Productive Uncertainty
I originally wrote this post exactly a year ago! Productive Uncertainty remains one of my favorite concepts to think about when teaching and guiding our learners. With spring and yard decorations soon upon us once again, I am re-sharing this post, with updated visuals & renewed joy, and as an article to download if youโd like to print and share with others!
There is a house near mine that has several plastic pink flamingos in their front yard. The owners creatively position, dress up and reposition the flamingos periodically in entertaining ways. For example, last summer I remember seeing them dressed for a luau, in the fall, they were ready for football season, and just yesterday, they were all up in a tree. I love the anticipation as I approach their yard, wondering what these flamingos will be doing next. And I always feel happy, amused, and appreciative of each new discovery. I'm sure I am not the only one who is invested in these birds!
Let me explain. The flamingosโ owners have created a baseline pattern, and over time, have quietly welcomed passersby to become familiar with it: There are always flamingos in the front yard. They hang out in a silly scene for a period of time. Then, one day, the flamingos are doing something new and different! We are surprised and delighted all over again.
Productive uncertainty is the spot where we feel competent because we are doing something that is familiar to us, yet also excited because there has been a small change.
And, as with the flamingos, we come to enjoy those moments of anticipation when we donโt yet know what will happen next.
Now, letโs think about when there is too much uncertainty. This is perceived as chaos. When we canโt recognize a pattern that we know within a novel situation, we likely feel scared, overwhelmed and not competent. We may even go into fight or flight. Can you think of a time that you or maybe your child has experienced this feeling because the novelty of a situation was too great?
In contrast to too much uncertainty, is too little uncertainty. When patterns remain the same, without any changes over time, growth cannot occur. For example, if the flamingos never moved, I would probably stop noticing them all together. It would become uninteresting and there would be no additional opportunities for mental engagement.
We all need to experience productive uncertainty to grow and stretch ourselves in new ways. In Chapter 7 of ๐ถ๐-๐ ๐๐๐ข๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ป๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, I discuss the term edge of competence. This idea, first expressed by Lev Vygotsky, means there is challenge at that just right level -- not too easy, not too hard.
If we bring it back to my favorite flamingos, the learning opportunity at hand might be the internal predictions I make using my world knowledge and episodic memory: โWhat season is it? Any holidays coming up? Where have they been so far and what have they already done?โ Based on this information, I can imagine possibilities of what they might be doing next.
Have a great week!
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