Policy and Pedagogy for Autonomy

a lot less homework these days

a lot and lot of structure

very micromanaged

• strict lectures with no discussion

• elitist or technocrat teacher

more autonomy

• electives and extracurriculars

• being able to go where you want for lunch

where autonomy should be given

• learning style

• what makes them comfortable in class

High autonomy learning environment leads to more:

• motivation (effort and enthusiasm)

  • they will be more interested if it has to do with something they actually like

  • intrinsic motivation

• increased engagement (attention and participation)

  • variety is key to make learning differential

  • capture their passions and give them a path to success

  • letting students no it is an open environment for trailing ideas

    • learning is progressive and we won’t learn everything in one day

    • teachers also sometimes need autonomy to say something is wrong sometimes

• enhanced performance (achievement and mastery of goals and TEKS)

  • contrary to popular belief because stereotypes actually cause the opposite of what we want

  • feel more respected and motivated

  • stereotype threat and identity threat (preschool pipeline)

  • more positive classroom environment

• lower student anxiety (student mental health)

  • leads to strong self-esteem and confidence

    • students don’t like free-choice and creativity because we put bad consequences on it and punish them if they are this way or

students have a developmental need to practice behavioral and cognitive autonomy as adolescents

when developmental needs and educational realities clash student begin to feel powerless

• this results in disengagement in the learning environment

  • just going through the motions

  • don’t care about what you’re teaching

  • just have extrinsic motivation

  • just trying to get the grade

put students in the drivers seat of their education

Pedagogical practices

provide academic structured choice

• gives students a degree of autonomy within a defined framework, structure, or set of options

  • gives control of how they learn and in what sense they apply what they learn

1. give them an end goal (need to learn this by the end of class)

   • autonomy over topic or content

   • differentiation is hardest for new teachers to master

     • can be done by students on their own

       • tell students to choose what they should learn the most and spend 15 minutes to write something up about them or find a way to practice them

         • will teach them to study later in life

     • choose a list of books, historical figures, topics for them to do something with….can write a report, make a video, do a powerpoint with it and teach something about it

     • teacher gives perscribed reading material,

       • students have responsibility to come up with what is most interesting or important to them about it

can have a choice board for students

• if not something that is important, do something that is impactful, or something you didn’t know, something that can be used to influence the future

• have them do a certain amount of boxes that earns them points

different students consume information differently

• reading an article, listen to a podcast, watching a video about the topic

  • maybe have standards for what needs to be covered in the videos

    • give them a list or where to find stuff and what to search and find something in class

• give ability to complete in pairs or individually if they need help or need to pair different ideas

• give students choice to respond to a prompt in writing, using images and words, or orally

• choice to complete notes digitally or by hand

• seek student feedback on instruction and respond flexibly to student needs

  • _

giving students choice in how to demonstrate mastery

• teacher set learning objectives and rubric criteria

  • shows mastery can be done in several ways

  • HOTS

  • find some way to apply information, not just present it

Students having control over their learning environment

co-creating classroom norms

• also give them permissions that they wouldn’t normally have with the balance of being productive

  • can pause and ask how we can adjust in order to stay focused while keeping what makes our classroom better such as listening to music in headphones

edutopia sense of belonging video

• alienate, marginalize, step back

• norms are a way to know whether we belong or not

• look like, sound like, start with the norms

  • adjectives to know what we want to do and what they want ot be like later in life

  • each class can do them and talk about how they are important

e.g.

• make community commitments

  • rm your why

  • set acheivable goals for yourself

• a role in your decorations

• doing fun things and letting them come up with ideas

• choose the candle smells we have

• set tables where different kids like the same stuff and have a list of why you work well together

• consequences