When was the last time you looked up at the sky or stood on a beach and peered out to sea?
Awe is defined as a feeling of reverential respect mixed with wonder. This psychological reaction occurs when we experience something vast such as a seascape or a mountain vista. It can also occur when hearing a piece of soul-inspiring music or viewing a work of art.
Awe is feeling tingles down your spine. It is your breath catching in your throat. It is an open mouth. It is the sense of being part of something bigger than yourself. Awesome experiences spark positive emotions that can carry over into the classroom and into life.
Research cited in Discover June 2020 and seen in this video by Dalcher Kelner has found that these types of experiences can change one’s view of the world, oneself, and one’s feelings about others. Participants in the 2019 PLOS ONE study participated in awe-inspiring experiences. Afterward they felt more optimist, more gratitude, and more love for others. It is hypothesized that awe has been key in creating group cohesion from the time of early human life.
“These greater inclinations — to share with, care about and help others — seem to relate to the way people feel small and insignificant in the presence of something wondrous. When personal concerns and goals appear less important, attention gets redirected to the greater society. There’s more room to care about the welfare of others.”
Awe-inspiring experiences can also make you feel more humble and happier. The vastness or intensity of the experience puts one’s goals in perspective and inspires caring for the welfare of others. Sharing the experience with others binds people together.
“The only things in my life that compatibly exist with this grand universe are the creative works of the human spirit.”
Ansel Adams
So how do we bring awe-inspiring experiences to the classroom, especially at in a time of pandemic? One way is to go outside and experience nature. A lesson as simple as standing in a parking lot or sports field and looking up at the sky can inspire awe.
By emphasizing close observation through all the senses and looking at things in new ways and with a variety of tools, even the ordinary can become awesome. Here is a lesson focused on clouds for preschoolers and lower elementary: https://stemfun4kids.com/2015/04/10/clouds-a-sensory-observation/
Look around for things to experience with the senses. With young children try giant-sized sunflowers, raising butterflies, blowing bubbles, and more.
It is much easier for young children to experience awe and wonder. So much is new to them. For older students, field trips to ponds, creeks, marshes, woodlands, or even a close examination of a flower inspire awe. But there must be time for the senses to be activated. These experiences must provide plenty of opportunities to listen, breath deep, and be still. Awe is not inspired with a worksheet.
But what if you can’t go outside or are teaching over the Internet? Then we must explore the Internet for amazing videos and music that inspire awe. William Damon has posted the videos he used in his study of awe. Here are two of them.
Awe-inspiring experiences are even more powerful when experienced with others. Standing under the same sky, the same stars, on the same mountain peak shows us how our individual wants and desires are very small compared to the wonder of existence.
When was the last time you experienced awe?
