The October Sky Phenomenon: Finding the Spark that Ignites Students’ Desire to Learn

This paper outlines the beginnings of a new theory in education. It is based on the idea that exposing students to "great explorers” and “great events" sparks a deeper engagement in learning - and that this engagement leads to self-motivation and higher achievement through interaction with mentors and other role models. 

BY CALEB M. SCHUTZ 

GREAT EXPLORERS AND GREAT EVENTS

Educators generally acknowledge that a key component of student learning is meaningfully engaging the student in the topic. Various research and literature exists to define engagement and to determine and assess teaching approaches that foster it. 

The October Sky Phenomenon theory posits an important and curiously overlooked step required for real engagement to occur: tapping into students' intrinsic interest and curiosity so they choose to become engaged in their learning. We call this the "spark." 

Motivate students by lighting the spark of inspiration that will fuel their motivation to actively engage in learning.

Most assume the spark is ignited by teachers, parents or the curriculum. From interviews with thousands of kids and adults, it is clear these influences are important. However, with many students the effect often is not powerful enough to initiate lasting engagement. A factual example explains the spark and what I call "The October Sky Phenomenon": 

In October 1957, a young man named Homer Hickam looked into the night sky and saw Sputnik streaking across the horizon. The impact of this "great event" was immediate and transforming. The son of a West Virginia coal miner whose own future in the mines was preordained, Homer's sighting of Sputnik lit the spark that made him want to do whatever it took to launch rockets. He achieved that dream by overcoming daunting obstacles, including learning the requisite math and science.

He also had the audacity to write to the world's premier rocket scientist, the "great explorer" Werner von Braun. To everyone's surprise, Werner took the time to write back! Instead of becoming a coal miner, Homer became a NASA engineer and authored the memoir, The Rocket Boys on which the movie October Sky is based. 

No one gave Homer Hickam a curriculum on rocket science. His parents often were discouraging. Other than a teacher and a few friends who were won over, almost everyone in Homer's community thought him a wild dreamer - or just irresponsible. 

Further, Homer's family was poor. While his circumstances may at first appear unusual, they are too common even today. We cannot forget the need to motivate students who find themselves in situations such as Homer's - or worse. 

With all odds against him, how did Homer succeed? It started with the spark. Then something deeper happened. 

Students will do whatever it takes to achieve their dreams when they become engaged and self-motivated to overcome obstacles that are in their way. 

The evidence of a spark is seen clearly when students become engaged - behaviorally, emotionally and cognitively (Fredericks et. aI., 2004). They spend more time on task, they talk more about the subject, they ask probing questions, they investigate, they find answers and then keep going. Students are really excited about what they are doing when their learning no longer requires external motivators. They become self-driven to find the answers that will help them achieve their goals. 

Though extremely powerful and experienced by many throughout history, the October Sky Phenomenon entails a series of critical - but completely random - occurrences. First, a great event such as Sputnik's launch occurs. A student such as Homer happens to witness, and be profoundly moved by, the event. Then, that student finds a mentor who, in some small but vitally important way, inspires the student to pursue a totally new path.

Curriculum/Pedagogy

The goal is to take the principles in the random occurrence of the October Sky Phenomenon and make them non-random, repeatable and available on demand to every student. Since we cannot predict what will light the spark within each student, a wide range of experiences and learning activities must be provided.

It has been found that students approach learning with personal dedication when they connect with an explorer (content expert and charismatic mentor) and exciting, real-world events. Students get to know these explorers as real people who have had to study and work hard and, as a result, now are engaged in such fascinating and important work. They see the explorers describe their passion for what they do and its use in real- world contexts to which the students can relate. 

This is quite a contrast to most students' perceptions of various professions and the usual drudgery of carrying out "boring" day-to-day tasks. For example, if students might see something like dew point through the eyes of a renown tornado-chaser and they come to understand it as one of his most important tools for predicting a storm's formation and path. Wow! A student who learns dew point can warn people of an impending tornado!

This connection with explorers and meaningful context engages students and keeps them asking more and more sophisticated questions. They ultimately find their own motivation to uncover the answers and apply what they have learned, as Homer and so many others have done to overcome obstacles and achieve their dreams. This, however, is only part of the total experience.

To be exciting to students and re-energizing to educators, this new pedagogical approach, combines rigorous curriculum with technology.

The October Sky theory starts with the premise that the curriculum needs to speak to students in their language to get and keep them engaged, and it needs to speak to educators to be relevant in classrooms.

If we can plainly see what excites and engages kids in their everyday lives, why not use the same tools in curriculum?

While working within today’s educational framework, look over the horizon for new solutions.

No matter how engaging the October Sky approach is for students, the curriculum must be relevant to teachers and administrators to be used in classrooms. It must teach what students need to learn by showing clear alignment to standards, and its effects need to be assessed. Curriculum should be designed to fit within school districts' core curriculum and aligned to the standards of each state.

Student Achievement and Understanding

Student achievement often is measured with test scores. Our theory is that students who meaningfully participate in curriculum that sparks the desire to learn will show improved scores for content covered in the curriculum - and will find learning more enjoyable and engaging.

The gestalt of the October Sky Phenomenon learning theory can lead to greater student achievement - inspiring students to become and stay engaged in a community of explorer mentors and learners.

We can’t currently predict, which students will end up in which careers based on the sparks that excite them. However, we think the totality of an inspired learning experience will leave them richer, more self-aware, driven to set higher goals and self-motivated to achieve them.

Understanding is usually defined as factual knowledge coupled with the conceptual ability to explain, interpret and apply that knowledge to new ways of thinking. In the broadest sense, the October Sky Phenomenon theory holds that students’ engagement will increase if core curriculum is imbedded with the spark concept. This is consistent with studies of talent development by Bloom and others that examined three phases by which individuals reach high levels of accomplishment: early instruction emphasizing exploration, curiosity and enjoyment of the field; mastering the field's techniques, principles and vocabulary; and finally, transitioning from imitation and technical mastery to viewing problems in new ways and finding one's own voice (Bloom, 1985).

Students’ views of themselves and the world around them are changed.

As students progress through this type of curriculum in all its variety - classroom curriculum, extracurricular activities, new interpersonal relationships - they begin to see themselves and their world differently. By strenuously applying themselves to higher goals they become more deeply engaged in their education. Doing so, they also become more aware of their own potential as well as their personal and societal responsibilities, and they are better able to make informed decisions about complex issues facing themselves and society.

Finally, the theory is that research will show students' understanding and their desire to engage in learning, will surface in other ways: their choice of elective courses, involvement in extracurricular activities, the books they read, television shows they watch, games they play in their leisure time and, ultimately, their higher education and career choices. By systematically connecting students to great explorers and great events, to positive alternatives, and rigorous academic challenges in their formative years, they will be set on the road to higher achievement and greater understanding of themselves and their world.

 By systematically connecting students to great explorers and great events, to positive alternatives, and rigorous academic challenges in their formative years, they will be set on the road to higher achievement and greater understanding of themselves and their world. 

Conclusion

The theory proposed in this paper is supported by nearly two decades of practical application and research studies. Most recently in the area of Open Educational Resources (OER) and Collaboration. If the October Sky Phenomenon theory is valid, there is no reason that this approach would not be valid to every subject, drawing on great explorers from the ranks of writers, mathematicians or social scientists.

A corollary theory, not covered in this paper, is that the same factors applied to educators help to re-energize them and heighten their impact on students, and increase their understanding of a given field of study.

My hope is that this paper contributes to a new field of research and acts as a catalyst for engagement from education, business and philanthropy. I invite those who share this vision to help explore and chart a 21st century solution for education.