The readings this week left me feeling kind of dumbfounded. An ongoing theme throughout all three articles was that we have research showing that kids perform better in any environment when given the chance the have their voice heard, and have a give & take relationship with their teachers.
"...the growing research on 'youth voice' suggests to us that the relationships between teachers and their adolescent students must be dialogical in nature, a cultivation of listening and learning by both adults and teens." (Intrator & Kunzman 30)
On page 33 of this same article, it gives a list of straight statistics that show the positive side-effects of students who feel they have a voice in making classroom decisions.
If we know that this is the case, why are there still such different teaching styles between students of minorities and low income areas vs. suburban students/ largely white student populations? Is this something that is being involved in teacher evaluations if proven to be so important to students success?
It should be.
I would like to pose the question to you all,
did you feel that you had a say in your classroom/ classroom decisions when you were in adolescent?
How do you feel that affected your performance/ your peers performance in the class?
Hi, Andrea~ Thank you for your sharing. Most of the time, I hided my voice back or swallowed it. However, when I got a chance to interact with teachers and class members, I was excited and wanted to say more about it. I came across some students who barely talked in class last year. When I asked them questions, they just smiled at me and kept silent. But, I was surprised when I listened to their presentations. They spoke loud and proud. It was their first time of talking in the classroom. I looked at My mentor teacher, she told me not to act differently because it would push them back to the silence. To conclude, I think making students' voice be heard would make big difference to students' success!
ReplyDeleteBing, I feel that I would push back on your mentor teachers comment about not acting differently towards a silent student that spoke up. Clearly, if the student is shy to begin with, you shouldn't bring more attention to them on the spot in front of their peers, but I feel it would be important to praise that student for speaking up and continuing a conversation with them. I feel that if a student who usually never talks finally speaks up in your class, you need to show that you are interested in what they have to say for them to continue wanting to speak up.
DeleteMaking students voice be heard definitely does make a difference to their success and confidence!
Andrea,
ReplyDeleteThe questions you posed caused me to go back and reflect on my schooling during the adolescent years. Looking back, I do believe that my teachers tried to make sure that every students voice was heard; however, there were times where some voices were heard over others. The students who were confident in sharing their opinions were able to have a say in the decisions that were made. On the other hand, the quieter students kept their ideas to themselves. For me, I would say that I was in the middle of this. I felt like I had a say in the classroom; however, at times I did not want to speak up because I was not as confident in my response. The times that I did not feel like I had a say were times that I did not feel comfortable in the class. This occurred more often when I entered into high school. By having a say in the classroom, it affected my performance in the class drastically. I wanted to participate more because I knew that the teacher and my classmates would listen to what I said whether or not they agreed with everything. It gave me the motivation to pay attention and complete my work. Making students voices heard in the classroom has a positive effect on the students motivation. Once the student knows that the teacher cares about their opinions, they are going to feel more confident in speaking up.
Tina,
DeleteAs we see in even our own class from last/this year, some voices are always going to be heard more than others. What I feel is important is setting up a stage for students who don't speak up to get their chance. This shouldn't just be for curriculum related topics either (it isn't always a yes/no answer), but should be for speaking about personal topics/experiences as well.
I would be curious to know what made you feel uncomfortable in the class, and if you were stuck with a student who felt the same, it would be important to find the root of the reason as to why they feel uncomfortable in the first place and go from there.
You make a great point when you say that "Once the student knows that the teacher cares about their opinions, they are going to feel more confident in speaking up." This should be every teachers goal.
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ReplyDeleteHi Andrea,
ReplyDeleteI've always wondered that myself. I always think back about the process of unlearning, when you tell people that you want to be a CPS teacher, a lot fall back with the comment "good luck" and I feel like that's where it all begins. I've seen so many teachers just stand in front of the classroom and just preach, not wanting to have a dialogue because they've been taught that these student's "don't really care" or "they all have behavior problems". So why have them be involved in the classroom?
Honestly, when I think back at it, I do feel as if I had a decision as an adolescent in my classrooms. That made us work twice as hard because we wanted to do our best for ourselves and for our teachers. I feel very privileged because so many children don't and that's something we can change. This conversation is important because students need a platform in the classroom and in order for this to happen, they need to feel safe and to feel safe, a student must feel accepted.
Hey Girl,
ReplyDeleteThe questions you asked had me reflecting back to the good old days of twilight saga fans and my chemical romance listeners...im talking about middle school.
Thinking about your first question, growing up I definitely remember having what I said in classroom matter. Especially when a big group of students got together and fought for what they wanted. I think a big part of the reason why students had a voice in my school district was because we were a small district where a lot of the parents were involved and the school board was more flexible. I could see how in some districts it might be more harder for teachers to accommodate to what their students want because the school board may be more strick about their set curriculums and standards. Do I agree with that though? Definitely not. A students voice is important especially at an age when students are the most emotional. In most of our articles this week, it was stated multiple times that how a teacher response to her/his students has a direct affect. Which takes me to your next question, taking students voices into account will most often lead to a positive affect.
Choice is something that we often talked about in literacy. Giving students the choice to pick their books or the topics they wanted to discuss. Growing up, I barely had a choice in the material we were covering or the books being read. But when I go the choice, I had a sense of autonomy and took ownership of my own learning. I can understand for teacher it is hard to relinquish control of the classroom but once we do so we are telling students, hey this is your classroom too!
ReplyDeleteTo answer your first question, yes I was given the opportunity to have a say in the classroom. The teacher would reflect on the class feedback and make arrangements accordingly. I recall one event where no one was interested in reading the class book and we told our teacher and she said she had to get it approved first before we switched books. She made a strong case for us and ultimately we got what we wanted. In turn, class participation was off the roof and everyone was engaged one way or another and it felt so great to be in a room were everyone wants to learn.
ReplyDeletedid you feel that you had a say in your classroom/ classroom decisions when you were in adolescent?
How do you feel that affected your performance/ your peers performance in the class?
As i think back on my schooling i can't remember many situations (other than deciding classroom rules in elementary) in which teachers allowed choice not until high school at least.
ReplyDeleteBeing allowed to share my thoughts and opinions really made a difference for me I found that I was much more excited for my assignments and projects because the teacher allowed us to many times create the assignments ourselves or at least gave us options in different ways the assignment could be completed. I also can remember that the particular class and teacher began to mean more to me on a personal bases. I felt more respected and therefore respected and looked up to my teacher so much more because I felt valued and important. Looking back I wish I had more of that because it really had an impact on me.
For me this brought to mind that a possible reasoning behind this form of teaching in which students are expected to just sit and listen stems from what schooling used to be. I see it as many teachers and schools haven't yet realized that our society and educational system have changed and with that so have our students. Children now are so much more aware of the world through technology and because of this they begin to form strong and meaningful opinions at an early age and I think learning to acknowledge that students are people themselves and not just sent to you to be filled with facts is something sadly relatively new for many teachers.
Hi Andrea,
ReplyDeleteThinking back to my teenage year, most of my teachers did give us a chance to voice our opinions. Usually when that happen we would get really excited and majority of us would contribute. Honestly, I think every one would like their voice to be heard, including the shy ones. Which is why, teachers should considered more than one way in letting the student voice their opinions or concerns out. Of course, opening up the topic for a classroom discussion is a great way to get the class all charged up, but the quiet ones are still left out. Therefore, maybe teachers should first considered surveys, taking votes, small group discussion, etc, and then as a class discuss about the options. At least that way the quiet ones feel they have a bit of a saying as well. What are your thoughts on this?
I feel like a lot of my schooling, I was always capable of having a say or being able to voice my opinion in class. Regardless of that, I think that I rarely spoke up just because I didn't want to speak up in class in front of everyone. At times I would end up being that kid who gets called on randomly by the teacher with no warning and left with nothing to say. I can't really remember what my thinking was during times like these but I can definitely remember myself having something to say in my head, or having the right answer to a question that was posed, but just not wanting to raise my hand and answer the question. I'm not sure that it affected my performance much or how other students looked at me but I wouldn't be able to answer that for sure. However it leaves me to thinking about not just if the space is available for students to feel comfortable to speak, but almost taking it another step further and teaching kids how to be able to express themselves so they don't feel like it is a huge deal to speak up in class. Do you think that students should be sort of taught or guided in a process to help them speak up?
ReplyDeleteI feel like a lot of my schooling, I was always capable of having a say or being able to voice my opinion in class. Regardless of that, I think that I rarely spoke up just because I didn't want to speak up in class in front of everyone. At times I would end up being that kid who gets called on randomly by the teacher with no warning and left with nothing to say. I can't really remember what my thinking was during times like these but I can definitely remember myself having something to say in my head, or having the right answer to a question that was posed, but just not wanting to raise my hand and answer the question. I'm not sure that it affected my performance much or how other students looked at me but I wouldn't be able to answer that for sure. However it leaves me to thinking about not just if the space is available for students to feel comfortable to speak, but almost taking it another step further and teaching kids how to be able to express themselves so they don't feel like it is a huge deal to speak up in class. Do you think that students should be sort of taught or guided in a process to help them speak up?
ReplyDelete