Why schools need more space for resonance

According to Curriculum 21, pupils acquire and develop basic knowledge and skills as well as cultural identity during their compulsory schooling, enabling them to engage in lifelong learning and find their place in society and working life.

But what does this require? Knowledge? Skills? Certainly.

However, in order for people to be willing to develop themselves further and continue learning throughout their lives, they must also develop a relationship with the content they are acquiring. According to philosopher and sociologist Hartmut Rosa, they must have what he calls «resonance experiences».

Life is not just about being clever, but about connecting, marvelling, resonating and thereby breathing life into things.

From the film «Good Will Hunting»

The term resonance originates from physics and means that a body begins to vibrate particularly strongly when it is stimulated by an external force with exactly the right frequency.

Resonance pedagogy

Hartmut Rosa applies this concept to human experiences, meaning that we are touched by something – another person or a piece of content – and «resonate» internally.

In his book Resonanzpädagogik (Resonance Pedagogy), he writes: «Competence and resonance are two very different things. Competence means mastering a technique, being able to use something at any time that I have acquired as my own. Resonance, on the other hand, means entering into a process-like relationship with something. Competence is appropriation, resonance means transforming the world: in doing so, I also transform myself.»

Enter into a relationship with something

In the film Good Will Hunting, psychologist Sean Maguire sums up this difference when he confronts the brilliant but inaccessible Will with the fact that knowledge, skill and intelligence are not everything:

«You have no idea what you're talking about. You've never been outside Boston. If I asked you about art, you could probably tell me everything there is to know about Michelangelo. His work, his political ambitions, his relationship with the Pope, his sexual orientation – everything, right? But you can't tell me what the Sistine Chapel smells like. You've never been there, never stood under that beautiful ceiling and looked up.»

The psychologist explains to Will that although he can do and knows many things, he has no real emotions, experiences or losses, and that life is not just about being smart, but about connecting, marvelling, resonating and thereby breathing life into things.

A good school should enable both: imparting skills and creating spaces where resonance can develop.

When a child is moved by reading a poem or a story, when they suddenly understand a concept in maths class and feel a sense of wonder, when they ask themselves questions while exploring a topic – that is when they connect with the subject matter. They are touched, respond internally, think further, and perhaps change a little. In these moments, encountering the material transforms not only the child's knowledge, but also the child itself.

So while competence aims to master something with confidence, resonance aims to create a lively, personal relationship with the world. A good school should enable both: imparting skills and creating spaces in which resonance can arise.

Enabling resonance experiences: A risk

Many teachers have a strong desire to give children such experiences. To inspire them to learn a foreign language, to pass on their own love of literature, to spark an interest in science in young people.

However, we cannot plan, create or even force experiences of resonance. They can only occur when the conditions are right. And that is difficult when the focus is primarily on measurable progress, adherence to the curriculum, grades and selection.

Resonance experiences need time to delve deeper into content, establish a connection to one's own life, discover and discuss contradictions, raise questions and search for answers. And they require a teacher who is convinced that the topics they teach are meaningful to the pupils and who is willing to take a risk.

Loss of control makes teachers vulnerable

You can teach them how to determine the metre of a poem and encourage them to acquire this skill by means of an exam. Whether young people are infected by their teacher's enthusiasm for Rilke, discover the beauty in the poems and are moved by them is beyond their control.

This loss of control makes teachers vulnerable. We all know what it's like when we're excited about a film, a song or a book, can spend hours watching birds or get absorbed in model making, only to find that our loved ones can't relate to it at all and find our enthusiasm somewhat embarrassing.

What can be omitted, even if it is in the curriculum or schoolbook – because in two years' time no one will care about it anymore?

At that moment, we close ourselves off. Many teachers who start their professional lives with enthusiasm have exactly this experience. Not only with pupils who don't respond, but also with team members who smile at their enthusiasm or whisper behind their backs: «Yeah, yeah, let her let off steam, she'll come to her senses eventually.»

What minimises resonance experiences

And then there are certain parents who often call for change, but immediately react with uncertainty and anger to bold initiatives by individual teachers, complaining that the parallel class is already one lesson ahead in the textbook, or suddenly collecting signatures to ensure that everything stays the same.

Time pressure, competition, rivalry and a fear of mistakes and detours do the rest to minimise resonant experiences.

6 questions for teachers about resonance

Despite all this, a surprising number of teachers manage to create such moments time and again. They are all united by the constant search for answers to questions such as:

• Why is what I teach relevant to me and my class?
• What can we make of this material? What bigger picture can emerge? What connections are there to other topics and to our everyday lives?
• Where are the small moments in class when my learners resonate emotionally – through enthusiasm, amazement, resistance, surprise – and how can I build on that?
• Which film clips, stories and people bring this material to life and could appeal to my class?
• Why does teaching this subject bore me? And how can I bring it back to life for myself?
• What can be omitted, even if it is in the curriculum or schoolbook – because in two years' time no one will care about it anymore?