it’s a big hit!

Purpose, Fun, Exploration

Purposeful fun and exploration … isn’t that what a child’s life should be about?

Elementary Studio (ES) Update

Children’s Business Fair

We kicked off the week with business idea brainstorming and planning for the Children’s Business Fair (CBF) that will complete Sprint 5. So many ideas came spilling out … “lemonade”, “custom paintings”, “Lego toys” … it was plain to see that the Eagles were all very pumped up. Some even brought prototypes over the week to get feedback from the community. Come visit the CBF on 16th June at Jaya One to see the rewards of all the blood, sweat and tears!!

Quest: Ancient Greece

The Eagles brought the geography of Ancient Greece to life by sketching and molding clay maps. They were fascinated by how geography changes over time: “Did you know that some cities no longer exist in Greece!?”

The Eagles also made abacuses and figured out how to use them to explore how the ancient civilisation did maths.

“Ohhhh, so the abacus is like the Ancient Greeks’ calculator?”

Finally, they researched into the Greek alphabet and made wax tablets – the ancient Greek answer to paper!

“Wow, it is so much work to learn and write in the olden days.”

Birthdays, Hunts & Special Workshops!

Happy 7th Birthday Jun Xi!! May your 7th year be as happy and fruitful as your 6th!

The Eagles had another social skills workshop with Auntie Dyani. The topic this week was: “Standing up for yourselves in an assertive manner.” The Eagles role played different situations and talked about being passive, assertive and aggressive.

Finally, the Eagles were very excited to go around the garden to hunt for chocolate eggs in our very belated Easter egg hunt!

Middle Studio (MS) Update

Mystery Challenge

This week, we had a Mystery Challenge:

“Today’s wealthy patron has commissioned an art piece featuring a tree. Fruiting trees are preferred, and supporting/surrounding vegetation is welcome, but there should be one central tree whose grandeur is highlighted by its prominence and relative size.”

They had 30 minutes to complete this challenge before the patron arrived to judge the work based on:

1) Creativity
2) Technical execution (perspective, shading, and rule of thirds)

P.E.

Sadly, their P.E. was limited by rain this week, but two rounds of 7-minute workouts were enough to tire most people out!

Art Critique

Every week, they do a round of Art Critique within their own group or as the whole studio. Since art is often personal and emotional, critique is a process that can go awry if not done thoughtfully. In general, during the critique, the Eagles ask questions, point out the aspects of wonder in a work, and avoid bland words like “interesting” without offering why you think so. They also point out areas of success and improvement while avoiding value judgments on the work (saying it’s “good” or “bad”). Lastly and above all, “don’t be a jerk.” (This is a feedback given for an image drawn in under 1 hour.) Another piece of feedback given was, “It is an 8/10 because it was very proportionate and you didn’t press hard with the pencil at the start because that is a bad habit that a lot of people have.”

 

Refocusing the Energy

The Eagles felt that the Yellow Collaboration Cards should be brought back to help them focus their efforts when they chose to work together. During the scheduled collaboration times, they declared what they wanted to talk about (e.g. Genre work, Civilization topics, pitch for deep books, or help with their core skills like math).

Looking Forward

What will the new week bring? Let’s cast our eyes forwards, wide open, to experience it and rise to its challenge!