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Teammates
Here is
what I observed:
· During the first
few days they scrutinized the textbook paragraph by paragraph, and in a few
cases whispered to others for help on a question. I could not tell if they
understood the material universally.
· After the okay for
collaboration on the third day, things changed dramatically: clusters formed
and a crescendo of participation resulted. They looked to see if the heightened
noise level bothered me, but I kept my head down pretending to grade papers. It
was inspiring – a nonstop validation session. Everyone had a voice. Everyone
was enjoying the class and Susan was engaged in the knowledge flow, asking
questions, enjoying the banter. Some scurried over to the people that shouted:
"I get it. Makes sense now," forming a circle around the enlightened
who gladly modeled the content. From time to time, an individual would dart
over to a desk to answer a student's question: "How are you supposed to
balance the redox equation using the half-reaction method?" "I did
the problem this way…. let me see how you did it." "Need help on
question eight…. can someone come over here for a minute?" "Right on,
man."
It was
engagement at its best, well beyond what I experienced during my schooling.
What teacher would ever allow students to manufacture their own style of
learning for two weeks? Admittedly it was noisy, but their effort was sincere,
though I worried when an administrator or colleague peered into the room and
saw desks scattered, students in varied configurations (sitting on the floor,
standing, postured in every direction), and by all appearances out of control.
I worked with an established faculty and my antics may have looked
inappropriate. Bothersome, too, was that they finished the worksheets in about
twenty minutes and the homework in about five with plenty of time to spare
before the bell rang! Admittedly, learning was faster without me! Some would
socialize (including me in their banter), and the rest attended to other
courses. Discipline issues disappeared (idle conversations, slumping in seats,
eyes closed, late to class). They were having a good time learning and
interacting with peers. It was a joyful atmosphere.
They were validated and empowered
Without formal training in education methodology, they ran
the class, created a joyful and energetic classroom, functioned as a team –
assertive, interactive, and engaged. The leaders stood in front of their peers
unwavering in confidence, encouraging everyone to be in the mix, complimenting
them on their offerings. It was a peculiar event for these students juxtaposed
in the middle of the monotonous school year. They were incentivized in this
student-inspired engagement – the first I witnessed to this magnitude as a
student and teacher.
This
would not surprise professors David and Roger Johnson from the University of
Minnesota, who did a meta-analysis of three hundred seventy-five studies
spanning ninety years. They found students in cooperating classrooms performed
at about two-thirds of a standard deviation above those that were in
competitive classrooms. What impressed me, too, about their finding was that
collaborative efforts resulted in frequent use of high-level reasoning,
generation of new ideas and solutions, and greater transfer of knowledge.1
Moreover, in this instance, handing over the reins to the students, so to
speak, led to peer affirmation that intensified interest and learning.
Hard to escape a paradigm
Instead,
a career extending decades entailed the full gamut of school environments: from
deluxe private, large urban, to a truancy institution ranging from the richest
to the poorest demographics in the state with some of my students going to
elite colleges while others never graduating. Regardless of the location, there
was a constant:
Children were eager to learn and wanted to be validated
as intelligent individuals by their peers and teachers.
Some came
into my classroom engaged and motivated, programmed to get high grades, and
build a powerful transcript to catch the attention of the best universities in
America; others were not at all cognizant of the value and relevance of content
areas in nurturing their literacy development. They were poised to learn
something but certainly not what their school provided and the agony of sitting
at a desk period after period, powerless, listening to teachers bark out facts
was insufferable, and some translated their mental energy into attention
issues, posing discipline problems – not the kind of assertiveness desired in a
classroom. They were not inspired to achieve success in the academic arena,
likely received little validation, and did not have goals other than wait out
another school day and do a beeline to the door.
Engagement, Validation, and Empowerment
Engagement
Engagement
is cognitive focus. It includes elements of classroom functionality such as
attention, curiosity, assertiveness, and assimilation. The measure of
achievement in a class is proportional to the engagement level of the members.
Students exhibit maximum engagement when they are motivated, whether by
pressure to receive a desired grade or driven by the love of the subject. This
book details how teachers and administrators can dramatically improve
engagement levels with emphasis on validation and empowerment.
The
above story illustrates my sensitivity and desire to foster engagement but
clung to methods used by my teachers to keep classes quiet and focused on me.
The two-week experiment provided straightforward evidence that there were less
stressful paths to raise attentiveness. The chapters ahead will reveal
scientific evidence for brain transformations when students pursue interactive
means to facilitate content as well as pedagogical practices that significantly
increase achievement levels in all demographics.
Validation
It took a
few years, but a more harmonious and productive classroom came to fruition in
my arena when students experienced validation regularly in student-led
exercises. Author of The Power of
Validation, Psychologist Dr. Karyn Hall has written about this concern
extensively. She asserts that
Validation is the recognition and acceptance of another's
thoughts and feelings. Children develop a lifelong sense of self-worth, feel
reassured that they will be accepted and loved regardless of their feelings,
while children who are not validated are more vulnerable to peer pressure,
bullying, and emotional problems.2
Acknowledging
a student during a discussion, even praising them for a particularly good
comment, is validation. What student would not want to be to be affirmed by
their teacher in front of peers? However, I saw a higher level of validation
when the words and gestures came from classmates like that two-week "free
for all" classroom described above. In fact, whenever students served as
discussion leaders or in small group collaborative work clusters, validation
was rampant, not just with words but with body language and eye contact. It
generated the "recognition and acceptance" described by Karyn Hall,
and amplified attention.
She notes
that validation has multiple benefits. It helps children
1. feel
valued and accepted as thinkers and personalities;
2. control
emotions, being reassured in an environment to prevent panic and anger, to
persevere through encounters, maintain willpower;
3. value
and understand the point of view of others and build trusting relationships.2
That is a
wonderful cluster of benefits that build maturity and competence in the lives
of young people. In that vein, enabling validation was critical if I was going
to nurture an environment that embraced those bullet points and made knowledge
acquisition enjoyable and relevant. This book will use the term frequently
along with affirm, encourage, and inspire. My students were more engaged when
they anticipated validation from classmates and me.
Gallup
surveys found that only one-third of workers were validated for a praiseworthy
effort during a week, and that employees were twice as likely to quit their job
if they did not receive recognition for their efforts. Employees are much more
engaged on the job when the managers focus on their strengths or positive
characteristics.3
Empowerment
My
two-week experiment empowered students as content area facilitators. In other
words, they manipulated the pedagogy to assure comprehension of the material as
dictated by the outlines passed out each day. Whether it was by individual
review of text or group data gathering, they found ways to learn the facts and
skills needed to answer a host of questions related to electrochemistry. Though
a bit reticent at first, they became functional as outspoken and motivated
participants. I found empowerment to be a critical element in cultivating a
harmonious and effective learning environment because it went hand in hand with
validation. When this pedagogical style is introduced correctly, I observed
young people happily immersed in socialization, embracing trust and effective
subject assimilation. The onus was on them to examine the lesson objective and
pursue resources to derive answers, whether simple data gathering or complex
problem solving.
Frymier,
Shulman, and Houser assert that empowerment is
the process of creating intrinsic task motivation by providing
an environment and tasks which increase one’s sense of self-efficacy and
energy. The more impact individuals believe they have, the more internal
motivation they should feel, personal involvement and self-efficacy, [as well
as] a more positive attitude toward the course content and instructor.4
Thomas and
Velthouse break it down into four categories: "meaningfulness, competence,
impact, and choice"5.
In a
similar context Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Jeremy Hunter concluded after
investigating a large sample of students for happiness during a week, that
Teens ascribe happiness to their moods when they are in
situations of relative freedom, in the company of age-mates, able to engage in
flow activities that stretch their skills and makes them feel alive and proud.6
Empowerment
was observed when they led discussions, or in some manner were decision-makers
as content area facilitators. The entire class was much more attentive when
they could ask questions and watch appointed leaders focus on the most
important items on the agenda.
Young people are starving for validation, to be
relevant, liked, and part of the group. It becomes a powerful catalyst,
therefore, to foster engagement, and consequently impacts brain chemistry. The
prefrontal cortex-midbrain connection is repeatedly stimulated resulting in the
growth of dendritic connections in the neural network. When the validation is
part of an academic function, it affects the brain's memory and analytical
regions bolstering long-term mastery of subject matter and skills.
What
should schools validate?
1. Students
must be affirmed that they are safe, free of physical and verbal assault from
all members of the school community, protected from hazards associated with
ventilation, chemicals (custodial and laboratory), sidewalks, driveways,
drinking water, and building construction.
2. Schools
must validate the diverse intellectual skill set among students, providing
opportunities for expression in classrooms without unwarranted criticism by
classmates and adults.
3. Students
are validated when the school's mission statement protects and holds sacred
human qualities: gender, physical stature, mannerisms, racial heritage,
religious affiliation, and more.
4 Schools
must set boundaries for behavior to assure a smooth-running institution that
emphasizes appropriate talk, attentiveness, and respect for all members of the
community. Consistent enforcement of rules with disciplinary measures must be
implemented to sustain a harmonious learning environment.
Praise
Validation
affirms an individual's worth. Its intent is to make the student feel capable
of attempting tasks and set in motion the desire to perform more tasks. Praise
is one form of validation.
Jennifer
Henderlong, Professor of Psychology at Reed College asserts that:
Provided that praise is perceived as sincere, it is
particularly beneficial to motivation when it encourages performance
attributions, enhances competence without an overreliance on social
comparisons, and conveys attainable standards and expectations.7
However,
praise is not validating when it leads people to a sense of entitlement,
unprepared to handle challenges associated with adulthood. The recent shift in
America toward over-parenting is breeding narcissism and an expectation that
one can get more with less effort. Excessive praise gives individuals an
unrealistic perspective on their talents and that often leads to unmet goals
and eventually depression.8
Parents need to ascertain the talents and skills of their children and provide support and encouragement that manifests realistic expectations. As educators we need to do similarly but also provide feedback that assesses our students' abilities to assimilate facts and skills and offer opportunities to become functional in our courses. In both arenas it is important that the validation results in self-sufficiency and camaraderie.
Stanford Psychology professor Carol Dweck feels that we are now inundating children with praise that becomes artificial without affirming effort and industry. She cites that it eventually makes children afraid of challenges, leading to frustration when they make a mistake. On the other hand, “When a parent praises the process, it keeps the child engaged. It encourages the child to keep at it."
The empty praise agenda is an outgrowth of the Baby Boomer rebellion against the disciplinarian style in favor of an idealized version of parenting that centers on self-esteem. Many admit they feel guilty when their children are bored or unhappy and feel pressured to keep them entertained all the time.9
I found praise validating and used it frequently in my career to affirm effort and accurately assess accomplishments. That combination works to sustain motivation and curiosity. One year an administrator designed commendation forms that were mailed to students, encouraging us to send them as often as possible, keeping track of how many each of us wrote, judging us as quality teachers based on the number submitted! It had a very positive effect at first but became the bane of the school as the praise completely lost credibility. One parent told me that her son shouted when she handed him an envelope with the school's stationery: "Not another one of those stupid notes!" That is when praise no longer validates but rather weakens the learning dynamic and integrity of the teacher.
Throughout this book the principle of validation will refer to the words and actions that amplify cognition and nurture love of learning and appreciation of content areas.
References
1. Johnson, D. & Johnson, R.,
(1989). Cooperation and competition:
Theory and research. Edina, MN: Interaction Book Company
2. Hall, K., Cook, M., (2011), The Power
of Validation: Arming Your Child Against Bullying, Peer Pressure, Addiction,
Self-Harm, and Out-of-Control Emotions, New Harbinger Publications
3. Mann, A., Dvorak, N., (2016), Employee
Recognition: Low Cost, High Impact, Business Journal,
Retrieved from:
http://news.gallup.com/businessjournal/205448/star-employees.aspx
4. Frymier, A. B., Shulman, G. M., and
Houser, M. (1996). The development of a learner empowerment measure.
Communication Education, 45 (3), 181-199.
5. Thomas, K., and Velthouse, B. (1990).
Cognitive elements of empowerment: An “interpretive” mode of intrinsic task
motivation. Academy of Management Review, 15, 666-681.
6. Csikszentmihalyi, M., Hunter, J.,
(2003). Happiness in Everyday Life: The Uses of Experience Sampling, Journal of
Clinical Psychology, 185-199
7. Henderlong J, Lepper MR. (2002) The
effects of praise on children's intrinsic motivation: a review and synthesis.,
Psychol Bull., 128(5):774-95.
8. Firestone, L. (2013) Are We
Overpraising Our Children? The negative effects of overpraising kids
Retrieved from
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/compassion-matters/201312/are-we-overpraising-our-children
9. Gilbertson, A., Fernandes, A., Guzman-Lopez,
D., Plummer, M. (August 10, 2017) Researchers say too much praise harms kids;
parents hear: blah, blah, blah, 89.3 KPCC - Southern California Public Radio
Pass / Fail So Cal education
Retrieved from:
http://www.scpr.org/blogs/education/2013/08/14/14455/researchers-say-too-much-praise-harms-kids-parents/
