(Analytic Essay: Literature)
I am also frequently reminded of the fact that every person has different strengths. For instance, manipulating numbers comes easily to me, whereas my younger brother can put together anything in front of him, and my dad can get himself anywhere without looking at a map. I know that just as my family members have different strengths, my students do too. I agree with something that Frances said in our Field Seminar class, which was that we should strive to "create an environment where kids can see themselves succeeding and doing well". I believe that having a sense of each student's strengths, or multiple intelligences, can help create that environment.
Although I fully intended to incorporate student choice and the ideas behind multiple intelligence theory into my practice, I thought that it would be important to understand what the research says about these ideas. For background information on what I mean by "student choice" and "multiple intelligence theory" please click the respective links.
Why enable student choice?
Over the past ten months I have been introduced to many new (new to me, not the field of education) educational theorists and researchers. One of the researchers who has been of particular interest to me is Alfie Kohn. On my first day of summer placement at the Parent Infant Center, my teacher was running around the classroom trying to get the centers set up. Although she was too busy to talk, she felt that it was important to take the time to find an article written by Alfie Kohn that she told us to read. Although I may not agree entirely with Kohn on everything, we agree on the importance of student choice.
In his article titled Choices for children: Why and how to let students decide, Kohn (1993) talks about how schooling is "typically about doing things to children, not working with them. An array of punishments and rewards is used to enforce compliance with an agenda that students rarely have any opportunity to influence" (p. 9). Despite the fact that this article was published over twenty-years ago, much of what Kohn is saying about our system of schooling remains the same to this day. Kohn (1993) proposes that many issues with students' attitudes and behavior are a result of this system of schooling in which students have little to no say about what happens to them for a majority of their waking hours (p. 8). By depriving students of opportunities for self-determination, we have "likely deprived them of their motivation" (Kohn, 1993, p. 14). Kohn's (1993) argument in favor of student choice is similar to my initial line of reasoning:
Finally, it needs to be said that allowing people to make decisions about what happens to them is inherently preferable to controlling them. It is more respectful and consistent with basic values to which most of us claim to subscribe. |
Kohn is not the only researcher who is pushing for more student choice in the classroom. Denton and Kriete (2000), who are well-known for their book The First Six Weeks of School and their relationship with "Responsive Classroom", also advocate for encouraging choice. One of the core beliefs in the Responsive Classroom Approach is how children learn is just as important as what they learn. Denton and Kriete (2000) believe "children learn best when they have the opportunity to make choices about what they’re learning . Ideally there should be a balance between teacher-directed and child-initiated experiences." (Denton & Kriete, 2000, p. 13)
Specifically, Denton (2005) has identified the following effects of incorporating student choice: (I have embedded links to the artifacts that illustrate where the theory intersects with what I saw in practice. I will discuss these in depth later on in my portfolio here.)
- "when students have choices in their learning, they become highly engaged and productive" (Denton, 2005, p. 2)
- increased excitement and desire to share their knowledge (p. 2)
- "likely to think more deeply and creatively" (p. 2)
- "work with more persistence" (p. 2)
- "students get along better with each other, resolve conflicts more independently, and actually reduce the number of problem behaviors in the classroom when they have regular opportunities to make choices in their learning" (p. 2)
- increased desire and motivation to learn (p. 4)
Rainey (1965); Lin, Chen et al. (1977); Rice and Linn, (1978); Jervis, (1986); Edwards and Juliebo, (1989); Garland, (1995); Stanne, (1999); McPhail, Pierson et al. (2000) have found that, "Students are more likely to be on task. They become more engaged in their work, enjoy it more, and feel a greater sense of pride, ownership, and satisfaction" (as cited in Denton, 2005, p. 207). I will talk about how I found these things to be true as well when I talk about the Fairytale Point of View Project. Denton (2005) proposed that Self-Determination Theory might explain why giving students choice might result in these positive outcomes. The excerpt to the right goes into more detail about this.
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According to self-determination theory, we all have an innate need to feel competent, to belong, and to have some degree of freedom or autonomy, and meeting these needs motivates much of our behavior. When these needs are met, we are free to pursue constructive learning experiences. By contrast, when we feel that we don’t have any control or input into our experiences and environments, when we feel incompetent or isolated, we tend to become disengaged, cynical, and alienated. |
"Academic Choice"Responsive Classroom published a book devoted to what they call "Academic Choice". According to Denton (2005), academic choice is when children choose their learning activity within a range of choices structured by the teacher. This allows them to work at their own pace and at their level of ability (p. 18). What sets Academic Choice in the Responsive Classroom approach apart from student choice in general is that it is limited to two kinds of choices- what to learn (content) and/or how to learn (process). In addition, every Academic Choice lesson always has three phases: planning, working, and reflecting. During the planning phase, children decide what they are going to do and plan how they’ll do it. During the working phase, they complete their chosen task. Lastly, during the reflecting phase, they reflect on the work they’ve done and the learning that has occurred (Denton, 2005, p. 3).
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To read more about student choice and see different types of choices that students can make, click here.
how choice is NOT intended to be used
I will spend more time talking about different ways that I do NOT intend to use choice in the classroom when I analyze my experiences in my different placements, but I wanted to make a few things clear. First, when I am talking about incorporating student choice into the classroom, I am talking about doing it on a whole-class level. Weinstein (2011) talks about how some teachers offer specific students the ability to make choices as a reward for effort or good behavior rather than using choice as a strategy for fostering effort and good behavior. In this scenario, it is likely that the students who are getting to make choices are likely the students who are already self-regulated (p. 236-237). My lessons were designed so that each individual in the class was able to make his or her own choice.
Second, not all choices are equal and not all "choices" have positive effects. Kohn (1993) introduced a term called "pseudochoice" which illustrates this point. Teachers offer students "pseudochoices" when they propose a situation that is quite obviously loaded, for instance, "You can finish your math problems now or you can stay in during recess. Which would you prefer?" or when the teacher offers to let the student choose but already has made up her mind . If you would like to jump ahead to more information about pseudochoice, click here.
Second, not all choices are equal and not all "choices" have positive effects. Kohn (1993) introduced a term called "pseudochoice" which illustrates this point. Teachers offer students "pseudochoices" when they propose a situation that is quite obviously loaded, for instance, "You can finish your math problems now or you can stay in during recess. Which would you prefer?" or when the teacher offers to let the student choose but already has made up her mind . If you would like to jump ahead to more information about pseudochoice, click here.
Why use Multiple Intelligence Theory?
"No longer is the purpose of education simply to pick out those students who are intelligent, on one or another definition, and give them special access to higher education. Rather, the purpose of education now is to educate an entire population, for we cannot waste any minds."
-Gardner, 2006, p 238
-Gardner, 2006, p 238
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The world is becoming more diverse. Gardner (2006) suggests that we should adopt an individual-centered model of education. By this, he means that individuals have different profiles of abilities and both the individual and society "will be better off if those individual proclivities are honored and nurtured rather than ignored or minimized" (p. 239).
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Multiple intelligence theory allows educators to move away from limiting intelligence to a "static, quantifiable number". Campbell and Campbell (1999) say that this means a shift from:
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Affirms and gives credibility to what teachers already know (every class is made up of individuals with a range of differences) and gives them a vocabulary to perceive and articulate this broader array of talent (Campbell & Campbell, 1999, p. 5).
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Teaching and assessing students in the same way is actually fundamentally unfair rather than being fair because it tends to privilege students who have strong linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligences while making school difficult for those who have different intellectual profiles (Gardner, 2006, p. 56). Students should be able to demonstrate their understanding in a way that is comfortable for them (Erwin, 2004, p. 143).
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"Mastery of a concept or theory requires repeated exposure to that material: one almost never achieves instant understanding. But it is a mistake to present the same content in the same way. Understanding is far more likely to be achieved if the student encounters the material in a variety of guises and contexts. And the best way to bring this about is to draw on all of the intelligences that are relevant to that topic in as many legitimate ways as possible" (Gardner, 2006, p. 60).
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