Classroom Management Resource
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by JVS
From Transformative Classroom Management. By John Shindler. ©2008
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In the Chapter:
To begin this chapter, reflect on
the following questions:
First, there ARE answers to these questions, and second,
interestingly, the answers are related. At the heart of what creates intrinsic
motivation, self-esteem, confidence to take risks, a sense of social
responsibility and a love of learning is what could be termed a “psychology of
success.” This chapter outlines a theoretical framework and a set of practical
guidelines for promoting a psychology of success within the classroom. It also
illustrates what teachers, parents, and coaches should avoid doing—behavior
which has been shown to promote what could be termed a “psychology of failure.”
At this point, many readers may be thinking to themselves,
“Sure, it would be great to promote a better climate and a success psychology
in my class(es), but I have a lot to accomplish each day. I really don’t have
the time to put much attention into this area.” This is an understandable
concern. However, the development of a success or failure psychology is not so
much about adding things to class to make students feel better about
themselves, it is about understanding the effects of our teaching choices. Each action on our part is either promoting
or undermining our students’ psychology of success. As we progress in the
chapter and further operationalize this concept, why this is and which actions
will produce which effects should become more apparent.
To better understand the practical implications of the
conceptual idea of success psychology, it may be useful to examine the two
hypothetical classrooms below.
In this class, students feel little sense of belonging. They
view their class as a place to get their work done, and fill a day or a period.
They have friends, but have few if any meaningful bonds with the other
students. Students experience some good days and some bad days, but feel they
have little control over the events that contribute to each. They try to do
what they are told and avoid getting into trouble when they feel a need to
break a rule here or there. Some student feel pretty smart and try to maintain that
standing, while other students see themselves as not as smart and get
relatively comfortable with getting lower grades and giving up on the more
difficult tasks. As the year goes on, these patterns become entrenched with
modest variation. By the end of the year, the same subgroup of students show
low motivation, the same subgroup are getting in trouble, the same subgroup are
getting the academic recognition, and the class has settled into
well-established social pattern defined by a series of cliques and a well
entrenched hierarchy.
In this class, student feel accepted and as though they are
part of community. They feel free to take risks and express themselves. They
feel a responsibility for their learning and to the group as a whole and take the
other members’ needs and feelings into account before they act. Most of the
time they are very involved in their work, are seldom bored, and become
increasingly confident at persisting in the face of difficult work. The more
they learn the more they grow in a sense of personal empowerment. They grow to
love learning for its own sake and have little need for prizes, rewards or
incentives. Students in this class do not see themselves in competition with
other students, or feel a need to be better than others, so they find it easy
to be encouraging to one another. They see learning as a journey and encourage
their classmates’ success along with their own.
Chapter Reflection 8-a: Have you observed or been a part of classrooms like the
two described here? Have you thought about what made them so different? In your
opinion, does a climate like that described in class B develop by chance?
As you compare these two class climates, which one would you
choose if you were a student? Classes
such as Class B do not come about by accident. They require a great deal of
intention, awareness, and knowledge of what it takes to get there. So as a
result they are rare. Classes such Class A can come about by “accident” or,
more accurately, the unexamined actions of the teacher. Unfortunately these
types of classrooms are not at all rare. It may seem obvious, but it is useful
to reflect on the fact that in both cases the teacher was trying to do something. Moreover it is likely that teachers who
produce each of these types of classes have good intentions for what they
wanted to accomplish. So given the great disparity between these two classes,
what can we conclude?
As we mentioned in Chapter 3, there is in fact no “real
world” when it comes to school. Classrooms are what we make them. We, as the
teacher, make the weather – and to a that weather is the psychological climate
in the class. For a teacher to succeed in creating a climate that more closely
resembles Class B rather than A, you must accept a few principles. First, the
climate in the class is manufactured by you, the teacher. Second, not all
sources of motivation are going to get the same results. Third, intrinsically
motivated students did not get that way by accident. They have been systematically
encouraged to be that way.
As we examine the idea of a success psychology we can see
that there are a whole series of ideas that are rooted in a common phenomenon.
The concepts of self-esteem, achievement psychology, intrinsic motivation,
movement psychology, and success psychology are all characterized by the same
fundamental components. A substantial amount of research indicated that all
these orientations lead to academic success (Auer, 1992; Benham, 1993; Klein & Keller, 1990; Joseph, 1992;
Rennie, 1991; Solley & Stagner, 1956). When we pare the research down to
its fundamental components, we see that there are three factors that make up
psychological orientation toward success. They are the following:
In the following sections, each of these three areas is
briefly described and is followed by a table of practical teaching strategies.
The strategies are categorized as either promoting or undermining these factors
in the classroom.
Promoting a Mastery-Orientation versus
Helpless-Orientation as Related to One’s Sense of Self-Efficacy
Carol Dweck and her colleagues in their research over the course of 20
years have developed a very useful paradigm with which to examine academic
self-concept, achievement, and motivation. They have demonstrated, in a series
of studies with students (Dweck, 1999), that future success is not as much the
result of talent or current level of achievement as it is the result of the
orientation/cognitive strategy one uses to approach learning tasks. Research
and common sense support the notion that the level of one’s sense of competence
(or self-efficacy) will relate to the level of self-esteem (
Two Views of Intelligence
Dweck consistently discovered that as she examined students in various
classrooms, they seemed to have one of
two perceptions relating to the nature of their ability and intelligence. Most
classes were comprised of a balanced portion of students from each orientation.
One group of students had what Dweck termed a “fixed-ability” theory of
intelligence and ability. These students viewed their ability as something set
and stable. They viewed themselves as smart or not smart. They either believed
they were good at this or that, or were not. As a result of this view of the
nature of their intelligence, these
students developed a pattern of behavior defined by trying to look smart and
avoid looking dumb. Their highest desire was to accomplish tasks successfully and
prove their ability to others. They held the belief that if they were
successful, that would demonstrate that they were smart or talented. So they
sought tasks that would make them look good to others and maintain their
conception of themselves as competent, and they avoided tasks they viewed as
difficult.
Chapter Reflection 8-b: As you reflect on the cognitive orientation described
above, do you recognize this pattern in yourself? Most of us do. Can you think
of a situation in which you wanted to succeed so that you would not feel
“dumb”? Why did you fear failure in this situation? Why does failure feel so
painful?
The other group of students possessed what Dweck referred to
as an “incremental progress theory” of intelligence and ability. This group
viewed intelligence as something that was developed over time rather than being
a fixed quantity. These students perceived learning and the attainment of
knowledge or skill as coming from investment in the process of learning. Every
opportunity to take part in learning was an opportunity to get better. They
approached the task not by asking what the outcome would say about them and
their ability, but what they could take away from the venture.
Two Corresponding Reactions to Failure
In one study, Dweck assessed the reactions of the students in each of the two groups to a failure condition. In the study, the students were given seven math problems that were relatively simple, and three that were un-solvable. When confronted by failure, students with the fixed ability orientation dealt with it by assuming that there was nothing they could do further. They became frustrated and gave up quickly. Their assumption was that their ability was not enough to overcome the difficulty of the tasks and so they felt helpless. After experiencing this failure, they quickly began to put down their ability/intelligence and reported that they perceived the whole of their effort as unsuccessful, even thought this was in fact a disproportionate assessment. Dweck labeled this conditioned reaction the “Helpless Pattern.”
The group of students who reported an incremental/process orientation
when faced with a failure condition immediately began to consider the various
ways that they could approach the task differently. They persisted in the task
until they were told they had to stop. Throughout the task they used
self-instruction, and positive self-talk to motivate and guide themselves
through the challenging task. When the task was over they did not view it as a
failure, but felt that they had merely run out of time. Dweck labeled this
conditioned reaction the “Mastery-Oriented Pattern.”
Chapter Reflection 8-c: Reflect on a situation in which you experienced
failure. How would you characterize your reaction: mastery orientation or helpless orientation?
Do you see these patterns in your students, players, children, and friends? In
your estimation, what effect would each approach have if employed consistently
over a lifetime?
All students need to feel a sense of self-efficacy and confidence,
but what can appear to be confidence can often be a fragile belief that in a
particular situation one is better than those around them, or “good enough” for
what they are asked to do. If competence and confidence are perceived as coming
from “how good we are” at a task (related to innate ability), then we tend to
give up quickly and protect our egos in the face of failure. Over the course of
an academic career this leads to a pattern defined by a fear of failure and
a great deal of anxiety associated with the adequacy of one’s performance. As
we examine the concept of a psychology of success, it will become increasingly
evident that there is a strong relationship between a helpless pattern
orientation and what we call a psychology of failure.
It is common for many of us to realize that we’ve spent most
of our academic life holding a fixed view of ability and as a result have been
driven by a fear of failure. Some of us may even glorify the motivation that
fear provided, and the high test scores that it appeared to produce. Let me
offer a few thoughts. First, students with a fixed ability orientation to
ability tended to score increasingly lower than their incremental progress
orientation pattern peers. This was especially true over time. The achievement
gap between the two groups was shown to grow over the years. Second, while fear
of failure (and its cognitive sibling, “pain-based logic”) may provide some
motivation, it cannot lead to a success psychology, and in fact will lead in
the opposite direction. The sooner that one lets go of one’s pain-based logic
patterns the better. Third, many of us need to accept that our parents and
their parents probably reared us to have at least some fear of failure.
However, just because we may have turned out fine in the end, it does not mean
it was a strategy that we want to pass on to those we care for. It is wise to
learn different, more healthy ways to motivate our students.
Chapter Reflection 8-d: Did your parents try to motivate you with fear of failure
by the use of shame, embarrassment, guilt, or comparison? How do you view the
use of these strategies today?
While students come to us with a pattern of either mastery
or helplessness that can be already deeply conditioned, it is important that we
recognize that what we do in the classroom will have a profound effect on which
one is developed. What we choose to do in our classrooms will either promote
one orientation or the other. We can foster mastery patterns and help students
break helpless patterns, or create a climate where fear of failure is the
pervading motivational force. In fact, we can assume that most of the hundreds
of teaching choices that we make each day are either contributing to one or the
other.
Figure 8.1 offers a list of practical strategies to promote
a mastery-orientation in your students as well as the class as a whole. It is
juxtaposed with practices to be avoided that would have the effect of promoting
a helpless-pattern.
|
Promoting a Helpless Pattern |
Promoting a Mastery-Oriented Pattern
|
|
·
Give performance goals (i.e., goals related to
measuring the ability of the participant). |
·
Give learning goals (i.e., goals related to how
much one is going to learn) |
|
·
Focus on ends/products |
·
Focus on means/processes |
|
·
Focus on ability/intelligence |
·
Focus on effort/application |
|
·
Reinforce stereotypical beliefs about various groups’
typical ability/intelligence. |
·
Challenge stereotypical beliefs about various
groups’ typical ability/intelligence. |
|
·
Give personal praise (see Chapter 6) and feedback
related to how good at the task or intelligent one is. |
·
Give operational feedback and positive recognitions
(see Chapter 6) related to process aspects of the task. |
|
·
Assess only what you can count. Rely on worksheets
and tests, and make sure students understand that the points are what it is
important. |
·
Assess
what is most important. What you assess on a daily basis defines your
classroom concept of “success.”
Complete the following sentence, “If I could only assess _________ , I
would have a better class.” Consider a way to assess the idea that you put in
the blank (see Chapter 13). |
|
·
Encourage students to avoid mistakes. Model
mistakes as deserving of self-criticism. Project a lack of trust in their
resources. |
·
Encourage students to make mistakes and take risks.
Project trust while challenging students to stretch beyond their comfort
zones. |
|
·
Use language in your feedback that implies that
some students are just more talented than others. Speak in terms of students
being good at this or that. Encourage students to stick to what they
currently believe they are good at and avoid that at which they are weak. |
·
Have high expectations for all your students and
catch them being good. Do not accept low self-estimations, especially in the areas
of effort and process. All students are capable of total effort, and total
effort in the process leads to good outcomes. |
|
·
Remind students constantly about what and how they
have failed in the past and how they need to worry about the future. Speak
only about the end result of the work as being important. |
·
Help the students stay in the moment as they work.
Don’t encourage them to interpret their past as failure but only as
opportunities to learn and grow, and help them not to define themselves by past
failures or successes. Help them focus on what they are doing and enjoy the
process and allow the outcomes to work out, reducing stress and promoting
creativity. |
Chapter Reflection
8-e: Observe a classroom or reflect on one
that you have witnessed recently. Would you classify the practices in the class
as promoting more of a mastery or helpless pattern? Would you suppose that the
teacher was consciously aware and intentional about doing one or the other?
Promoting a Sense of Belonging and Acceptance within
the Class
This second factor within the framework for a “success
psychology” reflects the degree to which any member feels wanted and part of
the group, and the degree to which one likes and accepts one’s self as one is. The
more one feels accepted and acceptable, the more one will be able to express
one’s self, act authentically and be fully present to others. Self-acceptance
is in contrast to self-aggrandizement or a compulsion to please. A sense of
belonging and acceptance is essential to a young person’s mental health and
ability to trust and take risks (Inderbitzen & Clark, 1986). It comes in
part from accepting messages from VIPs (including self-talk), practicing a
positive approach and attitude, experiencing emotional safety, and feeling a
part of a community.
Research has shown a relationship between a sense of
belonging and acceptance and self-esteem (Davis & Peck, 1992; Katz, 1993;
Washiawotok, 1993). Moreover, building a sense of classroom belonging and the
sense of self- and peer-acceptance has been shown to promote higher achievement
(Dembrowsky, 1990; Rhoades & McCabe, 1992; Washiawotok, 1993). For those of
us who endeavor to employ “referent or attractive power” (see Chapter 3) as a
significant means to motivating students and gaining respect, the notion of
creating a class with a high level of belonging is immediately appealing. Much
of the climate created in any classroom in this area will come from the affect
of the teacher. If we project an accepting affect to students and express a
value for bonding as a class, the effect is liberating and needs-satisfying.
And in our efforts to have a transformational affect on our students, our
emotional investment into this area can have a profound affect. How we feel about
our students will be critical, and what our students believe about the degree
to which we care about them and the quality of the relationships in the class
will define their sense of acceptance and belonging to a great degree. Also,
what we do will have an equally profound effect. It may seem counterintuitive
at first, but we need to recognize that we can love and care about our students
but at the same time do a great deal to undermine their sense of acceptance and
belonging. In other words, it is possible to have good intentions and great
affection, but unconsciously use strategies that create dependence, a sense of
competitiveness, and/or mistrust within the class.
Chapter Reflection 8-f: Have you observed a class in which
the teacher expressed a lot of caring and affection for their students, yet the
result was a class in which students never learned to trust one another, and
gained little self-confidence? Conversely, have you observed a class in which
the teacher took a very business-like approach but created a high degree of
community and group cohesion? How would you explain what you observed?
Some of us come to this profession by value or personality
(i.e., being more introverted or logical minded, or both), not predisposed to
being highly emotional, warm, or as some might call it “touchy feely.” The
common perception is that while we may be good teachers, and by relying on expert and legitimate power, effectively manage our classes, we will be at a
great disadvantage when it comes to creating a climate of acceptance and
belonging. This is simply not true. While it is true that if we project
indifference to our students, our effectiveness will suffer and will meet few
students’ needs to feel liked and accepted, acceptance and care can be shown subtly
and demonstrated in countless ways without being displayed dramatically. It
might be more gradual, but it is possible. As we have observed, what any
teacher feels, values and thinks will come out in their actions eventually. If
we like our students they will know it and if we don’t they will know that as
well. However, just as important for the more reserved teacher, it is useful to
keep in mind that creating a class defined by acceptance and belonging will be
more a function of what one chooses to do along with choosing to refrain from
doing, rather than of temperament or personality.
Figure 8.2 outlines a set of instructional practices that
will either promote or undermine the sense of acceptance and belonging for both
individual student and/or entire classes.
Figure 8.2: Instructional Practices that will Either Promote
or Undermine the Sense of Acceptance and Belonging for Individuals and Groups
of Students
|
To Promote a Sense of Acceptance
and Belonging |
To Undermine a Sense of Acceptance
and Belonging |
|
·
Demonstrate
unconditional positive regard for all students. Eliminate any
perception that your liking and/or acceptance is related to the students’
performance or behavior. Send a clear message “I like and accept you 100% the
way you are.” That means no matter what grade you get, what level of effort
you display, or what kinds of positive or negative consequences that you
receive (and likewise, the fact that I like and accept you will not help you
to avoid responsibility, or imply that I am not going be honest or critical). |
·
Combine your liking or disliking of students and
your treatment of them. Make sure that they know that the students that you
like will receive benefits, so it is worthwhile to try to get on your good
side. Use praise and disappointment to reinforce this relationship. |
|
·
Use
cooperative structures where interdependence and inter-reliance are
unavoidable. Cooperative learning activities are very useful for promoting
collaborative skills (see Chapter 14) |
·
Isolate students by using exclusively independent
work. Frown on students working together. |
|
·
Use
assigned roles, assigned grouping, and rotation of grouping in
your cooperative work. Students need to work with and rely on each member of
the class, not just their friends. |
·
Allow students to develop cliques and sub-cultures.
Let them choose their own groups or partners early and consistently. |
|
·
Do not accept “put downs” in any form, especially
negative self-talk. Demand and model positive
interactions and respect 100% of the time. Create a culture of respect
and listening (see Chapter 12) |
·
Do nothing or give only lip service to students who
put down and disrespect others. Accept that “kids will be kids” and turn the
other way when you see acts of oppression and abuse. Assume that the level of
attention will never be perfect. Allow students to be inattentive to one
another. |
|
·
Keep all assessment private. Avoid comparisons of
any kind between students at all cost. Help students refrain from putting their
performance in a relative context. Help them instead work to their own
standards and the standards of excellence as defined by the assignment.
Rubrics help here (see Chapter 13). |
·
Make students’ grades public and make public
comparisons among students’ work. Note: Grading on a curve may be the single
most destructive practice to the sense of acceptance and belonging in a
class. Use student to student comparison to “motivate” both high and low
achieving students. |
|
·
A limited use of light competition for
inconsequential outcomes. (see Chapter 20 for idea for using competition in a
more healthy manner). |
·
Forcing students to
compete for “real” rewards (i.e., your love, grades, status,
privileges, or any tangible rewards). |
|
·
Appreciate
differences and recognize the unique gifts of each of your student. Make a deliberate effort to let
students share their stories, they talents, and their work. For younger
grades, “who I am” poems can be one of many valuable tools for doing this. |
·
Show your preference for a few of your favorite
students. Point out the ways that these few students are praiseworthy. Avoid
letting students share their outside school life in class. |
|
·
Be real,
approachable, caring and a validator of feelings. Take the opportunity to
share who you are. (See social frame - warmth and caring for respect and
loyalty - in Chapter 3.) |
·
Express a disinterested affect, and let students
know that you are there because it is simply your job to be. Or pretend to be
friendly and present, but never actually make the effort to appreciate your
students. |
|
·
Find ways to make
the students the teacher (e.g., peer tutoring, writing partners,
leadership of daily activities, jigsaw instruction, etc.). Let the students
know it is “their class.” Get out of their way as often as possible and let
them own the class. |
·
Keep command of your class and treat the students
like they are too immature and irresponsible to contribute to the class. Make
sure they understand that it is “your class” not theirs. |
|
·
Be deliberate about making sure all students are
allowed to contribute. Find conspicuous and systematic ways to ensure that
students are called on randomly, and all students have an equal opportunity
to volunteer. |
·
Call on students who have been reliable responders
in the past. Avoid the others unless you feel the need to call on them to
shame them for not paying attention or doing their reading. |
|
·
Building a sense of tribe and community within the
class (see Chapter 17) |
·
Allow the class to become an “accidental culture”
defined by cliques, winners and losers, and emotional self-protection. |
|
·
Utilize a sound and collectively developed social
contract (see Chapter 9). Create a sense of clear cause-and-effect between
actions and consequences. Help students trust you by being consistent, fair
and clear. |
·
Be a 3- or 4-Approach teacher. Allow the class to
be defined by a crime-and-punishment or a free-for-all mentality. Use a lot
of anger and reactivity to keep the students “on their toes.” |
Chapter Reflection 8-g: Choose one particular class in which you were a
student to examine. As you read each list above, which set of practices better characterized
this class? Did you feel the effect on your sense of acceptance and belonging
at the time as a result of the practices that were used in the class?
Promoting an Internal Locus of Control within our
Students
This third factor in the definition of success psychology is
defined by one’s sense of internal causality and orientation toward personal
responsibility. The more internal locus of control (LOC) we possess, the more
we feel that our destiny is in our own hands. It could be contrasted to an
external LOC or an orientation that views cause
as an external factor and one in which life “happens to us.” An internal locus of control can be defined
as the belief that one is the author of his or her own fate. An internal locus
of control comes from having a causal understanding of behavior and effect. It
is learned from freely making choices and taking responsibility for the
consequences of those choices. Through responsible action and accountability
for those actions, the young person learns to attribute the cause of success or
failure internally. Consequently, he or she feels a sense of power and
responsibility and is able learn from his of her life experience. Another term
we could use for internal locus of control is “personal empowerment.”
Chapter Reflection 8-h: If you had super powers and could guarantee that a
young person would grow up with a sense of either high intelligence or high
responsibility, but only average at the other, which would you choose? Why? Are
you thankful that one does not have to make this choice?
Research has drawn a strong relationship between levels of student
self-esteem and sense of an internal locus of control (Fitch, 1970; Hagborg,
1996; Klein & Keller, 1990; Sheridan, 1991). Moreover, studies have shown
repeatedly that students with higher degrees of internal locus of control
demonstrate higher levels of achievement (Auer, 1992; Bar-Tal & Bar-Zohar,
1977, Tanksley, 1993; Wang & Stiles, 1976). In fact, having high levels of
internal LOC have been shown to be an even more significant predictor of
achievement than intelligence or socioeconomic status (Haborg, 1996). In addition,
higher internal LOC has also been shown to mediate the stress response (Meaney
2001).
Instructional behaviors
that promote an internal locus of control and empowerment are rooted in
developing a clear understanding of cause and effect. Students must see that
their achievement is directly related to their behavior, especially their level
of effort. A requisite to seeing this relationship is providing students with
choices and expecting accountability for those choices. Figure 8.3 outlines
instructional practices that can either promote or undermine a student’s
internal locus of control.
Figure 8.3: Instructional Practices that Either Promote or
Undermine a Student’s Internal Locus of Control
|
Practices
that Promote an Internal LOC |
Practices
that Undermine an Internal LOC |
|
·
Give students choices over that which affects them.
Promote the social frame related to freedom and responsibility by being
conspicuous and deliberate about giving more choices and freedom to the
members and the class as a whole when they demonstrate the ability to use
that freedom responsibly. Increase the opportunities for the students to make
choices to the extent practically possible. |
·
Be a dictator in the class. Avoid giving students
choices of any kind. Assume that students are too immature to make choices
about that which will affect them. Be unclear and reactive about why freedoms
are given or taken away. In general keep the class about “you.” |
|
·
Use clear, concrete, and specific performance
objectives and assessment targets. Make the learning targets “clear and
standing still.” Incorporate well-designed, concrete specific rubrics
whenever possible. |
·
Keep your grading criteria vague and mysterious.
Let the students know that you plan to use subjective criteria in which you
“know good work when you see it,” and make them have to suppose what you are
looking for. |
|
·
Find opportunities to assess the process and other
student-owned behaviors when possible. Students do not often have control
over their ability, but they do have 100% control over the degree to which
they apply themselves. When we assess the process, we manufacture a success
psychology (see also Chapter 13). |
·
Only assess the finished product, never the
process. Directly and indirectly find ways to equate grades with innate
ability. Rely mostly on tests and worksheets. |
|
·
Give students voice and ownership of classroom
social contract, rules, expectations and consequences. Ensure that
consequences are clear and related. Then if students violate the social
contract or break rules, follow through with consistently applied automatic
and related consequences (while avoiding punishments). (See Chapters 9 and
10.) |
·
Autocratically lay down the rules to the class and
then be very random and inconsistent in your implementation of them. Use a
subjective and arbitrary rationale for when and why you give consequences and
punishments. Assume that a pain-based logic will do the trick when you need
to shape up the class. Let students know that when they make you upset you
will punish them (refer to the 3- and 4-Approach teachers in Chapter 4). |
|
|
|
|
·
Create an environment free of the need for excuses.
Begin by never asking for them. (See also Chapter 11.) |
·
Send the message that a good excuse is useful in
gaining a desirable outcome. When students come in late or do not have their work
ask them publicly something to the effect, “So where is your homework, and
this better be good.” |
|
·
Teach problem-solving skills, and cultivate an
expectancy that, in the class, students take responsibility for working
through problems individually or in groups. Teach conflict resolution
strategies, and help students see that they do not always need to come to an
adult to resolve their conflicts (see also Chapter 15 related to conflict
resolution). |
·
Assume that students will get into conflict by nature.
When it happens, get angry about it because it is inconvenient to you, and
step in to solve the problem by first giving them some shame for the trouble
they caused and then take over and act as judge and referee in arriving at a
solution. Keep students depend on you as the decision maker. |
|
·
Use personalized behavioral contracts and reality
therapy with students who need an education in cause-and-effect and
self-responsibility (see Chapter 16). |
·
Spend the whole year punishing and shaming the students
in your class who chronically misbehave. Use such phrases as “When are you
ever going to learn?” |
|
·
Promote conscious and responsible thinking and
behavior. Help student raise their personal level of awareness of both the
consequences of their actions and the kinds of thinking that they are doing
that lead them to problems and unhappiness. Begin by raising your own level
of awareness of what triggers negative emotions within you. |
·
Stay reactive, unconscious and oblivious to your
own thinking and that of your students. Use a lot of lectures, guilt, and
chronicling of their failure to send a message to students that they need to
shape up. React to the students’ dramas and conditioning. Let your
unconscious and reactive behavior promote more of the same on the part of the
students, ensuring that everyone feels trapped by the various patterns of
negativity, problem-based dramas, and pain-cycles that exist in the class. |
Chapter Reflection 8-i: It has been said that the more
control you give up the more that you get in the end. Do you agree with this
statement? For those teachers who resist shifting encouraging the internal
locus of control of their students, what do you think they feel that they will
lose? Do you agree?
The Effect of
Instruction
The methods of instruction that we use will have a significant impact on
our ability to be successful developing this area of the students’ psychology.
Providing engaging instructional activities and frequent opportunities for students
to synthesize and construct their own knowledge will increase our ability to
achieve a success psychology environment in your class. Chapter 13 will offer
pedagogical strategies that will compliment your efforts to promote a climate
of success in your class.
The Relationships among the Three Factors
As you have examined each of the three areas, you will have discovered
that efforts made in any one of the three areas will help to encourage the
other two. Each of the areas complements the others. In fact, they come from
essentially the same source and are all food for our basic human essence. A
mastery-orientation will lead to more self-acceptance and the desire for others
to succeed as well. And as one becomes more self-accepting and realizes their place
within the group the more empowered they will ultimately become. As students
become accustomed to a climate that is characterized by these qualities, they
recognize that they have no interest in going back to a classroom where they
are absent.
Recall our exploration of motivation in the previous chapter. It should
become apparent that one’s internal psychology and motivational disposition are
related. In other words, when we take a closer look, we recognize that the more
students possess a psychology of success the more likely they will be to
experience intrinsic forms of motivation. And if we seek to promote the
ingredients of a success psychology within the class we will inherently be
encouraging intrinsic motivation. Contrastingly, if we have created students
who have adopted a failure psychology, we will see a corresponding lack of
motivation or their part. So when we look out at that class of students who are
apathetic and unmotivated by anything except bribes and punishments, we can
safely bet that what they have experienced to this point has manufactured this
psychology of failure in them. However, when we observe a class in which the
students demonstrate self-responsibility, intrinsic motivation, and a feeling
of being connected, we know that their past teachers have had a lot to do with
this.
Indicators that we are Making Progress toward the Creation
of a Success Psychology within our Class
In the process of making an intentional effort toward promoting a
success psychology in class, we will notice some signs that changes are
occurring. While it may be somewhat difficult to see a psychological
orientation changing directly, we can see evidence of the transformation in
behavioral indicators. Expect most change toward a success psychology to take time,
but since these changes are rooted at such a deep cognitive level, and provide
a fundamental source of needs satisfaction, they tend to have a lasting impact.
Some of the most revealing indicators that this change is occurring will
include:
Chapter Reflection 8: Reflect on situations in which you
are afraid to take risks and/or express yourself creatively, and then contrast
those in which you feel timid and repressed. Do the ingredients of the psychology
of success offer insight into why you feel so different in these situations?
Chapter Reflection 8- Recall the question from the previous chapter where
you were asked to reflect on a life situation in which you felt like things
were going somewhere. Was it characterized by the three factors described in
this chapter?
Study
Results
The pedagogical and motivational protocol for promoting “success
psychology” outlined in this chapter was used as a treatment variable in a
study by Ayling (2007). Eighty-nine adolescent study participants were given
pre- and post assessments of locus of control (LOC) and self-esteem. Initial
rating of LOC and self-esteem were low in the majority of cases. The subjects
were taught by teachers in a school that adopted the use of the protocol for
creating “success psychology” (Shindler, 2003). Within 4 months 90% of the
subjects had shown a significant increase in both self-esteem and LOC. The
results of this study support the anecdotal evidence that had been gathered
previously, indicating that classroom practices can produce significant and
long lasting effects in students’ locus of control and self-esteem.
Using the lens of success psychology can provide a useful tool for
examining the quality of almost any human context. In the classroom, it offers
a practical assessment device for checking on the health and functionality of
our students. Moreover, it can provide a useful window internally into our own
emotional health at any point in time. If we are not feeling like our work and
relationships are nurturing a success psychology within us, we will not be as
effective or content as we might. So we might make it a regular practice to ask
ourselves how we are doing cultivating each of these three areas both in and
out of the classroom. When something is not going well, it can usually be
traced back to one or more of the areas. If we as teachers do not feel
empowered, loved, or as though we are learning, it will be difficult to be as
effective as we could in promoting those things in our students.
At the heart of the “transformative classroom,” is a psychology of
success. When we empower students find their true nature and inner sources of
inspiration, we encourage within our class what we called the natural condition
in Chapter 1. As you have come to recognize, the transformative path is defined
by a countless number of small practical choices. Operationalizing the concept
of success psychology provides a set of guiding principles for making those
choices. The remaining chapters will offer additional ideas for creating a
healthy and productive classroom that contributes to a psychology of success
within the class.
Journal Reflections
1. Observe a classroom for a period
of time. Note how many of the teacher’s choices you would judge to be promoting
a success psychology and how many would you
judge to be promoting a failure
psychology. Note the reaction of the students. What conclusions did you draw
from your observations?
2. Reflect on your personal
conditioning as it related to an orientation toward success or failure. What in
your experience do you feel is encouraging a success psychology within you? What
is your current inclination to promoting such an orientation in your students
(or potential students)? What factors or experience do you feel may be limiting
you?
Chapter Group Activity
Divide the class into 6 groups. Each
group will take a separate topic and create a separate list. One group will
need to take the topic “things that teachers do to promote an internal LOC,”
another group the topic “things that teachers do to undermine a students
internal LOC,” then do the same for acceptance and belonging, and mastery
orientation, so that all 6 groups have a topic. Have each group brainstorm as
many items as they can and then share them with the whole class. It can be
useful to provide each group with an overhead transparency and a pen.
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