Providing Choice in Student Learning Goals
I recently started my training to get my license as a teacher. In the orientation we were asked to write about our favorite teacher and why they were our favorite. I chose my sixth grade teacher Mr. Walsh mostly because he was a teacher that gave us choices in his class. For one project he asked us to research one of the lyrics in his favorite song We Didn’t Start the Fire by Billy Joel. If you have never heard the song before, it basically lists important historical events in a catchy succession. Looking back now, he had the foresight to let us choose, within a reasonable framework, what to research to reach our learning goal of writing a research paper. This choice not only was one I remember to this very day, but set his place as one of my favorite teachers.
Choice is a powerful tool in the classroom and can help us overcome two major challenges in setting learning goals. In his book Learning to Choose, Choosing to Learn Mike Anderson (2016) lays out those two major challenges: differentiation and apathy. Let’s take a look at setting learning goals through these two lenses with the idea that students can and should set their own.
First let’s talk about differentiation when setting learning goals. I think that we can all agree that as a teacher, the idea of sitting and writing a specific learning goal for each student in our classes accounting for differentiation is literally a nightmare. Like actually a nightmare. I envision me sitting at a desk in a dark room, writing and writing and never getting to see my students. Then I wake in a cold sweat wondering if I will ever see the kids again. Of course that is hyperbole, but it has some parts that definitely ring true. So why not let the students take on some of the responsibility? One of the main reasons to use choice in your class is to provide options and have students self-differentiate (Anderson, 2016). They need to find their Goldilocks zone for their goals; not too hard as to be frustrating and not too easy as to be boring. This zone is also called the zone of proximal development. When students find this “just right” zone for their goals, it makes the process of achieving that goal more enjoyable, thereby increasing intrinsic motivation and engagement (Anderson, 2016). You can see a great visual of this in the figure borrowed from Anderson's book below.
Note. Zone of Proximal Development and Engagement reprinted from Anderson, M. (2016). Chapter 1. The Key Benefits of Choice. In Learning to Choose, Choosing to Learn. Alexandria, Virginia: ASCD. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/116015/chapters/The-Key-Benefits-of-Choice.aspx
Teaching students how to find this zone is one of our most important jobs. The first thing we have to do is to provide students with choices in the first place. Most good choice making comes from practice (Brenner, 2015), so we need to provide opportunities for practice in class. Dr. Abigail Brenner (2015) also suggests five steps to teach good decision making:
Define the decision, including the reasons to make it.
Brainstorm the possible outcomes.
Discuss the options and narrow them down to no more than three.
Pick one of the three, formulate the goal and make a plan.
Evaluate the outcome.
We can also teach the SMART Goal system by breaking it down and teaching about each step as Genia Connell (2016) suggests. By working on each part of the goal students will be able to get in the habit of making informed choices about their own learning goals.
Let’s take a look at that second challenge, apathy. We can see from above that when students get to choose their goals, they have a more joyful experience of learning. The brain is more available to learning when learning is joyful and we can avoid the fight, flight, or freeze response from students when goals are boring or frustrating (Anderson, 2016). If students make their own goals they are more likely to take ownership for them and take on the responsibility of achieving them. Just like Mr. Walsh and his memorable research project those positive emotions associated with choice are long lasting. Giving students opportunities to make choices about their learning goals is a great way to help them feel good about their work and thereby stay motivated in the face of apathy (Anderson, 2016).
By teaching students that they have the ability to make their own choice of goals, we are empowering them. Empowering them not only in our classroom, but in the wider world where they will make choices everyday. Perhaps if we provide good teaching around decision-making and goal creation, someday our students will look back at us as one of their favorite teachers. Or much more importantly be successful in continued learning and choice making.
References
Anderson, M. (2016). Chapter 1. The Key Benefits of Choice. In Learning to Choose, Choosing to Learn. Alexandria, Virginia: ASCD. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/116015/chapters/The-Key-Benefits-of-Choice.aspx
Brenner, A., M.D. (2015, May 30). The Importance of Learning How to Make Decisions. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/in-flux/201505/the-importance-learning-how-make-decisions
Connell, G. (2016). Setting (almost) SMART goals with my students. Scholastic. Retrieved from https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/genia-connell/setting-almost-smart-goals-my-students/