Saturday SAVY, Week 3, Harry Potter and Psychology (5th-6th)
Today was quite bittersweet as we wrapped up this chapter of our story. It has been such a joy and pleasure to get to know each one of these amazing wizards and witches, and getting to show them how one of their favorite book/movie series connects to the study of psychology. Each student has contributed to the class in important and helpful ways, from enthusiastically diving into Jeopardy to discussing the impact of different Harry Potter social relationships, to evaluating Jungian and Freudian psychology in the context of the series characters.
However, we could not end the class without one last project and one big surprise. To begin, the class was asked to review the entirety of the Harry Potter series, as well as what they learned in class. This was done so that they could come up with a topic that they could present on that summarized the impact of psychology on a character, theme, plot element, or other component of the Harry Potter series. Students thoroughly enjoyed diving into what they learned in the course and applying it to something we had not discussed that was relevant to the books or movies.
From there, students created a poster presentation (much like real psychology researchers) that evaluated the connection they identified, the impact it had on the plot of the Harry Potter series, as well as where they have seen a similar connection appear in their own lives. Students evaluated important topics such as:
- Rubeus Hagrid served as a protective factor for Harry Potter’s development
- Social relationship between Harry and Malfoy and how this influenced Malfoy’s character traits (e.g., competitiveness)
- Voldemort’s unconscious may have known that Harry Potter was a horcrux, and thus, led him to struggle killing him
- Percy Weasley’s character arc demonstrated the growth of his morality and superego
I was so impressed by how detailed and thoughtful all the students were with this presentation. As I explained to them, this assignment has been previously done with college students who found it to be challenging. However, all the students handled the work like pros! Many of the students felt the same way, as they took the time to go through a gallery walk of each poster and learn from their fellow students’ analyses.
As for the big surprise, we combined forces with another class from SAVY: the mock trial class. In doing so, students were able to dive deeper into forensic psychology, an area we were unable to cover in a lot of detail during this course. Students found out that the trial they would be partaking was extremely relevant as it was about whether or not Ginny Weasley should be given blame for the opening of the Chamber of Secrets in the second book of the Harry Potter series.
Students were asked to take on the psychology of two individual characters who would be serving on the jury, such as Draco Malfoy, Albus Dumbledore, and Luna Lovegood. From there, they were each asked to provide answers for each of their characters that would determine which one would be included on the jury panel. This required them to evaluate important parts of psychology by filling out character analysis cards, including factors like motivations, temperament, and personality quirks. They excelled at this, and really did wonderfully embodying their selected characters.
From there, they dove right into being in the trial, including taking detailed notes, collaborating on how they, as a jury, felt about different aspects of the defense and prosecutions, as well as considered the psychological foundations of this sort of legal interaction. The mock trial class (made up of older students) was very impressed by the level of detail and motivation that the students contributed towards this final element of their own class. I hope this addition was an enjoyable element of the last class for the students, as I do know that the other class greatly appreciated having them there.
I am so thankful that I had the chance to serve as the teacher for this class. Each student was an absolute pleasure to work with, and I very much hope they will dive back into the wonderful world of SAVY in the spring. Thank you for giving me the chance to work with them as they learned about a new way to look at Harry and the magical world that he lives in.
And with that, mischief managed!
Zach Stuckelman