Inspired post title, right? Well, it’s also a bit of a misnomer. While I wanted to give a sense of completion to this project which I’m going to attempt to wrap up here, both for my sanity and anyone who is reading this, I also would like to point out that this project has taken on a life of its own. I had originally thought that this would be where I handed in the link to my blog to my instructor and maybe got to move on in my life from this whole thing. However, it has proved to me to be incredibly important, and not even close to “done”. For those of you who like to read blogs backwards, this post might be a bit of a spoiler. OR maybe it will act as a hook. So let’s see what I can do to convince you to read some more.

So, have I answered my question? Yup! Sure have. But for those of you who like to have that one right answer, you might be a bit disappointed, because the answer is even more convoluted than I thought. So if you want it put simply, here it is: the answer to my question is… No. Choice is probably not enough to get disengaged students engaged. Now go away.

Still here? Okay. Here’s the real answer: Maybe.

What I’ve discovered is that choice is one of a whole bunch of factors that contribute to an engaging classroom environment. Choice is really important. In fact, it is necessary. However, it is not sufficient.

I’m not in the business of summarizing, but other factors include: self-efficacy, the physical classroom environment, belonging, cultural background and perception of choice, the kind of choice provided, and autonomy. None of these factors are discrete. In fact, they make up a big mess of things to consider when teaching students, but as far as I can tell the number one thing to consider when trying to get students to care about school is by creating an environment in which they feel respected, empowered, and safe. Easy, right?

I probably could have gotten right into the theorists that specifically talk about this stuff, but I didn’t know where to look till I started wading into all this. (Hint: Keywords = autonomy, Choice Theory, Self-Determination) However, now that my research and musings have led me here, these theories and models are all the more convincing.

Self-Determination Theory: Posits that the educator behaviours that matter most to student engagement can be clustered into this handy triangle: autonomy support, competence support, and relational support (Assor, Kaplan & Roth, 2002). As far as I understand, this essentially means encouraging students feel independent and empowered, helping students experience success by providing adequate scaffolding and direct support for learning, and promoting the social and emotional literacy of students. Some add one more important component to this model: relevance (Assor, Kaplan & Roth, 2002). It seems obvious that in order for students to care about what they are learning they need to see the point of it, and yet this is something that is often overlooked. Refer to my post on grades, motivation, and choice for some of the problems with replacing intrinsic motivation with an artificial, extrinsic motivator. As well, take a look at The Hands-On Learning Project for reasons and ways to infuse relevant, real-world learning into the classroom.

Choice Theory: While the title of this theory seems like a no brainer for where to start on researching choice, it is not all that the title might lead you to believe. While the root of this theory is choice, it is not talking about the kinds of choice that teachers provide, but rather identifies choice at a much more individual and philosophical level. It seems to me to be an academic-rooted defense for a worldview that has been around for millennia in Buddhist philosophy, and stoicism as seen through the musings of greek philosopher Epictetus, among others. Anyway, I think that Choice Theory is pretty important anyway, so I’ll do my best to outline my understanding of it here.

Choice Theory Cole’s Notes. Information corroborated by wglasser.com. (http://wglasser.com/the-glasser-approach):

– Four fundamental driving needs of humans beyond survival: Belonging, Competence and Power, Freedom and Autonomy, and Joy and Fun.

– Suffering is a result of a discontinuity between reality and an individual’s idea of what the world ought to be (their “quality world”).

– It is difficult to change how one reacts physiologically, subconsciously, but it is possible to change how we react behaviourally, which will eventually change the rest.

A wonderful book for explaining the power that we have over our own emotions and state of being to children is the book Which Way Should I Go? by Sylvia Olson with Ron Martin. I have a lesson plan for teaching about decisions using this book and the Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch here.

So, while this theory is definitely about choosing, the types of choices are not really within the scope of this inquiry. However, understanding that teaching students to be self-regulated, empowered, and autonomous is crucial to engagement definitely is important to this inquiry. Insofar as Choice Theory leads us there, it is one of many models that can help accomplish social, emotional, and competency goals that are oh-so-important to appropriate choice and resulting engagement in the classroom.

So, at the “end” of this project, I’m feeling like I’ve found an answer to my question, but am maybe not much closer to helping to re-engage my apparently dis-engaged students. What I know now is that just giving them choices probably won’t be enough. On the other hand, while I’m now swamped with new information and considerations, I can (hopefully) begin to weave these ideas and practices together into a classroom environment that accomplishes so much more than just a superimposition of choice onto a broken system. I’ve got a whole career ahead of me to figure out just how to do that.