The Choice for Change

“We may begin with a concept – set out art supplies, divide the class into discussion groups, organize an interview – but the children will direct the meaning making, and we as teachers will have to be sensitive to their wants and needs” (Booth and Barton 57). David Booth is a professor of Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. He is also the author of many books, and an exceptional public speaker. Bob Barton is one of Canada’s most-experienced storytellers. He served as an Educational Consultant and has written several children’s books, and professional works. I believe what Booth and Barton are trying to say, is that a teacher can sit/stand at the front of the room and provide the class with a lesson or instructions for a task, but when it comes down to actually interpreting the knowledge or completing the task, it is left in the hands of the student…thus fostering self-directed learning.

The 21st century is bringing about change. This change refers to the way in which teachers educate students. Teachers and students are becoming equals in the classroom, as opposed to teacher-directed management which suggests that “…the teacher makes almost all of the major decisions, including room arrangement, seating assignments, classroom decorations, academic content, assessment devices and criteria, and decisions concerning the day-to-day operation of the classroom” (Elliott et al 98). In my opinion, teacher-directed management is unsuccessful because students feel as if they have no say in any decisions made towards their own learning. I remember having a teacher in grade 3 that controlled every single decision that had to do with our classroom. She was so controlling, it even got to the point where she would decide the location of the class goldfish bowl because she thought it was distracting to us – when in actuality, the control she tried to express over us was the real distraction. Each week before the teacher got to the classroom, several students in my class would decide where to place the fishbowl – most of the time on her desk. She was so fed up with the class; she always blamed our actions on bad student behavior. However, these actions were a result of the products she had created. I know it is a silly example– the movement of a fishbowl in act of rebellion – but it is one I remembered and just goes to show how young this behavior can start with an ineffective and overwhelming teaching style.

After hearing Professor Drake speak in lecture about the developing 21st century style of teaching, it really opened my eyes to the ways in which teachers deliver content and pass on knowledge to a student. I am not saying that I never thought of this beforehand, it just made me pay close attention to the different methods university professors have used to instruct groups of students. Although I am a student myself, I do strongly support the idea of student-directed learning. Students need to be able to receive material/information and be able to interpret it to the best of their abilities – meaning it varies from student to student. In university last year, I had one of the best teachers I have ever had. I will always remember the way he instructed, as I would like to carry that forward with me in my future career as a teacher. This professor believed in an element called choice. “Choice plays a key role in student-directed learning and person-centered environments because it is believes that a student can learn to make good choices only if he has the opportunity to make choices” (Lewis, 2001; Ryan and Deci, 2000 in Principles of Classroom Assessment 92). Choice is exactly what this professor gave to us. It worked! Everyone was determined to try their very best and work hard - knowing that their ability to learn was 100% in their control. Not only was I challenged with the ability to take away from lessons what I thought was important, or challenged with the ability to make what I thought was the right decision, but it really got me thinking about the way in which I think and process information – metacognition. Through the power of change, metacognition is gaining importance, in my opinion, as it is extremely helpful to me to know not only how I learn best, but also how I think about things I’ve been taught. Once we become successful in changing the ways in which we facilitate student learning to a more constructivist approach, then I believe student success will gradually increase. I will continue to learn and grow based on my own personal experiences and the experiences of individuals whose paths I have crossed and will cross.

Check out these interesting scholarly articles based upon self-directed learning and constructivist classrooms: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0742051X02000926
http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=23353dbf-007e-4496-ba4d-320fe436c459%40sessionmgr114&vid=1&hid=117