Rhythm. "Ordered variation of changes" (p. 160). As a musician I hear the term charged with a particular meaning. In a broader sense we often hear of the natural rhythms of life. Dewey discusses rhythm with such a broad scope, and he devotes so much discussion to it, that I won't ever hear it in the same way. Dewey credits rhythm in the natural world as "the first characteristic of the environing world that makes possible the existence of artistic form" (p. 153).
Dewey approaches rhythm from his definition of form: "Form may then be defined as the operation of forces that carry the experience of an event, object, scene, and situation to its own integral fulfillment" (p. 142). Simply stated form is the method, the how, however it must be tied to the integral fulfillment or risk an overtly mechanical nature. In the attempt to reach this integral fulfillment the artist must overcome challenges, "the existence of resistance defines the place of intelligence in the production of an object of fine art" (p. 143). This rhythm of resistance and intelligent creativity is responsible for advances in technique, however those advances "grow out of the need for new modes of experience" (p. 147) not out of the resistances of technique itself.
Earlier today I wrote in the ED 5010 moodle site that I experience patterns of optimism and pessimism as a teacher. Now I'm trying to relate what I wrote above to my teaching experiences, which I tend to think of as paralleled to artistic experiences, if not actual artistic ones. It suggests to me that at the predictable low points a new mode of experience is needed. This could mean throwing out old lessons (I tend to renew themes rather than actual lessons though) or rethinking the layout of the year. It could mean changing positions or even more drastically changing jobs. I think it will be natural, once in any position for an extended period of time, to find all sorts of rhythms, some of them leading to opportunities for intelligence and creativity.
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