INFLUENCING STUDENT OUTCOMES

To achieve true reform, this expert on school change explains, we need to infuse collaborative professionalism throughout schools with a focus on deep learning for all students. “Love your employees” means you need to set up conditions where people are motivated individually and collectively. If there’s one word that captures change and change theory, People have tried extrinsic motivation— rewards and punishments. They get a little bit of progress, but not much. What really is the heart of successful change is intrinsic motivation, which is about purpose, mastery, capacity, working with others, and having a degree of autonomy.

The best way you can love teachers is to create the conditions under which they can become successful. The accountability movement has tried to put maximum pressure on teachers to get results— and it doesn’t work because teachers need to know how to do the right thing, not just that the right thing should be done. Building accountability into our working lives is one of the key actions I talk about things that will lead everyone in a school to be more productive. But if you want to motivate teachers, you can’t just try to convince them through, for example, research evidence. That doesn’t work. Nor can you motivate people just through moral exhortation. You convince them by giving them experience as teachers in relatively non-threatening circumstances, with others who can be helpful. And then when they start to experience success with their students, with other teachers, they really get motivated and collaborative professionalism.

It’s the teacher with a degree of autonomy interacting with other teachers, figuring out the best things to do to get results for the particular students they’re working with. The overall thrust of our work is to strengthen and the bottom (students and their schools) so that they’re less at the mercy of policies coming from the top. At the same time, we see schools and communities as proactive partners moving upward as they take into account and influence policy. — oOo— The author is Administrative Aid VI of DepEd Division of City of San Fernando (P)

There are a number of strategies out there which teachers can use with students to help them learn smarter. These can have a profound influence on students’learning outcomes. We need to teach our students to learn with greater independence.

One way is to use “self-explanation”, where students tell themselves what they are thinking and doing when learning. This would lead to successful student learning. Teachers can model self-explanation by talking through a lesson in class aloud, so that students can see how you engage in self-dialogue when trying to solve a problem, reading or doing other learning tasks. In time, students can learn to use this strategy independently – and silently, too. This is also a way to help them decide how to proceed with a certain problem.

There are cognitive strategies involved in this, including integrating new information with prior knowledge, generating inferences when there’s missing information, and monitoring and fixing faulty knowledge.

Learning does not mean just staying in one place and remaining focused on instruction. This may lead to boredom. Teachers should initiate engagement by letting students take breaks during class. According to studies, this can help to get more oxygen to the brain. Have your students find a partner and take turns sharing what they just learned. This would also help establish camaraderie in class.

Using index cards for self-testing is also one way to help in the learning process. Have them think of questions they think the teacher would include on a test or exam. Let them create a list of questions, and then have them write the answers on the back.

Students should also be encouraged to create a study planner. This will come in handy when going to the library, or during study sessions. Cramming will also be avoided.

Students who learn more are motivated more. Students are not just our students, but we should treat them as our own kids. We should help them develop certain practices which they can use in their learning process.

— oOo— The author is Teacher III at Sta. Lucia Elementary School, Sta. Ana District, Pampanga