Establish a “CAN” culture in your class Magic Post

by Terry Heick

The long -term production of any school should not only be competent students, but has enabled learners. An “activated” learner can grasp macro opinions, discover micro-details, ask questions, plan new knowledge and transfer reflection on divergent circumstances. This does not happen by the content of “knowledge outfit”, or even by the fire of enthusiasm, but by giving a tone to learning that suggests the possibility and by creating a culture of can.

First, it is important to realize that a “culture” is made up of tangible factors (students) and intangible factors (curiosity). It is also always present – it exists if we, as educators, recognize it or not. It precedes formal learning and will last long after this official learning experience has passed.

Learning “I can”
If a learner must develop a feeling of canHe or she must learn it. While some students have more natural confidence or initiative than others, can is slightly different from confidence. Can is a mixture of knowledge and self -efficacy that has been nourished by experience – by constantly achieving objectives created internally and externally judged by standards which are also drawn internally and externally.

So how does it happen? Where does he come from?

In Developing spiritA kind of anthology of ways of teaching the reflection published by Art Costa, there are suggestions for promoting cognition and metacognition, including “Create a safe environment”, “follow students’ thought” and “Teaching questions rather than answers ”.1

These suggestions often have emotional roots, which implies that learning must be emotional (an involvement difficult to escape). A wide approach to teaching that works almost every time – and can work here too in the creation of a culture of can – is the gradual release of the model of responsibility.

Three ways to create “CAN”

The gradual model of the liberation of responsibility can be carefully summarized as “Show me, help me, leave me.” This surrounds the learner’s participation of an observation role supported by teachers in a collaborative role with “another more competent” and finally to a role of independence which, hopefully, is supported.

By definition, this model begins each time with the teacher in control and ends with the expectation that the learner will assume control. He does not throw learners in substance to manage the application of skills and concepts for which they are not ready, but rather gives the teacher’s burden to model ideas and to an expert way – and in In addition, to see the final result of the process learning as an independent doer in control.

2. intentionally use the individual student as a culture manufacturer

Students come together individually to create a wider culture. The habits modeled in class, the tone of critical discussions, the mood of collaborative assignments and the relative ambition of projects and academic works all contribute to the culture of a class. If this culture comes from top to bottom, it ends up being more discussions and “expectations” than real culture. Culture is organic and almost impossible to impose – but it can be nourished and cultivated.

Honoring the learners’ contribution is a critical factor. This is different from the recognition of their success, which can be academic or condescending. The contributions, however, imply nuances – support roles, emotional support, mini -milestones in long -term projects and other “minor” actions.

In fact, there are more nuances here than any teacher with 35 students could never find the time to highlight. But while you are doing a practice to emphasize, emphasize and draw attention to these actions and cognitive behavior, you will finally see other students do the same.

And when it happens, you create culture!

3. Diversified – and authentic terms – for success

Nobody wants a well -intentioned ribbon for participation, but offering authentic terms to succeed in learning can make or undo an experience for a child.

The more the reading and writing are diverse, the more choice integrated into the project, the more self-designed the sections designed, the more the success is “self-published”, the more authentic the success. We have (hope to) go beyond strict “academics” where the teacher dictates the terms of the objectives, the domain and the “end game”, and has moved to a place really centered on the learner, a place where the Students do not make superficial decisions which barely modify the course of learning, but rather establish their own reasons to learn, their own quality standards and their own success measures.

It is the foundation of a culture of can.

1 page 12-13, Develop minds: a resource book for teaching thought. “Thinking in the context: teaching for openness and critical understanding.”

2a Reference to the relative term of Lev Vygotsky which identifies the “knowledge holder” in a learning process.

Attribution of image Flickr User Luciellaribiero; Establish a “CAN” culture in your class; This article was written by Terry Heick and originally published on edutopia.org