Skip to main content

Creating Choice

     Most educators agree that higher level thinking and actually learning only takes place once there is ownership and buy-in on the part of the learner. And that will only truly take place when CHOICE is available to the learner. Traditionally, choice has been in the form of an elective course in high school, choosing our major in college, etc.

     But we need to take choice way beyond that. Choice needs to be part of the the daily learning and educational activities. This can come in the form of choosing a specific school or program (like a charter school or specialty school), choosing an area of interest or focus and so on. But again, how do we create choice in our daily educational pursuits?
     This is not a new idea. Universities, researchers and most importantly, successful teacher, have been examining and implement choice in classrooms and learning for a long time. Again, these are not new ideas. Leaders like Alfie Kohn wrote about it 20 years ago (http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/cfc.htm and psychologists agree that motivation is innately linked to choice: http://www.apa.org/education/k12/learners.aspx as well).

     Again, to increase ownership and buy-in, and ultimately higher level thinking and learning, students need to have choices. These can be choices on specific areas of study and focus in any course or required subject. These can be project menus where students choose from a list of methodologies in terms of meeting a standard. This could be whom we work with and when. Collaboration is key and students have to have input on how that looks and feels. How about choices on how to communicate with teachers, advisers and mentors? Can the student text, direct message, call, etc. these important facilitators?
     What we have seen develop in the last 15 years or more is a lack of choice. In secondary education, electives were reduced or even eliminated. Options on how to meet a criteria or standard were streamlined or standardized. Choice dissipated and so did student engagement and success.

     CCSS could move in a better direction. But much of our system (A-G, core requirements, curriculum programs, etc.) are set-up to resist choice. Indeed, it's not always natural for educators either. When choice is presented, ownership is transferred from teacher to student. Most of us know that this is important and successful, but not always easy and certainly not automatic by any means.

     The world and the future of work are changing dramatically. Education will have to continue to evolve and change. Offering students CHOICE is just the beginning, but true thinking and learning start there.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Evolutionary Education - 5 Things That Could Be Extinct Soon

     It has often been uttered, that “only the fittest survive.” But when it comes to education, it seems things that might not even be that fit have continued to survive. However, just like in living species through time - dinosaurs, saber tooth tigers and the wooly mammoth just to name a few - even things that have lived on for a long time eventually go extinct. So, with that in mind, it seems educational evolution is occurring too and extinction might be inevitable for a variety of standard educational pedagogy, tools and practices. HERE ARE MY FIVE THINGS THAT COULD BE EXTINCT SOON:  Textbooks/Single Source Curriculum: (this includes ebook textbooks too). Regardless of whether they are digital or not, depending on and surviving on one text as the foundational source of information and context - regardless of course, age group and purpose - seems almost prehistoric at this point. Information changes daily and resources are born every minute on line. Anyone doing serious academ

21st Century High School Student Bill of Rights

     Since I began teaching in 1990, I have repeatedly heard the term “reform” with regards to our educational system. And as someone who has always believed in and practiced teaching that worked to be real world, relevant and student-oriented, I can still get excited about the “possibilities” of real change. However, even with all of the classrooms, schools and some systems that have embraced new standards, new technology, project-based approaches, democratization/student voice and more, it’s almost appalling how little has changed in many of our nation’s high school classrooms. They are still dominated by outdated pedagogies, resources, activities and learning environments. Many still live and die by the lecture, low level note taking, and low level quizzes and assessments, as well as teacher/administrator mindsets not in line with anything related to 21st century workplaces or careers.       This lack of overall progress has lead me to be more anxious, adamant and even angry about

Lead Like A Punk Rocker

(Inspired by and dedicated to #LeadWild, David Theriault, David Culberhouse, Jon Corippo, Dr. Brad Gustafson, Tom Whitford, Ken Durham, The Ramones, Bad Religion, The Clash, X and many others.) "PUNK IS: the personal expression of uniqueness that comes from the experiences of growing up in touch with our human ability to reason and ask questions.” - Greg Graffin, Bad Religion “The thread of culture that runs through the entire history of punk is also a dedication to challenging the authoritarian.” - Greg Graffin, Bad Religion      You can’t peruse social media, even for a minute, without coming across another book, blog post or quote about LEADERSHIP. But, here I go anyway. Leadership, and leadership theory, are applicable to all industries, endeavors and human interactions. And no doubt that leadership, and our leaders, are going through major transformations as our entire global society questions traditional approaches and yearns for more meaningful and empowering ones.