Flow theory in less than five minutes, I promise
It was the first game of the 1992 NBA
championship series the Portland Trailblazers were pulling ahead of the Chicago Bulls when Phil Jackson called a timeout
Michael Jordan emerged from this timeout with a sense of intense concentration
And though it didn't seem like a big deal at the time
He would then go on in the next 18 minutes to hit six three-pointers
At one point he looked to the sidelines and shrugged his shoulders
seemingly surprised by his own success
He later described this experience as being in the zone
now players in every sport describe this
similar experience of being in the zone where they tune out the crowd and the noise and the distractions and just play at their top
Performance, but it isn't limited to sports
artists and authors musicians
Engineers composers they all experience this same sense of being in the zone
It's a strange paradox where time seems to stand still and yet it seems to be over in an instant it feels effortless
Even though you're facing an extreme challenge, there's a sense of relaxation
But it's also intense you seem more present than ever but you also seem to lose your entire sense of self
You've probably
experienced this before when you were so engaged in a task that you lost track of time and
Place there's a term for this
It's called being in a state of flow and if we want
Students to be fully empowered to own the creative process to engage in deep and meaningful work
Well, then we need to understand what it means for students to reach this state of
flow although the idea of flow has existed for
thousands of years flow theory began in the 1970s and 80s when Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Became fascinated by artists who were so lost in their creative work that they would lose track of time and even ignore food
In sleep and through his research he noticed a similar experience with
Scientists and athletes and authors and all kinds of people who engaged in meaningful work
It was a state of hyper focus and complete engagement he described it as an optimal experience
Researchers do not have one single working model for a flow theory
But there are a few factors that the theorists have described as being vital for achieving the state of flow
Number one it needs to be a task that you find intrinsically rewarding you're not gonna hit a state of flow while necessarily
You know mowing the yard or cleaning toilets unless that's your jam
Number two you need clear goals and the sense of progress.  It helps if you are actually setting the goals yourserlf
Number three the task needs clear end
and immediate feedback, You need to know what you're doing and where you're going. Number four, the challenge must match the
perceived skills. This requires a sense of personal control or agency over the task
in 1987
researchers published the
8-channel model of flow shown here and notice that if a task is to easy
You might experience apathy or boredom?
but if the task seems too hard you'll be anxious the goal is to match both the skill level and
The task  hand. And number five it requires intense focus on the present moment so
What does this actually mean for schools? Well here are a few ideas
 
number one tap into intrinsic motivation, find tasks that students will want to do rather than
tasks that they simply have to do. Number two embrace student choice and agency whenever possible
allow them to own their learning.
Number three provide the right
scaffolding so that students can match the challenge level to their ability levels or at least their perceived ability levels.
Number four minimize distractions so that students can focus on their learning
it helps to change the pacing so that you have fewer tasks and more time to accomplish it. And number five helps students learn to
monitor their own progress through metacognition. Teach them to set goals analyze tasks
Figure out what they need to do make adjustments in the moment and reflect on their progress at hand
