Mihaly's Flow

After watching Mihaly's talk on "flow", I feel relatable myself because there were times in my study experiences that I entered a similar state. It felt great because I can feel myself acquiring new skills and knowledge, at a difficulty level that is just right for me to handle with effort and felt sense of accomplishment. I agree that the feeling of arousal by some obstacle and having control with skills to overcome the obstacle is a great way to achieve flow state.

Bringing this understanding to math teaching, I believe it is definitely achievable with a carefully designed teaching pace mixed with the right kind of questions at the right kind of difficulty level. When students get into their right pace, they can reach the state of flow and enjoy learning math. However, I would argue that it is not going to be a universal experience for the class as a whole, no matter how you plan it. To reach the flow state, the pacing of understanding and applying their skill is crucial, but in a class with varied learning curve and speed, the teaching pace cannot cater to everyone at the same time, some are bound to be bored with the pace, or anxious to catch up with the pace. Also, a student's focus is sometimes out of the teacher's control. There will inevitably be times when they are caught up with something outside of math class, or personal matters, and cannot or doesn't want to follow the teaching pace. I want to say planning should definitely aim to aid students to get to flow, but teachers should accept it doesn't always work for everyone.