Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Choose Your Own Adventure
by Sarah Logan

     Research tells us that educators make literally thousands of decisions per day—a fact that likely comes as no big surprise to those of us in the field. Wouldn’t it be nice if making those decisions could be a little bit more like the “Choose Your Own Adventure” series of books for young readers? That way you could explore a variety of paths your decisions have the potential of taking. If you don’t like where one leads, simply go back, select one of the alternatives, and continue the journey.

     Obviously, that will never happen, but we do have the power of making decisions that have a greater chance of putting students on the path to success. Our power rests in the perspective we choose and the expectations we communicate. Failing to make careful decisions in this realm may lead towards a path we’d rather avoid.
     The following scenario invites you to consider where a teacher’s decisions may lead:

Ms. Appleton’s class has turned in a written assignment. There are two papers without names and three students with no score. “Larry” claims one of the no name papers as his own, though Ms. Appleton believes the handwriting to more closely resemble that of one of the other two students.
Option A: In speaking to Larry, Ms. Appleton says, “Larry, I know this is not your work. Why are you lying to me instead of completing the assignment in the first place?”

Option B: In speaking to Larry, Ms. Appleton says, “Larry, I appreciate that it’s important to you to have something turned in. The writing on this page looks a little different from your usual style. What are your thoughts about this?”
     How Larry might respond to either of these options is very likely correlated to the messages embedded in Ms. Appleton’s language. Option A could make Larry defensive because it communicates a negative presupposition that he is not telling the truth. Option B, on the other hand, communicates a positive presupposition that Larry is a student who wants to be responsible. The open-ended question in option B invites Larry to offer an explanation for his actions.

     Regardless of whether Larry has made an honest mistake or if he has knowingly attempted to receive credit for someone else’s work, the option Ms. Appleton chooses will impact Larry’s future behavior in her classroom. Option B has a far greater likelihood of supporting Larry’s growth in responsibility because it communicates that this is what she expects of him.
     In The Power of Our Words*, Paula Denton, Ed.D suggests that teacher language is the key that allows students to envision success for themselves. She encourages teachers to search for an underlying positive value when struggles occur in order to cast vision statements that guide students towards paths of success. These must relate to what Denton refers to as “….larger human aspirations, such as feeling engaged and passionate about something, feeling competent and autonomous, and making important contributions to a community they care about.”

    So, in a sense, we can choose our own adventure. The path towards student success hinges upon the point of view we decide to take and the expectations we decide to express. Having high expectations for our students begins with having high expectations for ourselves. Choose wisely. 
*The Power of Our Words by Paula Denton, EdD. (2007). Northeast Foundation for Children.