Children come to school early on in life, leaving their home life and play time and they follow their teacher's agenda. One in which the teacher feels is important. Some questions that go through the minds of the students are:
Will I be affirmed as a person here?
Is there a real contribution for me to make in this place?
Will what goes on here be purposeful to me?
Will it make me realize I have power within me?
Will I feel a satisfaction that comes from a challenge conquered?
These questions are posed by emotion instead of reason. There are five key needs of learners that a student needs in order to invest deeply in school. They are affirmation, contribution, power, purpose, and challenge.
Children must be affirmed and know they are accepted in the classroom. They want to know they will be safe, people will listen to them, people will know how they are doing, and they want to know that their knowledge and interests will be acknowledged.
Each child needs to know that he or she is a nonnegotiable part of a classroom system with interdependent parts. The system needs that part for students to function effectively and vigorously.
Learners seek power in the classroom. They want to know that what they learn is useful to them, they can make choices that contribute to their success, they understand how the place operates and what is expected of them, and they want to know there is support they can depend on.
Purpose gives learners a sense of self-efficacy. Students ask why they have to do things because they have a drive to seek meaning. As students seek purpose, they realize that they understand what they do in the classroom, and that what they do reflects them and their world.
Learning is a sequence of challenges and their is something transforming about taking a risk to attain a goal that seems out of reach and discovering that we can extend our reach to to grasp what seemed elusive. If students do not take repeated risks, they may feel they may not grow. Challenge is highly personal. In the classroom students need to know that the work they are doing compliments their abilities, stretches them, that they are accountable for their own growth and contributing to the growth of others, and that they can accomplish things that they didn't believe were possible.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Tammy... very nice blog post about the "Student Seeks" cog... you explained each element well, and I love knowing that you believe this! 5 pts.
ReplyDeleteEach one of these key points are crucial. If a student feels in any way that one of these key points are missing, they are missing a chance to learn what they need to learn and grow. It is so important that we help students see they have each one of these in our classroom. We as teachers want to provide these to each student and if we miss one, we are failing that student. Students need to feel that they are welcomed and wanted in the classroom. They need to know that they are part of the classroom and without them the class can not function properly. They need to know they will be challenged and have the power to make their own choices and be successful in the classroom. They need to know that there is a purpose for them being in the classroom. If they don't see a purpose or feel challenged or any of these points on the cog, then wants the point of them being there?
ReplyDeleteGreat post. My favorite part is a line in your last paragraph saying, "Challenge is highly personal". I completely agree! Since we are all different, we are all on different levels and require different challenges to learn and grow. It will be hard to provide that to each of our students, but so worth it in the end. Also, very good job on explaining all of the students needs.This was one of my favorite chapters. Very enlightening and you summed it up very well!
ReplyDelete