A Choice and Voice in Learning

I am an avid reader of blogs, articles, and books related to the ever-changing landscape of education. This week, the opening sentences of Seth Godin's blog really struck a chord with me. "Effective education is rarely done TO people. It's done with them." What a perfect connection to the second belief statement that frames our district goals related to our strategic blueprint.

Belief 2: Students have voice/choice and work alongside peers and teachers in collaborative environments.

To me, this means that education is a collaborative effort and that in schools we meet students where they are in terms of their needs and interests. We intentionally provide opportunities for student agency in their learning, which means students are regularly given choice in how they learn and how they express their learning. Daniel Pink in his book Drive delves deeply into the topic of motivation, and as this relates to schools, he makes the point that humans are born with natural curiosity and an intrinsic motivation to learn. As we move forward in Pleasantdale District 107, we are working to create more opportunities for our learners to tap into their natural curiosities and express their learning in a variety of ways. The Continuum of Choice is one such model that can be employed as we search for ways to provide students with agency in their learning. To start, teachers can provide students with a menu of options and choices related to their learning, and gradually as students are prepared to take more ownership of their learning, they are able to design their own learning experiences, advocate to solve problems, and ultimately regulate their learning based on their passions.

Teachers will be crucial in this evolution as guides and facilitators of the types of experiences that promote independence and critical thinking. Mrs. Lewellyan is giving this a try this year in 5th grade STEM lab as she is starting to have students work on passion projects, an idea that been embraced by many schools after learning about Google's Genius Hour concept where the company encourages its employees to spend 20% of their time on a research-driven project of their choice. With these types of learning opportunities, often times teachers, parents, friends, and siblings get to learn something new, too, as topics are explored together and learning is enthusiastically shared! We welcome our "community of inspired learners" to join us on this journey as we strive to learn and pursue our passions together.