The Guildford Explorativity Walk SCEPTrE Conference 2007
Some answers and examples of responses
Csikszentmihalyi described the idea of “flow”:
“In our studies we found that every flow activity, whether it involved competition, chance or other dimensions of experience, had this in common: It provided a sense of discovery, a creative feeling of transporting the person into a new reality…. In short it transformed the self by making it more complex. In this growth of the self lies the key to flow activities.”
Csikszentmihalyi, M (1990) The Psychology of Optimal Experience. NY. Harper Collins. With acknowledgement to the National College for School Leadership.
Explorativity blog:
Explorativity email:
With many thanks to:
- Sara Scott, gardening design consultant and our expert on Guildford
- The kind advisers in the Tourist Information Office in Tunsgate
- The Parks and Gardens Dept for keeping the Castle Gardens open
Acknowledgements also to:
Unused question re the stained glass windows in the cathedral:
Can you find a connection between the six English words in the second set of windows to the left after entering by the southern doors and some research carried out by members of the University of Surrey? (There are three words that are central to some of its, and SCEPTrE’s, principles.)
Answer: Surrey’s Paul Tosey and Juliet McDonnell report on the “key dimensions” of enquiry-based learning by undergraduates, noting that “head, heart, hands” constitute one of the most important of the dimensions, involving the whole person. (McDonnell, J and Tosey, P (2006) Learning to Learn through Supported Enquiry. Paper presented at Surrey University, SCEPTrE, 27 February 2006)
The Mount – Guildford Cemetery on your right as you go downhill. Go in, and follow the path as it bears right towards the chapel. Just opposite the chapel entrance is the grave of a famous person.
Question: Whose is it?
Answer: Lewis Carroll (Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson). He got his pen-name via Latin: Lutwidge - Ludovico - Lewis; Charles - Carolus - Carroll. (Compare Professor Elton’s first name metamorphosis from Ludwig to Lewis.)
Question: In what two senses might he have been said to “retire” in 1898?
Answer: The headstone says that he fell asleep (‘retired’) at the age of 65 (the traditional retiring age for men in this country).
Question: Who was Lucy Lutwidge?
Answer: She was the aunt of Lewis Carroll.
Question: What is the denomination of the church – what is the design of the cross?
Answer: English Orthodox. The cross has a short upper cross-piece, then a longer lower cross-piece, with a third, slanted cross-piece below.
Task: As a group, and bearing in mind your current activity, discuss and hazard a guess at what the author was doing when he was inspired with the final line of his poem “The Hunting of the Snark”.
Answer: He was walking and doing some creative thinking. Lewis Carroll was a great walker. Even towards the end of his life he would walk twenty or more miles. When in Guildford he was fond of tramping over the downs, and thought nothing of a walk to Farnham across the Hog’s Back. It was on one of these walks, on July 18th 1875, that the last line of his nonsense masterpiece ‘The Hunting of the Snark’ came into his head: ‘For the Snark was a Boojum, you see’.)
Task: As a team, consider and offer a plausible answer to the question “Why is a raven like a writing-desk?”
Answer: From Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland:
The Hatter opened his eyes very wide on hearing this; but all he said was,
"Why is a raven like a writing-desk?"...
"Have you guessed the riddle yet?" the Hatter said, turning to Alice again.
"No, I give it up," Alice replied. "What's the answer?"
"I haven't the slightest idea," said the Hatter.
The Mad Hatter never answers his riddle in Alice's Adventure In Wonderland. Carroll's answer: "Because it can produce a few notes, tho they are very flat; and it is nevar put with the wrong end in front!" Note the clever misspelling of “nevar” so it is "raven" spelled backwards.
Question: Near the bottom, on the right side of the High Street as you go uphill there is someone who seems to be in a hurry, but is going nowhere… Who is it? How old is he?
Answer: It is the statue of The Guildford Scholar. It is 5 years old (from installation to conference date).
Question: How long is the High Street?
Answer: About 600-650 metres
The High Street - near the junction of the High Street and North Street
Question: What is the connection between the hospital opposite the Church of the Holy Trinity St Mary’s and the statue a little further up the hill?
Answer: It is known as “Abbot’s Hospital”, after its founder, George Abbot, once Archbishop of Canterbury, and famous Guildfordian, whose statue stands at the junction of the two streets.
Question: What sort of hospital is it?
Answer: It is an almshouse, and a hospital according to an old definition of the word.
Question: What does the inscription above the arched doorway say, and what does it mean?
Answer: Deus nobis haec otia fecit – God made this tranquillity/rest for us
The High Street - near the top
Task: Across the road from the Guildford Hotel, (which has an odd cavalier on its façade), and a little uphill, there are some quotations set into the pavement. Choose one and make a note of it. Slip it into the conversation during the evening. If you notice anyone else using one of the quotations, declare that you have recognised this.
The inscriptions are:
It all started on an ordinary day, in the most ordinary place in the world
After all, tomorrow is another day
Hello gorgeous
Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera and so forth
You’re late. You’re stunning. You’re forgiven
For a moment there I thought we were in trouble
It’s the story of my life. I always get the fuzzy end of the lollipop
Hang on lads, I’ve got a great idea
You talkin’ to me?
The Castle Gardens
Question: Search the gardens in the area beyond the bowling green. Use the information board and plan to help you. Who is the young woman found reflecting in an original way?
Answer: Near the house called “Chestnuts”, where Lewis Carroll’s sisters lived (as did he some of the time), there is a section of the garden with a statue of Alice passing through the looking glass.
Question: What alloy and what pure metal are suggested…?
Answer: It is made of the alloy bronze, and the sculptor’s name, Argent, suggests silver.
Task: The famous literary, mathematical and clerical figure of our walk is credited with inventing “Doublets Puzzles”, in which two associated words are given, and the challenge is to transform the first into the second, one letter at a time, so that every step in the word ladder differs by one letter and must formulate a new word.
Example:
PIG to STY: PIG – WIG – WAG – WAY – SAY – STY
a) In the spirit of Surrey University in particular, with reference to the link between academic study and employment…
How few steps does it take you to get from
READ to WORK?
Answer: READ – ROAD – WOAD – WORD – WORK
b) Prof Barnett says successful learners in a supercomplex age need not only to do things but also to be certain kinds of people (explorative people, I would say).
Can you go from DO to BE?
(clue: with the help of a Tellytubby who is an Italian river, two (short) parents and me)
Answer: DO – PO – PA – MA – ME – BE
Millmead – west of the River Wey, and south of the Town Bridge
Task: On the grassy bank is a sculpture. Look at this as a metaphor. Offer an interpretation of the metaphor, in relation to the SCEPTrE Conference.
Answer: One possibility is that one person is learning by reading an absorbing text; meanwhile, something lively, real and exciting is catching the attention of her companion. As we know, the consequences of the latter girl’s explorative pursuit are highly dramatic and original.
Another possibility might relate to the difficulty that some students have in sustaining undistracted attention.
Question: Ahead of you there is a pub that might make George Bush and others of his ilk feel at home. Why?
Answer: It is The White House
Prepare an entry for the wiki that gives a description or definition of “explorative” based on your experience.
“Official” definition:
“Explorative” refers to attitudes and practices that bring new information, inspiration, opportunities, experiences, connections and developments that are likely to enhance situations, states of mind, relationships, environments or lifestyles.
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