Saturday SAVY, Day 1, Harry Potter and Psychology (5th-6th)
Hello wizards!
I was thrilled to begin the magical journey of learning about how the Harry Potter series interacts with the ways we think about psychology. To start the day, we took some time to go over class expectations and objectives. Then, we dove into getting to know each other by sorting everyone into their Hogwarts houses. We had a good mix of houses in the class, with the most being Ravenclaws and no Slytherins to be found. We shared about why we think we were sorted into our houses, as well as shared some fun facts about our past with the Harry Potter books and movies.
We then moved into the world of Psychology and explored important psychology questions, such as “why is it important to study psychology?”. We had a lively debate on whether nature or nurture contributes more to who we are as people (spoiler alert: it is actually that both tend to serve important roles). Students did a wonderful job presenting thoughtful points on why their side had a larger influence on human development, and they collaborated very well when asked to come up with responses to their opposing team’s points.
Before lunch, we watched a video about the different domains of psychology, and students gave 3 domains that stood out as most interesting to them. We then learned about the development of delayed gratification by watching a video about young kids trying to resist eating a marshmallow, did a social psychology study on conformity, and learned about what selective attention can and can’t do by viewing a funny video having to do with a gorilla.
After lunch, we played a rousing game of Harry Potter Jeopardy, through which students were able to show off their knowledge. Many of the questions posed a challenge for even the biggest of fans. It was so wonderful to see everyone participate as they competed to win the most points.
Then, we talked about the history of Harry Potter. We started in 1990 when the initial idea was thought up and went all the way to last year when a reboot MAX series was greenlit by Warner Brothers. Students then were asked to talk about who their favorite (and, by student request, least favorite) Harry Potter characters are and why. We had characters ranging from the big 3 (Harry, Ron, and Hermione) to Dobby the House Elf to TriWizard Champion Fleur Delacour. It was so amazing to hear how these characters are thought of by these brilliant students.
To end the day, we discussed a famous psychologist, Sigmund Freud, and his contributions to the field of psychology. We talked about “the Iceberg model” of consciousness and figured out how each level of consciousness is created. Then, we talked about Freud’s concepts of the id, ego, and superego and related those parts of our person to the main three characters of the Harry Potter series.
I look forward to seeing everyone next week and going even deeper into the connections between this amazing series and the field of psychology!