Well, three academic streams are confluencing in class this week.
First, the
students are working on "The Song Thing" project; second, I have due what I
angrily call
"grrrrrrrrrrrrrr," very unproductive, stress-imposing, mid-term "in progress
grades;" and,
third, students are journaling to me their answers to my own mid-term "How are
we doing so
far?" evaluations of their and my performance. Since I am struggling to wean
students off
of being grade conscious and nurturing a learning consciousness, I am sure that
the
administrative "powers to be" will not be happy with me since I chose the
"none" option
for my 180 in-progress grade reports instead of the usual A-F gamut of
possibilities. At
the same time, you should read the students evaluations. They blew me out of
the water.
The students had to answer with a word or a short phrase five simple questions:
1. What are three most important things to you that you have learned so far?
2. What are three aspects of the class that have been of the most help to you
so far?
3. What are three things you like most about the class?
4. What are three things you wish were different?
5. Have you kept the "A" I gave you on the first day of class? If not, in one
or two
words or a short phrase, why not.
I've been tabulating in a very unscientific way, the student responses.
They fall
into six positive categories and one negative one. The six positive ones are:
(1) they
feel that they belong and are connected, and it reduces their debilitating fear
and stress
levels; (2) they feel a competency they seldom felt before and which surprises
them; (3)
they feel an autonomy that makes them nervous since they've seldom had it in a
class
before; (4) they enjoy the ownership of their decisions and control over
themselves, which
feeds a self-confidence and self-esteem; (5) they understand and accept and
appreciate
"the why" of the stuff they doing and manner in which they're doing it; (6)
and, they're
learning some history and experiencing its relevance to their lives. The one
negative
category of their response reveals the nature of their grade addiction, that
is, they wish
they didn't have to work so much and so hard to keep their "A."
These evaluations give me confidence and reinforce my commitment and
determination
in my struggle to swim against the current academic reward and punishment,
carrot and
stick, grading currents by (1) engaging in semester beginning "Getting To Know
Ya"
exercises that connect students with each other, with me, and me with them;
(2) setting
up daily, semester-long "stuff" such as journaling and mutual communicating to
keep us
connected to each other; (3) dividing the class into "communities of mutual
support and
encouragement" of three and four students that are gender and racially mixed;
(4) engaging
in semester beginning "Why We're Doing What We're Doing" exercises that
explicitly give a
purpose and relevance to everything we'll do in class for the entire semester;
(5)
engaging in crucial exercises that will give the students autonomy and
ownership of
everything they do; (6) and, implementing my "Academic Oath" by which we--each
student and
me--work to be aware of, notice, and respect ourselves and others. They, and
other
elements, are all components of my intention of "Breaking Barriers, Building
Bridges,
Creating Community."
These mid-term evaluations demonstrate that we, students, everyone, all
have, as
the science is telling us, five needs: first, the need to belong or feel
connected;
second, the need to feel competent; third, the need for autonomy or
self-determination or
ownership; fourth, a sense of purpose or meaning in what they, we, do; and
finally, the
relevant and personal "why" of what we do. When these needs are satisfied, we
and they
are more motivated, productive, at peace, and happy. When these needs are
thwarted, our
stress level shoots up, and their and our motivation, productivity, and
happiness shoot
down. Points, grades, tenure, promotion, salary increases and other academic
tangible
rewards tend to have a substantially negative effect on intrinsic motivation.
When we
focus on the short-term goal of a grade or GPA, on tenure or promotion or
salary increase,
and opt for controlling student's behavior or allowing our behavior to be
controlled, we
do considerable long-term damage to students and allow others to do
considerable long-term
damage to us. Think about it. My colleagues don't have the highest morale in
these hard
time because they've so bought into the carrot and stick syndrome that when
we're being
furloughed and not getting salary increases, we feel a "what's the use"
unappreciated,
unnoticed, and an almost "whipping boy" punishment. And, let's not get into
the issue of
the extent we do sell our souls in a Faustian manner in our quest for tenure and
promotion.
When we aren't producing, when students aren't producing, they and we
typically
resort to the carrot and stick of rewards or punishment. We call it grades when
it comes
to students; we call it assessment or annual review or post-tenure review for
tenure,
promotion, and salary raises when it comes to us. What few people have done is
the boots
on the ground, hard work of diagnosing what the real problem is. Thanks to our
century
long acceptance, implementation, and submission to Frederick Winslow Taylor,
we're created
creaky, rusty academic factories. But, academic institutions are not
factories; we don't
have a production line driven by monotonous, mind-dulling, repetitive steps.
Yet, we ask
the factory question: How can we motivate them? And, we run over the problem
with the
smoke stack factory answer, "with the reward of a carrot or the punishment of a
stick."
Our answer is so behind the science that is demonstrating that when people use
rewards and
punishment to motivate, that's when rewards are most unrewarding and most
demodulating.
We're deaf to Deci, Boyatzis, Senge, Goleman, Seligman, Amiable, Dweck, Gardner,
Csikszentmihaly, and others. The science is telling us that human beings are
not rats in
a cage or automatons. They're more. They have an innate drive to be
autonomous,
self-determined, purposeful, achieving, and connected to one another. And when
we focus
our efforts on creating environments for our innate psychological needs to
flourish, when
that drive is liberated, people will more likely achieve more and live richer
lives. So,
the questions we should be asking are:
1. How can we create the conditions within which others will motivate
themselves?
2. How can we best liberate the drives for autonomy, self-determination,
meaning, and
connectedness?
3. What strategies have proven effective to nurture intrinsic motivation in a
variety of
settings?
4. How do we help each student feel welcome in class?
5. How do we help each student feel she or he belongs and is connected?
6. How do we help each student feel respected?
7. How do we help each student feel she or he is being seen and heard?
8. How do we help each student feel she or he has some control over what
transpires in
their lives?
9. How do we fixate on the strength to be reinforced rather than on the
problem to be
solved?
Classrooms, campuses, will become "motivating environments" when we
stop dictating
and controlling, when we stop isolating, when we stop relying on fear-inducing
and
stress-creating extrinsic rewards and punishment, when we have (1) broken
barriers, (2)
built bridges, and (3) created community. That is true for students; it is
true for
faculty; it is true for staff. When our natural human needs to belong and feel
connected,
to experience a sense of self-determination and ownership, to have meaning and
purpose in
our lives, to have relevance in what we do, and to have our competencies
identified and
recognized are met, when we feel we are in community with each other, when we
can nurture
and reinforce those needs with values that are characterized by respect for
oneself and
others which are at the core of leading a responsible and ethical lifestyle, we
are far
more likely to create conditions for everyone to motivate themselves and to
achieve.
Make it a good day.
--Louis--
Louis Schmier http://www.therandomthoughts.com
Department of History
http://www.therandomthoughts.edublogs.org
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, Georgia 31698 /\ /\ /\ /\
(229-333-5947) /^\\/ \/ \ /\/\__/\ \/\
/ \/ \_ \/ / \/
/\/
\ /\
//\/\/ /\
\__/__/_/\_\ \_/__\
/\"If you want to climb
mountains,\ /\
_ / \ don't practice on mole
hills" -
---
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