Choice

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In Term 2, I carried out an investigation on the correlation between choice and engagement in learning. I chose a class for study, based on the teaching strategies implemented by their teacher. He is committed to providing a personalised programme that gives choices to students, and supports it with extensive use of digital technology and Web 2.0 tools. The classroom programmes were dictated by school-wide requirements in Term One, with limited opportunity to provide options for learning pathways to students. Term Two was focused on student-driven inquiries, where children were encouraged to organise their own timetables and think creatively about their recording methods, so there was an opportunity to carry out a comparative survey.

In a questionnaire comparing Term 1 with Term 2 students were asked: 1. Could you choose whether to work alone or with other people? 2. Could you choose the people you wanted to work with? 3. Could you choose a topic of your own to study within the unit? 4. Could you make choices about when you did work on your topic? 5. Could you choose how you would present your findings? They were then asked to assess their level of satisfaction in each question.

Results

While the results show a clear link between choice and engagement that is well-supported by research, my colleague and I have reservations about offering choices to all students, based on our experiences over the last two years. While some students flourish, others have misused the freedom and even state that they would prefer to be told what to do and when. It is ironic that our efforts to provide choices in learning pathways has been aimed mainly at engaging boys, and yet it is often the disengaged boys who are more likely to struggle with the self-management that is needed in programme that provides choices. We are reminded that in providing personalised learning, choices, student-led inquiries and even digital technologies do not always suit the learning needs of all students. 21st Century learning needs to acknowledge these different needs and provide appropriate pathways for all students.

Related References
[|Students at Bat]

Choosing to Learn