When I think about my favorite structured learning experience, I think about two classes that I took as part of my undergraduate degree. They were called IDEA 3100 and IDEA 4100. IDEA stands for Interdisciplinary Expressive Arts. Both classes were taught by the same person, Ross Laird, who is to this day, one of my favorite teachers. The courses are currently described as providing innovative opportunities to explore and expand self, world, and academic purviews. The IDEA courses are still offered at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, although they are no longer taught by Ross.

What made taking these courses a memorable experience, was what I learned about myself, and also that I made relationships with my classmates and my teacher.

These courses were project-based and we learned about what it meant to be a young adult, and how to function a bit better in the world. Our teacher helped us think of projects that would suit our lives and build upon skills and interests that we already had. We then did these projects outside of class time and brought some of the skills back to teach our class. We shared our projects and celebrated with each other. We also learned about philosophical theory and myth, and this was interwoven into projects that each of us developed. In class, we did mindfulness exercises and tapped into ourselves. For example, we walked around the university campus blindfolded for hours, practicing our blindness, something we were taught was important to think about our senses and energy in the world.

I have never learned so much about myself in a University class before. As I took this class for two different semesters, I created two different projects. One was a cedar shoji screen that my dad and I crafted together. The other was a delicate veil for my wedding, and one for my best friend’s wedding. I remember that both the wedding veil and the shoji screen projects suited my life at the time perfectly and added value. I was also stretched when using my skills for both, and was challenged to create something I normally would not have taken the time to do.

While remembering my own projects isn’t that big of a feat, I can remember many of the projects that my classmates did too. We learned about pierogies from one person, how to make a dollhouse from another, and how to modify an electric bike from another. We were a very tight-knit group in both cases We developed a small community and supported each other in these classes by being positive, supportive, and showing interest in each others’ skills and interests.

Our teacher was also very memorable. He was impressive in terms of his knowledge, life story, and accomplishments. He was a published author and knew more about mythology than anyone I have met since. He took time to get to know each of us and be the support we needed while exploring more about ourselves. He is the only teacher that I kept in touch with since University and I sometimes check out the new things he is doing in the world. I remember that he gave authentic feedback and pushed me to revise my work and make it the best that I could. The projects were not easy, and he was quite the critic of my writing. I think that being pushed was part of what made the project work successful as I needed to try to do well. We received grades in the course, and it was possible to fail.

As a teacher myself, I often think about Ross and the methods he used in his classes. When I study educational theories this semester, I will continue to think about what made these classes such a success in terms of the theory behind their design. I know that he was a thoughtful teacher, and a lot of planning would have gone into his classes to make them so memorable, now fourteen years later.

Working on cedar shoji screen, 2010. Photo by Kylie Van Eaton.